scholarly journals Seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SARS coronavirus 2 in Belgium – a prospective cross-sectional study of residual samples

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herzog Sereina ◽  
De Bie Jessie ◽  
Abrams Steven ◽  
Wouters Ine ◽  
Ekinci Esra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Herd Immunity ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Added Value ◽  
World Health ◽  
Igg Antibodies ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The World ◽  
Belgian Population

AbstractBackgroundIn the first weeks of the COVID-19 epidemic in Belgium, a repetitive national serum collection was set up to monitor age-related exposure through emerging SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. First objective was to estimate the baseline seroprevalence and seroincidence using serial survey data that covered the start of a national lock-down period installed soon after the epidemic was recognized.MethodsA prospective serial cross-sectional seroprevalence study, stratified by age, sex and region, started with two collections in April 2020. In residual sera taken outside hospitals and collected by diagnostic laboratories, IgG antibodies against S1 proteins of SARS-CoV-2 were measured with a semi-quantitative commercial ELISA. Seropositivity (cumulative, by age category and sex) and seroincidence over a 3 weeks period were estimated for the Belgian population.FindingsIn the first collection, IgG antibodies were detected in 100 out of 3910 samples, whereas in the second collection 193 out of 3391 samples were IgG positive. The weighted overall seroprevalence increased from 2·9% (95% CI 2·3 to 3·6) to 6·0% (95% CI 5·1 to 7·1), reflected in a seroincidence estimate of 3·1% (95% CI 1·9 to 4·3). Age-specific seroprevalence significantly increased in the age categories 20-30, 80-90 and ≥90. No significant sex effect was observed.InterpretationDuring the start of epidemic mitigation by lockdown, a small but increasing fraction of the Belgian population showed serologically detectable signs of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.FundingThis independent researcher-initiated study acknowledges financial support from the Antwerp University Fund, the Flemish Research Fund, and European Horizon 2020.Research in contextEvidence before this studyThis is the first study reporting seroprevalence and seroincidence of IgG against SARS-CoV-2 in the Belgian population. Worldwide, PCR tests are being performed to identify mainly sick people suffering from COVID-19. However, seroprevalence studies are important and feasible to study the proportion of the population that has already been in contact with the virus, which helps to understand the likelihood of asymptomatic infections or infections with mild symptoms.From 11 March to 11 May, updates on the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organisation as well as bulletins from the Belgian Scientific Institute for Public Health, Sciensano, were consulted daily. Press releases from all over the world were monitored during that period. Google, PubMed as well as the pre-print server medrxiv were consulted by searching the terms “seroprevalence SARS-CoV-2” and “COVID-19”,Added value of this studyThis study reports that seroprevalence increased in Belgium from 2·9% (95% CI 2·3 to 3·6) to 6·0% (95% CI 5·1 to 7·1) over a period of 3 weeks during lockdown (30 March-5 April 2020 & 20-26 April 2020) with seroincidence estimate of 3·1% (95% CI 1·9 to 4·3). Moreover, a significant increase in seroprevalence in the age categories 20-30 and ≥80 and within each sex were reported.Implications of all the available evidenceSeroprevalences worldwide indicate that an increasing fraction of the population has already been exposed to SARS-CoV-2. The continuous monitoring of seroprevalences is valuable to calibrate the response to the epidemic and to guide policy makers to control the epidemic wave and potential future waves and to avoid a deconfinement strategy leading to a rebound. However, it seems likely that natural exposure during this pandemic might not soon deliver the required level of herd immunity and there will be a substantial need for mass vaccination programmes to save time and lives.

scholarly journals Introduction

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Hanna Falk Erhag ◽  
Ulrika Lagerlöf Nilsson ◽  
Therese Rydberg Sterner ◽  
Ingmar Skoog
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
World Population ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
The World ◽  
Scientific Challenge ◽  
First Time

