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This article centres on a qualitative interview extract, the ‘Story of the Pebble', in which a West African Hospital Social Worker Ado, working in a UK context, and identifying as a Shaman, describes successfully trusting his instincts to create a symbol for a dying patient. Despite criticisms from colleagues, Ado's capacity to understand his patients needs are justified both before and after her death.The article discusses significant themes from the interview extract, including the meaning of professionalism, practice wisdom and cultural influences in a UK social work context, as well as through Ado's heritage and identification as a Shaman. The article considers holistic patient care in a medical context and suggests this has some useful lessons for social workers, particularly those involved with dying people. Although the extract, and wider research study from which it is drawn, pre-date the Covid 19 pandemic, this is referenced throughout, linking the interview extract to ways of helping practitioners and educators to consider people holistically at end of life. AD -, Chichester, UK ;, Chichester, UK
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Objective: To estimate the direct costs of hospital care according to coinfection in adult COVID-19 patients. Material(s) and Method(s): A retrospective follow-up study of adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 between March and August 2020 at the San Vicente Foundation Hospitals (Medellin and Rionegro, Colombia). Patients whose diagnosis of SARS-Cov2 pneumonia was confirmed by RT-PCR test were included. Death from any cause and length of stay were considered outcome variables. Costs were estimated in 20 20 US dollars. Result(s): 365 patients with an average age of 60 years (IQR: 46-71), 40% female, were analyzed. 60.5% required an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). All-cause mortality was 2.87 per 100 patient-days. Patients admitted to the ICU who developed coinfection had an average length of stay of 27.8 days (SD:17.1) and an average cost of $23,935.7 (SD: $16,808.2);patients admitted to the ICU who did not develop a coinfection had an average length of stay of 14.7 days (SD:8.6) and an average cost of $9,968.5 (SD: $8,054.0). Conclusion(s): A high percentage of patients required intensive care, and there was a high mortality due to COVID-19. In addition, a higher cost of care was observed for those patients who developed coinfection and were admitted to ICU.Copyright © 2023 Asociacion Colombiana de Infectologia. All rights reserved.
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The purpose of this study was to examine nurses' experience of quality care for hospitalized patients with a history of opioid use disorder or self-injection of opioids and whether hospital, unit, or nurse characteristics impacted experiences of quality care. A secondary aim of the study was to understand how nurses' experiences of quality care for this population have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Institute of Medicine's Six Domains of Health Care Quality were used to define quality care in this study. A national sample of 179 nurses completed an online survey regarding their experiences caring for patients with opioid use disorders. The majority of the participants were staff nurses who worked in emergency departments, critical care units, or mother baby units. Only 41.9% of the participants had received education regarding substance use disorders from their employers, and even less had participated in harm reduction education. Only 45% of the nurses had knowledge regarding harm reduction strategies for this population. The participants experienced a low number of restrictive safety measures and an average number of adverse events and effective care interventions when caring for patients with opioid use disorders. The nurses rated quality care and satisfaction as average. Correlation and linear regression analysis suggested trends in nurse, hospital and unit characteristics that are associated with nurses' experiences caring for this population;substance use disorder education, harm reduction education, and unit type were most often associated with nurses' experiences. Content analysis of open-ended questions regarding equity, patient-centeredness, timeliness and the impact of COVID-19 on experiences of quality care supported quantitative findings in the study and provided insight into the nurses' experiences. The findings in this study contribute to current evidence regarding the need for standardized hospital policies and practices aimed at improving quality care for patients with opioid use disorders. These policies and practices should incorporate harm reduction strategies that are patient-centered and evidence-based. Hospitals and nursing schools should provide education aimed at reducing stigma and improving care for this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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(1) Background: Data on COVID-19 outcomes and disease course as a function of different medications used