Ozone as a complement therapy in the treatment of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Jorge Bomfim Fróes De Farias ◽  
Antonio Pedro Fróes De Farias ◽  
Anelize Gimenez De Souza

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) called “coronavirus 2019” (COVID-19), has become a threat to the general population and health professionals worldwide [1]. The clinical features of COVID-19 is like that of other respiratory viruses, with specifically, fever, generally dry cough, tiredness and, in more severe cases, dyspnea, pulmonary bleeding, severe lymphopenia and renal failure [2].For diagnosis, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the collection of samples from the upper or lower respiratory tract. In the laboratory, the amplification of the genetic material extracted from the saliva or mucus sample is carried out by means of a reverse transcription followed by a polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which involves the synthesis of a double-stranded DNA molecule from of an RNA template, in the search for conserved parts of the coronavirus genetic code. In patients with a confirmed diagnosis, the laboratory test should be repeated to assess the release of viral particles, before leaving the isolation [3]. The clinical manifestation and severity of the disease is directly related to the health condition of the infected individual. Symptoms are often mild as in a common cold or flu and it can progress to pneumonia. Ventilatory support therapy such as oxygen therapy and/or mechanical ventilation is necessary as an intervention method in the most severe cases of the disease [4]. Individuals with chronic respiratory diseases and other comorbidities can present the most severe form of COVID-19 and, for this reason, care with prevention should be emphasized [5]...

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anamary Súarez Reyes ◽  
Carlos Agustín Villegas Valverde

Characteristics and Specialization of the Immune Response in COVID-19 Abstract The outbreak of coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China, became a pandemic on March 11, 2020. It has caused almost 4 million confirmed cases worldwide, with more than 270,000 deaths. Coronavirus is an enveloped RNA virus of the β-coronavirus genus distributed in birds, humans, and other mammals. The World Health Organization has named the new disease COVID-19. The scientific community is look http://doi.org/10.22201/fm.24484865e.2020.63.4.02 8 8 Revista de la Facultad de Medicina de la UNAM | ing for evidence that can lead to a better understanding of the infection and the immune response (IR), prognostic and therapeutic predictors, effective treatments and vaccines. The objective of this review was to compile updated scientific evidence of the IR to COVID-19, in order to guide professionals with solutions that have a clinical impact. The most important elements involve innate immunity with failures in the interferon system in the early stages of the infection and a sustained increase in proinflammatory interleukins. This can end in a potentially fatal cytokine storm. The infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages at the alveolar level, accompanied by neutrophilia, is very characteristic. Lymphopenia is evident at the adaptive immunity level, that, depending on the degree, can indicate the severity of the disease. Understanding the temporal sequence of the IR is crucial for choosing the appropriate and effective therapies, especially when selecting which type of anti-inflammatory drugs can be used and the frequency of the dosage. Due to the fact that it is difficult to determine when they will be clearly beneficial, not harmful to the IR and not too late, due to the irreversibility of the process. Key words: COVID-19; coronavirus; immune response


Author(s):  
Roger Magnusson

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, are responsible for around 70 percent of global deaths each year. This chapter describes how NCDs have become prevalent and critically evaluates global efforts to address NCDs and their risk factors, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) system. It explores the factors that have prevented those addressing NCDs from achieving access to resources and a priority commensurate with their impact on people’s lives. The chapter evaluates the global response to NCDs both prior to and since the UN High-Level Meeting on Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, held in 2011, and considers opportunities for strengthening that response in future.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0272989X2110190
Author(s):  
Isabelle J. Rao ◽  
Jacqueline J. Vallon ◽  
Margaret L. Brandeau

Background The World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that both infected and susceptible people wear face masks to protect against COVID-19. Methods We develop a dynamic disease model to assess the effectiveness of face masks in reducing the spread of COVID-19, during an initial outbreak and a later resurgence, as a function of mask effectiveness, coverage, intervention timing, and time horizon. We instantiate the model for the COVID-19 outbreak in New York, with sensitivity analyses on key natural history parameters. Results During the initial epidemic outbreak, with no social distancing, only 100% coverage of masks with high effectiveness can reduce the effective reproductive number [Formula: see text] below 1. During a resurgence, with lowered transmission rates due to social distancing measures, masks with medium effectiveness at 80% coverage can reduce [Formula: see text] below 1 but cannot do so if individuals relax social distancing efforts. Full mask coverage could significantly improve outcomes during a resurgence: with social distancing, masks with at least medium effectiveness could reduce [Formula: see text] below 1 and avert almost all infections, even with intervention fatigue. For coverage levels below 100%, prioritizing masks that reduce the risk of an infected individual from spreading the infection rather than the risk of a susceptible individual from getting infected yields the greatest benefit. Limitations Data regarding COVID-19 transmission are uncertain, and empirical evidence on mask effectiveness is limited. Our analyses assume homogeneous mixing, providing an upper bound on mask effectiveness. Conclusions Even moderately effective face masks can play a role in reducing the spread of COVID-19, particularly with full coverage, but should be combined with social distancing measures to reduce [Formula: see text] below 1. [Box: see text]


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-79
Author(s):  
Cibele Alexandra Ferro ◽  
◽  
Manuela Guedes Pereira ◽  
Maria Júlia Busnardo Aguena ◽  
Vítor Afonso Favaretto ◽  
...  

