scholarly journals CoViD-19: An early intervention therapeutic strategy to prevent developing a severe disease as an alternative approach to control the pandemic

Author(s):  
HAMID MERCHANT

While we wait for a confirmed drug or a vaccine for CoViD-19, it may be possible to intervene early to prevent the virus causing a severe disease to offer an alternative therapeutic strategy to control the pandemic. The global burden of CoViD-19 on the healthcare system can be significantly reduced by targeting CoViD-19 patients with or without symptoms who are self-isolating at home or in quarantine. If any therapeutic support can be offered to this group of patients that could attenuate the virus within the upper respiratory tract during the early stages of CoViD-19, it can give the body the time to produce enough antibodies to recover naturally from the disease before progressing into severe disease. An early intervention can, therefore, prevent the virus to get down the lower respiratory tract, reduce the number of cases with severe disease involving pneumonia and the need for hospitalisation. This article presents a simple yet holistic treatment strategy that involves inhaling steam supplemented with essential oils possessing wide spectrum antimicrobial properties in conjunction with oropharyngeal sanitisation to all those who are CoViD-19 positive or are under self-isolation due to symptoms. The approach is very simple, cheap, and effective in relieving the symptoms of the disease and is likely to reduce the viral load in the upper respiratory tract that may help recover from the infection. Since there is no vaccine or treatment yet approved to prevent or treat the CoViD-19, the importance of early intervention is invaluable in reducing the global disease burden. In the authors opinion, this strategy may be very effective to nip the infection in the bud before it gets difficult to treat and therefore, have a potential to significantly reduce the CoViD-19 associated hospitalisation.

2021 ◽  
pp. 127-133
Author(s):  
A. V. Gurov ◽  
A. V. Muzhichkova

The article provides data on the effectiveness of the use of the drug in the treatment of acute, chronic and recurrent diseases of the respiratory tract and ENT organs. The drug is an extract of Pelargonium sidoides. From the standpoint of modern pharmacology, it is known that the use of natural products based on plant materials ensures safety and the absence of pronounced side effects. The main active ingredients of pelargonium are phenolic compounds: coumarins, flavonoids and phenolic acids. The article details the biochemical and pharmacological properties of each of the above groups of compounds. It has been shown that the presence of several classes of phenolic compounds simultaneously contributes to the potentiation of the pharmacological effects of each group separately. Therefore, drug has a pronounced polytropic effect: antiviral, antibacterial, immunomodulatory, mucolytic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cytoprotective. The article presents the results of numerous domestic and foreign randomized, placebo-controlled studies demonstrating its high efficacy and safety in the treatment of ENT diseases, upper respiratory tract infections and bronchitis, not only in adults, but also in children over 1 year old. On the basis of the analyzed and presented material, the authors concluded that the use of a natural-based drug in the treatment of acute respiratory infection is effective and safe, both as monotherapy and in combination with other medicinal substances. He is able to quickly eliminate not only the symptoms of inflammation, but also to support the body with any ailments of this type.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarosław Wysocki

COVID-19 manifests itself in a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms, both in terms of their variety and severity. It can be asymptomatic or abortive, mild, moderate, severe and lightning, as septic with multiple organ failure and shock Typical leading symptoms of COVID-19 are: high fever poorly responding to drugs, severe loss of strength, chest pain, dyspnoea, pain headaches, bone and joint pain and muscle pain, until the onset of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, many publications mention among the possible symptoms also others, not related to the involvement of the lower respiratory tract. These are gastrointestinal disorders, damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, catarrh of the upper respiratory tract and dysfunctions of the sensory organs. The aim of this literature review was to determine the frequency of various head and neck dysfunctions that are part of COVID-19. Symptoms of conjunctivitis, nasal mucosa, pharynx and larynx are reported by about of patients, but they do not always occur at the same time, as in infections caused, for example, by rhinoviruses. Anosmi / hyposmia or ageusia / hypogeusia occur with a similar frequency. Symptoms of damage to the equilibrium system, such as dizziness, are reported by approx. 1/3, vertigo and hearing loss approx. 5-6%, tinnitus approx. 10% of patients. Reports of coexistence with COVID-19 of peripheral paresis of the facial nerve are so far relatively few and often included in the neurological disorders, the frequency of which is also about 1/3 of COVID-19 cases. Importantly, both catarrhal symptoms and the others listed here may precede, co-occur or follow the appearance of the leading symptoms of COVID-19. They can also be the only symptoms of this disease. This should prompt otorhinolaryngologists to be particularly vigilant in this regard


Author(s):  
Aswar Makruf ◽  
Doni Hikmat Ramdhan

Running has become one of the most popular recreational sports worldwide. It is an easily accessible form of exercise as there are minimal equipment and sport structure requirements. Aerodynamic simulation experiments showed a risk of droplet exposure between runners when two people run in a straight line at a close distance (slipstream). Thus, running activities require a safe physical distance of 10 meters to avoid droplet exposure, which can be a source of transmission of COVID-19 infection. However, running outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic is still often done in pairs and even in groups without wearing a mask. Open window theory stated that changes in the immune system occur immediately after strenuous physical activity. Many immune system components showed adverse changes after prolonged strenuous activity lasting more than 90 minutes. These changes occurred in several parts of the body, such as the skin, upper respiratory tract, lungs, blood, and muscles. Most of these changes reflected physiological stress and immunosuppression. It is thought that an “open window” of the compromised immune system occurs in the 3–72-hour period after vigorous physical exercise, where viruses and bacteria can gain a foothold, increasing the risk of infection, particularly in the upper respiratory tract. Outdoor physical activity positively affects psychological, physiological, biochemical health parameters, and social relationships. However, this activity requires clear rules so that the obtained benefits can be more significant while simultaneously minimizing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 infection.


