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Introduction: Post-COVID-19 syndrome has emerged as we learn more about COVID-19 but its influence on patient well-being after discharge is not well researched. The study examined the impact of demography and symptom persistence on functional outcome post hospitalization. Method(s): A single-centre, cross-sectional study was conducted via retrospective review of medical records of patients who attended the post-COVID-19 clinic follow-up from September 2020 until August 2021. Associating factors with functional status was analysed using logistic regression. Result(s): The mean age of 201 patients was 55 (SD: 14.1) years old, with population match ethnic proportions and equal gender distribution. Most were diagnosed with COVID-19 Stage 3 or higher. Hypertension (57.1%) and diabetes (39.1%) were the common comorbidities. Cough (59.3%), dyspnoea (43.3%), and fever (42.5%) were the most prevalent hospitalization symptoms, while malaise (21.0%), dyspnoea (17.8%), and cough (17.4%) were the most common post-discharge symptoms. Slightly less than half (46.6%) had poor functional outcome. Patients with malaise [AOR: 4.76 (95% CI: 1.89, 12.02), p=0.001] and cough [AOR: 2.97 (95% CI: 1.17, 7.55), p=0.022] had higher odds of poor functional outcome. Twenty-three patients sought treatment for persistent symptoms, but only three contacted the COVID team for advice. Conclusion(s): Persistent symptoms like malaise and cough which was associated with poorer functional outcomes alongside low health-seeking behaviour implying a lack of knowledge about the impact of symptom persistence on their quality of life. This serves as a guide for patient's education on recovery and future follow-up plans in the post-COVID-19 clinic.
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Due to China's novel coronavirus pneumonia and the deepening of the reform of the power grid market, the implementation and implementation of China's dual carbon policy and the current international related quality prices, the State Grid Limited by Share Ltd has proposed that "one industry is the leading force to drive four sides, all elements to develop together”, aiming at promoting the fine governance. Continuously improve quality and efficiency. Therefore, it is urgent to promote the optimization of power grid construction projects and the improvement of auxiliary decision-making system under the dual carbon goal. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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Since the first report of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, the disease has rapidly spread to many countries worldwide. The initial reports showed that the incidence rate in adults was higher, while children and adolescents had fewer cases of infection. However, the number of COVID-19 cases has gradually increased in children and adolescents. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the percentage of children and/or adolescents of the total patients diagnosed with COVID-19. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched to find relevant studies. All statistical analyses were conducted using StataMP 14 software. A total of 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. The final results showed that the percentage of children and/or adolescents of all COVID-19 cases was 0.06 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.04-0.07], which meant an average of 6 cases in children per 10,000 COVID-19 cases. The percentage of children and/or adolescents with COVID-19 was 0.03 (95% CI, 0.01-0.05), 0.09 (95% CI, 0.08-0.09), 0.09 (95% CI, 0.03-0.16) and 0.04 (95% CI, 0.00-0.10) in Asia, South America, North America and Europe, respectively. The present study showed a low percentage of COVID-19 cases of children and/or adolescents, but not without infection risk. Therefore, we should pay attention to the cases of children and/or adolescents during the COVID-19 period and raise our vigilance. © 2022, Medcom Limited. All rights reserved.
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Objective To summarize the clinical characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infected with Delta variant, so as to provide further references for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods A real-world study was conducted to analyze the characteristics of 166 COVID-19 patients infected with Delta variant at Guangzhou Eighth People’s Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University. Results The study enrolled 5 asymptomatic cases, 123 non-severe cases (mild and moderate type), and 38 severe cases (severe and critical type). Among these patients, 69 (41.6%) were male and 97 (58.4%) were female, with a mean age of 47.0±23.5 years. Thirty-nine cases (23.5%) had received 1 or 2 doses of inactivated vaccine. The incidence of severe COVID-19 cases was 7.7% in 2-doses vaccinated patients, which was lower than that of 11.5% in 1-dose and 26.8% in unvaccinated patients. The proportion of severe cases in 2 dose-vaccinated patients was 7.7%, which was lower than that of 11.5% in 1-dose vaccinated patients and 26.8% in unvaccinated patients, but the difference was not significant (P>0.05). The most common clinical symptom was fever (134 cases, 83.2%), and 39.1% of cases presented with high-grade fever (≥ 39 °C);other symptoms were cough, sputum, fatigue, and xerostomia. The proportion of fever in severe cases was significantly higher than that of non-severe cases (97.4% vs. 76.4%, P<0.01). Similarly, the proportion of severe cases with high peak temperature (≥ 39 ℃) () was also higher than that of non-severe cases (65.8% vs. 30.9%, P<0.01). The median minimal Cycle threshold (Ct) values of viral nucleic acid N gene and ORFlab gene were 20.3 and 21.5, respectively, and the minimum Ct values were 11.9 and 13.5, respectively. Within 48 h of admission, 9.0% of cases presented with decreased white blood cell counts, and 52.4% with decreased lymphocyte counts. The proportions of increased C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, interleukin 6, and interleukin 10 were 32.5%, 57.4%, 65.3%, and 35.7%, respectively. The proportions of elevated C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A and interleukin-6 in severe cases were significantly higher than those in non-severe cases (P<0.01). Logistic regression analysis showed that older age and higher peak temperature were associated with a higher likelihood of severe cases (OR>3, 95% CI: 2-7, P<0.01). In terms of treatment, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) was used in 97.6% of non-severe cases and 100% in severe cases. Other treatments included respiratory and nutritional support, immunotherapy (such as neutralizing antibodies and plasma of recovered patients). The median times from admission to progression to severe cases, of fever clearance, and of nucleic acid conversion were 5 days, 6 days and 19 days, respectively. No deaths were reported within 28 days. Conclusions The symptoms of Delta variant infection in Guangzhou are characterized by a high proportion of fever, high peak temperature, long duration of fever, high viral load, a long time to nucleic acid conversion, and a high incidence of severe cases. The severe cases exhibit a higher percentage of elderly patients, a longer duration of fever and have a higher fever rate and a higher hyperthermia rate than non-severe cases. Age and hyperthermia are independent risk factors for progression to severe disease. The combination of TCM and Western medicine can control the progression of the disease effectively. © 2021 Chinese Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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Triggered by the necessity of social distancing due to the current pandemic situation, people increasingly need video conference technology for various activities such as study and work. Currently, there are several public video conference services, both free and paid, that can be utilized without having to set up complex devices and infrastructure. However, in addition to the problems caused by dependence on certain service providers, the public services are mostly run from several centralized places, while the users are from various regions. That causes increased network latency and bandwidth costs between regions. We propose a video conference network that can be openly participated by various service providers that can be optimally utilized based on the closest location and network quality. © 2020 IEEE.