Introduction: According to data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), 5,941,223 confirmed cases and 366,601 deaths had already been reported by May 31, 2020. Higher rates of infection, hospitalization, submission to the Intensive Care Units, and fatalities were attributed to obese patients. Objective: To gather the available data on obesity and SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study specifically covers combined pathophysiology and prognosis and will be updated until September 2020. Methods: This is a literature review study with a narrative-descriptive approach. The search was carried out in September 2020, with the totality of articles from that same year, when the pandemic of the new coronavirus was declared by the World Health Organization. Results: The search on the data platform resulted in 121 articles, of which 86 were classified as reviews and 35, systematic reviews, totaling 18 reviews and 7 systematic reviews at the end, with a total value of 16 articles with sufficient quality. Obesity is associated with increased severity of COVID-19 in the infected individual with this disease, due to the chronic inflammatory process, with high levels of pro-inflammatory leptin and a lower concentration of anti-inflammatory adiponectin, which causes a response delayed and inferior immune system. Conclusion: Individuals with this association have an easier time in the formation of possible clots, due to chronic inflammation and impaired fibrinolysis, which qualifies them as individuals of significant thrombogenic risk. Thus, individuals with obesity are an important risk group when considering its association with the disease of the new coronavirus.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S105-S105
Author(s):  
M. Barrios ◽  
G. Guilera ◽  
O. Pino ◽  
E. Rojo ◽  
S. Wright ◽  
...  

IntroductionIn 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) created the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to offer a comprehensive and universally accepted framework to describe functioning, disability and health. The ICF Core Sets (ICF-CS) are a selection of categories that serve as a minimal standard for the assessment of functioning and disability in a specific health condition. The ICF-CS for schizophrenia was created in 2015 based on four preliminary studies that intend to capture different perspectives.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to describe the similarities (i.e. overlap) and discrepancies (i.e. unique contribution) between the clinical, patient and expert perspectives on the most relevant problems in functioning of individuals with schizophrenia, being focused on the European WHO region.MethodsForty-four experts from 14 European countries participated in an expert survey, patients with schizophrenia were involved in four focus groups, and health professionals assessed 127 patients in relation to daily life functioning. Information gathered from these three preliminary studies was linked to the ICF.ResultsData showed that although a considerable number of second-level ICF categories agreed on the three preparatory studies (n = 54, 27.7%), each perspective provided a unique set of ICF categories. Specifically, experts reported 65 unique ICF categories, patients 23 and health professionals 11.ConclusionsEven though there were similarities between perspectives, each one underlined different areas of functioning, showing the importance of including different perspectives in order to get a complete view of functioning and disability in individuals with schizophrenia.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2979-2983
Author(s):  
Hamong Suharsono ◽  
Ali Ghufron Mukti ◽  
Ketut Suryana ◽  
I. Wayan Masa Tenaya ◽  
Dilasdita Kartika Pradana ◽  
...  

Background and Aim: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infectious respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and has spread rapidly globally, resulting in a pandemic. In humans, the main routes of transmission are respiratory droplets and close contact with infected individuals or through contact with an object infected with the virus, followed by touching mouth, nose, or eyes. It is assumed that SARS-CoV-2 was originated in wild animals and was then transmitted to humans. Although some wildlife and domestic animals can be naturally or experimentally infected with the virus, the intermediate hosts that transmitted it to humans are still unknown. Understanding the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 associated with possible zoonotic transmission of intermediate hosts is considered critical. Reportedly, cats or dogs living with COVID-19-positive humans tested positive for the disease, suggesting that the virus was transmitted to the animals from humans. Information regarding the epidemiological investigation and comprehensive studies is limited. Therefore, it is still unclear how high is the correlation of infection in humans and pet animals, especially those living together. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the pets of patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at the Wangaya hospital, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Materials and Methods: A total of seven clinically asymptomatic pets (six dogs of different races and sexes and a cat [age, 360-2920 days]) were included in this study. These animals belonged to patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from August to November 2020. Nasal swab and nasopharyngeal samples were collected from the pets individually under anesthetic condition and were collected 6-12 days after confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in owners and hospitalization at the Wangaya Hospital. The swab samples were then processed for RNA isolation and tested using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for SARS-CoV-2, in accordance with the World Health Organization manual 2020. Results: RT-PCR results for all seven RNA samples, prepared from the swab samples, were negative. For the samples, all PCR products were below the threshold limit, suggesting no genetic material belonging to the samples tested. Conclusion: This was the first preliminary study of COVID-19 on pets in pandemic using RT-PCR. The study tested a very limited quantity of samples, and all of them were negative. However, the way in which the samples were prepared was considered appropriate. Therefore, in further studies, testing of more samples of pets of more individuals with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection is required.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-241
Author(s):  
Claudia Seitz

