Can the Use of Bedside Lung Ultrasound Reduce Transmission Rates in The Case of The COVID-19 Patient? - A Narrative Review

POCUS Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
Sheena Bhimji-Hewitt MAppSc; DMS, CRGS, RDMS

Novel Corona Virus Disease-19 (nCov-19, COVID-19) was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. As of June 14, 2020, this contagious viral disease has afflicted 188 out of 195 countries in the world with 7,893,700 confirmed cases and 432,922 global deaths. Canada has 98,787 people infected and 8,146 deaths. COVID-19 is thought to transmit through contact, droplets and aerosolization. A rapid review showed limited information on the benefits of conducting lung ultrasound (LUS) versus chest radiograph (CXR) or studies correlating lung ultrasound to chest computed Tomography (CT) in patients positive for Covid-19. The literature review confirmed that CT and LUS cannot diagnose this disease, but that both can help in the management and staging of this disease. There is no literature to prove that LUS at the bedside may be beneficial from the view of decreased transmission to other health care workers and bystanders due to reduced transit but comparing the transit pathway and contact leads one to propose that this would be so. Pregnant patients with COVID-19, young children and patients in the reproductive stage would also benefit from LUS since there is no radiation dose and the critical patient in distress will benefit from testing at the bedside.

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2 (Supp)) ◽  
pp. 288-299
Author(s):  
Shubha DB ◽  
Malathesh Undi ◽  
Rachana Annadani ◽  
Ayesha Siddique

Since the emergence of Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID 19) in China in December 2019, a lot of significant decisions have been taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) and several countries across the globe. As the world reels under the threat of rapid increase in the number of cases and is planning strategies with the limited information available on the virus, it is essential to learn from the experience of countries across the globe. Hence, we selected a few countries in five WHO regions based on their COVID 19 caseload, management strategies and outcome and compared some of the important measures taken by them to contain the spread of infection. Strategies like extensive testing and contact tracing, strict quarantine and isolation measures, Hospital preparedness, complete restriction of non-essential travel, strict border control measures and social distancing measures play a vital role in containment of the spread. All the countries faced the novel strain of virus and implemented similar strategies as per the guidance of WHO, but the extent of preparedness, swiftness with which the decisions were made and the scale of measures made the difference.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1469-1472
Author(s):  
Kajal Gandhi ◽  
Kumar Gaurav Chhabra ◽  
Revati More ◽  
Ankita Rathi ◽  
Gargi Nimbulkar ◽  
...  

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 started in Wuhan Province, China and which spread to half a dozen countries between 2019 and 2020 and was declared a pandemic. This resulted in the implementation of a lockdown in different parts of the world, explaining it was an effective and essential way to break the cycle of infection. Physical distancing is the most important measure to break this infection cycle which affected many people's lives in different aspects. Mental health is considered to be one of the important components of the overall health as the definition given by the World Health Organization. It says that the person should be well-adjusted with the environment and should not be easily upset. He should know his needs, problems and goals properly; moreover, if he faces problems, he tries to solve them intelligently for which he tries to cope up with stress and anxiety. Along with all these things, he has good self-control balances between rationality and emotionality. It has likewise set off a wide variety of mental issues, for example, anxiety, panic disorder and depression. Most of the studies have reported negative impacts, including anger, stress symptoms and confusion. Education and training on pandemic should be provided by the authorities and health care workers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mutiara Adelina ◽  
Fifi Dwijayanti

Infectious diseases are one of the biggest threats to humans. Currently, the world is in the outbreak condition causes of the COVID-19 virus which is started from Wuhan, China in December 2019. This disease was spread out rapidly throughout the World and was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020(1). The infected number of SARS-CoV-2 was over 84 million people and caused over 1 million death cases in the worldwide. Indonesia had more than 800.000 infectious cases and 23.000 of death cases with the highest cases in Jakarta (2). This virus can be transmitted by two ways, such as direct contact (cough, sneeze, and droplet inhalation) and contact transmission (contact with oral, nasal, and eye mucous membranes) of person with COVID-19 (3). The current COVID-19 pandemic makes various challenges in prevention and control of infections in hospitals. Health care workers (HCWs) have been providing care to suspected, probable or confirmed COVID-19 patients that make them in high-risk condition. Several study indicated that many HCWs have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 in many hospitals worldwide (4)(5)(6).


2020 ◽  
pp. 9-11
Author(s):  
Zohra Ahmad ◽  
Parul Dutta ◽  
Deepjyoti Das Choudhury ◽  
Satabdi Kalita ◽  
Zohaib Hussain ◽  
...  