AbstractIn 2020, for the first time in history, there were more people in the world aged 60 years and over than there were children below the age of 5 years. The population aged over 65 years is projected to increase from one billion in 2019 to more than two billion in 2050, and those aged over 80 years are projected to increase from 143 to 426 million, with the largest increase occurring in the developing world (UN World Population Prospects, 2019). This demographic trend constitutes the largest global health challenge, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The European Union has set it as one of the major challenges in Horizon 2020 and it has important societal implications (European Commission, 2020). The proportion of retired individuals will increase, leading to an increased ratio between those who have exited the workforce and those still active in the labour market. Thus, ageing represents a global societal and scientific challenge requiring integrated efforts, multidisciplinary translational research approaches and social innovations that build on ideas of potentials and capabilities, emphasising the value of old age.

scholarly journals The Socio-Economic Ramifications of the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of Ghana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richmond Sam Quarm ◽  
Rosemond Sam-Quarm ◽  
Richmond Sam-Quarm
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The novel, dreaded, disruptive, and disastrous Covid-19 pandemic took the world by storm in January, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide coronavirus disease caused by “severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2)”. On 12th January, 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that the novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness that affected a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. This was reported to the WHO on 31st December, 2019. On 11th March, 2020, WHO declared the novel Covid-19 a global pandemic (Graphic Online, 2020a). It is worthy to note how the Government of Ghana, political parties, citizens, scientists and academia, corporate entities, faith based organisations, traditional rulers, have offered varied forms of interventions to combat the scourge. The Theoretical Framework of this research was underpinned by the Theory of Epidemics, the Agency Theory, the Rational Choice Theory, and the Stakeholder Theory. We conducted a cross-sectional research through non-probability and purposive sampling with 250 respondents. We also employed face-to-face interviews, structured closed-ended and open-ended Questionnaires (Braun and Clarke, 2012; Denzin, 2017), which were administered online through email application via Google Forms. One of our major findings was that with the approval of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine by the UK’s MHRA on 1st December, 2020 (Graphic Online, 2020b); and subsequently by the US FDA a week later on 8th December, 2020 (Graphic Online, 2020c), all governments around the globe in general, but Africa in particular, must make conscious efforts backed by adequate budgetary allocations to secure maximum quantities of the vaccines for their vulnerable teeming population.

scholarly journals The Socio-Economic Ramifications of the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of Ghana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richmond Sam Quarm ◽  
Rosemond Sam-Quarm ◽  
Richmond Sam-Quarm
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The novel, dreaded, disruptive, and disastrous Covid-19 pandemic took the world by storm in January, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide coronavirus disease caused by “severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2)”. On 12th January, 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that the novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness that affected a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. This was reported to the WHO on 31st December, 2019. On 11th March, 2020, WHO declared the novel Covid-19 a global pandemic (Graphic Online, 2020a). It is worthy to note how the Government of Ghana, political parties, citizens, scientists and academia, corporate entities, faith based organisations, traditional rulers, have offered varied forms of interventions to combat the scourge. The Theoretical Framework of this research was underpinned by the Theory of Epidemics, the Agency Theory, the Rational Choice Theory, and the Stakeholder Theory. We conducted a cross-sectional research through non-probability and purposive sampling with 250 respondents. We also employed face-to-face interviews, structured closed-ended and open-ended Questionnaires (Braun and Clarke, 2012; Denzin, 2017), which were administered online through email application via Google Forms. One of our major findings was that with the approval of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine by the UK’s MHRA on 1st December, 2020 (Graphic Online, 2020b); and subsequently by the US FDA a week later on 8th December, 2020 (Graphic Online, 2020c), all governments around the globe in general, but Africa in particular, must make conscious efforts backed by adequate budgetary allocations to secure maximum quantities of the vaccines for their vulnerable teeming population.