to treat cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease (CKD), as well as the presence of different comorbidities in primarily Black cohorts, are lacking. (2) Methods: We conducted a retrospective medical chart review on 327 patients (62.6% Black race) who were admitted to the Detroit Medical Center, Detroit, MI. Group differences (CKD vs. non-CKD) were compared using the Pearson χ2 test. We conducted univariate and multivariate regression analyses for factors contributing to death during hospitalization due to COVID-19 (primary outcome) and ICU admission (secondary outcome), adjusting for age, sex, different medications, and comorbidities. A sub-analysis was also completed for CKD patients. (3) Results: In the fully adjusted model, a protective effect of ACEi alone, but not in combination with ARB or CCB, for ICU admission was found (OR = 0.400, 95% CI [0.183–0.874]). Heart failure was significantly associated with the primary outcome (OR = 4.088, 95% CI [1.1661–14.387]), as was COPD (OR = 3.747, 95% CI [1.591–8.828]). (4) Conclusions: Therapeutic strategies for cardiovascular disease and CKD in the milieu of different comorbidities may need to be tailored more prudently for individuals with COVID-19, especially Black individuals. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of COVID is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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1. Background: Some reports have suggested that as many as one-half of all hospital inpatients identified as COVID-19-positive during the Omicron BA.1 variant-driven wave were incidental cases admitted primarily for reasons other than their viral infections. To date, however, there are no prospective longitudinal studies of a representative panel of hospitals based on pre-established criteria for determining whether a patient was, in fact, admitted as a result of the disease. 2. Materials and Methods: To fill this gap, we developed a formula to estimate the fraction of incidental COVID-19 hospitalizations that relies on measurable, population-based parameters. We applied our approach to a longitudinal panel of 164 counties throughout the United States, covering a 4-week interval ending in the first week of January 2022. 3. Results: Within this panel, we estimated that COVID-19 incidence was rising exponentially at a rate of 9.34% per day (95% CI, 8.93–9.87). Assuming that only one-quarter of all Omicron BA.1 infections had been reported by public authorities, we further estimated the aggregate prevalence of active SARS-CoV-2 infection during the first week of January to be 3.45%. During the same week, among 250 high-COVID-volume hospitals within our 164-county panel, an estimated one in four inpatients was COVID-positive. Based upon these estimates, we computed that 10.6% of such COVID-19-positive hospitalized patients were incidental infections. Across individual counties, the median fraction of incidental COVID-19 hospitalizations was 9.5%, with an interquartile range of 6.7 to 12.7%. 4. Conclusion: Incidental COVID-19 infections appear to have been a nontrivial fraction of all COVID-19-positive hospitalized patients during the Omicron BA.1 wave. In the aggregate, however, the burden of patients admitted for complications of their viral infections was far greater. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of COVID is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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Next to the known nosocomial infections, the COVID-19 pandemic was an example for the need for the immediate implementation of functioning hygiene concepts and knowledge transfer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the self-assessment of ehealth literacy in terms of finding, using and critically evaluating health information and theoretical and practical hygiene awareness on a voluntary participation basis at the Jena University Hospital in 2022. The well-established and validated eHEALS and WHO questionnaire on hand hygiene (HH) knowledge for healthcare workers was completely filled by 204 participants (191 medical students; 13 healthcare trainees). In a second step, after the questionnaire, 77 participants completed additional asynchronous, digitally guided self-training using DesiCoach 2Go. In the end, a synchronous hand disinfection was carried out in the hospital using Visirub, by separating it into a group without (n = 191; with and without HH questionnaire) and a group with (n = 31; with HH questionnaire) previously completed self-training. For the eHL, the respondents tended to have a positive self-assessment of finding, using and critically evaluating health information. The voluntary participants of the practical hand disinfection who had received self-training were able to achieve significantly better results (p = 0.0047), resulting in fewer wetting gaps in a subsequent performance with Visirub than those who had not received digital self-training. The survey showed that healthcare-related participants belonging to the "digital native" generation have above-average knowledge on HH and profit by digitally guided self-training.
