New coronavirus infection in pediatric practice: clinical and epidemiological features of COVID-19 in the city of Smolensk.

The aim of the study was to study the clinical and epidemiological features of the new COVID-19 coronavirus infection in children hospitalized in the infectious department. Material and methods. 249 case histories of patients from 0 to 18 years of age who are on inpatient treatment at <<Clinical Hospital N1>> in Smolensk for the period from April 2020 to July 2022 were studied by the continuous sampling method. Verification of a new coronavirus infection was carried out by examining smears from the nasopharynx and oropharynx for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by real-time PCR. Results. The prevalence of patients from 1 to 3 (19.3%, 49.1%) and from 6-15 (15.8%, 50.5%) years was revealed both in 2020 and in 2021 and the first half of 2022. No significant differences in gender were found. The largest number of cases in 2020 was registered in April (16%) and November (14%), in 2021 - in December (18%) and November (16%). The prevailing severity in both 2020 and 2021, 2022 was the average severity (63%, 72%, 93%, respectively). The main syndromes of COVID-19 have been identified: intoxication syndrome, respiratory catarrhal syndrome, bronchopulmonary, intestinal. Bilateral pneumonia was most often detected (47% in 2020, 44% in 2021, 62% in 2022), right-sided pneumonia (33% in 2020, 30% in 2021, 31% in 2022), and left-sided pneumonia (20%, 26% and 7%, respectively). The main co-morbid pathologies are noted, and cases of somatic diseases first registered against the background of COVID-19 are described.Copyright © Children Infections.All rights reserved

Rapid exchange of a percutaneous gastrostomy tube during an early episode of COVID-19

We retrospectively report a case of rapid exchange of a percutaneous radiologic gastrostomy tube (balloon-occluded type catheter) via off-label use of a pigtail catheter for nutrition supply during a very early episode of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in an outpatient clinic. This case demonstrates that minimally invasive percutaneous procedures might be provided safely and effectively under appropriate precautions for preventing COVID-19 transmission during the pandemic.Copyright © 2023, Society of Gastrointestinal Intervention.

Research COVID-19 and its Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious disease that resulted in 4533645 deaths until September first, 2021. Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients receive immunosuppressive drugs. Thus, there is a concern that these drugs will reduce the patient's immune system resistance against COVID19. Objective(s): This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of COVID19 and its impact on MS patients in our university hospital in Tehran City, Iran. Material(s) and Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted based on hospital-based registry data from May 2020 to March 2021. Among more than 500 registered MS patients in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran City, Iran, referring within our study period, 84 patients reported SARS-COV2 infection. The diagnosis of MS was confirmed by the McDonald criteria. Moreover, the diagnosis of COVID-19 in MS patients was established by the real-time-PCR technique and chest computed tomography. Result(s): Out of 84 MS patients with SARS-COV2 infection, 55(65.5%) were women, and their mean age was 37.48 years. The most commonly used medications by MS patients were Rituximab 20 (26.3%) and Dimethyl Fumarate 14(18.4%). Totally, 9(10.8%) of the patients needed to be hospitalized due to COVID-19, with a mean hospitalization duration of 5.88 days. A total of 1 (1.2%) death was reported. Conclusion(s): Compared to the healthy population, COVID-19 is not more serious in MS patients. Most MS patients with COVID-19 infection were not hospitalized and continued their medication during the infection.Copyright © 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC-By-NC license. All Rights Reserved.

COVID-19 Incidence and its Clinical Course in Liver Transplant Recipients.

Organ transplant recipients receive immunosuppressive drugs and hence are at high risk for COVID-19 due to their compromised immunity. This study assessed 1,370 liver transplant recipients who were followed at our hospital. A total of 12 patients got COVID-19: 5 recipients <50-years-old had mild disease, 7 recipients >60-years-old had moderate to severe disease, and 2 patients died. In addition, not all patients received 2 vaccinations, suggesting that the immunization is important for COVID-19 prophylaxis even in this patient population. One recipient was successfully treated with a combination of a reduced dose of immunosuppressive drugs, dexamethasone, remdesivir, and antibiotics, which is being established as an effective therapy for COVID-19.Copyright © 2022 The Japan Society of Hepatology.

