Revealing Public Opinion Towards COVID-19 Vaccines With Twitter Data in the United States: Spatiotemporal Perspective.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a large, initially uncontrollable, public health crisis both in the United States and across the world, with experts looking to vaccines as the ultimate mechanism of defense. The development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines have been rapidly advancing via global efforts. Hence, it is crucial for governments, public health officials, and policy makers to understand public attitudes and opinions towards vaccines, such that effective interventions and educational campaigns can be designed to promote vaccine acceptance. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate public opinion and perception on COVID-19 vaccines in the United States. We investigated the spatiotemporal trends of public sentiment and emotion towards COVID-19 vaccines and analyzed how such trends relate to popular topics found on Twitter. METHODS: We collected over 300,000 geotagged tweets in the United States from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021. We examined the spatiotemporal patterns of public sentiment and emotion over time at both national and state scales and identified 3 phases along the pandemic timeline with sharp changes in public sentiment and emotion. Using sentiment analysis, emotion analysis (with cloud mapping of keywords), and topic modeling, we further identified 11 key events and major topics as the potential drivers to such changes. RESULTS: An increasing trend in positive sentiment in conjunction with a decrease in negative sentiment were generally observed in most states, reflecting the rising confidence and anticipation of the public towards vaccines. The overall tendency of the 8 types of emotion implies that the public trusts and anticipates the vaccine. This is accompanied by a mixture of fear, sadness, and anger. Critical social or international events or announcements by political leaders and authorities may have potential impacts on public opinion towards vaccines. These factors help identify underlying themes and validate insights from the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The analyses of near real-time social media big data benefit public health authorities by enabling them to monitor public attitudes and opinions towards vaccine-related information in a geo-aware manner, address the concerns of vaccine skeptics, and promote the confidence that individuals within a certain region or community have towards vaccines.

In Vivo Confocal Microscopy Use in Endotheliitis.

PURPOSE: The use of in vivo confocal microscopy has been valuable in detecting and managing corneal pathology. This case study documents endotheliitis using in vivo confocal microscopy where apparent resolution of endothelial edema on clinical examination resulted in the discovery of subclinical findings with confocal scanning. The purpose of this case study was to discuss a rare corneal pathology and the clinical value of confocal scanning. CASE REPORT: A 30-year-old Asian Indian woman presented with unilateral endotheliitis and trabeculitis of presumed varicella zoster virus etiology. She was treated successfully with oral antiviral and topical corticosteroid therapy. Subclinical endotheliitis was detected using in vivo confocal microscopy, prompting the continuation of prophylactic, low-dose, topical corticosteroid therapy and topical hyperosmotics. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is warranted to better understand the role of confocal microscopy in endotheliitis therapeutic management, endothelial cell count and morphology, and keratic precipitate characterization. To date, prophylactic oral antivirals and/or topical corticosteroids may play a role in immune suppression of the herpes virus, although prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trials have not focused specifically on endotheliitis cases.

Depression in palliative care: a systematic review. Part 2. Treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize available literature containing data on the treatment of depression in palliative care patients. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using extensive electronic databases and hand searches. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of interventions for depression in patients with advanced disease were eligible. RESULTS: Three RCTs assessed pharmacological treatments. Of these, two were placebo controlled and assessed mianserin and thioridazine. The third compared two antidepressants. There were no RCTs that specifically assessed psychotherapy for patients with depression. CONCLUSION: There are too few adequate studies to draw clear conclusions about management of depression in this setting. The treatment of depression in patients with advanced disease must, for now, be informed by the larger body of evidence on effective treatments for depression in patients with either no physical illness or less severe medical conditions.