Assessment of shifts in mortality age profile of adult population in Moscow during pandemic

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic induced the global crisis of mortality. Delayed medical care and reduced availability under quarantine restrictions have led to an increase in mortality not only from COVID-19, but also from chronic non-communicable diseases, affecting men and women of different ages to varying degrees. The study purpose is to assess shifts in mortality age profile of population aged 20+ in Moscow during COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods. Official vital statistics of Rosstat, operational information from civil registration database on death causes in Moscow. Results. The gain in mortality rate caused primarily by deaths from COVID-19 interrupted in 2020 the positive demographic dynamics that had developed over the previous years. In 2021, the increase in the mortality rate continued, but the loss of life expectancy was lower due to a decrease in mortality in older ages and the return of most indicators to the level of 2019. However, from a socio-economic point of view, the situation in 2021 developed more negatively, since the age structure of life expectancy losses is younger than in 2020. Limitations. The study results are based on operational information of the Moscow civil registration office and could be used for the development of managerial decisions for Moscow only. Conclusion. Against the pandemic demographic situation in Moscow has worsened. Due to mortality gain in the Russia's capital first in the past years recorded natural population decline. © 2022 Izdatel'stvo Meditsina. All rights reserved.

Personalized, context-aware, and adaptable persuasive approach for encouraging physical activity among older adults

Seclusion and sedentary lifestyle are the main causes of many psychological and physical health problems. They may be among the top 10 causes of death and disability in the world. The pandemic crisis context of COVID has deepened these problems, especially for older adults who have been isolated, deprived of their relatives and of doing physical activities. In this paper, we introduce an adaptive, personalized, and context-aware persuasive platform to stimulate physical activities of older adults without deception or coercion. Our persuasion approach is customizable, in the sense that every older adult has its personal profile. It is also adaptive because it can use a persuasion loop to change the persuasion strategy when the older adult does not adhere to the proposed persuasion strategy. Furthermore, our persuasion approach is context-aware as it takes account of contextual location and weather information in the provision of the persuasion strategy. To validate our approach, we implemented "ActiveSenior”. Then, we carried out a large-scale challenge for one month to approve the results of our persuasive approach. The evaluation of the acceptance of our ActiveSenior system was encouraging as most of the interviewed participants were satisfied. In addition, the obtained results showed a marked improvement in the physical activity of older adults, quantified by the number of steps taken per day. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Reactive surveillance of suicides during the COVID-19 pandemic in France, 2020 to March 2022.

AIMS: Mitigation actions during the COVID-19 pandemic may impact mental health and suicide in general populations. We aimed to analyse the evolution in suicide deaths from 2020 to March 2022 in France. METHODS: Using free-text medical causes in death certificates, we built an algorithm, which aimed to identify suicide deaths. We measured its retrospective performances by comparing suicide deaths identified using the algorithm with deaths which had either a Tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) code for 'intentional self-harm' or for 'external cause of undetermined intent' as the underlying cause. The number of suicide deaths from January 2020 to March 2022 was then compared with the expected number estimated using a generalized additive model. The difference and the ratio between the observed and expected number of suicide deaths were calculated on the three lockdown periods and for periods between lockdowns and after the third one. The analysis was stratified by age group and gender. RESULTS: The free-text algorithm demonstrated high performances. From January 2020 to mid-2021, suicide mortality declined during France's three lockdowns, particularly in men. During the periods between and after the two first lockdowns, suicide mortality remained comparable to the expected values, except for men over 85 years old and in 65-84 year-old age group, where a small number of excess deaths was observed in the weeks following the end of first lockdown, and for men aged 45-64 years old, where the decline continued after the second lockdown ended. After the third lockdown until March 2022, an increase in suicide mortality was observed in 18-24 year-old age group for both genders and in men aged 65-84 years old, while a decrease was observed in the 25-44 year-old age group. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted the absence of an increase in suicide mortality during France's COVID-19 pandemic and a substantial decline during lockdown periods, something already observed in other countries. The increase in suicide mortality observed in 18-24 year-old age group and in men aged 65-84 years old from mid-2021 to March 2022 suggests a prolonged impact of COVID-19 on mental health, also described on self-harm hospitalizations and emergency department's attendances in France. Further studies are required to explain the factors for this change. Reactive monitoring of suicide mortality needs to be continued since mental health consequences and the increase in suicide mortality may be continued in the future with the international context.

