ABSTRACT
Background: This study aimed to assess the COVID-19 Delta variant impact on the incidence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in pregnant women in Guangdong Province, China, as well as to identify related risk factors.Methods: A three-week, multisite, cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2021 to evaluate the mental health status of pregnant women by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Approximately 1,450 women from 25 Guangdong hospitals were included in the study. We employed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to assess symptoms of maternal depression and anxiety. Risk factors and relevance rates were analyzed.Results: Pregnant women who were determined to be underweight before pregnancy, primiparous, above 35 years of age, employed full-time, of middle income status, and had comfortable living arrangements were at higher risk of developing depression and anxiety during a COVID-19 outbreak.Conclusion: The occurrence of the COVID-19 Delta variant has increased the risk of mental disorders in pregnant women, which include thoughts of self-harm. Programs designed to address maternal stress as well as isolation such as constructive risk, communication, and providing psychological first aid may be particularly useful to avoid negative outcomes in pregnant women and their fetuses.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become an extensive pandemic worldwide since it is firstly broken out in Wuhan in December 2019. As of July 26, 2020, this disease has resulted in more than 600,000 of death and the numbers remains increasing. Pneumonia is commonly developed in COVID-19 confirmed patients, and it weakens lung functions and decreases the oxygen levels of blood. As an oxygen carrier, hemoglobin transport oxygen from lung to other organs and meanwhile plays a vital role in maintaining the balance of blood oxygen. Therefore, we speculate that a decrease of hemoglobin, also known as anemia, would weaken the oxygen transport and aggravates the illness of COVID-19. Moreover, anemia is commonly observed in a large proportion of COVID-19 confirmed patients. Taken together, anemia might be associated with the COVID-19. The aim of this study was performed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 confirmed patients with anemia and to further investigate the relationship between anemia and COVID-19.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Death , AnemiaABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the key points and difficulties of diagnosis and management of the patients by reporting the case of positive nucleic re-examination in patient after treatment of a light novel coronavirus pneumonia. METHODS: A case of light novel coronavirus pneumonia diagnosed and treated in January 2020, the possible factors of rejuvenation and the process of isolation management during the period were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The patient had only dry cough symptoms and no history of clear contact. After two times of pharynx swabs tested negative for nucleic acid, the patient was tested positive again, who was less likely re-infected and may have long detoxification time with the risk of spreading the virus. It maybe related to the limitations of nucleic acid reagent testing and sampling method. CONCLUSION: It is of great significance to accurately identify and control light and "Fuyang" patients and take strictly quarantine measures to reduce risk of transmission.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic is a widespread and deadly public health crisis. The pathogen SARS-CoV-2 replicates in the lower respiratory tract and causes fatal pneumonia. Although tremendous efforts have been put into investigating the pathogeny of SARS-CoV-2, the underlying mechanism of how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with its host is largely unexplored. Here, by comparing the genomic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 and human, we identified five fully conserved elements in SARS-CoV-2 genome, which were termed as "human identical sequences (HIS)". HIS are also recognized in both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV genome. Meanwhile, HIS-SARS-CoV-2 are highly conserved in the primate. Mechanically, HIS-SARS-CoV-2 RNA directly binds to the targeted loci in human genome and further interacts with host enhancers to activate the expression of adjacent and distant genes, including cytokines gene and angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2), a well-known cell entry receptor of SARS-CoV-2, and hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2), which further increases hyaluronan formation. Noteworthily, hyaluronan level in plasma of COVID-19 patients is tightly correlated with severity and high risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and may act as a predictor for the progression of COVID-19. HIS antagomirs, which downregulate hyaluronan level effectively, and 4-Methylumbelliferone (MU), an inhibitor of hyaluronan synthesis, are potential drugs to relieve the ARDS related ground-glass pattern in lung for COVID-19 treatment. Our results revealed that unprecedented HIS elements of SARS-CoV-2 contribute to the cytokine storm and ARDS in COVID-19 patients. Thus, blocking HIS-involved activating processes or hyaluronan synthesis directly by 4-MU may be effective strategies to alleviate COVID-19 progression.
Subject(s)
Respiratory Distress Syndrome , Pneumonia , Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome , Dissociative Identity Disorder , COVID-19ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown brought about an exogenous and unparalleled stock market crash. The crisis thus provides a unique opportunity to test theories of environmental and social (ES) policies. This paper shows that stocks with higher ES ratings have significantly higher returns, lower return volatility, and higher operating profit margins during the first quarter of 2020. ES firms with higher advertising expenditures experience higher stock returns, and stocks held by more ES-oriented investors experience less return volatility during the crash. This paper highlights the importance of customer and investor loyalty to the resiliency of ES stocks.