scholarly journals General Guidelines in the Management of an Obstetrical Patient on the Labor and Delivery Unit during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (08) ◽  
pp. 829-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela J. Stephens ◽  
John R. Barton ◽  
Nana-Ama Ankumah Bentum ◽  
Sean C. Blackwell ◽  
Baha M. Sibai
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Obstetric Care ◽  
World Health ◽  
Labor And Delivery ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Obstetrical Patient ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory tract infection that was first identified in China. Since its emergence in December 2019, the virus has rapidly spread, transcending geographic barriers. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared COVID-19 as a public health crisis. Data regarding COVID-19 in pregnancy is limited, consisting of case reports and small cohort studies. However, obstetric patients are not immune from the current COVID-19 pandemic, and obstetric care will inevitably be impacted by the current epidemic. As such, clinical protocols and practice on labor and delivery units must adapt to optimize the safety of patients and health care workers and to better conserve health care resources. In this commentary, we provide suggestions to meet these goals without impacting maternal or neonatal outcomes. Key Points • Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic.• COVID-19 impacts care of obstetric patients.• Health care should be adapted for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Importance of Proper Use of N95 Respirators by Health-Care Workers

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. e110-e113
Author(s):  
Tooba Hoseini Azizi ◽  
Saeideh Varasteh ◽  
Maryam Esmaeili
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Disease Treatment ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
N95 Respirators

The novel coronavirus causing the COVID-19 pandemic is spread by respiratory transmission through droplets and contact. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) including a gown, gloves, and a surgical mask or N95 respirator plus a face shield and/or goggles for health-care workers who are in direct contact with COVID-19 patients. A study in China by Wang found that health-care workers on the front line of disease treatment had inadequate training in the use of PPE, particularly for respiratory infectious diseases. Instruction in the proper use of N95 respirators, with an emphasis on performing user seal checks, as well as donning and doffing, is recommended for everyone caring for COVID-19 patients.

scholarly journals Viability of Bacillus subtilis Cells in Airborne Bioaerosols on Face Masks

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1496
Author(s):  
Eun-Hee Lee ◽  
Yunsoo Chang ◽  
Seung-Woo Lee
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Fine Dust ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Viable Cells ◽  
Mask Material ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Sand Dust

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a general health crisis and has irreversible impacts on human societies. Globally, all people are at risk of being exposed to the novel coronavirus through transmission of airborne bioaerosols. Public health actions, such as wearing a mask, are highly recommended to reduce the transmission of infectious diseases. The appropriate use of masks is necessary for effectively preventing the transmission of airborne bioaerosols. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests washing fabric masks or throwing away disposable masks after they are used. However, people often use masks more than once without washing or disposing them. The prolonged use of a single mask might—as a result of the user habitually touching the mask—promote the spread of pathogens from airborne bioaerosols that have accumulated on the mask. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate how long the living components of bioaerosols can be viable on the masks. Here, we evaluated the viability of airborne Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) in bioaerosols filtered on woven and anti-droplet (non-woven) face masks. As a simulation of being simultaneously exposed to sand dust and bioaerosols, the viability rates of bioaerosols that had accumulated on masks were also tested against fine dust and airborne droplets containing bacteria. The bioaerosols survived on the masks immediately after the masks were used to filter the bioaerosols, and the bacteria significantly proliferated after one day of storage. Thereafter, the number of viable cells in the filtered bioaerosols gradually decreased over time, and the viability of B. subtilis in bioaerosols on the masks varied, depending on the mask material used (woven or non-woven). Despite the reduction in viability, bioaerosols containing living components were still found in both woven and anti-droplet masks even after six days of storage and it took nine days not to have found them on masks. The number of viable cells in bioaerosols on masks significantly decreased upon exposure of the masks to fine dust. The results of this study should provide useful information on how to appropriately use masks to increase their duration of effectiveness against bioaerosols.