COVID-19 Mortality in the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine Biobank.

Over 6.37 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, but factors influencing COVID-19-related mortality remain understudied. We aimed to describe and identify risk factors for COVID-19 mortality in the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine (CCPM) Biobank using integrated data sources, including Electronic Health Records (EHRs). We calculated cause-specific mortality and case-fatality rates for COVID-19 and common pre-existing health conditions defined by diagnostic phecodes and encounters in EHRs. We performed multivariable logistic regression analyses of the association between each pre-existing condition and COVID-19 mortality. Of the 155,859 Biobank participants enrolled as of July 2022, 20,797 had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Of 5334 Biobank participants who had died, 190 were attributed to COVID-19. The case-fatality rate was 0.91% and the COVID-19 mortality rate was 122 per 100,000 persons. The odds of dying from COVID-19 were significantly increased among older men, and those with 14 of the 61 pre-existing conditions tested, including hypertensive chronic kidney disease (OR: 10.14, 95% CI: 5.48, 19.16) and type 2 diabetes with renal manifestations (OR: 5.59, 95% CI: 3.42, 8.97). Male patients who are older and have pre-existing kidney diseases may be at higher risk for death from COVID-19 and may require special care.

A Lightweight CNN Architecture for Chest X-ray Images Analysis to Facilitate Early Stage Detection of Lung Diseases

Lung-related diseases are one of the significant causes of death among infants and children. However, the mortality rate can be reduced by the detection of lung abnormality at an early stage. Traditionally, radiologists identify irregularities by interpreting chest x-ray images which is time-consuming. Therefore, researchers have proposed many automated systems for diagnosing pneumonia and other lung-related diseases. Due to the remarkable performance of Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN) in image classification, it has gained immense popularity in chest x-ray image analysis. Most of the research has utilized famous pre-trained Imagenet models for more accurate analysis of Chest X-ray images. However, the problem with these architectures is that they have many parameters that increase the training time, which makes the detection process lengthy. This paper introduces a lightweight, compact, and well-tuned CNN architecture with far fewer parameters than the pre-trained model to analyze two of the most common lung diseases, pneumonia and Covid-19. We have evaluated our model on two benchmark datasets. Experimental results show that our lightweight CNN model has far fewer hyperparameters than other state-of-the-art models but achieves similar results. We have achieved an accuracy of 90.38% on the kermany dataset and 96.90% on the Covid-19 Radiography dataset. © 2022 IEEE.

IoT-Based Heart Monitoring System Implementation and Analysis

This paper presents an IoT-based heart monitoring system using 8266 NodeMCU. According to the Malaysian Department of Statistics, ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death, accounting for 15.0% of the 109,164 medically certified deaths in 2019. The coronary heart is a vital organ that pumps oxygen and blood across the body. Meanwhile, if the heart is not getting sufficient oxygen, the patient will experience chest pain, typically on the left side of the body, which can be mistaken for a heart problem. During the Covid-19 pandemic, a patient cannot attend regular treatment at the hospital as it is operating at full capacity. During this phase, the hospital can only focus on the critical and high-risk patient. The proposed heart monitoring system monitors the patient by measuring the heart rate and oxygen level in the comforts of home. Therefore, the patient can provide his current health record for the doctor's evaluation. The idea behind this proposed system is to construct an IOT-based system that automatically monitors the health condition in terms of heartbeat and oxygen detection. The prototype provides data to the Blynk for the patient and the I-Heart web-based application for the medical practitioner. © 2022 IEEE.

Analysis of lethal outcomes in COVID-19 convalescents in multidisciplinary hospital