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This study analyzes nationwide trends in HCC hospitalizations focusing on interventional liver-directed treatments and the influence of age and gender. Using data from the German Federal Statistical Office all hospitalizations for HCC between 2010 and 2020 were included. Uni- and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify variables independently associated with the use of liver-directed therapies. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data from 2020 were analyzed separately. A total of 134,713 hospitalizations (2010-2019) were included, increasing by 3.4% annually (12,707 to 13,143). The mean in-hospital stay (-15.0% [7.2 to 6.1 days]) and mortality (-23.2% [6.8 to 5.2%]) decreased while transarterial, surgical, and percutaneous ablative interventions increased by 38.6, 31.5, and 19.3%, respectively. In-hospital mortality was 7.7% in admissions with surgical treatment, while it was 0.6 and 0.5% for transarterial and percutaneous interventions. Mortality was higher in females (6.2 vs. 5.7%). Females (OR 0.89 [0.86,0.91], p < 0.001) and patients ≥80 years (OR 0.81 [0.79,0.84], p < 0.001) were less likely to receive liver-directed treatments. Liver-directed therapies were increasingly performed while in-hospital mortality and in-hospital stay decreased. Minimally invasive approaches showed lower mortality, shorter in-hospital stay, and lower costs compared to surgery. Proportionately, more women and older patients were hospitalized, receiving fewer liver-directed treatments while their mortality was higher.
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Purpose: Ultramarathon runners are a unique patient population who have been shown to be free of nearly all severe chronic medical conditions. The effect that COVID-19 infection has on this population and their running behavior is unknown. Method(s): The Ultrarunner Longitudinal TRACking Study (ULTRA Study) is the largest known longitudinal study of ultramarathon runners. Questions on general health status, running behavior, performance, and COVID-19 infection were included. Result(s): Six hundred sixty-two ultramarathon runners participated in the study. This group exercised an average of 10.0 hours per week, including running an average of 26.8 miles per week;52.1% of ultramarathon runners reported ever being symptomatic from a COVID-19 infection with 6.3% testing positive multiple times. Severe infection occurred in 0.3% (2 patients) requiring a total of 3 days of hospitalization. Of those who were infected, 84% were fully vaccinated at the time of their infection;67% of infections effected running for a mean of 33.1 days. The most common other symptoms included fever (73.3%), fatigue (68.7%), sore throat (67.5%), runny nose (67.0%), and cough (66.7%). Cardiovascular symptoms, which are of particular interest in the running population, included shortness of breath (46.4%), increased heart rate (45.2%), chest pain (34.2%), and wheezing (32.5%). Of 662, 48 (7.3%) of ultrarunners reported Long COVID (symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks). Conclusion(s): Severe COVID-19 infection is rare in ultramarathon runners, although symptomatic infection that affects running is common. These rates, along with Long COVID, are lower than is reported in the literature for the population on average. Significance: Ultrarunners are at very low risk of COVID- 19 symptoms requiring hospital care but significant risk of infection that effects running. Cardiovascular symptoms are common, and the long-term significance of these symptoms in runners is unknown.
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Deeply engaging nurses in a participatory co-design process, especially in times of COVID-19, is challenging. In this case study, we shed light on the process of developing a prototype for AR-glasses in nursing. We show the challenges we faced, the methods we used and how they contribute to the core principles of participatory design. A special focus is laid on small-scale interventions with high-impact, that helped us to truly engage users. We introduce empathetic ways to connect contrasting work environments, establish mutual understanding, make the more graspable with playful tools like PLAYMOBIL®, and support co-design development with online formats. Finally, we discuss the transferability to other projects. © 2023 Owner/Author.
