Impact on mental health and perceptions of psychological care among medical and nursing staff in Wuhan during the 2019 novel coronavirus disease outbreak: A cross-sectional study.

The severe 2019 outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was first reported in Wuhan, would be expected to impact the mental health of local medical and nursing staff and thus lead them to seek help. However, those outcomes have yet to be established using epidemiological data. To explore the mental health status of medical and nursing staff and the efficacy, or lack thereof, of critically connecting psychological needs to receiving psychological care, we conducted a quantitative study. This is the first paper on the mental health of medical and nursing staff in Wuhan. Notably, among 994 medical and nursing staff working in Wuhan, 36.9% had subthreshold mental health disturbances (mean PHQ-9: 2.4), 34.4% had mild disturbances (mean PHQ-9: 5.4), 22.4% had moderate disturbances (mean PHQ-9: 9.0), and 6.2% had severe disturbance (mean PHQ-9: 15.1) in the immediate wake of the viral epidemic. The noted burden fell particularly heavily on young women. Of all participants, 36.3% had accessed psychological materials (such as books on mental health), 50.4% had accessed psychological resources available through media (such as online push messages on mental health self-help coping methods), and 17.5% had participated in counseling or psychotherapy. Trends in levels of psychological distress and factors such as exposure to infected people and psychological assistance were identified. Although staff accessed limited mental healthcare services, distressed staff nonetheless saw these services as important resources to alleviate acute mental health disturbances and improve their physical health perceptions. These findings emphasize the importance of being prepared to support frontline workers through mental health interventions at times of widespread crisis.

[Treatment of allergic rhinitis with asthma by different ways of inhaling corticosteroids].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutical effect on allergic rhinitis with asthma by different ways of inhaling corticosteroids. METHODS: Ninety patients suffering from allergic rhinitis with asthma were classified into three groups in random and treated with budesonide (BUD) by nasal spray, inhaling and nasal spray-inhaling combined administration for 12 weeks, respectively. The concentration of serum total IgE, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and IL-5, pulmonary functions were examined before and after treatment. RESULTS: The improvement of symptom scores of rhinitis and asthma in three groups were significant (P < 0.05). The concentration of serum total IgE, ECP and IL-5 in three groups decreased greatly after treatment (P < 0.05). There were significant improvement in FEV1, FEV1/FVC and FEF25%-75% in inhaling group before and after treatment (P < 0.05): FEV1 from (2.04 +/- 0.45) L to (2.47 +/- 0.54) L, FEV1/FVC from (72.73 +/- 5.59)% to (75.42 +/- 5.94)% and FEF25%-75% from 1.69 +/- 0.52 to 2.06 +/- 0.77. There was also significant improvement in nasal spray-inhaling combined groups before and after treatment (P < 0.05): FEV1 from (2.32 +/- 0.56) L to (2.76 +/- 0.58) L, FEV1/FVC from (73.80 +/- 4.17)% to (76.04 +/- 4.49)% and FEF25%-75% from 2.09 +/- 0.45 to 2.34 +/- 0.64. The significant difference of FEV1 among the three treatment groups was observed (P = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS: The symptoms of rhinitis and asthma in three groups by three ways of inhaling BUD were greatly improved, no significant difference in symptom scores and serum parameters was found.

[A study on the relationship between interleukin-4 promoter polymorphism and asthma in a Xinjiang Uyger population].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential association of interleukin-4 (IL-4) polymorphism-589 (C/T) with specific clinical phenotypes of asthma in Xinjiang Uygur population. METHODS: Ninety-three Uyger asthmatics [asthmatic group (A), mild 30 (A(1)), moderate 32 (A(2)), severe 31 (A(3)); nocturnal asthma 41 (A(I)), non-nocturnal asthma 52 (A(II))] in whom linkage of asthma and atopy to chromosome 5q(31 - 33) was suggested and 62 normal healthy controls (B group) with the same ethnicity nearby Xinjiang Hetian region were investigated. The IL-4-589 (C/T) polymorphism was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. The serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and total IgE and specific aeroallergens were detected using a Pharmacia UniCAP 100 type instrument, and pulmonary ventilatory function was measured by FEV(1)% and PEF. RESULTS: The IL-4 polymorphism-589 (C/T) frequency of the heterozygous CT was 42 (45.1%), homozygous CC 29 (31.2%), and homozygous TT 22 (23.7%) in A group. The frequency of the heterozygous CT was 26 (41.9%), homozygous CC 21 (33.9%), and homozygous TT 15 (24.2%) in B group. There were no significant differences in the distributions of the three genotypes between A group and B group (P > 0.05). The frequency of the homozygous CC was 39.0% in the A(I) group as compared to 25.0% in the A(II) group, the difference being significant (P = 0.026). The frequency of the heterozygous CT was 40% (12/30) in A(1) group, 41% (13/32) in A(2) group and 55% (17/31) in A(3) group. There were significant differences in the distributions of the three genotypes among A(1), A(2) and A(3) group (all P < 0.05). The total serum IgE levels were (75.2 +/- 43.2) kU/L and (52.3 +/- 22.4) kU/L in A group and B group respectively, and there was no significant difference in the levels of total serum IgE among the genotypes in both A and B groups (P > 0.05). The serum ECP levels were (7.9 +/- 5.4) microg/L and (4.8 +/- 1.9) microg/L in A group and B group respectively, the difference being significant between the two groups (P < 0.01). The positive rate of specific IgE antibody was 18.3% (17/93), and 0% (0/62) in A group and B group respectively, and there was significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that the IL-4 promoter-589 (C/T) polymorphism may be associated with nocturnal phenotypes of asthma, but not associated with pulmonary ventilatory function (P > 0.05) and serum total IgE level in this Xinjiang Uyger population.