scholarly journals Planning and Setting Up of a Communication Program for Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: Challenges and Potential Solutions in Resource Constrained Setting

Author(s):  
Samridhi Nanda ◽  
Sudip Kumar Datta ◽  
Prem Sagar ◽  
Mona Sharma ◽  
Ranjan Gupta ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The recent onset of COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated many patients to be hospitalized in the COVID-19 treating centers. Owing to the need for isolation of these patients and minimizing the risk of transmission to healthy people, COVID-19-positive patients are completely restricted from meeting their friends and families. This gives rise to anxiety amongst the patients' relatives as they are not able to monitor the progress of the patients and have to depend entirely on the healthcare staff for any updates regarding the patient. In contrast, the treating doctors are undergoing severe stress due to the unknown nature of the virus and the risks involved in treating patients. They are thoroughly exhausted after the long hours donning the personal protection equipment (PPE). Objective To structure and form an interface for communication between the treating physician and the families, as a “communication team,” to decrease the workload on the treating physicians and minimize their contact time in a COVID-19 setting. Results The addition of a communication team improved the physicians' efficiency of patient management and family satisfaction. Several challenges were faced during the setting up of this interface effectively. However, most of these were dealt with along the way. The communication team was instrumental in allaying the anxiety of the family with respect to their patients' clinical condition. This also ensured engagement of doctors from non-clinical and laboratory-based departments in the COVID-19 treatment process. Conclusion Adding up a communication team for communicating clinical updates to the family in a resource-limited scenario greatly improved communication and thus family satisfaction of the COVID-19-positive patients.

2021 ◽  
pp. 084047042110424
Author(s):  
Marcin Bartosiak ◽  
Gianni Bonelli ◽  
Lorenzo Stefano Maffioli ◽  
Ugo Palaoro ◽  
Francesco Dentali ◽  
...  

The use of robotics is becoming widespread in healthcare. However, little is known about how robotics can affect the relationship with patients in epidemic emergency response or how it impacts clinicians in their organization and work. As a hospital responding to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic “ASST dei Sette Laghi” (A7L) in Varese, Italy, had to react quickly to protect its staff from infection while coping with high budgetary pressure as prices of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) increased rapidly. In response, it introduced six semi-autonomous robots to mediate interactions between staff and patients. Thanks to the cooperation of multiple departments, A7L implemented the solution in less than 10 weeks. It reduced risks to staff and outlay for PPE. However, the characteristics of the robots affected their perception by healthcare staff. This case study reviews critical issues faced by A7L in introducing these devices and recommendations for the path forward.


Author(s):  
Angeles Blanco ◽  
Francisco de Borja Ojembarrena ◽  
Bernardino Clavo ◽  
Carlos Negro

AbstractThe greatest challenge the world is facing today is to win the battle against COVID-19 pandemic as soon as possible. Until a vaccine is available, personal protection, social distancing, and disinfection are the main tools against SARS-CoV-2. Although it is quite infectious, the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself is an enveloped virus that is relatively fragile because its protective fatty layer is sensitive to heat, ultraviolet radiation, and certain chemicals. However, heat and liquid treatments can damage some materials, and ultraviolet light is not efficient in shaded areas, so other disinfection alternatives are required to allow safe re-utilization of materials and spaces. As of this writing, evidences are still accumulating for the use of ozone gas as a disinfectant for sanitary materials and ambient disinfection in indoor areas. This paper reviews the most relevant results of virus disinfection by the application of gaseous ozone. The review covers disinfection treatments of both air and surfaces carried out in different volumes, which varies from small boxes and controlled chambers to larger rooms, as a base to develop future ozone protocols against COVID-19. Published papers have been critically analyzed to evaluate trends in the required ozone dosages, as a function of relative humidity (RH), contact time, and viral strains. The data have been classified depending on the disinfection objective and the volume and type of the experimental set-up. Based on these data, conservative dosages and times to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 are estimated. In small chambers, 10–20 mg ozone/m3 over 10 to 50 min can be sufficient to significantly reduce the virus load of personal protection equipment. In large rooms, 30 to 50 mg ozone/m3 would be required for treatments of 20–30 min. Maximum antiviral activity of ozone is achieved at high humidity, while the same ozone concentrations under low RH could result inefficient. At these ozone levels, safety protocols must be strictly followed. These data can be used for reducing significantly the viral load although for assuring a safe disinfection, the effective dosages under different conditions need to be confirmed with experimental data.


