ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND & AIMS: COVID-19 is an emergency public health problem of global importance. This study aimed to investigate the effect of foods and nutrients as complementary approaches on the recovery from COVID-19 in 170 countries, especially considering the complexity of the disease and the current scarcity of active treatments. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed using the Kaggle database, which links the consumption of various foods with recovery from COVID-19 in 170 countries, using multivariate analysis based on a generalized linear model. RESULTS: The results showed that certain foods had a positive effect on recovery from COVID-19: eggs, fish and seafood, fruits, meat, milk, starchy roots, stimulants, vegetable products, nuts, vegetable oil and vegetables. In general, consumption of higher levels of proteins and lipids had a positive effect on COVID-19 recovery, whereas high consumption of alcoholic beverages had a negative effect. In developed countries, where hunger had been eradicated, the effect of food on recovery from COVID-19 had a greater magnitude than in countries with a higher global hunger index (GHI), where there was almost no identifiable effect. CONCLUSION: Several foods had a positive effect on COVID-19 recovery in developed countries, especially food groups with a higher content of lipids, proteins, antioxidants and micronutrients (e.g., selenium and zinc). In countries with extreme poverty (high GHI), foods presented little effect on recovery from COVID-19.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Animals , Linear Models , COVID-19/epidemiology , Retrospective Studies , Vegetables , Nutrients , Multivariate Analysis , Lipids , DietABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To collate the evidence on the accuracy parameters of all available diagnostic methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: A systematic review with meta-analysis was performed. Searches were conducted in Pubmed and Scopus (April 2020). Studies reporting data on sensitivity or specificity of diagnostic tests for COVID-19 using any human biological sample were included. RESULTS: Sixteen studies were evaluated. Meta-analysis showed that computed tomography has high sensitivity (91.9% [89.8%-93.7%]), but low specificity (25.1% [21.0%-29.5%]). The combination of IgM and IgG antibodies demonstrated promising results for both parameters (84.5% [82.2%-86.6%]; 91.6% [86.0%-95.4%], respectively). For RT-PCR tests, rectal stools/swab, urine, and plasma were less sensitive while sputum (97.2% [90.3%-99.7%]) presented higher sensitivity for detecting the virus. CONCLUSIONS: RT-PCR remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of COVID-19 in sputum samples. However, the combination of different diagnostic tests is highly recommended to achieve adequate sensitivity and specificity.