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Objectives: The unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted women disproportionately in all biopsychosocial domains. We undertook a rapid scoping review to determine the extent of impacts to women's health during the pandemic. Methods: Electronic bibliographic databases (EMBASE, CINAHL, Epistemonikos), pre-prints servers (MedRxiv, BioRxiv, and PsyArXiv), and the grey literature (websites for WHO, UN, CDC, NICE, SIGN, SOGC, ACOG, RCOG, RANZCOG) were searched for articles reporting COVID-19's impact on women's health. Findings were organized thematically with narrative synthesis. Results: Of 1,490 abstracts identified using electronic databases, 87 studies were included, along with 88 from grey literature search for final analysis. Most studies were based on a single country (n=82), while others were international from Asia, Europe, North America, and South America (n=5). The majority were original studies in scientific journals (n=83), and others were policy papers (n=4). Six major themes were identified to include the reported health impacts on women: [1] increased proportion of COVID-19 infections, frequency of symptoms, and hospitalization duration (n=8);[2] worsening mental health and substance misuse (n=37);[3] restricted women's health services (family planning, breast/gynecologic cancer, sexual health, and transgender health) (n=7);[4] increased healthcare worker harassment, stigmatization, and burnout among women (n=21);[5] pregnancy specific vulnerabilities (n=10);and [6] increased gender-based violence (n=2). Conclusions: Our review provides a global overview of COVID-19′s impact on women's physical and mental health, and access issues to health services. Our results will inform future quantitative and qualitative research, as well as health system policies and decision-making for women's health during the pandemic.
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Electric vehicle development is critical to achieve the sustainable goals, while the hit of COVID-19 strikes the market and brings challenges to the whole industry. China, among one of the earliest regions affected by COVID-19 and takes a great part in the global electric vehicle market, is attracting growing attention on its post-pandemic trends in the electric vehicle industry. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of COVID-19 impacts on China's electric vehicle industry from both the demand side and the supply side. Both challenges and opportunities for China's electric vehicle development are revealed with emerging trend analysis. It is found that the COVID-19 outbreak has reduced electric vehicle sales in the short-term, but may also stimulate future electric vehicle demand especially for large electric cars with better performance. Meanwhile, travel restrictions caused by COVID-19 have interrupted electric vehicle material supplies that relying on imports, accelerating domestic substitute exploitation and inventory improvement for critical parts. Additionally, massive lockdowns for controlling COVID-19 have disrupted productions and operations, which tends to expel small brands out of the competitive market, concentrating China's electric vehicle industry to the leading brands. Finally, the social distancing trend after pandemic is bringing challenges to traditional EV distribution channels with dealers, pushing automakers to develop innovative online selling channels. These impacts are likely to lead to a reformation of China's electric vehicle industry towards a more advanced and reliable future.
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OBJECTIVE: Many studies have reported arrhythmia to be associated with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but no meta-analysis has explored whether arrhythmia is related to COVID-19 severity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate arrhythmia in patients with severe and non-severe COVID-19 during the current COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for case control studies that were published between January 1 and July 25, 2020, and that had data on arrhythmia in patients with COVID-19. Random effects model was used with the odds ratio as the effect size. The frequency of arrhythmia was compared between COVID-19 patients with and without the composite endpoint of severity. We also determined the pooled prevalence of arrhythmia in patients with COVID-19. Publication bias and heterogeneity were considered by using subgroup analyses, meta-regression, and the trim and fill method. RESULTS: A total of 1553 patients with COVID-19 were included in the 5 articles we obtained. Of these, 349 cases (22.47%) and 1204 cases (77.53%) were severely ill and non-severely ill inpatients with COVID-19 pneumonia, respectively. There were 790 (50.87%) male patients. A total of 105 cases (30.09%) of severely ill inpatients with COVID-19 pneumonia had arrhythmia complications, and 34 cases (2.82%) of non-severely ill inpatients with COVID-19 pneumonia had arrhythmia complications. We found arrhythmia to be significantly associated with severely ill inpatients with COVID-19 pneumonia, with a pooled odds ratio of 17.97 (95% CI (11.30, 28.55), p<0.00001). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the incidence of arrhythmia in patients with severe COVID-19 was greater than that of those with non-severe COVID-19. Patients with severe COVID-19 had a higher risk of arrhythmia complications, which further showed that COVID-19 may be a risk factor for arrhythmia and that the incidence of arrhythmia may increase with the progression of the disease. More importantly, this meta-analysis graded the reliability of evidence for further basic and clinical research into arrhythmia in patients with COVID-19.