Clinical and epidemiological characteristics and effectiveness of antiviral therapy for COVID-19 in children: The experience of the first year of the pandemic

Background. The use of antiviral agents can shorten the duration of the viral infection. The aim: to study the clinical and epidemiological features and the effectiveness of antiviral therapy for new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in outpatient children.Materials and methods. From April 2020 to March 2021, 9334 outpatient children aged from 0 months to 17 years were randomly tested for new coronavirus infection. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in oropharyngeal and nasal material by PCR. Patients with confirmed new coronavirus infection were prescribed interferon-alpha (IFN-α) intranasally, antiviral agents of systemic action. The control group consisted of children with COVID-19 who did not receive treatment.Results. When examining clinically healthy contact children, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 7.4 % of cases. In the structure of ARI, the specific weight of COVID-19 was 12.3 % with the peak incidence in April-May (up to 22.8 %) and NovemberDecember (up to 30.0 %). In half of the cases, children became infected in the family, and usually adults were the index patient. In 47.7 % of cases, an asymptomatic form of COVID-19 was registered without significant differences in patients of different ages. In one third of children with concomitant pathology, the disease was asymptomatic, in half it was mild, in other cases moderate severity was diagnosed. The clinical picture of COVID-19 did not differ from other ARIs. Anosmia (9.4 %) in half of the cases was combined with ageusia (4.4 %) and was significantly more common in boys. The duration of clinical manifestations in children of the control group and those who received antiviral therapy did not statistically significantly differ in mild and severity of the disease. Also, various antiviral therapy options did not significantly affect the duration of SARS-CoV-2 detection in children with various forms of COVID-19.Conclusion. In the first year of the pandemic, the novel coronavirus infection did not dominate the pattern of respiratory diseases in outpatient children. Further research is required to develop pediatric guidelines for the treatment of COVID-19 at the outpatient stage.

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Epidemiological investigation and intergenerational clinical characteristics of 24 coronavirus disease patients associated with a supermarket cluster: a retrospective study

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-10713-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Suochen Tian ◽

Min Wu ◽

Zhenqin Chang ◽

Yunxia Wang ◽

Guijie Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Symptom Onset ◽

Clinical Characteristics ◽

First Generation ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Index Patient ◽

Time Interval ◽

First Case ◽

Group A ◽

Group B ◽

Epidemiological Characteristics

Abstract Background In view of the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it remains unclear whether the severity of illness and time interval from symptom onset to release from quarantine differ between cases that originated from clusters and cases reported in other areas. This study aimed to assess epidemiological and intergenerational clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients associated with cluster outbreaks to provide valuable data for the prevention and control of COVID-19. Methods We identified the first employee with COVID-19 at a supermarket and screened the close contacts of this index patient. Confirmed cases were divided into two groups according to the generation (first generation comprising supermarket employees [group A] and second or third generations comprising family members or friends of the supermarket employees [group B]). The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the two groups were retrospectively compared. Results A total of 8437 people were screened, and 24 COVID-19 patients were identified. Seven patients (29.2%) were asymptomatic; three patients were responsible for six symptomatic cases. The interval from the confirmation of the first case to symptom onset in symptomatic patients was 5–11 days. The clinical manifestations of symptomatic patients upon admission were non-specific. All patients (including the seven asymptomatic patients) were admitted based on chest computed tomography features indicative of pneumonia. There were 11 cases in group A (first generation) and 13 cases in group B (second generation, 11 cases; third generation, 2 cases), with no significant differences in clinical and epidemiological characteristics between the two groups, except for sex, duration from symptom onset to hospitalization, and underlying disease (P > 0.05). Conclusions For cluster outbreaks, it is important to comprehensively screen close the contacts of the index patient. Special attention should be paid to asymptomatic cases. The clinical management of cluster patients is similar to that of other COVID-19 patients.

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Analysis of the clinical manifestations of cerebral stroke in patients with the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)

Vestnik nevrologii, psihiatrii i nejrohirurgii (Bulletin of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery) ◽

10.33920/med-01-2012-03 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 30-45

Author(s):

Vladislav V. Andreev ◽

Alexander Y. Podunov ◽

Daniil S. Lapin ◽

Zarema L. Gilyaeva ◽

Ekaterina N. Nikiforova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Tissue ◽

Hemorrhagic Stroke ◽

Clinical Laboratory ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Community Acquired Pneumonia ◽

