ABSTRACT
The massive global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic makes the development of more effective and easily popularized assays critical. Here, we developed an ultrasensitive nanomechanical method based on microcantilever array and peptide nucleic acid (PNA) for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA. The method has an extremely low detection limit of 0.1 fM (105 copies/mL) for N-gene specific sequence (20 bp). Interestingly, it was further found that the detection limit of N gene (pharyngeal swab sample) was even lower, reaching 50 copies/mL. The large size of the N gene dramatically enhances the sensitivity of the nanomechanical sensor by up to three orders of magnitude. The detection limit of this amplification-free assay method is an order of magnitude lower than RT-PCR (500 copies/mL) that requires amplification. The non-specific signal in the assay is eliminated by the in-situ comparison of the array, reducing the false-positive misdiagnosis rate. The method is amplification-free and label-free, allowing for accurate diagnosis within 1 h. The strong specificity and ultra-sensitivity allow single base mutations in viruses to be distinguished even at very low concentrations. Also, the method remains sensitive to fM magnitude lung cancer marker (miRNA-155). Therefore, this ultrasensitive, amplification-free and inexpensive assay is expected to be used for the early diagnosis of COVID-19 patients and to be extended as a broad detection tool. Electronic Supplementary Material: Supplementary material (experimental section, N gene sequences and all nucleic acid sequences used in the study, Figs. S1-S6, and Tables S1-S3) is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s12274-022-4333-3.
ABSTRACT
In this paper, an epidemiological study was performed by focusing on all confirmed patients with COVID-19 in Xuzhou, a prefecture-level city, and a transportation hub with 10.44 million population in the east region of China. The median age of the patients is 42-year-old and 45.57% are male;25 cases (31.65%) are imported. 23 cases (29.11%) were confirmed between January 26 to 31, 2020 while 56 cases (70.89%) were from February 1 to 16, 2020. Among the ten administrative divisions of Xuzhou city, Suining county (n=31) and Pizhou City (n=15) have the most cases while Tongshan district has none. A representative familial cluster with 6 cases was analyzed in detail in order to get a better understanding of the transmission routes of the virus. Furthermore, we performed a retrospective, single-centre study of 41 COVID-19 patients at Xuzhou Infectious Diseases Hospital in terms of clinical findings, which provided an insightful understanding of the disease.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has widely spread all over the world and the numbers of patients and deaths are increasing. According to the epidemiology, virology, and clinical practice, there are varying degrees of changes in patients, involving the human body structure and function and the activity and participation. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and its biopsychosocial model of functioning, we use the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO-FICs) framework to form an expert consensus on the COVID-19 rehabilitation program, focusing on the diagnosis and evaluation of disease and functioning, and service delivery of rehabilitation, and to establish a standard rehabilitation framework, terminology system, and evaluation and intervention systems based the WHO-FICs.
ABSTRACT
The population is commonly susceptible to the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), especially the elderly with comorbidities. Elderly patients infected with 2019-nCoV tend to have higher rates of severe illness and mortality. Immunosenescence is an important cause of severe novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) in the elderly. Due to the combination of underlying diseases, elderly patients may exhibit atypical manifestations in clinical symptoms, supplementary examinations, and pulmonary imaging, deserving particular attention. The general condition of the elderly should be considered during diagnosis and treatment. In addition to routine care and measures-such as oxygen therapy, antiviral therapy, and respiratory support-treatment of underlying disease, nutritional support, sputum expectoration complication prevention, and psychological support should also be considered for elderly patients. Based on a literature review and expert panel discussion, we drafted the "Recommendations for the Prevention and Treatment of the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia in the elderly in China," aiming to provide help with the prevention and treatment of NCP and the reduction of harm to the elderly population.