Corona Virus Disease 19 or COVID-19, was first detected in Wuhan province in China in December 2019 and reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019 [1]. It was declared a pandemic on March 11th, 2020 [2] and has till now affected 40 million people all around the world resulting in 1.1 million deaths (as of 18th Oct, 2020) [3]. As the world is reeling under the burden of the disease, it has been imperative for the radiologists to be familiar with the imaging appearance of the disease. Thoracic imaging with chest X-ray and CT is the key modality for the diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases. Although CT is more sensitive, the immense challenge of disinfection control in the modality may disrupt the service availability and portable X-ray may be considered to minimize the risk [4]. Use of portable X-ray has played a vital role in all the areas around the world during this pandemic. The purpose of this pictorial review is to represent the frequently encountered features and abnormalities in chest X-ray and strengthen the knowledge of the health-care workers in this war against the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Zen Ahmad

Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) is a contagious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which was discovered in December 2019 in China. This disease can cause clinical manifestations in the airway, lung and systemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) representative of China reported a pneumonia case with unknown etiology in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China on December 31, 2019. The cause was identified as a new type of coronavirus on January 7, 2020 with an estimated source of the virus from traditional markets (seafood market). ) Wuhan city


Author(s):  
Petter I. Andersen ◽  
Klara Krpina ◽  
Aleksandr Ianevski ◽  
Nastassia Shtaida ◽  
Eunji Jo ◽  
...  

Viruses are the major causes of acute and chronic infectious diseases in the world. According to the World Health Organization, there is an urgent need for better control of viral diseases. Re-purposing existing antiviral agents from one viral disease to another could play a pivotal role in this process. Here we identified novel activities of obatoclax and emetine against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), echovirus 1 (EV1), human metapneumovirus (HMPV) and Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) in cell cultures. Moreover, we demonstrated novel activities of emetine against influenza A virus (FluAV), niclosamide against HSV-2, brequinar against HIV-1, and homoharringtonine against EV1. Our findings may expand the spectrum of indications of these safe-in-man agents and reinforce the arsenal of available antiviral therapeutics pending the results of further in vivo tests.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Cantoni ◽  
Martin Mayora-Neto ◽  
Angalee Nadesalingam ◽  
David A. Wells ◽  
George W. Carnell ◽  
...  

One of the defining criteria of Variants of Concern (VOC) is their ability to evade pre-existing immunity, increased transmissibility, morbidity and/or mortality. Here we examine the capacity of convalescent plasma, from a well defined cohort of healthcare workers (HCW) and Patients infected during the first wave from a national critical care centre in the UK, to neutralise B.1.1.298 variant and three VOCs; B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1. Furthermore, to enable lab to lab, country to country comparisons we utilised the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Standard for anti-SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin to report neutralisation findings in International Units. These findings demonstrate a significant reduction in the ability of first wave convalescent plasma to neutralise the VOCs. In addition, Patients and HCWs with more severe COVID-19 were found to have higher antibody titres and to neutralise the VOCs more effectively than individuals with milder symptoms. Widespread use of the WHO International Standard by laboratories in different countries will allow for cross-laboratory comparisons, to benchmark and to establish thresholds of protection against SARS-CoV-2 and levels of immunity in different settings and countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nícia Rosário-Ferreira ◽  
António J. Preto ◽  
Rita Melo ◽  
Irina S. Moreira ◽  
Rui M. M. Brito

Influenza (flu) is a contagious viral disease, which targets the human respiratory tract and spreads throughout the world each year. Every year, influenza infects around 10% of the world population and between 290,000 and 650,000 people die from it according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Influenza viruses belong to the Orthomyxoviridae family and have a negative sense eight-segment single-stranded RNA genome that encodes 11 different proteins. The only control over influenza seasonal epidemic outbreaks around the world are vaccines, annually updated according to viral strains in circulation, but, because of high rates of mutation and recurrent genetic assortment, new viral strains of influenza are constantly emerging, increasing the likelihood of pandemics. Vaccination effectiveness is limited, calling for new preventive and therapeutic approaches and a better understanding of the virus–host interactions. In particular, grasping the role of influenza non-structural protein 1 (NS1) and related known interactions in the host cell is pivotal to better understand the mechanisms of virus infection and replication, and thus propose more effective antiviral approaches. In this review, we assess the structure of NS1, its dynamics, and multiple functions and interactions, to highlight the central role of this protein in viral biology and its potential use as an effective therapeutic target to tackle seasonal and pandemic influenza.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaojie Wei ◽  
Yufeng Yuan ◽  
Zhenshun Cheng

AbstractSince the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019, it has been characterized as a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO). It was reported that asymptomatic persons are potential sources of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We present an outbreak among health-care workers incited by a doctor who cared a patient with COVID-19 in a Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which indicates existence of super-spreader even during incubation period.


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