ABSTRACT
During the second wave of the viral pandemic, hospitals were overcrowded by the escalation of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) cases. To effectively address the drastic escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative solutions are warranted. The rising demand for critical-care services burdens hospitals;hence, to alleviate the burden on the healthcare system, asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms can be treated at home through continuous monitoring and care. Affected patients are at risk of hypoxia, which urgently requires oxygen therapy. Depending on the extent of oxygen demand, patients can boost their oxygen levels by making use of a nasal cannula, face mask, oxygen cylinder, and/or oxygen concentrator. Several risk factors are associated with the augmented probability of COVID-19 progression to severe status due to increased oxygen requirement, and they include advanced age, obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. A close monitoring of oxygen saturation (SpO2) along with other clinical investigations like complete and differential blood counts, serum electrolytes, random blood sugar, liver function tests, coagulation profile (Prothrombin Time (PT), activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (aPTT) and International Normalized Ratio (INR)), renal function test, C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer and ferritin level are mandatory for patients receiving home-based oxygen therapy. An awareness of safety considerations such as perfectly fitting, proper sized mask, availability of ventilation, knowledge of caregiver about danger signs and good functioning of fire alarm system at home are of prime importance before setting up oxygenation devices at home, and this further mandates a comprehensive evaluation of home-based management and treatment of mildly symptomatic patients with COVID-19. Copyright © 2023 Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Following the USA, India ranks the second position globally for COVID-19 cases in the pandemic year 2020. The study intends to explore the epidemiological stage of COVID-19 disease by estimating the most warranted features peak and size of COVID-19 cases in India. Data for this study was retrieved from a publicly available COVID19-India application programming interface (API). Exponential model was applied to estimate the growth rates of daily COVID-19 cases. Seasonal auto regressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model was developed for the growth rates to predict daily COVID-19 cases. The exponential model unravels a shift and a modest decline in the growth of daily COVID-19 cases. The study shows that the SARIMA model is suitable for projecting daily COVID-19 cases. The forecasted peak value of daily COVID-19 cases was approximately 104,000 COVID-19 cases on 19 September 2020, whereas the real-time peak value was 97,861 COVID-19 cases conspicuous on 16 September 2020. The projected size of COVID-19 disease was 105 lakhs versus 103 lakhs at the end of December 2020. The forecasts and projections is adjoining to the real-time peak value of daily COVID-19 cases in India and successfully explores the epidemiological stage of COVID-19 disease in India.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic is presently wreaking havoc on general public health, food systems, human dignity, and labour around the world. The availability and potential delivery of a safe and effective vaccination to communities around the world is being viewed not only as a means of overcoming these obstacles, but also as a demonstration of human resilience in the face of hardship. Nations must mobilise their resources to ensure widespread access to vaccines, without which the true benefits of development will be lost. Despite its vast internal needs, our country is seen with both hope and anticipation for its ability to deliver at this critical moment in human civilization's progress, and India is more than willing to contribute. © The Authors.
ABSTRACT
The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has a wider geographical spread than other previous viruses such as Ebola and H1N1. This study aims to provide the estimates of the basic reproduction rate (R<sub>0</sub>) and case fatality rate (CFR), which applies to a generalized population. The systematic review helped to retrieve the published estimates of reproduction rate and case fatality rate in peer-reviewed articles from the PubMed MEDLINE database with defined inclusion and exclusion criteria in the period 15 December 2019 to 3 May 2020. A meta-analysis, with the inverse variance method, fixed- and random-effects model and the Forest plot, was performed to estimate the mean effect size or mean value of the basic reproduction rate and case fatality rate. We estimated the robust estimate of R<sub>0</sub> at 3.02 (2.42-3.68) persons and the robust estimate of CFR at 2.56 (2.06-3.05) percent after accounting for heterogeneity among studies using the random-effects model. We found that one person is likely to infect two to three persons in the absence of any control measures, and around three percent of the population are at the risk of death within one-and-a-half months from the onset of disease COVID-19 in a generalized population.