RESUMEN
Since December 2019, a new infectious disease, " corona virus disease " (COVID-19), mainly lung lesion, has been emerging in China. The outbreak of covid-19 coincided with the Chinese New Year in 2020. The rapid spread of the disease triggered public panic and an overwhelming number of news reports on new media platforms. However, information does not always equate with the way of communication. The communication bias happened in the flow of information. This paper takes the information flow about covid-19 before 26th December, 2020 as a model, and compares the time of information flow in the early development of the epidemic with the approach of Edmund Carpenter's "explorations in media and anthropology" and Harold A. Innis' "the bias of communication ". The bias of time and of information delivered during the pandemic is examined. The study further focuses on the reflection and response of Chinese new media platforms and information platforms towards the public opinion management.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Healthy aging with dignity and aging in place are important for Taiwanese individuals. Although Taiwan did not experience COVID-19 outbreaks prior to May 2021, many older adults have been encouraged to stay at home since the beginning of the global pandemic in January 2020. Such shelter-in-place recommendations have resulted in significant lifestyle changes, limiting activities associated with aging with dignity such as exercise and community engagement. Few studies have explored how to promote or maintain holistic health practices and physical fitness in older adults residing in rural communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This pilot study aimed to establish an interdisciplinary collaboration with community care workers (CCWs) and evaluate the impact of an innovative summer camp (ISC) program for older adults residing in rural areas. METHODS: A quasi-experimental pre-post-test design with an interdisciplinary collaborative approach was implemented. The ISC program was based on a standardized protocol of modified Baduanjin exercise combined with three recreational breathing games. Participants were recruited from three community centers around the western coastal region of Yunlin County between June and August 2020. The ISC program was designed and executed by a nurse-led health promotion research team that collaborated with trained CCWs for 90 min per day, five days per week, for 12 weeks. Participants and CCWs wore facemasks during all activities. Paired t-test was used to measure changes in physical biomarkers, pulmonary lung function, and health-related fitness changes. RESULTS: Sixty-eight participants completed the ISC program. The ISC program significantly improved the participants' physiological biomarkers and health-related fitness, including reduced body weight, waistline, and systolic blood pressure, and increased forced vital capacity, biceps arm flexion, and ability to sit and stand from a chair, step with a knee up in situ, and stand on one foot with eyes open. Most participants reported that they felt happy, satisfied, and hoped that this program would be continued in their community center. CONCLUSIONS: This interdisciplinary, collaborative ISC program improved physical biomarkers and health-related fitness in older adults. Despite limitations, results strongly suggested that primary healthcare providers and CCWs can employ the described ISC program to promote wellness in older adults.
RESUMEN
Tests that detect the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen in clinical specimens from the upper respiratory tract can provide a rapid means of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis and help identify individuals who may be infectious and should isolate to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission. This systematic review assesses the diagnostic accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection in COVID-19 symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals compared to quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and summarizes antigen test sensitivity using meta-regression. In total, 83 studies were included that compared SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen-based lateral flow testing (RALFT) to RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2. Generally, the quality of the evaluated studies was inconsistent; nevertheless, the overall sensitivity for RALFT was determined to be 75.0% (95% confidence interval: 71.0-78.0). Additionally, RALFT sensitivity was found to be higher for symptomatic vs. asymptomatic individuals and was higher for a symptomatic population within 7 days from symptom onset compared to a population with extended days of symptoms. Viral load was found to be the most important factor for determining SARS-CoV-2 antigen test sensitivity. Other design factors, such as specimen storage and anatomical collection type, also affect the performance of RALFT. RALFT and RT-qPCR testing both achieve high sensitivity when compared to SARS-CoV-2 viral culture.
RESUMEN
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a newly discovered coronavirus that exhibits many similarities with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, respectively). The definite pathogenesis and immunological influences of SARS-CoV-2 have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, we constructed a brief summary comparison of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV infections regarding their immunological changes. In addition, we further investigated the immunological differences between severe and nonsevere COVID-19 cases, and we searched for possible immunological predictors of the patient outcome by reviewing case series studies to date. Possible immunological predictors of a poor outcome are leukocytosis, neutrophilia, lymphopenia (both CD4 and CD8 T cells), an increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α), Th1 cytokines (IL-2 and IFN-γ), regulatory T cell cytokines (IL-10) and Th17 cytokines (IL-17). A more precise immunological map needs to be established, which may assist in diagnosing this disease and facilitate immunological precision medicine treatment.