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Based on SIR model, combined with the mode of COVID-19 epidemic spread in Wuhan, the SIR model of COVID-19 epidemic spread is constructed, which mainly includes three aspects: simulation of the average number of infected people in COVID-19, simulation of cross-infection in COVID-19 and simulation of contact infection in COVID-19. Using the results of these three simulations, we can predict the spread of COVID-19 epidemic in the region, and find out the methods to prevent and control the outbreak or spread of the epidemic. © 2023 SPIE.
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Objective: To analyze the scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of using ozone to disinfect surfaces based on an integrative literature review.Methods: A search was carried out in the SciELO, MEDLINE, LILACS, PubMed, Science Direct databases. Eleven articles published January 2010 to August 2021 were analyzed. All employed the experimental laboratory research model and achieved different levels of disinfection by O3, however, with varied surfaces and products tested, in addition to different methodological procedures.Results: The majority had an inhibition rate by O3 equal to or greater than 90%, thus proving the effectiveness of this agent as a surface disinfectant, even with variations in parameter values such as concentration and exposure time, in all selected articles, even those that did not prove the effectiveness of O3.Conclusion: This review shows the inhibitory power that O3 has on different pathogens, even if there are variables in the factors used for this purpose, highlighting it in front of other disinfectants. Thus, it corroborates the composition of surface disinfection protocols and decision-making among managers and committees about sanitizing technologies.
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Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the awareness of cross-infection control measures followed by DHCPs during the 5th wave of Covid-19 pandemic, Omicron variant in a government sector university of Karachi, Pakistan. Method(s): A Cross-sectional study was conducted from June till September 2022 at Sindh Institute of Oral Health Science during the 5th wave of Covid 19 pandemic, Omicron variant. Data was collected from 153 DHCPs from government sector university using a self-administered questionnaire, comprising of 20 closed ended question to assess the awareness and practice of cross infection protocols by DHCPs. Result(s): 98.7% of the participants were vaccinated against Covid 19. 96% of the participants used surgical gowns, face shields, and face masks as part of PPE during examining patients and while performing procedure. After treatment 99.3% of participants washed hands with hand wash, soap or used antiseptic solution. 77.1% of participants asked for Covid 19 test report and 68.6% of participants asked for proof of vaccination against covid 19 before treating patients. 96.1% of participants recommended disinfection of dental unit after every patient. 98% of participants changed glove after every patient. 88.2% of the participants said they would carry all elective and emergency procedures. Conclusion(s): The results of this study show that DHCPs practicing at government sector university have adequate knowledge regarding prevention of cross infection protocols and their importance to limit spread of infections. But their practice of prevention of cross infection during Covid 19 pandemic is not ideal as percentage of DHCPs requiring proof of vaccination or negative reports for Covid 19 were rather low and the percentage of DHCPs willing to carry elective procedures along with emergency ones was rather high.Copyright © 2023 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.
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There is no doubt that epidemics and pandemics have transformed dentistry beyond recognition. In this commentary we recapitulate the possible reasons for the emergence of major global epidemics and pandemics, how and why they emerge, and the successful attempts of the dental profession to mitigate infectious transmission in the clinic, which in turn has metamorphosed our profession today. We also peer into the future of dentistry through the prism of the new conceptual approach of 'one world, one health' recently declared by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Finally, we discuss five realms of dentistry that have been irretrievably impacted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, viz vaccines, point of care diagnostics, teledentistry, reinforced infection control, and dental pedagogy. CPD/Clinical Relevance: Vaccines and vaccinations have become integral to societal wellbeing and the prevention of global pandemics.