COVID-19 and Food Insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean

The objective was to determine the prevalence of household food insecurity (FI) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary analysis was performed using the waves 1 to 3 of the 2020 COVID-19 High Frequency Phone Surveys in 13 LAC countries. The countries with the highest FI in the first wave were Honduras (60.3%), Peru (58.1%) and Ecuador (57.9%). Likewise, the countries with the greatest differences in the prevalence of FI between the first and last waves in percentage points (PP) were Peru (-29), Guatemala (-27.7) and Bolivia (-21.8). LAC countries face a great burden of FI.Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Inheritance and innovation: maintain academic communications in microsurgery under the normalized prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemics.

Chinese Journal of Microsurgery, based on the premise of doing well in the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemics, shall keep on driving on the inheritance and innovation, carry forward the spirit of microsurgery, give full play to the advantages of microsurgery technology and improve the level of surgical repair and reconstruction, as well as try new ways for academic communications and give full play to the roles of an academic platform for a professional magazine;Clinical Orthopaedic Microsurgery (internal communication), the internal journal of editorial office, is the "showcase in China" to highlight and disseminate the achievements in microsurgery, focus on the support for the Chinese young microsurgeons who work in the front-line of medical services, provide a platform effectively for the young microsurgeons in China to actively participate in the Sino-English literary exchange, and truly "publish the papers on the land of our motherland".Copyright © 2022 by the authors.

Management of the Surgical Patient during the First and Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience of a Tertiary Care Centre

Objective: Due to the COVID 19 pandemic healthcare providers all over the world had brought some changes in the management of surgical patients. This study is aimed to estimate the impact of pandemic on surgical practices. Material(s) and Method(s): We conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of all patients admitted to the department of general surgery (both elective & emergency), SCB Medical College and Hospital, Odisha, India from April 1 to July 31, 2020, and 2021 and the records were those of patients who were admitted in the same period in 2019. Data collection includes the number of admissions, the reason for admission, the age & gender of the patients admitted patients and type of management. Result(s): There was a 57.5% reduction in total admission during first COVID in pandemic 2020 and 58.7% reduction during second wave of pandemic in 2021. The proportion of patient presenting to emergency department was more in 2020 and 2021 than 2019. Number of emergency admission decreased by 46.54% in 2020 and 46% in 2021. There was a 79.5% drop in the number of out-patients admission in 2020 and 84% in 2021. Furthermore a 79.8% reduction in elective surgical intervention noticed in 2020 and 80% in 2021. Conservative management was preferred over surgical management during the COVID era. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 has led to a drastic reduction in outpatient and elective surgical practices. Hence creating a major concern for all surgeons about the critical situation.Copyright © 2023, Dr Yashwant Research Labs Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.

Epidemic characteristics analysis of COVID-19 cluster in Huizhou, Guangdong

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cluster epidemic in Huizhou from January to February in 2020, and we provide experience and reference for the prevention and control of cluster epidemic. Methods Descriptive epidemiology was used to analyze the clusters of COVID-19 in Huizhou city. Results From January to February in 2020, a total of 19 COVID-19 cluster outbreaks were reported in Huizhou. The most common cluster outbreaks were in Huidong county (8 cases), Boluo county (3 cases) and Huiyang district (3 cases). There were 59 cases involved in 19 outbreaks, among which 46 were confirmed cases, and 13 were asymptomatic infected. The sex ratio of male to female was 0.84: 1, the age was 1-85 years old. The 19 cases of outbreaks were all caused by imported cases, among which 13 cases were imported from Wuhan (68.4%), 3 cases were imported from Hubei province except Wuhan (15.8%), and 3 cases were imported from other provinces and cities (15.8%). There were 13 cases (68.4%) in the first generation, and 6 cases (31.6%) in the second generation. Events exposed place were variety, including 3 (15.8%) simple family exposure, 13 (68.4%) joint exposure, exposure family, 1 (5.26%) of the joint exposure, family exposure, family dinners, 1 (5.26%) of the joint exposure, family exposure, exposure (hotel) exposed in public places, 1 (5.26%) of the collective unit (workplace) exposure. Conclusion All the COVID - 19 cluster outbreaks in Huizhou city were caused by imported cases, most of which occurred in the family and were caused by families living together and eating together. As the number of people returning to work, production and school increases, various prevention and control measures should be implemented in key areas, key populations and key places to prevent the outbreak from rebounding.Copyright © China Tropical Medicine 2021.