scholarly journals An Awakening Alarm for Dental Professionals in Pandemic of Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 1098-1101
Author(s):  
Aditi Vinay Chandak ◽  
Surekha Dubey Godbole ◽  
Tanvi Rajesh Balwani ◽  
Tanuj Sunil Patil
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New York ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Human Life ◽  
New York Times ◽  
World Health ◽  
Typical Structure ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Ecosystem, which consists of the physical environment and all the living organisms, on which we all depend, is declining rapidly because of its destruction caused by humans. It’s a two-way relationship between the humans and mother nature. If we destroy the natural environment around us, human life will be seriously affected, and the life of next generation will be endangered unless serious steps are taken. One such effect of human overexploitations has come in the form of coronavirus outbreak. Coronavirus, a contagious disease of 2019 known as Covid-19, is the latest swiftly spreading global infection. The aetiology of Covid-19 is different from SARS-CoV which has the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), but it has the same host receptor, human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The novel coronavirus which is zoonotic (spreading from an animal to a human) and mainly found in the bats and pangolins is a single stranded ribonucleic acid virus of Coronaviridae family. 1 The typical structure of 2019-nCoV possessed ‘spike protein’ in the membrane envelope, also expressed various polyproteins, nucleoproteins and membrane protein. The S protein binds to the receptor cell of host to facilitate the entry of virus in the host. Currently four genera for coronavirus are found α-CoV, ßCoV, γ-CoV, δ-CoV. SARS-CoV first originated in Wuhan, China and has spread across the globe. World Health Organization (WHO) and public health emergency of international concern declared it as 2019 - 2020 pandemic disease.2 According to WHO report, (7th April 2020) update on this pandemic coronavirus disease, there have been more than 13,65,004 confirmed cases and 76,507 deaths across the world and these figures are rapidly increasing. Therefore, actions for proper recognition, management and its prevention must be prompted for relevant alleviation of its outspread.3 Health care professionals are mainly indulged in the national crises and are working diligently around-the-clock, small ratio of the health care workers have become affected and few died tragically. Dentists are most often the first ones to be affected because they work with patients in close proximity. On 15th March 2020, the New York Times published an article titled “The workers who face the greatest Coronavirus risk” described the dentists are highly exposed, than the paramedical staffs and general physicians, to the risk of novel coronavirus disease 19.4

scholarly journals COVID-19 and the rise of social activism in Southeast Asia: a public health concern

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Clyde G Corpuz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract The current public health crisis has radically altered the social and civic involvement in Southeast Asia. Although the virus has shifted the landscape of engagement, it has not dampened the enthusiasm of the public. In 2020–2021, more people than ever seem to be paying attention and even getting involved in activism. Many dramatic events happened during the coronavirus crisis such as from protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, public activism around the environment, economic inequality, authoritarianism and human rights violations. In Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and just recently Myanmar. The journal has lately published about the ‘Relationship of George Floyd protests to increases in COVID-19 cases using event study methodology’ and it has rightly expressed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended social distancing guidelines must be followed in a protest situation. In response to the situation of social activism in Southeast Asia, one must follow the CDC-recommended and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines in the Region. Although protesting is an individual human right, one must also be cautious and be aware of the deadly virus since we are still in a pandemic and the COVID-19 virus continues to mutate.

scholarly journals Ten commonly asked questions about Covid-19 and lessons learned from Thailand

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pramon Viwattanakulvanid
Keyword(s):  
Symptomatic Treatment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Treatment And Prevention ◽  
The World ◽  
Village Health Volunteers ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Health Organization

PurposeAs the world faces a new health crisis threatening people with the spread of Covid-19, this study aims to summarize the key information of Covid-19 related to disease characteristics, diagnosis, treatment and prevention along with the lessons learned from Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe narrative review was synthesized from various sources such as the World Health Organization; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Ministry of Public Health and other related news; articles in ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar; and the author's perspective regarding the lessons learned from Thailand with keywords of “Covid-19” and “Coronavirus” from January to August 2020. Google Trends was used to set common questions.FindingsCovid-19 is the seventh family of coronaviruses that cause various symptoms related to respiratory systems. The disease can be treated through general and symptomatic treatment, by using antiviral drugs. As of July 2020, there are four potential vaccine candidates ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, mRNA-1273, Ad5-nCOV and BNT162b1. The recommendations for Covid-19 prevention are physical distancing, face masks, eye protection and hand washing. Thailand is now considered as low-risk for Covid-19 possibly because of (1) soft policy by government actions, (2) village health volunteers, (3) integration of technology and (4) fact-based communications.Originality/valueThis study summarized the key points about Covid-19, clarified some misunderstandings and shared strategic actions from Thailand, which can be adapted according to the different capacities and situations in other countries.

COVID-19: Socio-Economic Consequences on the Hospitality Industry in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-52
Author(s):  
Nur Hidayah Che Ahmat ◽  
Syafiqah Rahamat ◽  
Susan Wohlsdorf Arendt
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Hospitality Industry ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
The World ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

The novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province China before emerging in neighbouring countries in early 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic when the spreading of the virus started accelerating in many parts of the world and killing thousands of people. As of 22nd May 2021, there were more than 166 million confirmed cases with more than 147 million recovered and nearly 3.5 million deaths (Worldometers, n.d.). According to the WHO (2020) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020), the virus easily spreads through coughing and sneezing. Therefore, many countries implemented social distancing between individuals and various other restriction orders or recommendations (e.g., stay-at-home policies, closure of non-essential businesses) to help curb virus spread. How governments in each country reacted to control the spread of the virus appeared crucial to mitigate public health and economic impacts. Keywords: Foodservice, Hospitality, Hotel, Malaysia, Pandemic

scholarly journals Dilemma in the foreign lands during COVID-19: An outlook of expat health care professionals with a take on a social perspective

