Manifestations and outcomes of intracerebral hemorrhage during COVID‐19 pandemic in China: a multicenter, longitudinal cohort study (preprint)

Background: We just right were carrying out a multicenter cohort study about ICH when COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan，and we wondered whether COVID-19 pandemic was associated with the manifestations and outcomes of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods: : Acute ICH patients before (1/12/2018-30/11/2019) and during COVID-19(1/12/2019-30/11/2020) pandemic at 31 centers in China, were entered into the analysis. Demographic information, clinical manifestations and outcomes were collected and compared between the two groups. Results: : From December 1, 2018 to November 30, 2020, a total of 3460 patients with ICH were enrolled and eventually analyzed. Results showed that patients with ICH were more likely to be older, have higher systolic blood pressure (BP) (P<0.001), diastolic-BP (P=0.002), higher admission NIHSS score (P=0.039) and higher fasting blood glucose (P=0.003) during COVID-19 pandemic compared with before. After adjusting age, gender, COVID-19 pandemic was associated with 3-month poor outcome (OR = 1.206, 95%CI: 1.043-1.395) and 3-month mortality (OR = 1.711, 95%CI: 1.428-2.050) after ICH onset. Conclusions: : COVID-19 pandemic deteriorated the manifestations and outcomes of ICH.

Rapid Genomic Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 Viruses From Clinical Specimens Using Nanopore Sequencing (preprint)

The outbreak of the novel SARS-CoV-2 has swiftly spread worldwide. Rapid genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 strains has become a helpful tool for better understanding of virus genomic characteristics and the origin. To obtain the virus whole-genome sequence directly from the clinical specimens, we performed the nanopore sequencing using a modified ARTIC protocol on portable nanopore sequencer, and validated the routine 8 hours workflow and 5 hours rapid pipeline. We had made some optimizations to improve the genome sequencing workflow. The sensitivity of the workflow was also tested by serially diluting RNA from clinical samples. The optimized pipeline was finally applied to obtain the whole genomes from 17 clinical specimens in Hangzhou from January 2020 to March 2020. In the obtained 17 complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2, 12 variations were found and analyzed. The genomic variations and phylogenetic analysis hinted the multiple sources and different transmission pattern during the COVID-19 epidemic in Hangzhou, China. In conclusion, the genomic characteristics and the origin of the virus could be quickly determined by nanopore sequencing following our workflows.