Listeriosis and the COVID-19 pandemic

Listeriosis is a saprozoonotic infection that occurs when eating foods contaminated with Listeria. Invasive forms of listeriosis can have extremely severe consequences. Respiratory viral diseases predispose to the occurrence of combined viral-bacterial infections. With a mixed infection of listeriosis and COVID-19, a severe course of the disease is observed, which has a serious prognosis. The aim of the study was to analyze the frequency of various variants of invasive listeriosis and their outcomes in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic and against the background of its development, as well as to determine the genetic diversity of L. monocytogenes isolates. Material and methods. We analyzed 55 cases of invasive listeriosis in patients observed in 2018-2021 in various medical organizations in Moscow. The diagnosis was established on the basis of epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data, listeriosis was confirmed by bacteriological and molecular genetic methods, COVID-19 was confirmed by the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in an oropharyngeal swab using real-time RT-PCR, as well as computed tomography of the lungs. Results. During the current COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021), the incidence of listeriosis in pregnant women and invasive listeriosis occurring in the form of sepsis and/or lesions of the central nervous system did not differ significantly from similar indicators registered in 2018-2019. Listeria sepsis and/or meningitis/meningoencephalitis in association with severe SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus infection are at high risk of death. During the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the diversity and range of L. monocytogenes genotypes in invasive listeriosis changed, new genotypes appeared that were not previously characteristic of the Russian Federation. Conclusion. The likelihood of developing listeriosis sepsis and/or meningitis/meningoencephalitis against the background of a severe course of COVID-19, and a high risk of an adverse outcome, require increased awareness of medical workers in the field of diagnosis and treatment of invasive listeriosis in order to conduct the earliest and most adequate antibiotic therapy.Copyright © 2022 Geotar Media Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.

Some clinical and epidemiological aspects of the course of COVID-19 in people living with HIV

Objective. To describe the clinical and epidemical characteristics of a new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in people living with HIV, for HIV infection implies the development of an immunosuppressive condition that may exacerbate the course of COVID-19. Material and methods. The research is based on retrospective and current epidemiological situation of HIV and SARS-CoV-2 infections in the Southern Russia regions during 2020 and survey of the patients with the co-infections concerning epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory diagnostic information. We collected all data from 15 regional centers for AIDS prevention and control in the Southern and North Caucasus Federal Districts. The survey sample consists of 121 patients. Statistical computation is done with Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Results and discussion. HIV patients of various age and social characteristics are involved in the COVID-19 epidemic process. Within registered HIV and SARS-CoV-2 co-infections all patients have apparent clinical symptoms. Asymptomatic cases are not presented. Mild cases prevail in the sample (48.8%). The frequency of severe and extremely severe was significantly higher in people living with HIV/AIDS on ART more than 2 months against naive PLHIV or using ART up two one month (p<0.05).Copyright © 2022 by the authors.

Outbreak trends of fatality rate into coronavirus disease-2019 using deep learning

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the novel coronavirus as global pandemic on 11 March 2020. It was known to originate from Wuhan, China and its spread is unstoppable due to no proper medication and vaccine. The developed forecasting models predict the number of cases and its fatality rate for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is highly impulsive. This paper provides intrinsic algorithms namely - linear regression and long short-term memory (LSTM) using deep learning for time series-based prediction. It also uses the ReLU activation function and Adam optimiser. This paper also reports a comparative study on existing models for COVID-19 cases from different continents in the world. It also provides an extensive model that shows a brief prediction about the number of cases and time for recovered, active and deaths rate till January 2021.Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Epidemiological characteristics of four times of community transmission of COVID-19 in Hebei

