scholarly journals Invention, Innovation, and Imitation in India—Necessity Arising from the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 077-086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Mathew ◽  
T. Lazar Mathew
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Innovation Ecosystem ◽  
The Public ◽  
Technology Platforms ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Frontline Healthcare Workers ◽  
Support Devices ◽  
Antibody Tests

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated tremendous innovation in India, driven by unprecedented novel needs, sense of urgency, availability of time during the lockdown, funding by Government agencies, and accelerated processing of projects. Therefore, the country has witnessed widespread innovation and imitation of existing technologies in recent weeks, but very few inventions. One novel invention, the Artificial Breathing Capability Device (ABCD) is being speeded up by the current necessity. Other innovations and imitations include (i) healthcare devices/products intended for diagnosis, management, or monitoring of suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patients (in healthcare institutions); (ii) improvisations in personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline healthcare workers and other personnel (including the public); (iii) adaptation of information technology platforms for telehealth, telemedicine, telemonitoring, and tele-education; and (iv) repurposing of existing resources/technologies for COVID-19. Some fruits of these efforts include (i) respiratory support devices (by mechanization of manual ventilation, ventilator splitters, etc.), (ii) personal protective equipment (PPE) (novel face masks, face shields/splash guards, intubation boxes, aerosol guards, etc.), (iii) novel sanitization products, processes or deployment methods, (iv) diagnostic tests (including rapid antibody tests, polymerase chain reaction [PCR] methods, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification [LAMP]), and (v) various adaptations such as repurposing and retrofitting of existing technologies aligned to the needs of COVID-19. These innovations and imitations have laudable features such as extremely rapid development of products (not merely concepts or prototypes); collaboration among individuals, institutions, and industry; willingness of players to work outside traditional comfort zones; and teamwork among stakeholders. Social media and lay press publicity create a sense of achievement and hope in a nation bogged down by the realities of COVID-19. However, these positive developments are associated with unique problems, especially duplication of effort, disregard of intellectual property (IP) issues, unhealthy competition amongst institutions, and failure to consider the needs for which solutions are proposed. The haste for developing products has bypassed the important steps of peer review, laboratory testing, and clinical validation to ensure the safety and efficacy of end users. These unintended side effects of the innovation race can be overcome by coordinated efforts through an innovation pathway proposed in this article under a broader innovation ecosystem.

scholarly journals Stress and Associated Factors among Frontline Healthcare Workers in the COVID-19 Epicenter of Da Nang City, Vietnam

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (14) ◽  
pp. 7378
Author(s):  
Nhan Phuc Thanh Nguyen ◽  
Duong Dinh Le ◽  
Robert Colebunders ◽  
Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo ◽  
Trung Dinh Tran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Stress Component ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Laboratory Workers ◽  
Frontline Healthcare Workers ◽  
Second Wave

Frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) involved in the COVID-19 response have a higher risk of experiencing psychosocial distress amidst the pandemic. Between July and September 2020, a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic appeared in Vietnam with Da Nang city being the epicenter. During the outbreak, HCWs were quarantined within the health facilities in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19 to their respective communities. Using the stress component of the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), we assessed the level of stress among HCWs in Da Nang city. Between 30 August and 15 September 2020, 746 frontline HCWs were recruited to fill in an online structured questionnaire. Overall, 44.6% of participants experienced increased stress and 18.9% severe or extremely severe stress. In multivariable analysis, increased stress was associated with longer working hours (OR = 1.012; 95% CI: 1.004–1.019), working in health facilities providing COVID-19 treatment (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.04–2.39), having direct contact with patients or their bio-samples (physicians, nurses and laboratory workers; OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.02–1.99), low confidence in the available personal protective equipment (OR = 0.846; 95% CI: 0.744–0.962) and low knowledge on COVID-19 prevention and treatment (OR = 0.853; 95% CI: 0.739–0.986). In conclusion, many frontline HCWs experienced increased stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang city. Reducing working time, providing essential personal protective equipment and enhancing the knowledge on COVID-19 will help to reduce this stress. Moreover, extra support is needed for HCWs who are directly exposed to COVID-19 patients.

