scholarly journals Report on the new coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic in Italy

Author(s):  
Bianca Maria Donida

Abstract Background Sars-CoV-2 is a coronavirus associated with human severe acute respiratory disease named Covid-19, first reported in China on December 2019. World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic on March 20, 2020. This report aims to outline the Italian outbreak characteristics. Italy, as one of first most affected area outside Asian continent, could give experiences to the other countries.Methods Data on positive cases and Covid-19 patients made available by Italian Health Authorities were reanalyzed and described. Results Up to April 18, 2020 Italy recorded 175,925 Sars-CoV-2 positive cases (10.68% among health care professionals) and 23,227 Covid-19 deaths. Covid-19 patients median age was 62 years. Male/female ratio was 1.00. Median time between symptoms and diagnosis was 6 days. Between hospitalized patients, the 10% needed intensive care. Median age at death was 80 years, with differences between sexes. Apparent lethality rate was 13.2%. At least one concomitant medical condition was present in 96.4% of patients who died. Discussion The number of Italian positive cases could be higher and the Italian lethality rate could be lower. The presence of asymptomatic people, known to be a vehicle for Covid-19 also for serious cases, could made slower the decrease of infection and distance the end of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Author(s):  
Amir Khodavirdipour ◽  
Motahareh Piri ◽  
Sarvin Jabbari ◽  
Mohammad Khalaj-kondori

AbstractThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) belongs to coronaviridae families, like sarbecovirus (SARS), and causes pyrexia, pertussis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in major. Started from Wuhan, China now forced the World Health Organization (WHO) to call it a pandemic. These dreadful figures elevate the need for rapid action for a rapid diagnostic tool, an efficacious therapy, or vaccine for such widespread disease. Here we reviewed all the latest research and trials including conventional antiviral medicines that have a narrow and finite effect on COVID-19. Recently, some advances have been made by a nucleotide/nucleoside analogues (NUC) inhibitor (remdesivir), ivermectin (antiparasitic drug), and convalescent plasma, the later one has more recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, a clinical-grade soluble human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), named hrsACE2, was able to inhibit the infection of human blood vessel organoids, as well as the human kidney organoids, by the virus. As of now, innovative therapeutics based on the CRISPR/Cas13d might overcome the challenge of COVID-19 either as a treatment option or precise and rapid diagnostic tool due to its rapid and precise nature. In this updated comprehensive rapid review, we try to cover all recent findings in terms of genomics, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1496
Author(s):  
Eun-Hee Lee ◽  
Yunsoo Chang ◽  
Seung-Woo Lee

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-135
Author(s):  
Anita Y. N. Lim

Abstract I wrote this journal in March 2020 prior to the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 infection as a worldwide pandemic on March 11. The situation in Singapore was unfolding even as public healthcare institutions were tasked to lead the charge to contain the novel coronavirus as it was then called. This journal describes my experiences and impressions during my work in an isolation ward at the National University Hospital during this early period. I was to be catapulted into Pandemic Team 3 in the second and third weeks of February 2020. The urgency of hospital measures to respond to the novel coronavirus meant that the general medicine consultant roster which I was on was hijacked to support the pandemic wards. I thought wryly to myself that it was a stroke of genius to commandeer the ready-made roster of senior physicians; it would have been difficult for the roster monster to solicit senior physicians to volunteer when there were still so many unknowns about this virus. Graphic images of the dire situation in Wuhan, China, were circulating widely on social media. It was heart-wrenching to read of Dr. Li Wen Liang’s death. He had highlighted the mysterious pneumonia-causing virus. The video clip of him singing at a karaoke session that went viral underscored the tragedy of a young life cut short. Questions raced in my mind. “Are we helpless to prevent the spread of this virus?” “Is the situation in China to be replicated here in Singapore?” This seemed incredulous, yet, might it be possible? The immediate responses that jumped up within me was “yes, it’s possible, but let’s pray not. Whatever has to be done, must be done.”


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 1098-1101
Author(s):  
Aditi Vinay Chandak ◽  
Surekha Dubey Godbole ◽  
Tanvi Rajesh Balwani ◽  
Tanuj Sunil Patil

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


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 01-02
Author(s):  
Khadiga Ismail

COVID-19 has high transmissibility and infectivity among human. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) in an effort to slow down the global spread of the virus declared the outbreak, “A global public health emergency of international concern". The skin manifestations of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 were not recognized at the early stages of the pandemic but have received much recent attention in scientific journals. Reported manifestations range from pseudo-chilblains to a morbilliform (measles-like) exanthem, urticaria, vesicular eruptions, a dengue-like petechial rash and ovate scaling macules, and plaques mimicking pityriasis rosea.