Health status of COVID-19 convalescents poses a serious burden on the healthcare system due to frequent decompensation of existing diseases and high mortality after episode of infection. This requires an analysis of not only the causes of death, but also the time of occurrence of complications in order to implement preventive measures and potentially reduce mortality Aim. The aim of the study was to carry out a clinical and pathoanatomical analysis of fatal outcomes in convalescents of COVID-19 in a multidisciplinary hospital. Material and Methods. The medical documentation of 67 deceased patients with a documented history of COVID-19 was analyzed. Patients were divided into five groups based on the nosological principle. Results. The study showed that the absolute majority of fatal outcomes occurred within one to two months (chi2 = 15.53;p = 0.001;df = 1);after that, the mortality rate gradually decreased over time. The rate of patients who died from acute and chronic decompensated cardiac diseases was 63%, which may be attributed to the specifics of the hospital. The number of neglected oncological diseases was 21% in our sample, which also should be considered a negative impact of the pandemic. In our study, the neglected oncological diseases were observed in 45% of patients, which was probably due to the profile of the hospital. The incidence rate of pulmonary embolism and other thrombotic complications was significantly higher in women (chi2 = 30.73;p < 0.001;df = 1). While comparing the time between recovery from COVID-19 and onset of death, we found that thrombotic complications occurred more often either immediately or within one to two months after recovery from COVID-19;sometimes patients already had a formed lung infarction, but in these cases the interval was longer (four to six months), which suggested the beginning of thrombosis during the acute stage of disease. Conclusion. At the early stage, it is necessary to analyze basic information about the epidemiology of post-COVID-19 syndrome taking into account patient age and comorbidities. Given the high frequency of deaths, most often associated with thrombotic events or disorders of the cardiovascular system, it is necessary to plan clinical and laboratory tests, appropriate registries and clinical trials in order to properly assess thee risks and prepare for the long-term consequences of COVID-19. © 2022 Tomsk State University. All rights reserved.

CAUSES OF DEATH IN TURKEY: HOW THE INCREASE IN THE BURDEN OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES VARY BY SEX AND AGE?

Causes of death statistics are essential tools for public health, but Turkey lags in the number of studies on causes and trends of death. This study measures causes and trends of death in Turkey for the 2013-2019 period, with special emphasis on the increase in communicable diseases (CDs). This study has a representative research design based on the national population and cause of death registration systems. Causes of death with International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes were grouped and garbage codes were determined and redistributed. To understand how the increase in the burden of CDs vary by sex and age, modal age at death, age-specific death rates, probability of eventual death, years of life lost (YLL) due to three main causes of death were calculated by using discrete absorbing Markov chain model. According to results, modal age at death among male population shifted to older ages, the share of respiratory infectious diseases and other infectious and parasitic diseases increased rapidly between 2013 and 2019, just before the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, our results suggest that burden of CDs increased for both sexes, and elderly male population was among the most effected group. Since non-communicable diseases were still the leading causes of death, increasing rate of CDs may create an extra burden on health system.Alternate abstract: Ölüm nedeni istatistikleri, halk sağlığı için çok önemli araçlardır, ancak Türkiye ölüm nedenleri ve eğilimlerine ilişkin yapılan çalışmalarda geride kalmaktadır. Bu çalışma, bulaşıcı hastalıklardaki (BH'lerdeki) artışa özel bir vurgu yaparak, 2013-2019 döneminde Türkiye'deki ölüm nedenlerini ve eğilimlerini değerlendirmektedir. Çalışma, ulusal nüfus ve ölüm nedeni kayıt sistemlerine dayalı temsili araştırma tasarımına sahiptir. Uluslararası Hastalık Sınıflandırması Onuncu Revizyon (UHS-10) kodlarına sahip tüm ölüm nedenleri gruplandırılmış ve çöp kodlar belirlenerek ölüm nedenleri içinde yeniden dağıtılmıştır. BH yükündeki artışın cinsiyete ve yaşa göre nasıl değiştiğini anlamak için ayrık Markov zinciri modellemesi kullanılmış ve en fazla ölümün meydana geldiği yaş, üç ana ölüm nedenine göre yaşa özel ölüm oranları, ölüm olasılıkları ve kaybedilen yaşam yılları hesaplanmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre, erkek nüfusta en fazla ölümün meydana geldiği yaş daha ileri yaşlara kaymış;her iki cinsiyette de 2013-2019 yılları arasında- COVID-19 pandemisinin başlamasından hemen önce- solunum yolu enfeksiyon hastalıkları ile diğer bulaşıcı ve parazit hastalıkların payı hızla artmıştır. Genel olarak, sonuçlarımız her iki cinsiyet için de BH yükünün arttığını ve yaşlı erkek nüfusunun en çok etkilenen grup arasında olduğunu göstermektedir. Bulaşıcı olmayan hastalıklar hala önde gelen ölüm nedenleri olduğundan, artan BH oranları sağlık sistemi üzerinde fazladan bir yük oluşturabilir.