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Objectives: Various interventions were used to control the COVID-19 pandemic and protect population health, including vaccination, medication and nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). This study aims to examine the cost-effectiveness of different combinations of NPIs (including social distancing, mask wearing, tracing-testing-isolation, mass testing, and lockdown), oral medicine (Paxlovid), and vaccination (including two-dose and three-dose vaccination) under the Delta and Omicron pandemic in China. Method(s): We constructed a Markov model using a SIRI structure with a one-week cycle length over one-year time horizon to estimate the cost-effectiveness of different combinations in China from societal perspective. Effectiveness of interventions, disease transition probabilities and costs were from published data, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) and net monetary benefits were calculated for one-year time horizon. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of the model. Scenario analysis was developed to examine different situations under the Omicron pandemic. Result(s): Under the Delta pandemic, implementing the combination of social distancing, mask wearing, mass testing and three-dose vaccination was the optimal strategy, with cost at $11165635.33 and utility of 94309.94 QALYs, and had 60% probability of being cost-effective compared with other strategies. Three-dose vaccination combinations were better than two-dose combinations. Under the Omicron pandemic, antigen testing was better than nucleic testing by avoiding cross infections;second, adding Paxlovid or lockdown to the combined intervention strategies could increase limited health outcomes at huge cost and thus were not cost-effective;last, encouraging patients to stay at home can save societal costs compared with concentrated quarantine at hospitals. Conclusion(s): Three-dose vaccination and self-quarantine of asymptomatic and mild cases can save total costs. Under the Omicron pandemic outbreak, antigen testing is a better way to control the pandemic, and adding Paxlovid or lockdown to intervention combinations is not cost-effective.Copyright © 2023
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The study presents the results of a numerical analysis of the effectiveness of the use of personal protective equipment of various designs on the spread of pollutants marked with CO2 emitted during human breathing. In the study of 3D geometry the upper part of the human torso and head was developed. The simulated person was supplied with different personal protective equipment covering the human face (PPE). Two types of face shields worn at a different distance from the face and one fabric face mask was analysed. The reference geometry with no personal protective equipment was also analysed. Transient calculation with full breathing model including breath-in and breath-out and species transport were simulated. The results showed that different PPE generates different airflow patterns in the vicinity of the human face. The most efficient in reducing infection risk is by wearing a face mask or face shields at a small distance from the face, as they most effectively reduce CO2 concentration in the surrounding air. However, they also increase the re-inhalation risk of high CO2 concentration which affects human well-being.
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Risk assessment models typically assume ideal mixing, in which the pathogen-laden aerosol particles emitted by a person are evenly distributed in the room. This study points out the local deviation from this idealized assumption and a correlation between the level of pathogen concentration and the distance from the emitter. For this purpose, several numerical studies (CFD) were analyzed, and a validation experiment was performed. Statistical evaluation of the spatial pathogen distribution was used to determine the potential exposure to elevated pathogen concentrations. Compared to an ideally mixed room, at a distance of 1.5 m, the mixing ventilation cases show a 25% risk of being exposed to twice the amount of pathogens and a 5% risk to more than 5 times the assumed value. For displacement ventilation there is a 75% chance of being exposed to less pathogens than in complete mixing at a distance of 1 m. The measurement values agree with the simulation results. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
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The validity of using CO2 as an indicator of airborne infection probability was studied. Tracer gas measurements were conducted in a field lab with two breathing thermal manikins resembling "infected” and "susceptible” persons seated at desks. The room was ventilated with a mixing air distribution. Experiments were performed at three ventilation rates. CO2 gas was dosed into the air exhaled by the manikins to simulate the metabolic CO2 generation by people. Simultaneously, nitrous oxide (N2O) tracer gas was dosed into the air exhaled by one of the manikins ("infected person”) to simulate the emission of exhaled infectious particles. CO2 and N2O concentrations were measured at several points. The probability of infection was calculated based on the concentration of CO2 and N2O measured in the air inhaled by the exposed manikin ("susceptible person”). The results did not confirm that CO2 can be used as a proxy to assess the infection probability. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
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PURPOSE: Nosocomial infection is a major threat to the health care system and patient welfare. After the pandemic, new protocols were established in hospitals and communities to protect against the transmission of COVID-19, which may have changed the incidence of nosocomial transmission. This study was conducted to compare the incidence of nosocomial infection before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study performed on trauma patients who were admitted, from May 22, 2018 to November 22, 2021, to the largest level-1 trauma center in Shiraz, Iran (Shahid Rajaei Trauma Hospital). All the trauma patients over 15 years old admitted during the study time were included in this study. Individuals who were declared dead upon arrival were excluded. Patients were evaluated in 2 periods: before the pandemic (May 22, 2018 - February 19, 2020) and after the pandemic (February 19, 2020 - November 22, 2021). Patients were assessed based on demographic information (age, gender, length of hospital stay, and patient outcome), the occurrence of hospital infection, and the type of infection. The analysis was done using SPSS version 25. RESULTS: Overall, 60,561 patients were admitted, with a mean age of 40 years. Nosocomial infection was diagnosed in 4.00% (n = 2423) of all admitted patients. The incidence rate of post-COVID-19 hospital-acquired infections decreased by 16.28% (p < 0.001) when compared to before the pandemic; in contrast, surgical site infection (p < 0.001) and urinary tract infection (p = 0.043) were responsible for this change, while hospital-acquired pneumonia (p = 0.568) and bloodstream infection (p = 0.156) were not significantly different. Overall mortality was 1.79%, while 28.52% of all patients with nosocomial infections died. During the pandemic, there was a 25.78% increase (p < 0.001) in the overall incidence rate of mortality, which was also observed among patients with nosocomial infections (17.84%). CONCLUSION: The incidence of nosocomial infection has decreased during the pandemic, possibly due to the use of more personal protective equipment and modified protocols after the outbreak. This also explains the difference in the change in incidence rates of nosocomial infection subtypes.
