ABSTRACT
Context. During the Covid-19 lockdown, the southeastern France pension fund launched a phone call campaign to maintain social contacts with retirees living alone. A study was carried out among the pension fund's workers to explore their views on the campaign, and how retirees experienced lockdown. Methods. Qualitative study based on structured interviews with 19 workers between June 16 and July 2, 2020. Results. From the workers' point of view, retirees mainly suffered from a lack of physical and emotional contact with their families, and from a lack of physical activity affecting their quality of life and their autonomy. The workers reported a strong mobilization of friends and relatives (family, neighbors) and, in some areas, of local stakeholders. This campaign allowed the workers to feel useful, to rediscover humanity in their jobs, and to better understand the needs of older people. They regretted a lack of both technical and psychological preparation. Discussion. This study highlights several areas of improvement for this kind of campaign (target audience, training, collaboration between actors). © Caisse nationale d'assurance vieillesse. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.
ABSTRACT
Background: The Guillain Barr syndrome (GBS) has been linked with several viral infections including CoViD-19. Description of clinical cases: 5 out of 352 patients referring to Department of Medicine for CoViD-19 infection showed neurological symptoms suggesting GBS. All patients were confirmed as SARS-CoV-2 infected by PCR on nasopharyngeal swabs. Mean age was 63.4. One was female and 4 males. In 3 cases the infection was mild, no lung involvement was found and no intensive care was required. Intensive care admission was needed in a case with bilateral interstitial pneumonia and neurological symptoms and in a patient with pulmonary embolism. All patients suffered for diffuse, severe motor and sensory involvement. In 4 cases the ranking score at admission was 4, in one was 5. Neurophysiological investigations were performed in all patients. Two cases showed an acute inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy, in 3 cases an acute axonal neuropathy was observed. An increase in proteins was detected in cerebrospinal fluid. The presence of viral- RNA for SARS-CoV-2 in the CSF resulted negative as well as the antibodies against gangliosides. Two patients were treated with dexamethasone whereas in three patients immunoglobulins were added. Neurological symptoms gradually improved in all cases, in fact, the ranking score was 3 at hospital discharge. Conclusions: Five patients showed neurological symptoms suggesting GBS. These symptoms before treatment resulted severe and improved after therapy. Further studies are needed to confirm whether the CoViD-19 can induce the clinical development of GBS.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created an urgent need for therapeutics that inhibit the SARS-COV-2 virus and suppress the fulminant inflammation characteristic of advanced illness. Here, we describe the anti-COVID-19 potential of PTC299, an orally bioavailable compound that is a potent inhibitor of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), the rate-limiting enzyme of the de novo pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis pathway. In tissue culture, PTC299 manifests robust, dose-dependent, and DHODH-dependent inhibition of SARS-COV-2 replication (EC50 range, 2.0-31.6 nM) with a selectivity index >3,800. PTC299 also blocked replication of other RNA viruses, including Ebola virus. Consistent with known DHODH requirements for immunomodulatory cytokine production, PTC299 inhibited the production of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17A (also called IL-17), IL-17 F, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in tissue culture models. The combination of anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity, cytokine inhibitory activity, and previously established favorable pharmacokinetic and human safety profiles render PTC299 a promising therapeutic for COVID-19.