2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (4) ◽  
pp. 1888-1897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. Edenborough ◽  
Suzanne Lowther ◽  
Karen Laurie ◽  
Manabu Yamada ◽  
Fenella Long ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTAlthough avian H5N1 influenza virus has yet to develop the capacity for human-to-human spread, the severity of the rare cases of human infection has warranted intensive follow-up of potentially exposed individuals that may require antiviral prophylaxis. For countries where antiviral drugs are limited, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a risk categorization for different levels of exposure to environmental, poultry, or human sources of infection. While these take into account the infection source, they do not account for the likely mode of virus entry that the individual may have experienced from that source and how this could affect the disease outcome. Knowledge of the kinetics and spread of virus after natural routes of exposure may further inform the risk of infection, as well as the likely disease severity. Using the ferret model of H5N1 infection, we compared the commonly used but artificial inoculation method that saturates the total respiratory tract (TRT) with virus to upper respiratory tract (URT) and oral routes of delivery, those likely to be encountered by humans in nature. We show that there was no statistically significant difference in survival rate with the different routes of infection, but the disease characteristics were somewhat different. Following URT infection, viral spread to systemic organs was comparatively delayed and more focal than after TRT infection. By both routes, severe disease was associated with early viremia and central nervous system infection. After oral exposure to the virus, mild infections were common suggesting consumption of virus-contaminated liquids may be associated with seroconversion in the absence of severe disease.IMPORTANCERisks for human H5N1 infection include direct contact with infected birds and frequenting contaminated environments. We used H5N1 ferret infection models to show that breathing in the virus was more likely to produce clinical infection than swallowing contaminated liquid. We also showed that virus could spread from the respiratory tract to the brain, which was associated with end-stage disease, and very early viremia provided a marker for this. With upper respiratory tract exposure, infection of the brain was common but hard to detect, suggesting that human neurological infections might be typically undetected at autopsy. However, viral spread to systemic sites was slower after exposure to virus by this route than when virus was additionally delivered to the lungs, providing a better therapeutic window. In addition to exposure history, early parameters of infection, such as viremia, could help prioritize antiviral treatments for patients most at risk of succumbing to infection.


The respiratory ducts of animals and humans are presented by curved tubes with complex geometries. The open areas in such structures are filled with moving air governed by a pressure drop between the inlet and outlet of the duct. The complex structures formed by thin walls and warmed by constant blood flow at the body temperatures T=36-39 C serve for fast and efficient warming of the inhaled air to the body temperature and its moistening up to 100% humidity. The Arctic animals possess the most efficient nasal ducts allowing the heating of the inhaled air from T=-30-60C to T=38-39 C during the duct with the length L=8-15 only. The detailed geometry of the nasal ducts of some Arctic animal has been studied on the computed tomograms (CT) scans of the heads of the animals found in the open databases and published in literature. The highly porous structures on some slices are formed by fractal-like divisions of the walls protruded into the nasal lumen. Since the fractal structures are characterized by their fractal dimensions D, the relationships between the hydrodynamic properties and fractal dimensions of the porous structures of the upper respiratory tract of some Arctic animals has been studied. The dimensions D of the cross sections of the tract have been calculated by the counting box method. The porosities of the samples, the tortuosity of the pores, and the equivalent hydraulic diameter Dh of the channel have been calculated. Sierpinski fractals of various types have been used as models of porous structures, for which the above listed parameters, as well as hydraulic resistance to a stationary flow, have also been computed. A number of statistical dependencies between the calculated parameters were revealed, but the absence of their correlations with D was shown. It was obtained, the structures with different porosities and hydraulic resistance Dh can have the same values ​​of D. Therefore, the choice of an adequate model based on only D value introduces significant errors in the calculations of air heating along the upper respiratory tract. The statistical dependences inherent in the natural samples studied can be obtained only on the basis of multifractal models in which the number and shape of the channels, as well as the scale of their decrease, change in a certain way at each generation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-128
Author(s):  
L. M. Karamova ◽  
Natalya V. Vlasova ◽  
L. G. Gizatullina ◽  
L. M. Masyagutova