Control Group ◽

Cerebral Stroke ◽

The Novel ◽

Coronavirus Infection ◽

Novel Coronavirus

Objective: To improve the diagnosis and treatment of acute cerebrovascular accident in patients with community-acquired pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Materials and methods: For the first time, clinical manifestations of strokes in patients with diagnosed new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) were analyzed in 130 patients. The study was conducted in two groups. The main group consisted of 69,2 % (n = 90) with a clinical and instrumental diagnosis: novel coronavirus infection in combination with stroke. The control group (30,8 %; n = 40) included the cases of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke without signs of SARS-CoV-2. In both groups, the severity of the disease and pathogenetic subtypes were compared, and the features of the laboratory biochemical data were studied. Statistical analysis of the outcomes was carried out taking into account the severity of brain and lung tissue damage. Results: In patients with cerebral stroke against the background of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the prevalence of ischemic stroke cases (86,4 %) was noted for undetermined (41,4 %) and cardioembolic (35,7 %) pathogenetic subtypes (according to TOAST) with localization in the carotid basin (89,7 %). In hemorrhagic stroke, parenchymal hemorrhage was observed with a greater frequency (54,5 %). The severity of the diagnosed strokes according to the NIHSS scale was up to 13,16 (8,80) points with less severe brain damage — Glasgow coma scale (14,0 (12,0 15,0). In the group of the patients, a widespread lesion of the lung tissue was diagnosed in 82,2 % of cases. No significant increase in the incidence of clinically significant manifestations of systemic and organ hypercoagulation was established. Conclusions: In stroke patients with COVID-19, ischemic manifestations with undetermined and cardioembolic subtypes without age and gender features prevail, with no differences in the severity of the course and a large number of favorable outcomes. A high activity of inflammatory and infectious changes was established by clinical laboratory.

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THE EFFECT OF APPLYING ANIMAL CARTOON PICTURES ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING NARRATIVE TEXT

10.24114/reg.v6i1.5371 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hasanul Arifin Zul And Masitowarni Siregar

Keyword(s):

T Test ◽

Narrative Text ◽

Control Group ◽

First Year ◽

Writing Achievement ◽

Control Groups ◽

Post Test ◽

Written Test ◽

And Control ◽

Experimental Group

This thesis is focused on the investigation of the effect of applying animal cartoon pictures on students’ achievement in writing narrative text. This study aims to find whether applying animal cartoon pictures significantly affect the students’ writing achievement or not. The data in this study were obtained by administering a written test. The population was the 2015/2016 first year (grade XI) of SMA Swasta Nusantara Lubuk Pakam and 66 students were taken as the sample by using random sampling. The sample was divided into two groups, experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught by applying animal cartoon pictures while the control group without animal cartoon pictures (x = lecturing). The data were taken the scores from the pre-test and post-test to both experimental and control groups. These data were analyzed by using t-test. The result of computing the t-test obviously showed that t-observed is higher than t-table (5.21 >1,67) with the degree of freedom 64 (df =N-2) at the level significance 0,05 one tail test. It showed that the application of animal cartoon pictures significantly affected the students of SMA Swasta Nusantara Lubuk Pakam achievement in writing narrative text.

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THE EFFECT OF USING NOTING INTERACTING SUMMARIZING AND PRIORITIZING STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN READING COMPREHENSION

10.24114/reg.v2i4.694 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Maruh Sianturi And Berlin Sibarani

Keyword(s):

Reading Comprehension ◽

Experimental Design ◽

Null Hypothesis ◽

Alternative Hypothesis ◽

Control Group ◽

First Year ◽

Teaching Reading ◽

First Year Students ◽

Level Of Significance ◽

Experimental Group

This study was aimed at finding out the effect of using Noting, Interacting, Summarizing, and Prioritizing Strategy on Students’ Achievement in Reading Comprehension. This study was designed with the experimental design. The population of this study was the first year students at academic 2013/2012 of SMA swasta YP St. Paulus Martubung, Medan. There were fourty students taken as the sample of the research. The sample was divided into two groups: the first group (20 students) as the experimental group and the second group (20 students) as the control group. The experimental group was taught by Using Noting, Interacting, Summarizing, and Prioritizing Strategy, while the control group was taught by using conventional method. The instrument for collecting the data was multiple choices which consisted of 40 items. To obtain the reliability of the test, the researcher used Kuder -Richardson (KR-21) formula. The calculation showed that the reliability of the test was 0.75. The data were calculated by using t-test formula. The result of the analysis shows that t-observed (4.98) was higher than t-table (2.025) at the level of significance (α) 0.05 and the degree of freedom (df) 38. Therefore, the null hypothesis (H0) was rejected and alternative hypothesis (Ha) was accepted. It meant that teaching reading comprehension by using Noting, Interacting, Summarizing, and Prioritizing Strategy significantly affects reading comprehension.