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BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to systematically review the existing literature examining the prevalence of anxiety among hospital staff and identifying the contributing factors to address the complications of this disorder and develop effective programmes for reducing the complications of this mental health problem. METHODS: We searched the electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar from January 2020 to February 2021. To perform meta-analysis, the random effects model was used. To assess the statistical heterogeneity of the included studies, the I2 index was used, and 95% CI was estimated. Data analysis was performed by R software. RESULTS: In the final analysis, 46 articles with the total sample size of 61 551 hospital staff members were included. Accordingly, anxiety prevalence among healthcare workers (HCWs) was 26.1% (95% CI 19% to 34.6%). The prevalence rates of anxiety in health technicians and medical students were 39% (95% CI 13% to 73%) and 36% (95% CI 15% to 65%), respectively, indicating a much higher prevalence than other hospital staff members. Furthermore, a positive significant relationship between prevalence of anxiety among HCWs and their age was approved (p<0.001). The prevalence rate of anxiety was higher among women 37.7% (95% CI 25.4% to 51.8%) than men 27.2% (95% CI 18.2% to 38.6%). CONCLUSION: The findings show a moderately high prevalence rate of anxiety in hospital staff. Due to the high prevalence of this mental health problem in health technicians, medical students and frontline health workers, it is highly suggested that healthcare institutions offer mental health programmes for these working groups in order to appropriately manage anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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AIMS: To compare the time required for perioperative glucose management using fully automated closed-loop versus standard insulin therapy. METHODS: We performed a time-motion study to quantify the time requirements for perioperative glucose management with fully closed-loop (FCL) and standard insulin therapy applied to theoretical scenarios. Following an analysis of workflows in different periods of perioperative care in elective surgery patients receiving FCL or standard insulin therapy upon hospital admission (pre- and intra-operatively, at the intermediate care unit and general wards), the time of process-specific tasks was measured by shadowing hospital staff. Each task was measured 20 times and its average duration in combination with its frequency according to guidelines was used to calculate the cumulative staff time required for blood glucose management. Cumulative time was calculated for theoretical scenarios consisting of elective minor and major abdominal surgeries (pancreatic surgery and sleeve gastrectomy, respectively) to account for the different care settings and lengths of stay. RESULTS: The FCL insulin therapy reduced the time required for perioperative glucose management compared to standard insulin therapy, across all assessed care periods and for both perioperative pathways (range 2.1-4.5). For a major abdominal surgery, total time required was 248.5 min using FCL versus 753.9 min using standard insulin therapy. For a minor abdominal surgery, total time required was 68.6 min and 133.2 min for FCL and standard insulin therapy, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The use of fully automated closed-loop insulin delivery for inpatient glucose management has the potential to alleviate the workload of diabetes management in an environment with adequately trained staff.
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To prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and enhance the nutrition management for patients, the Beijing Quality Control and Improvement Center for Clinical Nutrition Therapy organized relevant experts to formulate "The Nutrition Management of Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Hospital: An Expert Opinion (2020)". It clearly stated that food safety, food hygiene, and nutrition management should be incorporated into the whole process of prevention, control, treatment, and rehabilitation of COVID-19. The reasonable and standardized pathway of nutrition management, which includes nutrition-risk screening, malnutrition diagnosis, nutritional support therapy and nutrition monitoring, should be established to improve the immune status, clinical outcome, and quality of life of patients with COVID-19.Copyright © 2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.
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The epidemic caused by the infection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 omicron variant broke out in Shanghai in Mar. 2022. Omicron variant has characteristics such as strong concealment and rapid transmission, resulting in significant differences between the current round of epidemic and that in Wuhan. The number of infected patients (mainly asymptomatic infected patients) increased rapidly in a short term. Based on dynamic zero policy, shelter hospitals were set up in time in Shanghai to treat the patients. It is suggested that medical resources and patient characteristics should be taken into account in the independent cabin of a shelter hospital with more than 10 000 beds, and the clinical medical practice should be divided to 5 modes (universal education and management, community outpatient clinic, ward duty, emergency rescue, and temporary observation and transport) to optimize the allocation of medical resources, so as to further enhance the treatment capacity and efficiency of shelter hospitals.