Impact of a new coronavirus infection on causes of death in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The distribution of causes and mortality rates in Moscow and St. Petersburg (SPb) are different. Objective. To analyze changes in the distribution of causes of death in Moscow and St. Petersburg related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods. The data were used on the annual average population and the annual number of deaths in one-year age groups according to Rosstat for 2019-2021. Standardized mortality rates based on the European standard were calculated. An ABC analysis of the deaths and causes of death in the two cities was performed. Results. Despite the new coronavirus infection, mortality rates in St. Petersburg exceeded those in Moscow by 20% for three years. ABC analysis of the cause of death distribution showed a sharp decrease in the number of causes responsible for 80% of deaths. The 50 leading causes of death in St. Petersburg were more consistent. In the list of causes, mortality due to malignant neoplasms of various localizations in Moscow has shifted down by 3-11 positions, and in St. Petersburg, it increased by 10 positions. The proportion of malignant neoplasms exceeds half of the deaths due to gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. Mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Moscow was 30% lower in 2021. Mortality from diseases associated with the gastrointestinal tract tended to decrease in both cities. Mortality from respiratory diseases was 15-20% lower in Moscow. The changing distribution of causes of death during a pandemic was expected for several reasons. In Moscow, compared to St. Petersburg in 2020, the <<coronavirus infection>> diagnosis was apparently used more <<cautiously>> as a cause of death. Conclusion. The coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on mortality rates and distribution. The trends of mortality changes during the analyzed period were often inconsistent;however, mortality from leading causes in St. Petersburg remained higher than in Moscow.Copyright © 2023, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

A retrospective study to find out factors affecting maternal mortality in a tertiary care hospital in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat

Background : Data pertaining to preventable causes of maternal mortality are valuable in each set up to design interventional steps for the significant reduction of the maternal mortality ratio. Objectives : (1) To study the trend on Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR);(2) To find out the factors for the Maternal Mortality. Material and Methods : A retrospective cross-sectional study of maternal death was conducted in the Obstetrics Department of Tertiary Care Hospital of Ahmedabad city. The data of total 9 years from 1st April 2013 to 31st January 2021 were taken in the study. Epidemiological factors and causes affecting maternal mortality were assessed through pretested questionnaire that includes parity, duration between admission and mortality etc. Results: Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) was 180.2 per 1 lac live births during the study period. Young mothersaged 20 to 30 years (78.5%), and rural residence (76.6%), multiparous mothers (66.7%)were at risk for Maternal Mortality. Obstetric haemorrhage (25.8%) was the most common cause whereas COVID-19 pandemic later on were indirect causes contributing to Maternal Mortality. Conclusion: Great Care should be taken for high-risk pregnancy like young age, multiparous women and also of postpartum women. Postpartum haemorrhage was the commonest direct cause of Maternal Mortality. Strengthening of existing obstetric care facilities, facility for easy transport, appropriate referral linkages are keys to reduce Maternal Mortality to further extent.

Clinical characteristics of 95 patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019

Objective: To retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics of 95 patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) admitted to Hankou Hospital of Wuhan, and provide evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment of severe cases. Methods: From January to March 2020, 95 patients with severe COVID-19 were admitted to a designated Hankou Hospital of Wuhan. The clinical manifestations, laboratory examinations, chest CT, respiratory support, drug treatment, and outcomes were collected and analyzed. Results: Among the 95 patients, there were 76(80.0%) severe cases (severe group) and 19 (20.0%) critically ill cases (critically ill group);the average ages of the two groups were (56.9 .. 14.0) and (66.2 .. 14.1) years old, respectively. The main symptoms included fever [85 (89.5%)], cough [73 (76.8%)] dyspnea [57 (60.0%)], sputum expectoration [32 (33.7%)], diarrhea [20 (21.1%)], etc. The initial symptom was fever [64 (67.4%)], followed by cough [17 (17.9%)]. The main comorbidities were hypertension [29 (30.5%)], diabetes [18 (18.9%), coronary heart disease [12 (12.6%)], etc. Liver injury was the most frequently seen complication which occurred in 35 patients (36.8%), while myocardial damage in 20 patients (21.1%), heart failure in 10 patients (10.5%), and renal damage in 8 patients (8.4%). The level of urea nitrogen [7.5 (3.1-36.6) mmol/L], creatinine [88.0 (46.0-681.0) mol/L], aspartate aminotransferase (AST) [49.0 (8.0-2 290.0) U/L], total bilirubin [12.4 (6.8-112.4) mol/L], white blood cells [8.7 (2.7-16.3) .. 109], neutrophil count [7.9 (1.0-14.6) .. 109/L], high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) [35.6 (0.1-37.9) mg/L] and procalcitonin (PCT) [0.3 (0.1-9.6) ng/mL] in the critically ill group were higher than the severe group [4.5 (1.5-14.6) mmol/L, 70.0 (34.0-149.0) mol/L, 30.5 (10.0-184.0) U/L, 7.8 (1.4-24.5) mol/L, 4.5 (1.7- 10.7) .. 109/L 3.1 (0.6-9.1) .. 109/L, 31.8 (0.1- 40.4) mg/L, 0.1 (0.0- 1.2) ng/mL], and the difference were statistically significant (P all < 0.05);the albumin level reflecting nutritional status [30.2 (24.6-36.4) g/L] was lower than the severe group [35.2(23.5-44.5)g/L], and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Chest computed tomographic scans showed bilateral ground glass opacity or patchy shadows in the lungs of all patients. A total of 77 patients (82.1%) were discharged, and 13 patients (13.7%) died;of which, the mortality of the critically ill group was 68.4% (13 out of 19). Conclusions: The majority of patients with severe COVID- 19 were elderly. The main clinical manifestations were fever, cough, and dyspnea. Most patients had underlying diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease. The occurrence of organ dysfunctions such as liver injury, cardiac damage, heart failure and kidney injury might be an important cause of death. The mortality of severe patients with COVID-19 was high, and treatment was even tough.