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Comparative analysis of polymorphic variants of IL-17A and MMP-1 genes with the risk of developing chronic periodontitis in petrochemical workers

Russian Journal of Occupational Health and Industrial Ecology ◽

10.31089/1026-9428-2020-60-10-687-693 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 60 (10) ◽

pp. 687-693

Author(s):

Iskander I. Zaidullin ◽

Denis O. Karimov ◽

Lilija K. Karimova ◽

Milyausha F. Kabirova ◽

Rasima R. Galimova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ethylene Oxide ◽

Chronic Periodontitis ◽

Periodontal Diseases ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Control Group ◽

Periodontal Tissues ◽

Dental Examination ◽

Number Of Patients ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Harmful Substances

The susceptibility to the development and progression of inflammatory periodontal diseases, which depends on genetic and external factors (smoking, stress, oral hygiene), varies widely. In the development of these diseases, an important role is played not only by the presence of periodontal pathogenic microorganisms, but also by the presence of congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, immunoregulatory defects. The immune system plays a key role in the physiological and pathological processes of periodontal tissues. In this regard, IL17, produced by CD4+ Th cells, which has both Pro-inflammatory and protective activity, is of particular interest in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. The aim of study was to identify the relationship between polymorphic loci of the IL-17A (rs2275913) and MMP-1 (rs1799750) genes and clinical manifestations of chronic periodontitis in petrochemical workers. Dental examination was performed in 92 ethylene oxide production workers with chronic periodontitis and 74 patients with chronic periodontitis who did not come into contact with chemical factors (control group). Genotyping of polymorphisms rs2275913 of the IL17A gene and rs1799750 of the MMP1 gene was performed by allele-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Hygienic assessment of the degree of air pollution of the working area with harmful substances was carried out by gas chromatography according to the guidelines for the determination of harmful substances in the air № 5098-89, № 3119-84. When comparing the results of studies of both groups, there were no statistically significant differences in the frequency distributions of allelic variants and genotypes of the IL-17A and MMP-1 genes. The AA/AG genotypes of the IL-17A gene were associated with an increased risk of severe disease compared to the GG genotype in workers in the main group (OR=6.1; 95% CI 1.33-28.5; p=0.021) and in the control group (OR=7.26; 95% CI 1.34-39.25; p=0.016). Carriers of the A allele in the control group increased the risk of severe chronic periodontitis by 2.4 times compared to carriers of the G allele (OR=2.41; 95% CI 1.19-4.87; p=0.014). During the dental examination of employees of the ethylene oxide plant, the clinical course of periodontal diseases was more severe in comparison with the control group, and the number of patients with severe periodontitis was twice as high. It was found that the AA/AG genotypes of the IL-17A gene and the carrier of the A allele are associated with increased susceptibility to the development of severe chronic periodontitis. The association between the MMP-1 gene polymorphism and the risk of severe forms of chronic periodontitis has not been established. A risk factor for the development of inflammatory periodontal diseases in employees of the petrochemical complex is a complex of harmful production factors.

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Long-Term Follow-Up of Early Cochlear Implant Device Activation

Audiology and Neurotology ◽

10.1159/000512760 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Stefanie Bruschke ◽

Uwe Baumann ◽

Timo Stöver

Keyword(s):

