Health Geography of COVID-19: An Exploratory Analysis of the Pandemic during its First Phase in the Compact Cities of Barcelona and Madrid, Spain

COVID-19 has affected every aspect of life around the globe. To understand the spread of disease it is essential to record location and place, space and population. This chapter is based in history and the epidemiologist literature reporting the relevant variables. The objective is to determine which variable affects contagion in compact cities such as Barcelona and Madrid. Are both cities affected by the same variables? Are there differences between the cities? Why? The set of variables involves the socioeconomic conditions of the population, aging populations and neighborhood conditions. The Global and Local Moran's I tools for spatial autocorrelation are used as well as spatial autoregressive models (SAR). Population movements within compact territories might produce a distortion in research results if not accounted for. In the planning strategy, inequalities, society and health treated as a system might improve the foundations for living conditions and health. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Updates in vaccine development against COVID-19

As per latest updates on the vaccines by the World Health Organization (WHO), the total number of vaccines currently under development is more than 192. About 151 are presently investigated in the preclinical phases, while 42 of these vaccine candidates are in the various phases of clinical trials. Ten of these are in the advanced stages of clinical investigation, and promising results in the phase 3 trials will pave the way for their regulatory approvals and subsequent dissemination for global use. Preliminary and interim results of some of these candidate vaccines are already being analyzed for public dissemination. Once safe and effective vaccines are available, the next limiting step would be their mass manufacturing by these companies to fulfill the global demand. Here we describe these vaccines and how their manufacturers are speeding up the efforts to bring them to market. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.

Drugs for the treatment of COVID-19

Currently, there are no drugs or other therapeutic agents approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent or treat COVID-19. Current standard of care includes prevention of infection and control measures and supportive care, including supplemental oxygen and, when required, mechanical ventilatory support. This chapter outlines important drugs that have the potential to be used as Covid-19 remedies. Several landmark clinical trials are discussed, and clinical evidence is sought for the claims made for the efficacy of these drugs in treating Covid-19. Literature searches suggest that dexamethasone reduces mortality in severely ill patients and may also reduce the need of mechanical ventilation in such patients compared to the standard care. However, no irrefutable evidence was found for the efficacy claims of hydroxychloroquine. The role of many other drugs is still uncertain as there are very few large-scale randomized clinical trials to show their effectiveness in Covid-19. However, many new and exciting molecules are being tested in the laboratories. Large, randomized, controlled, double-blind trials are underway to investigate the safety and efficacy of several new and old drugs. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.