ABSTRACT
Abstract The publication of medical articles has become increasingly complex, linked to multiple factors. It poses difficult problems for both authors and journals themselves. This Editorial addresses current and controversial issues: peer review, preprints as a new way of disseminating knowledge, the growing number of publications without peer review and its variants, and the risks of predatory publications. The article proposes future guidelines as an editorial policy of MEDICINA. The controversy continues, and surely the passage of time will place our proposal in a changing scientific world like knowledge itself.
ABSTRACT
The publication of medical articles has become increasingly complex, linked to multiple factors. It poses difficult problems for both authors and journals themselves. This Editorial addresses current and controversial issues: peer review, preprints as a new way of disseminating knowledge, the growing number of publications without peer review and its variants, and the risks of predatory publications. The article proposes future guidelines as an editorial policy of MEDICINA. The controversy continues, and surely the passage of time will place our proposal in a changing scientific world like knowledge itself.
Subject(s)
Medicine , Periodicals as Topic , Humans , Publishing , Peer ReviewABSTRACT
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241955.].
Subject(s)
Humans , Animals , Male , Female , Adolescent , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Young Adult , Pneumonia, Viral/therapy , COVID-19/therapy , Immune Sera/immunology , Argentina , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Immunization, Passive , SARS-CoV-2/immunology , Horses , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , Antibodies, Viral/chemistryABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The objective of our systematic review is to identify prognostic factors that may be used in decision-making related to the care of patients infected with COVID-19. DATA SOURCES: We conducted highly sensitive searches in PubMed/MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Embase. The searches covered the period from the inception date of each database until April 28, 2020. No study design, publication status or language restriction were applied. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: We included studies that assessed patients with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infectious disease and examined one or more prognostic factors for mortality or disease severity. Reviewers working in pairs independently screened studies for eligibility, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. We performed meta-analyses and used GRADE to assess the certainty of the evidence for each prognostic factor and outcome. RESULTS: We included 207 studies and found high or moderate certainty that the following 49 variables provide valuable prognostic information on mortality and/or severe disease in patients with COVID-19 infectious disease: Demographic factors (age, male sex, smoking), patient history factors (comorbidities, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cardiac arrhythmia, arterial hypertension, diabetes, dementia, cancer and dyslipidemia), physical examination factors (respiratory failure, low blood pressure, hypoxemia, tachycardia, dyspnea, anorexia, tachypnea, haemoptysis, abdominal pain, fatigue, fever and myalgia or arthralgia), laboratory factors (high blood procalcitonin, myocardial injury markers, high blood White Blood Cell count (WBC), high blood lactate, low blood platelet count, plasma creatinine increase, high blood D-dimer, high blood lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), high blood C-reactive protein (CRP), decrease in lymphocyte count, high blood aspartate aminotransferase (AST), decrease in blood albumin, high blood interleukin-6 (IL-6), high blood neutrophil count, high blood B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), high blood urea nitrogen (BUN), high blood creatine kinase (CK), high blood bilirubin and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)), radiological factors (consolidative infiltrate and pleural effusion) and high SOFA score (sequential organ failure assessment score). CONCLUSION: Identified prognostic factors can help clinicians and policy makers in tailoring management strategies for patients with COVID-19 infectious disease while researchers can utilise our findings to develop multivariable prognostic models that could eventually facilitate decision-making and improve patient important outcomes. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: Prospero registration number: CRD42020178802. Protocol available at: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.08.20056598v1.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/mortality , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/mortality , Aged , Aging , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Comorbidity , Data Management , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pandemics , Prognosis , Risk Factors , SARS-CoV-2 , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
COVID-19 has had a rapid dissemination. Departing from China, the virus has traveled all around the world. With the use of accurate mathematical models, the global spread of the disease was anticipated. Some additional information to these predictive models could be provided by the comparison of freely available maps depicting commercial air travel routes and disease spread. This analysis informs on what seems to be a direct relationship between the initially unequal worldwide distribution of the disease and the density of the commercial air traffic. This comparison may also help to identify international distributional hubs of the disease out of China. The observation of this easily accessible information may contribute to the understanding of COVID-19 spill over and help health control policies to better focus on the spread of this and other aggressively spreading respiratory infectious diseases.
La novel enfermedad COVID-19 ha tenido una rápida diseminación. Desde China, el virus viajó por todo el mundo. El potencial de la propagación global de COVID-19 fue anticipado y calculado mediante el uso de modelos matemáticos precisos. A estos modelos predictores se puede agregar información obtenida mediante la comparación de mapas gratuitos que representan la propagación internacional de la enfermedad y la densidad de las rutas aerocomerciales. Este análisis proporciona información de lo que parece ser una relación directa entre la distribución mundial inicial desigual de la enfermedad y la densidad del flujo aerocomercial. Esta comparación también puede estar sugiriendo la presencia de centros internacionales de distribución secundaria fuera de China. Con esta información de rápido acceso se puede contribuir a la mejor comprensión del derrame internacional de COVID-19 y orientar los esfuerzos de las políticas de salud para el control de esta y otras enfermedades infecciosas respiratorias agresivas.
Subject(s)
Air Travel , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Communicable Diseases/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Coronavirus Infections/transmission , Humans , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/transmission , Public Health , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Resumen La novel enfermedad COVID-19 ha tenido una rápida diseminación. Desde China, el virus viajó por todo el mundo. El potencial de la propagación global de COVID-19 fue anticipado y calculado mediante el uso de modelos matemáticos precisos. A estos modelos predictores se puede agregar información obtenida mediante la comparación de mapas gratuitos que representan la propagación internacional de la enfermedad y la densidad de las rutas aerocomerciales. Este análisis proporciona información de lo que parece ser una relación directa entre la distribución mundial inicial desigual de la enfermedad y la densidad del flujo aerocomercial. Esta comparación también puede estar sugiriendo la presencia de centros internacionales de distribución secundaria fuera de China. Con esta información de rápido acceso se puede contribuir a la mejor comprensión del derrame internacional de COVID-19 y orientar los esfuerzos de las políticas de salud para el control de esta y otras enfermedades infecciosas respiratorias agresivas.
Abstract COVID-19 has had a rapid dissemination. Departing from China, the virus has traveled all around the world. With the use of accurate mathematical models, the global spread of the disease was anticipated. Some additional information to these predictive models could be provided by the comparison of freely available maps depicting commercial air travel routes and disease spread. This analysis informs on what seems to be a direct relationship between the initially unequal worldwide distribution of the disease and the density of the commercial air traffic. This comparison may also help to identify international distributional hubs of the disease out of China. The observation of this easily accessible information may contribute to the understanding of COVID-19 spill over and help health control policies to better focus on the spread of this and other aggressively spreading respiratory infectious diseases.