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Introduction: COVID-19 seroprevalence studies for Health Care Personnel (HCP) can provide relevant information on the proportion of people who have experienced a recent or past infection and provide information about populations that may be immune and potentially protected. Aim of the study was to determine the seroprevalence of COVID-19 and associated factors among HCP and to correlate COVID-19 antibody results with respect to time duration since laboratory confirmed positive COVID-19 test and vaccination. Methodology: A prospective, cross-sectional study in HCP working at Shree Krishna Hospital and Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad was conducted at Microbiology section of Central Diagnostic Laboratory (CDL). Following approval from Institutional Ethics Committee, the study was conducted from March 2021- June 2022. The serological test to measure COVID-19 IgG antibody was done by Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay (ELFA, VIDAS, Biomerieux) in 118 eligible HCP. Antibody response was correlated with age, gender, occupation, work area, symptoms, test requests and test results. Correlation of COVID-19 antibody results with respect to time duration since laboratory confirmed positive COVID-19 test and after vaccination was done. All the data was entered and analysed in Microsoft Excel 2010. Results: Seroprevalence of COVID-19 was found to be 97.45% (115/118) in HCP. Seroprevalence was 100 % in all the age groups except 18-30 and 41-50 years;100% in all the professional categories except consultant doctors and resident doctors;100% in HCP working in non-COVID-19 unit and 100% in participants not tested for COVID-19 test. 13 (37.14%) HCP were seropositive beyond 11 months duration after positive COVID-19 test. In 49 (44.54%) HCP, SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody were found beyond 7 months duration after COVID-19 vaccine. SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody were positive in eight (6.96%) non-vaccinated and 107 (93.04%) vaccinated participants. Conclusions: COVID-19 infection and/or COVID-19 vaccination might have contributed to excellent seroprevalence in health care personnel (HCP) of our hospital. Persistence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody for longer duration was observed in HCP with past infection as well as past vaccination. Natural COVID-19 infection might have contributed to seropositivity in a few nonvaccinated, asymptomatic & RTPCR/RAT negative/not done HCP. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Pharmaceutical Negative Results is the property of ResearchTrentz and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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Background: Covid-19 disease initially started as respiratory illness but later was found to involve almost all organ systems. Earlier the focus of the research was more on preventing transmission of the disease and mortality but with time focus has shifted to addressing the impact of the disease on quality of life and managing the Long Covid Syndrome. Aim(s): To study symptom profile in Post-Covid patients and risk factors associated with Long Covid Syndrome. Material(s) and Method(s): This observational, single-centre prospective study was conducted on Covid-19 patients who presented to postcovid clinic, during the months of July 2021 to December 2021, at Chest Diseases Hospital, Srinagar. Patients who had microbiologically confirmed Covid-19 Disease were included in the study. Patients were evaluated for Long Covid symptoms. Hospital stay, disease severity and co-morbidities of the patients were also taken into account. Result(s): In total of 720 patients, 388 were females and 332 were males. 622 patients had post-Covid symptoms, out of which 516 patients had received hospital care and 106 were treated on outpatient basis. Fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, headache and sleep disturbances were the most common complaints in patients who presented to our post-Covid clinic. It was also observed that female sex, prolonged hospital stay and older age were associated with Long Covid symptoms. Patient with severe disease were also at higher risk of having Long Covid symptoms. Conclusion(s): In our study, we concluded that Long Covid symptoms can be disabling for patients and have huge impact on quality of life of patients. Further studies are needed to understand the pathophysiology of Long Covid Syndrome and explore therapeutic options for the same.
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A "Pandemic/Disaster Law" is needed to condense and organize the current dispersed and multiple legislation. The State must exercise a single power and command appropriate to each situation, with national validity. The production of plans for the use of land and real estate as potential centers for health care, shelter or refuge is recommended. There should be specific disaster plans at least for Primary Health Care, Hospitals and Socio-sanitary Centers. The guarantee of the maintenance of communication and supply routes is essential, as well as the guarantee of the autochthonous production of basic goods. The pandemic has highlighted the need to redefine the training plans for physicians who, in their different specialties, have to undertake reforms that allow a more versatile and transversal training. National research must have plans to be able to respond quickly to questions posed by the various crises, using all the nation's resources and in particular, all the data and capabilities of the health sector. Contingency plans must consider ethical aspects, and meet the needs of patients and families with a humanized approach. In circumstances of catastrophe, conflicts increase and require a bioethical response that allows the best decisions to be made, with the utmost respect for people's values. Rapid, efficient and truthful communication systems must be contained in a special project for this sector in critic circumstances. Finally, we believe that the creation of National Coordination Centers for major disasters and Public Health can contribute to better face the crises of the future.