Work ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 779-782
Author(s):  
Namdeo Prabhu ◽  
Rakhi Issrani
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection a global pandemic due to the fast transmission of this disease worldwide. To prevent and slow the transmission of this contagious illness, the public health officials of many affected countries scrambled to introduce measures aimed at controlling its spread. As a result, unprecedented interventions/measures, including strict contact tracing, quarantine of entire towns/cities, closing of borders and travel restrictions, have been implemented by most of the affected countries including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this paper is to share health care professionals’ perspectives who are experiencing COVID19 firsthand in a foreign land. In addition, the role of the Saudi governance to combat the current situation is also discussed. DISCUSSION: Personal and previous experiences as related to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) by the authors has been compared to the current situation and how it affected our thoughts and management. A review of the evidence-based literature was conducted to investigate the demographics of the region; and to understand the awareness of the various tools that are available and how they were utilized in the present situation of pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Saudi Arabia has been challenged during the pandemic as are other countries.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Pandemic: Can Maintaining Optimal Zinc Balance Enhance Host Resistance?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed S. Razzaque
Keyword(s):  
Viral Infections ◽  
International Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Human Movements ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
The World ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19 is now officially declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), and most parts of the world are taking drastic measures to restrict human movements to contain the infection. Like millions of others around the world, I am wondering, is there anything that could be done, other than keeping high personal hygiene, and be vigilant of symptoms, to reduce the chances of infection, or at least to reduce the burden of the disease. So far, the National and International health agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the WHO have provided clear guidelines for both preventive and treatment suggestions. In this opinion-based article, I want to discuss, why keeping the adequate micronutrient balance might enhance the host response and be protective of viral infections. A detailed in-depth discussion of various micronutrients is not the purpose of this article, I will mostly emphasize on the role of zinc in viral infection.

scholarly journals An updated overview on 2019 novel coronavirus

Biomedicine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-419
Author(s):  
Sanjukta Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Troponin I ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Amino Acid Homology ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
To Come ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Coronavirus (CoV) has been associated with several infectious disease outbreak in humans in the past two decades, including Severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus [SARS-CoV] in 2002-2003 and Middle East respiratory coronavirus [MERS-CoV] in 2012. An unexpected and unexplained respiratory infection commenced at Wuhan city, China, during the end of 2019, which was named as novel coronavirus disease [2019-nCoV or COVID-19] by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is considered to be a zoonotic disease, as it has nearly similar amino acid homology to SARS-CoV. Reports have revealed an unexpected increase in number of cases worldwide (214 countries and territories along with 2 international conveyances), which intimidates the public with human to human escalation through respiratory droplets and contact routes. This pandemic was declared as a public health emergency of international concern. It follows an extremely heterogeneous course from mild Flu like symptoms [fever, cough, sore throat, dyspnoea, fatigue, headache and malaise] to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. According to epidemiological data, old age and pre-existing medical co-morbidities are considered to be the risk factors for COVIOD-19. Currently, laboratory-based "Real time-reversed transcription Polymerase chain reaction" [rtRT-PCR] remains the molecular test of choice for the etiologic diagnosis. That apart, several hematological, biochemical markers along with various inflammatory cytokines (lymphopenia, serum level of C-reactive protein, D-dimer, ferritin, Interleukin-6, cardiac troponin I) may be used to assess disease severity. As of now, there have been approximately more than 36 million cases worldwide and more than one million succumbed to the illness (2.91% estimated mortality rate).  Based on reports, India has become the second worst coronavirus hit country with a total number of cases reaching 68 lakhs. The dearth of selected medication (anti-CoV) and unusual transmission ability of 2019-nCoV continue to be responsible for this uninterrupted escalation. Woefully, specific vaccines are yet to come up. Treatment options like broad-spectrum antiviral Remdesivir, and oxygen therapy are being evaluated to control this unprecedented health crisis, although none of these drugs are FDA (Food and drug administration) approved. The path of this pandemic is very undetermined and unpredictable. In the present scenario, efficacious prevention needs swift action from the standpoint of public health strategies, which entails strict surveillance, rapid detection, and implementation of a containment plan to curb this outbreak. This review article highlights the updates on novel coronavirus 2019 and the uninterrupted apocalyptic progress concerning the present situation. It also highlights various perspectives of effective therapeutic strategies to restrain this viral outbreak.

scholarly journals Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 in Breastmilk from 18 Infected Women

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina D. Chambers ◽  
Paul Krogstad ◽  
Kerri Bertrand ◽  
Deisy Contreras ◽  
Nicole H. Tobin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Reports ◽  
World Health ◽  
Retrograde Flow ◽  
Infected Infant ◽  
American Academy Of Pediatrics ◽  
The World ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Respiratory Droplets ◽  
The U.S

To The EditorCurrently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization advise that women who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 may choose to breastfeed with appropriate protections to prevent transmission of the virus through respiratory droplets.(1) However, the potential for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through breastfeeding is currently unknown. To date, case reports on breastmilk samples from a total of 24 SARS-CoV-2-infected women have been published.(2-7) Of those, viral RNA was detected in ten breastmilk samples from four women. In some but not all cases, environmental contamination as the source of the virus or retrograde flow from an infected infant could not be ruled out.

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