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of community transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by four imported cases in Hebei Province, and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of the disease. Methods Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of four community-transmitted COVID-19 outbreaks reported in the China Disease Control and Prevention Information System from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021 in Hebei Province. Results From January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021, four community-transmitted COVID-19 outbreaks caused by imported COVID-19 occurred in Hebei Province, respectively related of Hubei (Wuhan) Province, Beijing Xinfadi market, Overseas cases and Ejina banner of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Total of 1 656 cases (1 420 confirmed cases and 236 asymptomatic cases) were reported, including 375 cases in phase A (From January 22 to April 16, 2020), and phase B (from June 14 to June 24, 2020) 27 cases were reported, with 1 116 cases reported in the third phase (Phase C, January 2 to February 14, 2021), and 138 cases reported in the fourth phase (Phase D, October 23 to November 14, 2021). The 1 656 cases were distributed in 104 counties of 11 districts (100.00%), accounting for 60.46% of the total number of counties in the province. There were 743 male cases and 913 female cases, with a male to female ratio of 0.81:1. The minimum age was 13 days, the maximum age was 94 years old, and the average age (median) was 40.3 years old. The incidence was 64.01% between 30 and 70 years old. Farmers and students accounted for 54.41% and 14.73% of the total cases respectively. Of the 1 420 confirmed cases, 312 were mild cases, accounting for 21.97%;Common type 1 095 cases (77.11%);There was 1 severe case and 12 critical cases, accounting for 0.07% and 0.85%, respectively. 7 patients died from 61.0 to 85.7 years old. The mean (median) time from onset to diagnosis was 1.9 days (0-31 days), and the mean (median) time of hospital stay was 15 days (1.5-56 days). Conclusions Four times in Hebei province COVID-19 outbreak in scale, duration, population, epidemic and type of input source, there are some certain difference, but there are some common characteristics, such as the outbreak occurs mainly during the legal holidays or after starting and spreading epidemic area is mainly in rural areas, aggregation epidemic is the main mode of transmission, etc. To this end, special efforts should be made to strengthen the management of people moving around during holidays, and strengthen the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures in places with high concentration of people. To prevent the spread of the epidemic, we will step up surveillance in rural areas, farmers' markets, medical workers and other key areas and groups, and ensure early detection and timely response.Copyright © 2022 China Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved.

The experience and inspiration on the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019 in the department of radiotherapy

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as a public health emergency, is a serious threat to human health. Cancer patients have a high risk of being infected with COVID-19. As one of important means of cancer treatment, radiotherapy has become an important alternative to surgery during the epidemic of COVID-19. The radiotherapy department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital ensured the smooth development of radiotherapy work on the setup of prevention and control systems for COVID-19 by establishing admission strategies for cancer patients, disinfection, isolation, daily management measures, scientific exploration, and clinical practice. In this paper, the associated strategies are summarized and analyzed, which can provide experience and reference for radiotherapy treatment under public health emergencies.Copyright © 2021, Peking Union Medical College Hospital. All rights reserved.

Blended teaching of medical parasitology in China during COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has promoted the development of online teaching in various educational institutions. Different online teaching practice has shown advantages and potential problems. The combination of online and offline teaching (mixed teaching) is a new teaching practice that can exert its advantages simultaneously, and has been wildly used during the COVID-19 pandemic, even being extended to the post-pandemic era. Medical parasitology is a foundation course for medicine and a bridging course towards clinical medicine and preventive medicine. The traditional teaching of medical parasitology has presented many limitations, including outdated teaching concepts and practices, and the disconnection between theory teaching and practice teaching. In response to these difficulties, many innovative ideas and measures have been taken o reform the teaching practice of the foundation medical courses, including updating teaching program, adopting innovative teaching practice (such as blended teaching), and promoting the teaching evaluation method. In this paper, we concluded the blended teaching tools, platforms, manners, effects and evaluation methods in medical parasitology in China during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide information for the teaching reform in the post-pandemic era.Copyright © 2022, National Institute of Parasitic Diseases. All rights reserved.

An imported case of ovale malaria in Xinjiang during the epidemic period of COVID-19.