[Causes of death in the Moscow region according to medical death certificates]. / Prichiny smerti v Moskovskoi oblasti po dannym meditsinskikh svidetel'stv o smerti.

OBJECTIVE: Determination of the leading causes of death based on data from primary medical death certificates (MDCs) depending on the place of death. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From the electronic database of the Main Department of the Civil Registry Office of the Moscow Region (the USR registry office system) for 2021, all cases were selected in which diseases were indicated as the primary cause of death (PCD); all codes of external causes, injuries and poisonings were excluded. A total of 109.126 cases, 50.6% died in the hospital, 34% died at home, and 16.4% died elsewhere. Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination (BFME) issued 45.2% of MSS. Taking into account the frequency of use of ICD codes, the clinical similarity of individual codes, 20 groups were formed, which accounted for 90.1% of deaths from diseases. RESULTS: The frequency of registration of individual groups of causes of death largely depends on the place of death. 5 leading groups of causes of death were established: 1) in general from COVID-19 23.55%, chronic ischemic heart disease (CIHD-1) without postinfarction cardiosclerosis, aneurysm and ischemic cardiomyopathy (CMP) 14.5%, from encephalopathy indefinite (EI) 11.4%, malignant neoplasms (MN) 11.3%, stroke 6.2%; 2) in a hospital from COVID-19 45%, stroke 10%, MN 8.3%; CIHD-1 7.1%, CIHD with a history of MI/ischemic CMP 2.7%; 3) at home from CIHD-1 21.8%, EI 21.5%, MN 15.5%, from diseases associated with alcohol 3.3% and brain cyst 3.3%; 4) elsewhere from CIHD-1 22.7%, EI 21.6%, MN 12%, from other forms of acute coronary artery disease 5.4%, alcohol-associated diseases 4.8%. Acute MI ranked 6th among deaths in general - 2.7%. PCD is also associated with the place of issue of the MDCs - 90% of the MDC with the indication of EI and «other degenerative diseases of the nervous system¼ as the cause of death were issued by the BFME. Not a single MDC issued by the BFME contained such PCDs as "old age" or "brain cyst". CONCLUSION: The nosological structure of the causes of death and the issuance of individual ICD codes in the MDC as a PCD varies significantly depending on the place of death and the issuance of the MDC. The reasons need to be further clarified. The use of codes that are not permitted for use has been registered.