Speech Recognition ◽

Side Effects ◽

Cochlear Implant ◽

Surgical Techniques ◽

Control Group ◽

First Year ◽

Safe Procedure ◽

Sound Processor

Background: The cochlear implant (CI) is a standard procedure for the treatment of patients with severe to profound hearing loss. In the past, a standard healing period of 3–6 weeks occurred after CI surgery before the sound processor was initially activated. Advancements of surgical techniques and instruments allow an earlier initial activation of the processor within 14 days after surgery. Objective: Evaluation of the early CI device activation after CI surgery within 14 days, comparison to the first activation after 4–6 weeks, and assessment of the feasibility and safety of the early fitting over a 12 month observation period were the objectives of this study. Method: In a prospective study, 127 patients scheduled for CI surgery were divided into early fitting group (EF, n = 67) and control group (CG, n = 60). Individual questionnaires were used to evaluate medical and technical outcomes of the EF. Medical side effects, speech recognition, and follow-up effort were compared with the CG within the first year after CI surgery. Results: The early fitting was feasible in 97% of the EF patients. In the EF, the processor was activated 25 days earlier than in the CG. No major complications were observed in either group. At the follow-up appointments, side effects such as pain and balance problems occurred with comparable frequency in both groups. At initial fitting, the EF showed a significantly higher incidence of medical minor complications (p < 0.05). When developing speech recognition within the first year of CI use, no difference was observed. Furthermore, the follow-up effort within the first year after CI surgery was comparable in both groups. Conclusions: Early fitting of the sound processor is a feasible and safe procedure with comparable follow-up effort. Although more early minor complications were observed in the EF, there were no long-term wound healing problems caused by the early fitting. Regular inspection of the magnet strength is recommended as part of the CI follow-up since postoperative wound swelling must be expected. The early fitting procedure enabled a clear reduction in the waiting time between CI surgery and initial sound processor activation.

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Positive and Negative Affect Changes during Gender-Affirming Hormonal Treatment: Results from the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI)

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10020296 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 296

Author(s):

Imke Matthys ◽

Justine Defreyne ◽

Els Elaut ◽

Alessandra Daphne Fisher ◽

Baudewijntje P. C. Kreukels ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Negative Affect ◽

Sex Steroids ◽

Hormonal Treatment ◽

Control Group ◽

First Year ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

European Network ◽

Psychological Burden ◽

The Impact

Improving transgender people’s quality of life (QoL) is the most important goal of gender-affirming care. Prospective changes in affect can influence QoL. We aim to assess the impact of initiating gender-affirming hormonal treatment (HT) on affect. In the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI) study, we prospectively collected data of 873 participants (451 transwomen (TW) and 422 transmen (TM)). At baseline, psychological questionnaires including the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered. The PANAS, levels of sex steroids and physical changes were registered at each follow-up visit during a 3-year follow-up period, starting at the initiation of hormonal therapy. Data were analyzed cross-sectionally and prospectively. Over the first three months, we observed a decline in positive affect (PA) in both TM and TW. Thereafter, PA reached a steady state in TW, whereas in TM there was also a second decline at 18 months. In both TM and TW there was no persisting difference comparing baseline to the 36-months results. Concerning negative affect (NA), we observed a decline during the first year in TM, which sustained during the second year and was not different anymore at 36 months compared to baseline. In TW though, we did not find any change of NA during the entire follow-up. Even if some of these results show significant differences, they should be considered with caution, since there was no control group and the absolute differences are small. No association between affect and the level of sex steroids was observed. Baseline QoL and psychological burden are related to affect independently from gender but are not necessarily good predictors of the evolution of one’s affect during the gender-affirming process. Further research is necessary to investigate these preliminary results.

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KM55 Monoclonal Antibody Staining in IgA-Dominant Infection-Related Glomerulonephritis

Nephron ◽

10.1159/000513269 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Minfang Zhang ◽

Wenyan Zhou ◽

Shaojun Liu ◽

Liyin Zhang ◽

Zhaohui Ni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Staining Intensity ◽

Integrated Analysis ◽

Control Group ◽

Pathological Feature ◽

Characteristic Analysis ◽

Prognostic Information ◽

Antibody Staining ◽

Key Factor ◽

Focal Segmental Sclerosis

Introduction: IgA-dominant infection-related glomerulonephritis (IgA-IRGN) is a unique form of IRGN, which needs to be distinguished from IgA nephropathy (IgAN), due to overlapping clinical and pathological features. The key factor in the pathogenesis of IgAN is galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1). However, the mechanism of glomerular IgA deposition in patients with IgA-IRGN is unclear. Therefore, we evaluated whether Gd-IgA1 could be a useful biomarker to distinguish between these 2 diseases. Methods: A case-control study was conducted to analyze the clinical and pathological characteristics of 12 patients with IgA-IRGN. The intensity and distribution of glomerular Gd-IgA1 (KM55) staining in renal biopsies were assessed. The control group consisted of 15 patients diagnosed with IgAN and an additional 17 patients with glomerulopathy involving IgA deposition. Results: The main clinical manifestations of patients with IgA-IRGN were nephrotic-range proteinuria, hematuria, acute renal injury, and hypocomplementemia. Active lesions were the leading pathological feature, while focal segmental sclerosis was rare. Half of the patients exhibited hump-shaped subepithelial deposits. Glomerular KM55 staining was negative in 7 patients, trace in 4 patients, and 2+ in 1 patient. The median intensity of KM55 staining in IgA-IRGN patients was 0 (range 0∼2+), which was significantly lower than that of primary IgAN patients (median 2+, range 1+∼3+). The receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that the optimal cutoff level to identify these 2 diseases was 0.5+. Conclusions: Glomerular KM55 staining intensity might be helpful to distinguish IgA-IRGN from primary IgAN. Weak or negative staining may favor IgA-IRGN. In addition, integrated analysis including clinical data, pathological findings, and prognostic information would further improve the differential diagnosis.