scholarly journals The Socio-Economic Ramifications of the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richmond Sam Quarm ◽  
◽  
Rosemond Sam-Quarm ◽  
Richmond Sam-Quarm ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The novel, dreaded, disruptive, and disastrous Covid-19 pandemic took the world by storm in January, 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana is part of the worldwide coronavirus disease caused by “severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2)”. On 12th January, 2020 the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that the novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness that affected a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. This was reported to the WHO on 31st December, 2019. On 11th March, 2020, WHO declared the novel Covid-19 a global pandemic (Graphic Online, 2020a). It is worthy to note how the Government of Ghana, political parties, citizens, scientists and academia, corporate entities, faith based organisations, traditional rulers, have offered varied forms of interventions to combat the scourge. The Theoretical Framework of this research was underpinned by the Theory of Epidemics, the Agency Theory, the Rational Choice Theory, and the Stakeholder Theory. We conducted a cross-sectional research through non-probability and purposive sampling with 250 respondents. We also employed face-to-face interviews, structured closed-ended and open-ended Questionnaires (Braun and Clarke, 2012; Denzin, 2017), which were administered online through email application via Google Forms. One of our major findings was that with the approval of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine by the UK’s MHRA on 1st December, 2020 (Graphic Online, 2020b); and subsequently by the US FDA a week later on 8th December, 2020 (Graphic Online, 2020c), all governments around the globe in general, but Africa in particular, must make conscious efforts backed by adequate budgetary allocations to secure maximum quantities of the vaccines for their vulnerable teeming population.

scholarly journals Characteristics of HIV.. . infected children born to HIV.. . positive mothers in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital between 2002 and 2007

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Fransisca Mayer ◽  
Arwin Akib ◽  
Imam Boediman
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Hiv Positive ◽  
People Living With Hiv ◽  
Child Transmission ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Wasting Syndrome ◽  
Hiv Positive Mothers ◽  
The World ◽  
Mother To Child

Background In 2003, the Joint United Nation Program onHIV/AIDS and the World Health Organisation estimatedthat there will be 36.2 million people living with HIV /AIDSthrougout the world by the end of2003, and that 2.1 millionof them will be children less than 15 years old. The profileof children with HIV in the Department of Child Health,Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital has not been studied.Objective To identify the characteristics of HIV-infectedchildren born to HIV-positive mothers, and to evaluate thePrevention Programme for Mother-to-Child Transmissionat Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital.Methods This was a cross-sectional study conductedbetween March and May 2008 based on medical records.The study population consisted of all mother-child pairswho were admitted between January 2002 and December2007.Results Between 2002 and 2007,342 children were born toHIV-infected mother, with 201 (58.5%) children contractingHIV The median age of children was 20 months. Therewere 121 (35.4%) cases involved in prevention of motherto-child transmission. Triple-drug antiretroviral therapywas prescribed to 78.1 o/o children. The most frequentmorbidities were chronic diarrhea, wasting syndrome, andoropharyngeal candidiasis. Thirty-six children died; mostlydue to sepsis (30.5%)Conclusion The majority of cases of HIV were between 1and 5 years old. The most frequent morbidities were chronicdiarrhea, wasting syndrome, and oropharyngeal candidiasis.Thirty-six children died mostly due to sepsis. The preven-tion program for mother-to-child transmission should beencouraged among pregnant women who are known to beHIV-positive.

A Collaborative Study to Establish the Second International Standard for Streptokinase

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (02) ◽  
pp. 267-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
A B Heath ◽  
P J Gaffney
Keyword(s):  
High Purity ◽  
Collaborative Study ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Clot Lysis ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
International Standard ◽  
Accelerated Degradation ◽  
The World ◽  
International Collaborative Study

SummaryAn International Standard for Streptokinase - Streptodomase (62/7) has been used to calibrate high purity clinical batches of SK since 1965. An international collaborative study, involving six laboratories, was undertaken to replace this standard with a high purity standard for SK. Two candidate preparations (88/826 and 88/824) were compared by a clot lysis assay with the current standard (62/7). Potencies of 671 i.u. and 461 i.u. were established for preparations A (88/826) and B (88/824), respectively.Either preparation appeared suitable to serve as a standard for SK. However, each ampoule of preparation A (88/826) contains a more appropriate amount of SK activity for potency testing, and is therefore preferred. Accelerated degradation tests indicate that preparation A (88/826) is very stable.The high purity streptokinase preparation, coded 88/826, has been established by the World Health Organisation as the 2nd International Standard for Streptokinase, with an assigned potency of 700 i.u. per ampoule.