On December 13, 2020, Yutian County People's hospital reported one imported malaria case in Hotan, Xinjiang. The patient had worked and lived in Yaounde, Cameroon, from January to September 2020. He was infected with malaria twice in March and May 2020. Antimalarial treatment was administrated by the team doctor for 2-3 days in each treatment. The treatment was stopped after the symptoms improved. The patient returned to China on September 16 and was hospitalized on December 13 due to a high fever of 39! and upper respiratory symptoms. Multiple detections of COVID-19 nucleic acid showed negative results. Peripheral blood from the patient was taken for Plasmodium rapid diagnostic test (RDT), which showed a positive result suggesting non Plasmodium falciparum infection. Ring stage P. ovale was found in the blood smear. Nested PCR showed positive for P. ovale. A diagnosis of imported ovale malaria was made. The patient was administrated with 4 dihydroartemisinin piperaquine tablets and 3 primaquine phosphate tablets daily. The malaria parasite test became negative after 8 days of treatment. The patient was followed up for 3 months after discharge and had no symptoms of chills or fever.Copyright © 2022, National Institute of Parasitic Diseases. All rights reserved.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among workers of Instituto Nacional de Salud del Nino, Peru, April 2020 to March 2021.

Objective: To determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection among workers of Instituto Nacional de Salud del Nino (INSN) from April 2020 to March 2021. Material(s) and Method(s): A non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 608 workers who tested positive for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test. The COVID-19 clinical-epidemiological research sheets prepared by the Ministry of Health of Peru and self-administered by the workers were reviewed. The INSN Department of Epidemiology staff verified the completion of the sheets. The data was entered into a database, which was used for the respective statistical analysis. The study was approved by the INSN Institutional Research Ethics Committee (registration code: PI-17/21). Result(s): COVID-19 prevalence among INSN workers was 7.24 % from April 2020 to March 2021. Out of the workers with COVID-19, 71.4 % were women;83.4 % were in the 30 to 59 age range with an average age of 44.71 years;65.6 % were healthcare workers, most of whom were nursing technicians;and 56.9 % experienced symptoms, mainly fever/chills (12.2 %), cough (8.9 %), malaise (7.7 %), sore throat (6.7 %), stuffy nose (2.5 %) and headache (1.3 %). Most workers lived in Lima Centro districts (33.2 %). A significant association between sex, age groups, worker type and worker profile was found. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 prevalence among INSN workers was 7.24 %;the most frequent characteristics, which showed significant differences with the rest of the factors, were being a woman, healthcare worker and nursing technician. A total of 56.9 % of the workers experienced symptoms, only 20.9 % developed clinical signs and 10.9 % had comorbidities.Copyright © La revista. Publicado por la Universidad de San Martin de Porres, Peru.

A comprehensive review on the diagnosis and testing strategies for coronavirus disease

The COVID-19 outbreak has fashioned to severe threat to each and every individual in social and economic aspects in the country. This required improved wisdom to know how it is different and dominant, to diagnose and determine effective vaccines to avoid the transmission of these deadly causative agents. From this review, the probable property of these deadly transmissible viruses is related to that of SARS-CoV-2 as a fright zone of viruses. It also provides some sparks about effective and accurate diagnosis and treatment strategies. The effective management and control of panic zone of virus (PZV) and SARS-CoV-2 are more important to reduce the pandemic situation.Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Psychological impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on dentists

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic seems to have an incessant out-turn on the people in every field in some or the other way. It has been reported that maximum number of deaths in the countries during this pandemic are caused due to a term called death anxiety or phobia. There are certain parameters such as anxiety, apprehension, depression which if influence a person can alter one's well-being. Objective(s): The steadfast intent of this review article is to narrate the psychological impact of this pandemic on dentists. The eloquence and emergence of this topic will alarm all the medicos and paramedics to have a check on this scenario. Method(s): The article consists of detailed study from several articles from PubMed publications. Articles written only in English language were referred. Various keywords such as "Covid-19 pandemic" or "Psychological Impact" were used. Result(s): The Covid-19 Pandemic has adversely affected all of us physically as well as psychologically. This article signifies the psychological impact of this pandemic on dentists. Conclusion(s): The current studies that are carried out till date show an extensive impact on the psychology of the dental professionals. The following review article elaborates the importance of the same.Copyright © 2023 Patil B et al.