1970 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-65
Author(s):  
MY Ali ◽  
SA Fattah ◽  
MM Islam ◽  
MA Hossain ◽  
SY Ali

Nipah viral encephalitis is one of the fatal re-emerging infections especially in southeast Asia. After its outbreak in Malaysia and Singapore; repeated outbreaks occurred at western part of Bangladesh especially in Faridpur region. Besides, sporadic attacks appear to occur in the country throughout the year. Here two Nipah outbreaks in greater Faridpur district in 2003 and 2004 are described along with brief review on transmission of the virus. Where the history of illness among patients are very much in favour of man to man transmission. Moreover the death of an intern doctor from Nipah encephalitis who was involved in managing such patients in Faridpur Medical College Hospital strongly suggests man to man transmission of this virus. So, aim of this review article to make the health personnel and general people be aware about man to man transmission of virus, so that they can adapt personal protection equipment (PPE) for their protection against this deadly disease. DOI: 10.3329/fmcj.v5i2.6825Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2010;5(2):63-65


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Mohsin Ali ◽  
Qudsia Anwar Dar ◽  
Zahid Kamal ◽  
Alishba Khan

This is a brief review covering the currently available literature on ocular manifestations of COVID-19, andprevention strategies for ophthalmologists. A literature search was carried out of Pubmed, Google Scholar andWHO database of publications on COVID. Keywords used in the search were eye, ocular manifestations,ophthalmology, COVID-19, nCoV-2019, and coronavirus disease. All available articles were reviewed and thosepertinent to the study topic were included. Considering the dearth of information available, ophthalmology journals were also searched separately for relevant articles. Major ocular manifestation of COVID reported in literature is red eye, which usually presents before the onset of respiratory symptoms. Since the eye can be a possible transmission route for SARS-CoV-2, infection control measures should be undertaken by ophthalmologists, including use of personal protection equipment and eye/face covering. A framework for structuring ophthalmological services during the COVID pandemic is also presented in this review.


Author(s):  
Matteo Migheli

AbstractBoth in developing and developed countries, farmers often do not protect themselves adequately, especially when applying agrochemicals that are dangerous for their health. The issue is relevant because insufficient protection is between the causes leading to intoxication of farmers and workers who handle these products. The literature suggests that both lack of training and information and low income may explain why, especially in developing countries, protective equipment is under-used. Using data from the Mekong Delta, this study addresses the issue of whether income and household wealth may help explaining the use of incomplete protections against pesticides. The results suggest that income, more than wealth, is a reason why Vietnamese farmers operating in the Mekong Delta fail in using adequate protections. In particular, the data suggest that they may prefer to divert resources to increasing the production of their fields or to buying goods that may be used both as protection and as everyday garments. This behaviour leads to underinvestment in some important protective goods. Possible public interventions to mitigate the problem are suggested; in particular, the promotion of integrated pest management techniques could be useful.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 299
Author(s):  
Camino Trobajo-Sanmartín ◽  
Marta Adelantado ◽  
Ana Navascués ◽  
María J. Guembe ◽  
Isabel Rodrigo-Rincón ◽  
...  

A nasopharyngeal swab is a sample used for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Saliva is a sample easier to obtain and the risk of contagion for the professional is lower. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of saliva for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This prospective study involved 674 patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection. Paired nasopharyngeal and saliva samples were processed by RT-qPCR. Sensitivity, specificity, and kappa coefficient were used to evaluate the results from both samples. We considered the influence of age, symptoms, chronic conditions, and sample processing with lysis buffer. Of the 674 patients, 636 (94.4%) had valid results from both samples. The virus detection in saliva compared to a nasopharyngeal sample (gold standard) was 51.9% (95% CI: 46.3%–57.4%) and increased to 91.6% (95% CI: 86.7%–96.5%) when the cycle threshold (Ct) was ≤ 30. The specificity of the saliva sample was 99.1% (95% CI: 97.0%–99.8%). The concordance between samples was 75% (κ = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.45–0.56). The Ct values were significantly higher in saliva. In conclusion, saliva sample utility is limited for clinical diagnosis, but could be a useful alternative for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in massive screening studies, when the availability of trained professionals for sampling or personal protection equipment is limited.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002203452110159
Author(s):  
A.P. Meethil ◽  
S. Saraswat ◽  
P.P. Chaudhary ◽  
S.M. Dabdoub ◽  
P.S. Kumar