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Managing community-acquired infections remains an ongoing challenge for community nursing teams. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic meant that community nurses had to ensure they were using evidence-based infection prevention and control measures to limit the effects of the pandemic and maintain patient safety. Community environments can be unpredictable, and compared with acute settings nurses will often lack the appropriate resources when visiting patients in their homes or in residential care. This article outlines effective infection prevention and control measures that nurses can implement in the community, such as the appropriate use of personal protective equipment, optimal hand hygiene, safe waste management and adherence to an aseptic technique.
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COVID-19 , Hand Hygiene , Humans , COVID-19/prevention & control , Personal Protective Equipment , Infection Control/methodsABSTRACT
Introduction: As a profession highly predisposed to coronavirus disease (COVID)-19, dentists should be aware of the possibility of cross-infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate descriptive statistics of dental practice during the covid-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This survey was conducted online using self-reported questionnaires created with Google Form®, among dentists in Indonesia. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the survey results. Results: In total 102 participants completed the survey. The mean age was 42.71 (6.65) years. 19 males (18.8%) and 83 females (81.44%). Of all respondents, 80 (78 %) dentists provided dental services to patients during COVID-19 pandemic. Of those who had provided dental services, the most commonly indicated reasons were due to the emergency procedural 66 (82 %). We also found 51 (64%) dentists prefer online consultation. All of the provided temperature checking and will postpone the service with the symptomatic patient. Additionally, our survey found no significant difference between dentists who provided services to patients during COVID-19 pandemic or not based on gender, age, years in practice (all p> 0.05, respectively). The majority of research participants continued to give dental treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Personal protective equipment was essential, as well as a dental-care-safety environment. The small sample size of our survey limits its generalizability to the field of dentistry and needs further investigation. © 2023 UPM Press. All rights reserved.
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted cardiac rehabilitation (CR) around the world with an estimated 50-75% of CR programmes discontinuing or reducing services. Alternative models such as TeleHealth have been encouraged and adopted in place of face to face (F2F) CR. There is a paucity of published data on the continuation of F2F CR during the pandemic. Method(s): A retrospective database audit examined the CR participation rates at an Australian quaternary public hospital during the pre-COVID (2018/2019) and in-COVID (2020/2021) periods. Socio-demographic status, diagnosis at CR entry, CR modalities, and outcome measures (wait times, completion rates) were analysed. Result(s): There were no COVID-19 cases or cross infections occurring in CR during the in-COVID period. An audit of 1623 consecutive patients who attended our CR programme (pre-COVID n=760: In-COVID n=863) were included in this study. No significant differences were observed in age, male sex, CR wait times and completion rates between the two groups. Participation rates of patients diagnosed with heart failure (CCF) increased (p=0.02) and those who entered CR after elective PCI decreased (p=0.03) during the in-Covid period in comparison with the pre-COVID period. Total F2F CR was maintained in the in-COVID period compared to the pre- COVID period (85%: 89%, p=not significant (NS)). A significant increase in F2F utilising home walking (p<0.0001) and a decrease in F2F utilising supervised exercise (p<0.0001) was seen. TeleHealth, introduced during the in-COVID period, only contributed to 6% of the total CR participation. More detailed results of this study are presented in Table 1 below. Conclusion(s): During the COVID-19 pandemic our CR programme adhered to state health orders, recorded zero transmissions, maintained face to face services, and increased CR uptake only partially due to the introduction of TeleHealth. Our blueprint for the successful continuation of CR during COVID involves having expert nursing management, medical CR champions, dedicated CR gym, and well-established, flexible patientcentric programme modalities. (Table Presented).