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COVID-19 , Disasters , Forecasting , Humans , Pandemics , Public HealthABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and severe, and place additional strains on end-of-life care services and users. Although end-of-life and palliative care are considered essential components of disaster planning and response, there are gaps in understandings about their real-life application, and how natural disasters impact end-of-life care. OBJECTIVE: To synthesise existing evidence of the impacts of natural disasters (eg, bushfires, communicable pandemics, etc) on end-of-life care. METHODS: A systematic review with a narrative synthesis was undertaken. The review was registered on PROSPERO (registration: CRD42020176319). PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Science Direct and Web of Science were searched for studies published in English between 2003 and 2020, with findings explicitly mentioning end-of-life care impacts in relation to a natural disaster. Articles were appraised for quality using a JBI-QARI tool. RESULTS: Thirty-six empirical studies met the inclusion criteria and quality assessment. Findings were synthesised into three key themes: impacts on service provision, impacts on service providers and impacts on service users. This review demonstrates that natural disasters impact profoundly on end-of-life care, representing a stark departure from a palliative care approach. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical practitioners, policy makers and researchers must continue to collaborate for viable solutions to achieve universal access to compassionate and respectful end-of-life care, during natural disasters. Using models, policies and practices already developed in palliative care, involving those most impacted in disaster planning and anticipating barriers, such as resource shortages, enables development of end-of-life care policies and practices that can be rapidly implemented during natural disasters.
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Introduction: The course of SARS-CoV-2 disease has a clinical spectrum ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infection to fulminant pneumonia. The use of corticosteroids is recommended in the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia. The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of high-dose methylprednisolone and dexamethasone treatment in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Material(s) and Method(s): The participants were divided into Group M, receiving >=250 mg intravenous methylprednisolone therapy, and Group D receiving 6 mg intravenous dexamethasone therapy. The efficacy of treatments, length of hospital stays, ventilator requirements, anti-cytokine treatment requirements, and mortality rates were evaluated in both groups. Result(s): Two hundred eighty-eight (69.1%) patients received dexamethasone and 129 (30.9%) received methylprednisolone. While overall mortality in the study was 11%, this rate was 10.4% in Group D and 12.4% in Group M (p> 0.05). The rate of patients requiring intensive care was 15.8% in total, with a rate of 14.6% in Group D and 18.6% in Group M (p> 0.05). However, the total length of hospital stay was nine (7-39) days in Group M and 13 (7-29) days in Group D (p= 0.009). Anticytokines were required in 14.4% of the patients during treatment [40 in Group D, 20 in Group M (p> 0.05)]. Conclusion(s): In this study, it was determined that early methylprednisolone treatment shortened the hospital stay. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between Group M and Group D in terms of mechanical ventilation requirement, which showed an additional positive effect. However, mortality rates in patients receiving dexamethasone were found to be lower than in those receiving methylprednisolone, yet this difference did not reach statistical significance.Copyright © 2023 Bilimsel Tip Yayinevi. All rights reserved.
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The global outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in a surge in patients in hospitals and intensive care units. This unprecedented demand for medical resources has severely burdened healthcare systems. Chest X-Ray (CXR) images can be used by hospitals and small clinics to predict COVID-19 severity to maximize efficiency and allot medical resources to patients with severe COVID-19. This research compares the accuracies of four convolutional neural network models in predicting COVID-19 severity using chest X-Rays images. The CNN models include VGG-16, ResNet 50, Xception, and a custom CNN model. Through the comparison, VGG-16 had the highest COVID-19 severity prediction accuracy of all four models, with 95.56% testing accuracy and 88.33% validation accuracy. Using a machine learning method, disease progression can be tracked more accurately and help prioritize patients to ensure effective and timely treatment. © 2022 IEEE.
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Pharmaceutical technology is playing a key role in the battle against Covid-19 with advances being made in the development of vaccines, research and hospital care. Here we look at some recent developments. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.