scholarly journals Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physicians Working in the Head and Neck Field

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. e150-e159
Author(s):  
Rui Imamura ◽  
Ricardo F. Bento ◽  
Leandro L. Matos ◽  
William N. William ◽  
Gustavo N. Marta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Head And Neck ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Outpatient Care ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Psychological Burden ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third

Abstract Background With the COVID-19 pandemic, the clinical practice of physicians who work in the head and neck field in Brazil dropped dramatically. The sustained impact of the pandemic is not known. Methods An anonymous online survey was distributed to Brazilian otolaryngologists, head and neck surgeons, medical and radiation oncologists, asking about their clinical practice in the third to fourth months of the pandemic. Results The survey was completed by 446 specialists. About 40% reported reduction of more than 75% in outpatient care. A reduction of 90% to 100% in airway endoscopies was reported by 50% of the responders, and the same rate of reduction regarding surgeries (pediatric or nasosinusal) was reported by 80% of them. Family income decreased by 50%, and the psychological burden on physicians was considerable. The availability of personal protective equipment and safety precautions were limited, especially in the public sector. Conclusion COVID-19 is still impacting the head and neck field, and safety concerns may hinder the prompt resumption of elective care.

Emerging Medical Technologies for Fighting COVID-19: Prevention, Testing, and Treatment (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo Zhao ◽  
Rui Li ◽  
Yangmyung Ma ◽  
Iman Islam ◽  
Abdul M. Azam Rajper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Rapid Rise ◽  
Testing Methods ◽  
Medical Treatments ◽  
The Public ◽  
Medical Technologies ◽  
Equipment Testing

UNSTRUCTURED During COVID-19, the clinical and healthcare demands have been on the rapid rise. Major challenges to addressing the pandemic include a lack of testing kits and shortages of ventilators to treat severe cases of COVID-19, insufficient accessibility to personal protective equipment for both hospitals and the public. New technologies have been developed by scientists, researchers, and companies in response to these demands. In this paper, 90 news articles and scientific reports on COVID-19-related innovations during 2020-2021 were screened and shortlisted to form a pool of candidates yielding a total of 20 publications for review which were then categorized into three sections: personal protective equipment, testing methods, and medical treatments. Each study was analyzed for its engineering characteristics and potential social impact on the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the guidelines for future disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment were summarized and discussed.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Cloth Masks and Modified Procedure Masks as Personal Protective Equipment for the Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip W. Clapp ◽  
Emily E. Sickbert-Bennett ◽  
James M. Samet ◽  
Jon Berntsen ◽  
Kirby L. Zeman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
The Public

Comparative Study Illustrating Difficulties Educating the Public to Respond to Chemical Terrorism

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hildebrand ◽  
Anthony Bleetman
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Similar Response ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Chemical Attack ◽  
Chemical Release ◽  
Chemical Terrorism ◽  
The Uk