Comparative docking of SARS-CoV-2 receptors antagonists from repurposing drugs

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micael Davi Lima de Oliveira ◽  
Kelson Mota Teixeira de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
World Health ◽  
Lung Cells ◽  
The Novel ◽  
High Modulation ◽  
Main Protease ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Viral Receptors ◽  
Theoretical Results

According to the World Health Organisation, until 16 June, 2020, the number of confirmed and notified cases of COVID-19 has already exceeded 7.9 million with approximately 434 thousand deaths worldwide. This research aimed to find repurposing antagonists, that may inhibit the activity of the main protease (Mpro) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as well as partially modulate the ACE2 receptors largely found in lung cells, and reduce viral replication by inhibiting Nsp12 RNA polymerase. Docking molecular simulations were performed among a total of 60 structures, most of all, published in the literature against the novel coronavirus. The theoretical results indicated that, in comparative terms, paritaprevir, ivermectin, ledipasvir, and simeprevir, are among the most theoretical promising drugs in remission of symptoms from the disease. Furthermore, also corroborate indinavir to the high modulation in viral receptors. The second group of promising drugs includes remdesivir and azithromycin. The repurposing drugs HCQ and chloroquine were not effective in comparative terms to other drugs, as monotherapies, against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Use of Phosphatidylcholine in the Treatment of Localized Fat Deposits. Results and expectations

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1438-1441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorin Berbece ◽  
Dan Iliescu ◽  
Valeriu Ardeleanu ◽  
Alexandru Nicolau ◽  
Radu Cristian Jecan
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
World Health ◽  
Basic Substance ◽  
Physical Exercises ◽  
Fat Deposits ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common ◽  
Global Health Problem ◽  
Over Time

Obesity represents a global health problem. According to the latest studies released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 1.7 billion currently in excess of normal weight individuals, of which approx. 75% are overweight (body mass index - BMI 25 to 30). The common form of excess adipose tissue manifestation in overweight individuals is localized fat deposits with high (abdominal) or low (buttocks and thighs) disposition. Although the overweight can be corrected relatively easy by changing behavioral habits or food, a constant physical exercises program or following a diet food are not accessible to all through the efforts of will, financial and time involved. Several methods have been studied and tested over time to eliminate more or less invasive fat deposits with varying efficacy and adverse effects. Chemical lipolysis using phosphatidylcholine as the basic substance was initially used in hypercholesterolemia and its complications and was rapidly adopted in mesotherapy techniques for the treatment of fat deposits. This study reveals the results obtained using Dermastabilon on a sample of 16 patients, the time allocated to treatment and discomfort being minimal, and rapid and notable results. There were no side effects.

The Undiscovered Potential of Essential Oils for Treating SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (41) ◽  
pp. 5261-5277
Author(s):  
Peter J. Wilkin ◽  
Minnatallah Al-Yozbaki ◽  
Alex George ◽  
Girish K. Gupta ◽  
Cornelia M. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Essential Oils ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
World Health Organisation ◽  
Diagnostic Techniques ◽  
World Health ◽  
Clinical Aspects ◽  
Traditional Use ◽  
In Silico Studies ◽  
The World

On 11th March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced a pandemic caused by a novel beta-coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, designated COVID-19. The virus emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, has spread across the world as a global pandemic. The traditional use of medicines from plants can be traced back to 60,000 years. Global interest in the development of drugs from natural products has increased greatly during the last few decades. Essential oils (EOs) have been studied through the centuries and are known to possess various pharmaceutical properties. In the present review, we have highlighted the current biology, epidemiology, various clinical aspects, different diagnostic techniques, clinical symptoms, and management of COVID-19. An overview of the antiviral action of EOs, along with their proposed mechanism of action and in silico studies conducted, is described. The reported studies of EOs' antiviral activity highlight the baseline data about the additive and/or synergistic effects among primary or secondary phytoconstituents found in individual oils, combinations or blends of oils and between EOs and antiviral drugs. It is hoped that further research will provide better insights into EOs' potential to limit viral infection and aid in providing solutions through natural, therapeutically active agents.

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