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Background: Correct use of personal protective equipment is vital to minimise the risk of patients acquiring healthcare-associated infections. These measures are also important in preventing exposure to occupational infection. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of personal protective equipment was associated with anxiety, uncertainty and additional training requirements. This study investigated midwives' experiences using personal protective equipment during the pandemic. Methods: This systematic scoping review searched seven academic databases and grey literature. Data analysis was conducted using a thematic analysis framework. Results: A total of 16 studies were included. Four themes were found: 'fear and anxiety', 'personal protective equipment/resources', 'education and training needs' and 'communication'. Conclusions: Management and administration inconsistences, logistical issues and lack of training on personal protective equipment led to midwives' negative feedback. A gap has been identified in the exploration of midwives' experiences as personal protective equipment end-users during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Background: The indications for Long Term Ventilation (LTV) are expanding. Pneumonia is common in these patients and transmission of bacterial infections, and more recently COVID-19 infection, between users of ventilators is a concern. UK national standards recommend bacterial/viral filters for use with acute Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) to protect the ventilator from contamination. However, there are no recommendations made for LTV. UK National guidance also explicitly states that there is no airflow from the patient to the ventilator.1 Aims and objectives: To investigate whether exhaled gas reaches the ventilator outlet. Method(s): We conducted experiments on three ventilators with different circuits during NIV delivered to a member of the study team using standard clinical settings. We used a side-stream end tidal CO2 (EtCO2) analyser attached to the tubing adjacent to the ventilator outlet as shown in the figure. Result(s): Regardless of ventilator and circuit used we demonstrated that exhaled gas reaches the ventilator outlet during NIV. EtCO2 values were 1.6-3.7kPa. Conclusion(s): Exhaled gas reaches the ventilator outlet during NIV. This raises an urgent requirement within the LTV community to test ventilators for bacterial and viral colonisation, consider the use of bacterial/viral filters, and discuss routine decontamination of these devices between individual patient uses. (Figure Presented).
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2019-nCoV has a up to 96% homology with the gene sequence of a bat coronavirus. By comparing its 7 conserved non-structural proteins, it is found that 2019-nCoV belongs to SARS related coronaviruses(SARSr-CoV). The receptor for 2019-nCoV entering cells is the same as that for SARSr-CoV, and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a common cross-genus receptor. This article first elaborates the interspecies transmission and genetic variation, then briefly discusses the receptors on the surface of human cells (such as ACE2 and APP4), which cause human infection and encode five proteins in the viral genome, therefore are important targets for development of antiviral drugs. The article reviews eight promising anti-coronavirus drugs, including three anti-HIV drugs (Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Danoprevir/Ritonavir, Darunavir), two anti-Ebola virus drugs (Remdesivir, Galidesivir), two anti-influenza virus drugs (Arbidol, Favipiravir) and one anti-malarial drug (chloroquine phosphate). Among them, Remdesivir, Abidol and Favipiravir have strong inhibitory effects on 2019-nCoV, they may be the most promising drugs under investigation.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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2019-nCoV has a up to 96% homology with the gene sequence of a bat coronavirus. By comparing its 7 conserved non-structural proteins, it is found that 2019-nCoV belongs to SARS related coronaviruses(SARSr-CoV). The receptor for 2019-nCoV entering cells is the same as that for SARSr-CoV, and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a common cross-genus receptor. This article first elaborates the interspecies transmission and genetic variation, then briefly discusses the receptors on the surface of human cells (such as ACE2 and APP4), which cause human infection and encode five proteins in the viral genome, therefore are important targets for development of antiviral drugs. The article reviews eight promising anti-coronavirus drugs, including three anti-HIV drugs (Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Danoprevir/Ritonavir, Darunavir), two anti-Ebola virus drugs (Remdesivir, Galidesivir), two anti-influenza virus drugs (Arbidol, Favipiravir) and one anti-malarial drug (chloroquine phosphate). Among them, Remdesivir, Abidol and Favipiravir have strong inhibitory effects on 2019-nCoV, they may be the most promising drugs under investigation.Copyright © 2020 by the Chinese Medical Association.
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Since the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic, research results have shown that the COVID-19 transmitted by droplets, and the most effective means of epidemic prevention is to wear masks. In public places where crowds gather, it is particularly important to use technical means to detect the situation of wearing masks, and remind people to wear masks in time to prevent cross-infection. This paper mainly starts with the target detection and tracking technology in the field of computer vision, and takes the recognition of whether to wear a mask as the entry point. Using python as the development tool, based on the convolutional neural network, the YOLOv2 algorithm is used as the core algorithm, and the ResNet50 network structure is built. Compared with other existing system test experiments, we can see that the system we built has better detection performance. © 2022 Association for Computing Machinery.