AbstractBackground:In recent years, the perceived threat of chemical terrorism has increased. It is hoped that teaching civilians how to behave during a chemical incident will decrease the number of “worried well” patients at hospitals, reduce secondary contamination, and increase compliance with the instructions of emergency services. The governments of the United Kingdom and Israel sent booklets to every household in their respective countries. In Israel, the civilian population was issued chemical personal protective equipment (chemical personal protective equipment).Methods:The effectiveness of these public education programs was assessed using a scenario-based questionnaire that was distributed to 100 respondents in Birmingham, UK and Jerusalem, Israel. Respondents were asked how they would behave in three deliberate chemical release scenarios and how they would seek information and help.Results:Only 33% of the UK respondents and 22% of the Israeli respondents recalled reading the government booklets. When asked what they would do after being contaminated in a deliberate release, approximately half of the respondents ranked seeking medical care at a hospital as the most appropriate action.The preferred sources of information in the wake of a chemical strike were (in descending order): radio, television, and the Internet. Approximately half of the respondents would call emergency services for information. Forty-one percent of the UK respondents and 33% of Israeli respondents stated that they either would call or go to the nearest hospital to seek information.Conclusions:The public information campaigns in both countries have had a limited impact. Many citizens claimed they would self-present to the nearest hospital following a chemical attack rather than waiting for the emergency services. A similar response was witnessed in the Sarin attacks in Tokyo and the 1991 Scud missile attacks in Israel.Current UK doctrine mandates that specialist decontamination teams be deployed to the scene of a chemical release. However, this takes >1 hour, and it requires at least 30 minutes to don hospital chemical personal protective equipment. Therefore, it is imperative that hospitals are equipped to cope with unannounced self-presenters after a chemical attack. This requires chemical personal protective equipment and protocols that are easier to use.

Respiratory viruses on personal protective equipment and bodies of healthcare workers

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1356-1360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linh T. Phan ◽  
Dagmar Sweeney ◽  
Dayana Maita ◽  
Donna C. Moritz ◽  
Susan C. Bleasdale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Respiratory Viruses ◽  
The Body ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Bare Hand ◽  
Polymerase Chain

AbstractObjective:To characterize the magnitude of virus contamination on personal protective equipment (PPE), skin, and clothing of healthcare workers (HCWs) who cared for patients having acute viral infections.Design:Prospective observational study.Setting:Acute-care academic hospital.Participants:A total of 59 HCWs agreed to have their PPE, clothing, and/or skin swabbed for virus measurement.Methods:The PPE worn by HCW participants, including glove, face mask, gown, and personal stethoscope, were swabbed with Copan swabs. After PPE doffing, bodies and clothing of HCWs were sampled with Copan swabs: hand, face, and scrubs. Preamplification and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods were used to quantify viral RNA copies in the swab samples.Results:Overall, 31% of glove samples, 21% of gown samples, and 12% of face mask samples were positive for virus. Among the body and clothing sites, 21% of bare hand samples, 11% of scrub samples, and 7% of face samples were positive for virus. Virus concentrations on PPE were not statistically significantly different than concentrations on skin and clothing under PPE. Virus concentrations on the personal stethoscopes and on the gowns were positively correlated with the number of torso contacts (P < .05). Virus concentrations on face masks were positively correlated with the number of face mask contacts and patient contacts (P < .05).Conclusions:Healthcare workers are routinely contaminated with respiratory viruses after patient care, indicating the need to ensure that HCWs complete hand hygiene and use other PPE to prevent dissemination of virus to other areas of the hospital. Modifying self-contact behaviors may decrease the presence of virus on HCWs.

scholarly journals Aerosol-generating procedures in thoracic surgery in the COVID-19 era in Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 495-499
Author(s):  
Narasimman Sathiamurthy ◽  
Narendran Balasubbiah ◽  
Benedict Dharmaraj
Keyword(s):  
Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽  
Thoracic Surgery ◽  
Reverse Transcriptase ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Polymerase Chain Reaction Method ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Background The Covid-19 pandemic has caused changes in the surgical treatment of non-Covid patients, especially in thoracic surgery because most procedures are aerosol generating. Hospital Kuala Lumpur, where thoracic procedures are performed, was badly affected. We describe our experience in performing aerosol generating procedures safely in thoracic surgery during the Covid-19 era. Methods Medical records of patients who underwent thoracic surgery from March 18, 2020 to May 17, 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. All patients undergoing thoracic surgery were tested for Covid-19 using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method. Patients with malignancy were observed for 10 to 14 days in the ward after testing negative. The healthcare workers donned personal protective equipment for all the cases, and the number of healthcare workers in the operating room was limited to the minimum required. Results A total of 44 procedures were performed in 26 thoracic surgeries. All of these procedures were classified as aerosol generating, and the mean duration of the surgery was 130 ± 43 minutes. None of the healthcare workers involved in the surgery were exposed or infected by Covid-19. Conclusion Covid-19 will be a threat for a long time and thoracic surgeons must continue to provide their services, despite having to deal with aerosol generating procedures, in the new normal. Covid-19 testing of all surgical candidates, using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, donning full personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, and carefully planned procedures are among the measures suggested to prevent unnecessary Covid-19 exposure in thoracic surgery.