Introduction. Medical workers in the process of labor are exposed to a complex of adverse factors: neuro-emotional, physical stress of a chemical, physical and biological nature. A long stay in a hospital environment with medical workers can lead to the formation of various diseases of microbiological etiology or the carriage of pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic flora and the development of dysbiosis. Objective. Give hematological and bacteriological characteristics of the health status of medical workers. Material and methods. The results of laboratory studies of blood and mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract of medical workers performed during the performing occupational medical examinations are analyzed. Results. Hematological indices were found to be characterized by an increased hemoglobin content in one-fourth of the examined workers, as well as lymphocytosis, eosinophilia, cholesterolemia. The microflora of the mucosa of the upper respiratory tract is mainly represented by Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Streptococcus pyogenes in 65.2% of the workers; the remaining 34.8% were revealed to have a resident microflora. With the experience of work, the frequency of insemination increases and doubles by 10 years of the work. The structure of microflora is also changing. In the nosological form of occupational morbidity, allergic diseases prevail and account for 60.8%, tuberculosis - 26.0%, and hepatitis - 8,6%. Conclusion. All these changes in the body are the basis of pathogenetic manifestations in the formation of allergic and pathogenic pathologies, which make up to 70.0% of all occupational morbidity.


1936 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1240-1250
Author(s):  
V. K. Trutnev

Over the past decades, the problem of nasal breathing has attracted the attention of a wide range of researchers.


1964 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. E. Buckland ◽  
D. A. J. Tyrrell

An attempt has been made to study quantitatively the mechanisms by which infectious materials may enter the body by the upper respiratory tract and be shed during a cold.The rapid clearance of tracers, spores of B. mycoides and bacteriophage type T3, has been measured after adding them in small drops to the nose, conjunctiva and mouth.Tracers placed in the nose pass rapidly down the throat, but are found in only small amounts in the saliva. They are dispersed by blowing the nose and, more efficiently, by sneezing. Nearly all are shed as coarse droplets. About 0·1% are shed in droplets small enough to remain airborne and just over half of these are in the size range likely to be trapped in the upper respiratory tract. The droplets are apparently formed mainly in the nose. The larger amounts of droplets formed in the mouth carried relatively few infectious particles.Testing by experiments in a model system it was concluded that most of the coarse droplets produced by a sneeze or by an experimental spray fall rapidly to the floor. A few of the larger droplets were trapped on a moistened microscope slide intended to mimic the possible trapping of droplets on the conjunctive. The spores in these represented only a small proportion of those found in droplets which remained airborne and were collected by an air sampler.We wish to thank Miss P. D. Ball for technical assistance and Dr J. E. Lovelock for helpful discussion in the early stages of this work. We are also grateful to Sir Victor Negus and Dr B. Wyke for discussing the physiology of the nose with us, and to Mr K. R. May for his advice on methods of air sampling. The air samplers were loaned by the Microbiological Research Establishment, Porton, and the photographs taken by the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment, Porton.


2020 ◽  
pp. 109-115
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Ovchinnikov ◽  
N. A. Miroshnichenko ◽  
Yu. O. Nikolaeva ◽  
M. M. Vasilyev

Increase in the number of acute and chronic diseases is a global trend. On the one hand, the emergence of new types of viruses, their active mutation, an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, a high frequency of immunodeficiency and allergic diseases contribute to this. On the other hand is inadequate treatment of inflammatory diseases of the upper respiratory tract, widespread use of systemic antibiotics without indications. The use of bioregulatory medicines with proven efficacy in the complex treatment can reduce the drug load on the body, reduce the bacterial complications and side effects. Traumeel®S joins the physiological course of inflammation and activates pro-resolving mediators, contributes to its faster completion and tissue repair. The efficacy and safety of Traumeel®S has been confirmed in many randomized clinical trials. The drug has proven its value in almost any inflammatory pathology of the upper respiratory tract and ear. The drug Lymphomyosot®, a multicomponent agent with lymphatic drainage action, has proven itself perfectly in the complex therapy of chronic tonsillitis. In November 2019, the Council of Experts of the National Medical Association of Otorhinolaryngologists on the problems of pathology of the lympharyngeal ring was held. It is recommended to use the multicomponent bioregulatory preparation Traumeel®S to correct the inflammatory process, which has shown in studies a modulating effect on inflammatory mediators without suppressing COX-2 (prostaglandins). With exacerbation of chronic tonsillitis and lymphadenitis of nonspecific etiology, it is possible to use the multicomponent preparation Lymphomyosot®, which helps to improve the drainage and detoxification function of the lymphatic system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. e237207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atanu Chandra ◽  
Uddalak Chakraborty ◽  
Jyotirmoy Pal ◽  
Parthasarathi Karmakar

COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 may present with a wide spectrum of symptoms ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infection like illness to severe pneumonia and death. Patients may have severe hypoxaemia without proportional features of respiratory distress, also known as ‘silent’ or ‘apathetic’ hypoxia. We present a case of a 56-year-old man with COVID-19 who presented to the fever clinic of our institution with fever and cough without any respiratory distress but low oxygen saturation. The patient deteriorated over the next 2 days but eventually recovered of his illness in due course of time. This case demonstrates ‘silent hypoxia’ as a possible presentation in COVID-19 and emphasises the importance of meticulous clinical examination including oxygen saturation measurements in suspected or confirmed patients.


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