Author(s):  
Reid Mimmack ◽  
Elijah Germo ◽  
Garrett Augustine ◽  
Kumar Belani

Abstract In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a worldwide pandemic. The pandemic led to concerns of shortages regarding healthcare-related resources, including personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, and more. The uniquely designed COVEX respirator with face shield was engineered and manufactured by Augustine Surgical, Inc. to combat the PPE shortage. The novel COVEX mask is an “all-in-one” face shield and filter with a Viral Filtration Efficiency (VFE) greater than 99%. A standard respirator qualitative fit test was completed on the COVEX respirator as well as the current medical standard 3M N95 respirator. Fit test studies comparing the two masks yielded similar outcomes. The COVEX respirator had a qualitative fit test pass rate of 96.6% and the 3M N95 respirator had a pass rate of 93.3% (n=30). Participants also reported other variables comparing the comfort and fit of each mask, which is described further in the discussion. The COVEX respirator with face shield passed a standardized qualitative fit test at a rate similar to the current medical standard N95 respirator. Our results suggest that the COVEX mask may be a viable PPE option in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciaran E. Redmond ◽  
Savvas Nicolaou ◽  
Ferco H. Berger ◽  
Adnan M. Sheikh ◽  
Michael N. Patlas

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus officially named the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented challenge to emergency radiology practice. The continuity of an effective emergency imaging service for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients is essential, while adhering to best infection control practices. Under the direction of the Board of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, this general guidance document has been synthesized by collaborative consensus of a group of emergency radiologists. These recommendations aim to assist radiologists involved in emergency diagnostic imaging to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and continue to add value to patient care in the emergency setting.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 834-837
Author(s):  
Carla Prezioso ◽  
Valeria Pietropaolo

AbstractOn the March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic. The first cases in Italy were reported on January 30, 2020, and quickly the number of cases escalated. On March 20, 2020, according to the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) and National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), the peak of COVID-19 cases reported in Italy reached the highest number, surpassing those in China. The Italian government endorsed progressively restrictive measures initially at the local level, and finally, at the national level with a lockdown of the entire Italian territory up to 3 May 2020. The complete Italian territory closing slowed down the contagion. This review retraces the main numbers of the pandemic in Italy. Although in decline, the new reported cases remain high in the northern regions. Since drugs or vaccines are still not available, the described framework highlights the importance of the containment measures to be able to quickly identify all the potential transmission hotspots and keep control subsequent epidemic waves of COVID-19.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele Nicastri ◽  
Nicola Petrosillo ◽  
Tommaso Ascoli Bartoli ◽  
Luciana Lepore ◽  
Annalisa Mondi ◽  
...  

On January 9th, 2020, the “World Health Organization” (WHO) declared the identification, by Chinese Health authorities, of a novel coronavirus, further classified as SARS-CoV-2 responsible of a diseases (COVID-19) ranging from asymptomatic cases to severe respiratory involvement. On March 9th, 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Italy is the second most affected country by COVID-19 infection after China. The “L. Spallanzani” National Institute for the Infectious Diseases, IRCCS has been the first Italian hospital to admit and manage patients affected by COVID-19. Hereby, we show our recommendations for the management of COVID-19 patients, based on very limited clinical evidences; these recomendations should be considered as expert opinions, which may be modified according to newly produced literature data. *for the INMI COVID-19 Treatment Group – ICOTREG Abdeddaim A, Agrati C, Albarello F, Antinori A, Ascoli Bartoli T, Baldini F, Bellagamba R, Bevilacqua N, Bibas M, Biava G, Boumis E, Busso D, Camici M, Capobianchi MR, Capone A, Caravella I, Cataldo A, Cerilli S, Chinello G, Cicalini S, Corpolongo A, Cristofaro M, D’Abramo A, Dantimi C, De Angelis G, De Palo MG, D’Offizi G, De Zottis F, Di Lorenzo R, Di Stefano F, Fusetti M, Galati V, Gagliardini R, Garotto G, Gebremeskel Tekle Saba, Giancola ML, Giansante F, Girardi E, Goletti D, Granata G, Greci MC, Grilli E, Grisetti S, Gualano G, Iacomi F, Iannicelli G, Ippolito G, Lepore L, Libertone R, Lionetti R, Liuzzi G, Loiacono L, Macchione M,  Marchioni L, Mariano A, Marini MC, Maritti M, Mastrobattista A, Mazzotta V, Mencarini P, Migliorisi-Ramazzini P, Mondi A, Montalbano M, Mosti S, Murachelli S, Musso M, Nicastri E, Noto P, Oliva A, Palazzolo C, Palmieri F, Pareo C, Petrone A, Pianura E, Pinnetti C, Pontarelli A, Puro V, Rianda A, Rosati S, Sampaolesi A, Santagata C, Scarcia D’Aprano S, Scarabello A, Schininà V, Scorzolini L, Stazi GV, Taibi C, Taglietti F, Tonnarini R, Topino S, Vergori A, Vincenzi L, Visco-Comandini U, Vittozzi P, Zaccarelli M, Zaccaro G.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuanzhen Cen ◽  
Dong Sun ◽  
Ming Rong ◽  
Gusztáv Fekete ◽  
Julien S. Baker ◽  
...  

Recently, an unprecedented coronavirus pandemic has emerged and has spread around the world. The novel coronavirus termed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization has posed a huge threat to human safety and social development. This mini review aimed to summarize the online education mode and plans for schools to resume full-time campus study in China during COVID-19. Chinese schools have made significant contributions to the prevention and control of the transmission of COVID-19 by adopting online learning from home. However, normal opening and classroom teaching have been affected. For education systems at all levels, online education may be an effective way to make up for the lack of classroom teaching during the epidemic. To protect staff and students from COVID-19, the timing of students returning to full-time campus study needs to be considered carefully. Reviewing and summarizing of the Chinese education system's response to the virus would be of great value not only in developing educational policy but also in guiding other countries to formulate educational countermeasures.


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