On March 16, 2020, 198,000 dentists in the United States closed their doors to patients, fueled by concerns that aerosols generated during dental procedures are potential vehicles for transmission of respiratory pathogens through saliva. Our knowledge of these aerosol constituents is sparse and gleaned from case reports and poorly controlled studies. Therefore, we tracked the origins of microbiota in aerosols generated during ultrasonic scaling, implant osteotomy, and restorative procedures by combining reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (to identify and quantify SARS-CoV-2) and 16S sequencing (to characterize the entire microbiome) with fine-scale enumeration and source tracking. Linear discriminant analysis of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity distances revealed significant class separation between the salivary microbiome and aerosol microbiota deposited on the operator, patient, assistant, or the environment ( P < 0.01, analysis of similarities). We also discovered that 78% of the microbiota in condensate could be traced to the dental irrigant, while saliva contributed to a median of 0% of aerosol microbiota. We also identified low copy numbers of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the saliva of several asymptomatic patients but none in aerosols generated from these patients. Together, the bacterial and viral data encourage us to conclude that when infection control measures are used, such as preoperative mouth rinses and intraoral high-volume evacuation, dental treatment is not a factor in increasing the risk for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic patients and that standard infection control practices are sufficiently capable of protecting personnel and patients from exposure to potential pathogens. This information is of immediate urgency, not only for safe resumption of dental treatment during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but also to inform evidence-based selection of personal protection equipment and infection control practices at a time when resources are stretched and personal protection equipment needs to be prioritized.


Author(s):  
A.A. Korotkiy ◽  
◽  
E.V. Egelskaya ◽  
V.V. Egelskiy ◽  
A.A. Maslennikov ◽  
...  

The rapid implementation of information technologies into all strata of the civil society activities has already significantly modified lives of every citizen, including production processes. The usual practice is using electronic safety devices in the technical units, including hoisting cranes. The consumer market offers remote control systems for equipment; continuous video surveillance over workflows is widely employed. Unmanned productions and unmanned technologies are being implemented, which is especially relevant at operation of potentially harmful and hazardous units. However, for a human actively participating in workflows, control and maintenance of technical devices, his/her safety during fulfillment of working functions is still a matter of great importance. In Russia, the requirements to production employees safety are determined by legislative and regulatory documents in the sphere of labor protection. Special rules of industrial safety are applied to hazardous production facilities. An important aspect of slinger protection against hazardous and harmful factors of production during operation of a hoisting crane as well as observing production discipline is using personal protection equipment and special working clothes. The constant monitoring of safety requirements in order to ensure their implementation in the real-time mode via the RFID-tags integrated into the elements of personal protection equipment and special working clothes is substantiated. The information on slinger location and availability of the required protection equipment within the hazardous zone of hoisting crane operation received to a mobile device of a person responsible for safe operation enables control of the situation, prevention of adverse events and minimization of risk of injury.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 23814-23831
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina de C. L. Oliveira ◽  
Naiara Cristina Vieira Magalhães ◽  
Pollyane Ariane Alves Andrade Silva ◽  
Paulo Roxo Barja ◽  
Airton Viriato

1992 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret D. Carver ◽  
Warren H. Jones

The development of the Family Satisfaction Scale is described. Respondents (total N = 843) completed the Family Satisfaction Scale either (1) for the purposes of assessing item-operating characteristics, factor structure and reliability of Family Satisfaction Scale scores; or (2) their predictability of both alternative measures of family attitudes and feelings, and current interpersonal functioning. Results indicated a single factor underlying responses to Family Satisfaction Scale items and a revised 20-item version of the scale yielded acceptable estimates of internal and temporal stability. Subsequent analyses indicated that Family Satisfaction Scale scores were related to various measures of family attitudes (e.g., cohesion, task acceptance, etc.) as well as current interpersonal functioning and attitudes (e.g., loneliness, social support, and marital satisfaction). These results are interpreted as supporting the validity of Family Satisfaction Scale.


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