Impact of a new coronavirus infection on causes of death in Moscow and St. Petersburg

The distribution of causes and mortality rates in Moscow and St. Petersburg (SPb) are different. Objective. To analyze changes in the distribution of causes of death in Moscow and St. Petersburg related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods. The data were used on the annual average population and the annual number of deaths in one-year age groups according to Rosstat for 2019—2021. Standardized mortality rates based on the European standard were calculated. An ABC analysis of the deaths and causes of death in the two cities was performed. Results. Despite the new coronavirus infection, mortality rates in St. Petersburg exceeded those in Moscow by 20% for three years. ABC analysis of the cause of death distribution showed a sharp decrease in the number of causes responsible for 80% of deaths. The 50 leading causes of death in St. Petersburg were more consistent. In the list of causes, mortality due to malignant neoplasms of various localizations in Moscow has shifted down by 3—11 positions, and in St. Petersburg, it increased by 10 positions. The proportion of malignant neoplasms exceeds half of the deaths due to gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. Mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Moscow was 30% lower in 2021. Mortality from diseases associated with the gastrointestinal tract tended to decrease in both cities. Mortality from respiratory diseases was 15—20% lower in Moscow. The changing distribution of causes of death during a pandemic was expected for several reasons. In Moscow, compared to St. Petersburg in 2020, the «coronavirus infection» diagnosis was apparently used more «cautiously» as a cause of death. Conclusion. The coronavirus pandemic had a significant impact on mortality rates and distribution. The trends of mortality changes during the analyzed period were often inconsistent;however, mortality from leading causes in St. Petersburg remained higher than in Moscow. © 2023, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Gender and age structure of mortality caused by COVID-19

Introduction: The policy of mortality decline of the population of Russia, pursued by the state, requires consideration of the regional peculiarities of mortality in territorial subjects of the Russian Federation by gender and age. The regional situation on male and female mortality also should be considered when developing the measures directed to prevent various diseases including infectious ones. In this regard, the studies of gender and age indicators of mortality during the periods of infectious pandemics become relevant. Objective: The analysis of gender and age rates of COVID-19 mortality in 2021 in order to substantiate the best management decisions in the sphere of the organization of medical care and statistical registration of lethal outcomes during the pandemic spread of dangerous viral infections. Material and methods: The main source of information on mortality in 2020 is data of the State Statistics of Mortality of Rosstat. The data on mortality in 2021 are presented in the records on death cases in Federal State Information System "Unified State Register of Registration of Acts of Current State”. To evaluate the obtained data, simple (unweighted) arithmetic mean values, specific indicators, a root mean square (standard) deviation of the mean values, coefficient of variation were used (a measure of the spread of attribute values – the ratio of a standard deviation to the arithmetic-mean). Results: In 2021 17.3% of total number of all deaths had COVID-19 as an initial cause of death. 248,134 cases of those were women (58.5%), 176,116 cases were men (41.5%). The mortality rate from COVID-19 increased by an average 1.7 times upon transition from one five-year-old age group to another, 85% of those who died from COVID-19 were aged 60 years and older. In 2021 the coronavirus infection of COVID-19 contributed significantly to female mortality more, than male mortality, which is inconsistent with the data on gender structure of COVID-19 mortality in other countries, as well as with the widespread belief that men are more vulnerable to this infection. Conclusions: Growth rates of COVID-19 mortality depending on age resembles the aging rate, reflecting the biological nature of mortality. Total excess mortality is the better basis for assessment of changes in the population health during pandemics, than mortality from COVID-19 alone. The organization of systematic checks of correctness of coding the causes of death at the state registration of death is necessary. © 2022 Scientific Research Institute — Ochapovsky Clinical Regional Hospital no. 1.

Correlation and Causation in the Perspective of COVID-19: An Empirical Study on Canonical Correlation Analysis

COVID-19 has an immense effect on the Globe, crossing 53,86,95,729 affected in more than 220 nations, with 63,18,093 individuals deceased. Various countries released COVID-19 protocols to enclose its spread to control the pandemic. This research article illustrates the Effect of COVID-19 on aged people (age>50), diabetes individuals, and individuals with smoking habits concerning the cause of death. An attempt has been made to identify the predominant variables for the cause of death due to COVID-19. IBM SPSS statistical tool enabled by Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) is used for simulation. Data were gathered from the Kaggle, an open repository for 2020. Based on the results obtained, predictions regarding the Cause and Effect of COVID-19 are discussed. © 2022 IEEE.