scholarly journals Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Surveillance and Exposure in the Perioperative Setting With Universal Testing and Personal Protective Equipment Policies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anoshe Aslam ◽  
Jessica Singh ◽  
Elizabeth Robilotti ◽  
Karin Chow ◽  
Tarun Bist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Diagnostic Strategies ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
Polymerase Chain

Abstract Background New York City (NYC) experienced a surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in March and April 2020. Since then, universal polymerase chain reaction (PCR)–based surveillance testing and personal protective equipment (PPE) measures are in wide use in procedural settings. There is limited published experience on the utility and sustainability of PCR-based surveillance testing in areas with receding and consistently low community COVID-19 rates. Methods The study was conducted at a tertiary care cancer center in NYC from 22 March to 22 August 2020. Asymptomatic patients underwent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing before surgeries, interventional radiology procedures, and endoscopy. Contact tracing in procedural areas was done if a patient with an initial negative screen retested positive within 48 hours of the procedure. Results From March 22 until August 22, 2020, 11 540 unique patients underwent 14 233 tests before surgeries or procedures at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Overall, 65 patients were positive, with a peak rate of 4.3% that fell below 0.3% after April 2020. Among the 65 positive cases, 3 were presymptomatic and 38 were asymptomatic. Among asymptomatic test-positive patients, 76% had PCR cycle threshold &gt;30 at first detection. Five patients tested newly positive in the immediate postoperative period, exposing 82 employees with 1 case of probable transmission (1.2%). Conclusions The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection identified on preprocedural surveillance was low in our study, which was conducted in an area with limited community spread at the later stage of the study. Universal PPE is protective in procedural settings. Optimal and flexible diagnostic strategies are needed to accomplish and sustain the goals of comprehensive preprocedure surveillance testing.

scholarly journals Maintaining Healthy Skin During COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Venny Larasati ◽  
Soilia Fertilita
Keyword(s):  
Personal Protective Equipment ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Skin Pigmentation ◽  
Skin Care ◽  
Premature Aging ◽  
Protective Equipment ◽  
Healthy Skin ◽  
The Public ◽  
Black Spots ◽  
Negative Effect

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought several changes to people's routine habits. Educating the public about the importance of washing and disinfecting hands as often as possible and the use of personal protective equipment such as masks, googles or face shields to avoid disease transmission and sunbathing habits to get the benefits of sunlight for health and the immune system has an impact on behavior changes on the community. These new habits can bring a negative effect to the skin. The use of disinfectants and personal protective equipment can cause allergic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, skin maceration, secondary fungal infection and acne. Sunbathing can cause changes in skin pigmentation, the appearance of black spots, the skin looks dull and rough and accelerates the appearance of premature wrinkles on the skin. Proper skin care routine during this pandemic situation is essential to maintain skin healthy and avoid skin problems due to the use of disinfectants or PPE. The use of emollients, moisturizers and barrier creams can prevent skin problems to happen. Skin moisturizers can be used regularly after hand washing and before using personal protective equipment. When it comes to maintaining healthy skin during pandemic, skin care routine consists of facial cleansers, toners, moisturizers, serums, morning creams and night creams are also recommended to keep the skin healthy and slow the appearance of premature aging signs on the skin. This activity aims to provide a better understanding to people especially worker how to prevent skin problems and how to maintain healthy skin during pandemic.

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