Tomato flu outbreak: An overview

Tomato flu, also known as tomato fever, is a newly identified virus in India that causes high temperatures, extreme fatigue, and aches and pains. Case studies have revealed that immunocompetent people can contract the virus;therefore, this may be a new Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease strain (HFMD). Although tomato fever shows symptoms similar to COVID-19, the virus is not related to SARS-CoV. Tomato fever is a self-limiting illness and there is no specific treatment/vaccination till date. The rare viral infection is in endemic state and is considered non-life threatening. Because of the fear of emergence of fourth wave and dreadful experience of COVID-19, vigilant management is desirable to prevent spread of tomato fever.

Implementation of a Telehealth Genetic Testing Station to Deliver Germline Testing for Men With Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSE: Germline testing for men with prostate cancer (PCa) poses numerous implementation barriers. Alternative models of care delivery are emerging, but implementation outcomes are understudied. We evaluated implementation outcomes of a hybrid oncologist- and genetic counselor-delivered model called the genetic testing station (GTS) created to streamline testing and increase access. METHODS: A prospective, single-institution, cohort study of men with PCa referred to the GTS from October 14, 2019, to October 14, 2021, was conducted. Using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework, we described patients referred to GTS (Reach), the association of GTS with germline testing completion rates within 60 days of a new oncology appointment in a pre- versus post-GTS multivariable logistic regression (Effectiveness), Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance. Because GTS transitioned from an on-site to remote service during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also compared outcomes for embedded versus remote GTS. RESULTS: Overall, 713 patients were referred to and eligible for GTS, and 592 (83%) patients completed germline testing. Seventy-six (13%) patients had ≥ 1 pathogenic variant. Post-GTS was independently associated with higher odds of completing testing within 60 days than pre-GTS (odds ratio, 8.97; 95% CI, 2.71 to 29.75; P < .001). Black race was independently associated with lower odds of testing completion compared with White race (odds ratio, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.13 to 0.96; P = .042). There was no difference in test completion rates or patient-reported decisional conflict for embedded versus remote GTS. GTS has been adopted by 31 oncology providers across four clinics, and implementation fidelity was high with low patient loss to follow-up, but staffing costs are a sustainability concern. CONCLUSION: GTS is a feasible, effective model for high-volume germline testing in men with PCa, both in person and using telehealth. GTS does not eliminate racial disparities in germline testing access.

Smart Health Care Monitoring and Indoor Occupancy Control System using Arduino

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the need to develop effective COVID-19 pandemic control strategies. One of the crucial steps for individual protection is to stop the virus spread by the wearing face masks. The proposed method is developed to monitor the infected people in the crowded public areas like shopping centers, wedding hall, workplace, school or college. The abnormal temperature is detected by using sensor and the obtained signal will then be sent to the Arduino device connected to the controller. In order to stop the spread of COVID 19 viruses, this study intends to design and develop a novel system to automatically limit the room capacity based on temperature. The proposed Atmega328 microcontroller-based body temperature detection and a room capacity measuring device is connected with the android smart phone of the user. © 2022 IEEE.

Mucormycosis and diabetes in the times of COVID-19: A Mumbai-based observational study.

Background: There is a significant increase in the number of mucormycosis cases in the setting of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study was undertaken to understand the clinical profile of such patients and the risk factors associated with increased mortality of this already deadly infection. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted by including microbiologically confirmed cases of mucormycosis with the background of COVID-19 infection (COVID-19-associated mucormycosis [CAM]). Data was segregated into those of survivors versus non-survivors and the two groups were analyzed for various risk factors. Early and late CAM were also compared. Results: The case fatality rate was 21.73% (5/23 patients). Case fatality in early CAM was 33.3% versus 9.1% in late CAM. Rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (P = 0.01) and cranial nerve involvement (P = 0.0482) were associated with increased mortality. Diabetes and poor glycemic control were the common factors in all patients. Early CAM patients were more likely to have orbital or cerebral involvement (P = 0.0065). Patients having chronic liver disease had a higher risk of mortality (P = 0.0395). Sequential treatment or concurrent dual drug therapy with a combination of antifungal drugs was independently associated with better survival (P = 0.0395). The average duration of treatment with amphotericin-b required for cure by survivors was 29.05 ± 17.05 days. The average duration of treatment with isavuconazole/posaconazole for survivors was 50.32 ± 25.23 days. Conclusion: Early CAM had a higher case fatality rate. Patients had better recovery rates with sequential or dual antifungal treatment. The raised incidence and mortality in the COVID-19 pandemic is probably related to the COVID-19-induced immunosuppression with associated diabetes and excessive use of steroids.

Real-time monitoring of social distancing with person marking and tracking system using YOLO V3 model

The global economy has been affected enormously due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Even though, there is the availability of vaccines, social distancing in public places is one of the viable solutions to reduce the spreading of COVID-19 suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) for fighting against the pandemic. This paper presents a YOLO v3 object detection model to automate the monitoring of social distancing among persons through a CCTV surveillance camera. Furthermore, this research work used to detect and track the person, measure the inter-person distance in the crowd under a challenging environment which includes partial visibility, lighting variations, and person occlusion. Moreover, the YOLO V3 model experiments with Darknet53 and ShuffleNetV2 backbone architecture. Compared with Darknet53 architecture, ShuffleNetV2 achieves better detection accuracy tested on Custom Video Footage Dataset (CVFD), Oxford Town Centre Dataset (OTCD), and Custom Personal Image Dataset (CPID) datasets.