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Allergic diseases influence symptom severity and T lymphocyte subgroups of children with tic disorders

Journal of Investigative Medicine ◽

10.1136/jim-2021-001788 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. jim-2021-001788

Author(s):

Xiumei Liu ◽

Xueming Wang ◽

Xiaoling Zhang ◽

Ai hua Cao

Keyword(s):

T Lymphocyte ◽

Immune Cell ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Allergic Diseases ◽

Tic Disorders ◽

Control Group ◽

T Lymphocyte Subsets ◽

Tic Severity ◽

Immune Cell Subpopulations ◽

Cell Subpopulations

Tic disorders (TD) are childhood-onset neurological disorders. Immune system dysregulation has been postulated to play a role in TD, and its mechanisms likely involve dysfunctional neural-immune cross-talk, which ultimately leads to altered maturation of the brain pathways that control different TD clinical manifestations and behavioral and emotional damages. Clinical studies have demonstrated an association between TD and allergies and overactive immune responses at a systemic level. In this study, the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale was taken as a global measure of tic severity. Compared with the control group, the group of children with TD plus allergic diseases displayed significantly increased Yale total scores (p<0.05), which suggests that children with TD plus allergic diseases have heavier tic symptoms. Both motor and vocal tic scores are higher in the group of children with TD plus allergy compared with the control group. We counted immune cell subpopulations using FACS. T lymphocyte subset comparison of CD3, CD4, CD8, and CD4:CD8 expression ratios revealed that the level of CD3, CD4, and CD4:CD8 in children with TD plus allergic diseases was significantly lower than those of children with TD without allergic diseases. These differences were statistically significant (p<0.05) and suggest that children with TD plus allergic diseases have imbalanced T lymphocyte subsets. We concluded that allergy increased the severity of TD through an imbalance in cellular immunity. Studies need to be done to show whether treatment of allergic symptoms leads to a decrease in TD manifestations.

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Efficacy of implementing intermittent STOP THE BLEED® reviews on long term retention of hemorrhage control skills of first year medical students

Journal of Osteopathic Medicine ◽

10.1515/jom-2020-0231 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Enkhtsogt Sainbayar ◽

Nathan Holt ◽

Amber Jacobson ◽

Shalini Bhatia ◽

Christina Weaver

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Training Session ◽

Likert Scale ◽

Control Group ◽

First Year ◽

Hemorrhage Control ◽

Term Retention ◽

Long Term Retention

Abstract Context Some medical schools integrate STOP THE BLEED® training into their curricula to teach students how to identify and stop life threatening bleeds; these classes that are taught as single day didactic and hands-on training sessions without posttraining reviews. To improve retention and confidence in hemorrhage control, additional review opportunities are necessary. Objectives To investigate whether intermittent STOP THE BLEED® reviews were effective for long term retention of hemorrhage control skills and improving perceived confidence. Methods First year osteopathic medical students were asked to complete an eight item survey (five Likert scale and three quiz format questions) before (pretraining) and after (posttraining) completing a STOP THE BLEED® training session. After the surveys were collected, students were randomly assigned to one of two study groups. Over a 12 week intervention period, each group watched a 4 min STOP THE BLEED® review video (intervention group) or a “distractor” video (control group) at 4 week intervals. After the 12 weeks, the students were asked to complete an 11 item survey. Results Scores on the posttraining survey were higher than the pretraining survey. The median score on the five Likert scale items was 23 points for the posttraining survey and 14 points for the pretraining survey. Two of the three knowledge based quiz format questions significantly improved from pretraining to posttraining (both p<0.001). On the 11 item postintervention survey, both groups performed similarly on the three quiz questions (all p>0.18), but the intervention group had much higher scores on the Likert scale items than the control group regarding their confidence in their ability to identify and control bleeding (intervention group median = 21.4 points vs. control group median = 16.8 points). Conclusions Intermittent review videos for STOP THE BLEED® training improved medical students’ confidence in their hemorrhage control skills, but the videos did not improve their ability to correctly answer quiz-format questions compared with the control group.

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