Excess mortality in Poland during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to analyse excess deaths by major causes of death and associated changes in the mortality pattern of the Polish population in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study used data on all deaths in Poland which occurred between 2010 and 2020 (N = 3,912,237). 10-year mortality trends for 2010-2019 were determined. An analysis of time trends has been carried out with joinpoint models and Joinpoint Regression Program. Based on the determined regression models, the number of deaths expected in 2020 and the number of excess deaths due to selected causes were calculated. Results: The crude death rates of all-cause deaths increased from 2000 to 2019 at an average annual rate of 1% (p = 0.0007). The determined regression model revealed that the number of deaths in 2020 should have been 413,318 (95% CI: 411,252 to 415,385). In reality, 477,355 people died in Poland that year. The number of excess deaths was therefore 64,037 (15.5%). According to data from Statistics Poland the number of COVID-19-related deaths was 40,028, the number of non-COVID-19 deaths was 24,009. The largest percentage increase over the expected number of deaths was observed for suicide (12.5%), mental and behavioral disorders (7.2%) and diseases of circulatory system (5.9%). A lower than expected number of deaths was observed for malignant neoplasms (-3.2%) and transport accidents (-0.1%). Conclusion: The difference between expected and observed non-COVID-19 deaths in 2020 indicates a need for further analysis of the causes of excess mortality.

MAMBU: A Bolivian Case of Response to Artificial Ventilators Shortage

COVID-19 pathology is characterized by a variety of symptoms, from respiratory to cardiac and even neuronal affections. However, from all of these manifestations, lungs' affection remains a focus of attention due to being considered as the main cause of death. Respiratory failure is treated using different strategies, but a very common practice is to provide respiratory support through artificial ventilation to patients. Unfortunately, due to the shortage of devices capable to offer such functionality, many patients are left unattended given that public healthcare systems' resources are not enough - the Bolivian healthcare system was not the exception. This paper reports the approach followed to develop MAMBU which stands for Mechatronic Ambulatory Medical Breathing Unit, an automation system for AMBU-based ventilation designed to face the shortage of ventilation devices in Bolivia. A MAMBU device can be manufactured and assembled in a short amount of time, with a low cost and easy transportation. Furthermore, it includes control schemes to manage the respiratory frequency, I:E ratio, PEEP, and FiO2. The device was validated through instrumental testing and in-vivo procedures following Bolivian current regulations. The results obtained show that the device is safe for human usage as well as relatively reliable (around 7% of error). © 2022 IEEE.

COVID-19 and Pneumonia Detection using X-ray Image-Based Deep Learning Methods

Globally, pneumonia is the leading cause of death for young people and children. An X-ray of the chest is usually used to diagnose pneumonia by a trained specialist. However, the process is tedious and can result in disagreements among radiologists. It is possible to improve diagnostic accuracy through the use of computer-aided diagnostic systems. In this work, the ResNet model was selected to work as the covid-19 and pneumonia detector based on X-ray image. Several experiments are conducted on to achieve an optimal results. © 2022 SPIE.

HRCT chest analysis for detection of pulmonary arterial hypertension in COVID-19 patients using convolutional neural networks

COVID-19, caused by SARS - COV 2 virus, has afflicted approximately 62.3 million people worldwide, with 1.46 million deaths around the globe by the end of November 2020. In most cases, the cause of death has been due to acute pneumonia. However, there have been cases where patients developed pulmonary arterial hypertension leading to sudden death. The virus can affect the heart in previously healthy individuals also. The severe inflammatory response in the body can affect arteries exaggerating cardiac damage. Studies recommend monitoring the cardiac conditions of POST COVID-19 patients. This paper employs a convolutional neural network (CNN) model to learn features from the standard axial slice of high-resolution chest CT. The CNN captures variation in the pulmonary artery region to determine whether a patient is at high risk of developing pulmonary arterial hypertension or not. With 86.1 % classification accuracy, the model shows a promising future for studies related to POST COVID risk analysis of heart complications. © 2022 IEEE.

A comparative study of the patterns of mortality in COVID-19 patients in juxtaposition with non-COVID-19 mortality in the first and second waves of the pandemic

Background and objectives: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to the public healthcare system worldwide like none before, producing far-reaching global economic, humanitarian, and social crises. It is estimated to have affected more than 1.8 million people worldwide. India has faced two phases of the pandemic, being the country with 2nd most number of deaths with varying mortality patterns across the two waves. In this study, we compare the patterns of mortality between the two phases of pandemics in association with COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 deaths. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study at a tertiary care center in Central India was carried out. Demographic patterns of mortality have been studied in each of the groups, and a comparative analysis was done between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 mortality patterns in each phase of the study, that is, from 20th March 2020 to 19th September 2020 and from 20th September 2020 to May 2021, as well as between the two phases.