Cutaneous Mucormycosis in a Patient of Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Rarer than Rare Case Report.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)-associated mucormycosis is on the rise in the Indian subcontinent. We report a unique case of cutaneous mucormycosis in a case of newly diagnosed young diabetic patient with severe COVID-19 pneumonia with post-COVID lung fibrosis. Neither did he have any preceding trauma or wound, nor was there any evidence of any secondary dissemination. Cutaneous mucormycosis without evidence of either is unheard off. Possible risk factors in this case were multiple bacterial secondary infections with the use of higher antibiotics, use of voriconazole for possible aspergillosis, and steroid use. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Tambe RR, Hinduja A, Sunil S, Varaiya A, Joshi A. Cutaneous Mucormycosis in a Patient of Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Rarer than Rare Case Report. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(11):1318-1319.

Sentiment Analysis of Covid Vaccine Tweets Using Different Text Classification Models

Internet has turned into an online learning network and a platform to exchange ideas and reviews. Social networking sites are quickly gaining popularity as it allows users to have a discussion, share, and express their views on subjects across the globe. It is generally known that social media and social networks are the best tools to collect knowledge about the viewpoint and the thoughts of people on entirely different subjects as they pay a considerable amount of time on social media networks to express opinions and interests. The proposed model detects the sentiments of tweets and using Twitter sentiment, and this research work has also attempted to perform classification on different models using TF-IDF vectorization. Python3 and its libraries are used for implementation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Oral Curcumin With Piperine as Adjuvant Therapy for the Treatment of COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has a wide range of pathophysiological effects. Curcumin, an active constituent of Curcuma longa (turmeric), has several properties, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiviral, anti-thrombotic, and anti-proliferative effects, which make it a promising candidate for the symptomatic treatment of COVID-19. Objective: We aimed to determine the effects of curcumin administered with piperine (to optimize absorption) on symptoms in patients with COVID-19 in a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial at a 30-bed dedicated COVID Health Center (DCHC) in Maharashtra, India. Methods: In addition to conventional COVID-19 treatment, patients in the control group received a dose of probiotics twice a day, and patients in the study group received curcumin (525 mg) with piperine (2.5 mg) in tablet form twice a day. The effects of curcumin/piperine treatment on primary and secondary outcomes were assessed for the duration of hospitalization. Results: Patients with mild, moderate, and severe symptoms who received curcumin/piperine treatment showed early symptomatic recovery (fever, cough, sore throat, and breathlessness), less deterioration, fewer red flag signs, better ability to maintain oxygen saturation above 94% on room air, and better clinical outcomes compared to patients of the control group. Furthermore, curcumin/piperine treatment appeared to reduce the duration of hospitalization in patients with moderate to severe symptoms, and fewer deaths were observed in the curcumin/piperine treatment group. Conclusions: Administration of oral curcumin with piperine as an adjuvant symptomatic therapy in COVID-19 treatment could substantially reduce morbidity and mortality, and ease the logistical and supply-related burdens on the healthcare system. Curcumin could be a safe and natural therapeutic option to prevent Post-Covid thromboembolic events. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: CTRI/2020/05/025482.

A rise in social media utilization by U.S. neurology residency programs in the era of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how neurology departments and residency programs in the United States used virtual communication to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated the presence and use of social media pages, virtual outreach events, and virtual internship opportunities. METHODS: Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts were identified (or noted as nonexistent) for 159 accredited neurology departments and residency programs. Google searches and social media site specific searches were performed. For existing pages, the date of creation was determined and all posts on and after March 1st, 2020, were assessed to investigate the presence of virtual open house advertisements. Each program was also assessed for virtual sub-internship and elective opportunities on the Visiting Student Application Service (VSAS). RESULTS: A majority of neurology residency programs (110) had a social media presence, particularly on Twitter and Instagram. Most residency program Twitter and Instagram accounts were created after March 1st, 2020, and this was not the case on Facebook. Twitter and Instagram were used most to advertise virtual opportunities. A correlation was observed between presence and number of social media accounts and program prestige. Few programs offered virtual opportunities on VSAS for the 2020-2021 year. CONCLUSION: Neurology residency programs adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by creating residency social media accounts, primarily on Instagram and Twitter, and hosting virtual informational events. We recommend that neurology residency applicants create professional Instagram and Twitter accounts to network with programs and receive updates about virtual events. Similarly, going forward, we recommend continued social media use by neurology residency programs for applicant outreach.

Moving towards "mobile warehouse": Last-mile logistics during COVID-19 and beyond.

Supply chains in general and last-mile logistics in particular, have been disrupted due to COVID-19. Though several innovative last-mile logistics solutions have been proposed in the past, they possess certain limitations, especially during COVID-19 motivating the need for an alternative last-mile logistics solution. We present a review of literature related to last-mile logistics and supply chain disruptions to identify the limitations of existing last-mile delivery practices during COVID-19. Using a stylized analytical model, we then propose that "mobile warehouse" can be an effective solution to last-mile logistics issues faced during COVID-19 and beyond under certain conditions. A mobile warehouse is a truck dedicated to a particular geographical location and carries the inventory of various products based on the estimated demand requirements for these products in that geographical location. We provide the condition under which the B2C e-commerce providers find it profitable to adopt a truck as a mobile warehouse to sell high demand items quickly.