Abstract The current pandemic outbreak of corona virus SARS-CoV-2 shows the need for comprehensive European cooperation in drug development and the importance of genetic material and sequence data in research concerning this unknown disease. As corona virus SARS-CoV-2 is spreading across Europe and worldwide, national authorities and the European Union (EU) institutions do their utmost to address the pandemic and accelerate innovation to protect global health. In order to be prepared and to be able to respond immediately to serious epidemic and pandemic diseases, the EU has already adopted the Decision No (EU) 1082/2013 on serious cross-border threats to health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a global system to collect genetic material and information to protect a global influenza pandemic outbreak. The article describes the current legal landscape under EU and international law.


Author(s):  
Oyelola A. Adegboye ◽  
Adeshina I. Adekunle ◽  
Ezra Gayawan

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of a novel coronavirus disease in China that was later named COVID-19. On 11 March 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. The first instance of the virus in Nigeria was documented on 27 February 2020. This study provides a preliminary epidemiological analysis of the first 45 days of COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria. We estimated the early transmissibility via time-varying reproduction number based on the Bayesian method that incorporates uncertainty in the distribution of serial interval (time interval between symptoms onset in an infected individual and the infector), and adjusted for disease importation. By 11 April 2020, 318 confirmed cases and 10 deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in Nigeria. At day 45, the exponential growth rate was 0.07 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.05–0.10) with a doubling time of 9.84 days (95% CI: 7.28–15.18). Separately for imported cases (travel-related) and local cases, the doubling time was 12.88 days and 2.86 days, respectively. Furthermore, we estimated the reproduction number for each day of the outbreak using a three-weekly window while adjusting for imported cases. The estimated reproduction number was 4.98 (95% CrI: 2.65–8.41) at day 22 (19 March 2020), peaking at 5.61 (95% credible interval (CrI): 3.83–7.88) at day 25 (22 March 2020). The median reproduction number over the study period was 2.71 and the latest value on 11 April 2020, was 1.42 (95% CrI: 1.26–1.58). These 45-day estimates suggested that cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria have been remarkably lower than expected and the preparedness to detect needs to be shifted to stop local transmission.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 206
Author(s):  
José Paulo Lousado ◽  
Sandra Antunes

The pandemic declared by the World Health Organization due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) awakened us to a reality that most of us were previously unaware of—isolation, confinement and the massive use of information and communication technologies, as well as increased knowledge of the difficulties and limitations of their use. This article focuses on the rapid implementation of low-cost technologies, which allow us to answer a fundamental question: how can near real-time monitoring and follow-up of the elderly and their health conditions, as well as their homes, especially for those living in isolated and remote areas, be provided within their care and protect them from risky events? The system proposed here as a proof of concept uses low-cost devices for communication and data processing, supported by Long-Range (LoRa) technology and connection to The Things Network, incorporating various sensors, both personal and in the residence, allowing family members, neighbors and authorized entities, including security forces, to have access to the health condition of system users and the habitability of their homes, as well as their urgent needs, thus evidencing that it is possible, using low-cost systems, to implement sensor networks for monitoring the elderly using the LoRa gateway and other support infrastructures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-441
Author(s):  
Caio Ricardo Eich ◽  
Barbara Scariot Colombelli ◽  
Kattlyn Larissa Candido ◽  
Luciana Oliveira De Fariña

Em 11 de março de 2020, a Organização Mundial de Saúde (OMS) decretou a pandemia do COVID-19, causado pelo vírus SARS-CoV-2, responsável por mais de 4,5 milhões de mortes até o momento. Esta nova realidade exigiu respostas por parte das autoridades e da população, a fim de mitigar a propagação do vírus e evitar o colapso do sistema de saúde, assim como estudos de vigilância em saúde, que possibilitaram um melhor entendimento dos mecanismos de transmissão do vírus e possibilitaram identificar zonas de risco dentro de cidades ou ambientes públicos. Este estudo tem o objetivo de identificar a presença do SARS-CoV-2 dentro da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, a qual fornece serviços de saúde para a população local, assim como realizar um controle interno no Laboratório de Bioquímica Molecular (LaBioqMol) da universidade, onde são realizados testes de RT-PCR semanalmente. Foram coletadas 21 amostras de áreas frequentemente tocadas por pessoas, cuja presença do RNA viral e de material genético humano foi identificada por RT-PCR. Em nenhuma das amostras foi detectado a presença do vírus. Entretanto, em 8 (38,1%) das amostras foi verificada a amplificação do gene RNaseP, indicando a presença de células humana. Este estudo auxilia no controle e garantia de qualidade do LaBioqMol e fortalece a visão de que a contaminação do ambiente pelo SARS-CoV-2 é provavelmente menos frequente do que foi anteriormente sugerido no início da pandemia.   On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) decreed the pandemic of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for more than 4.5 million deaths to date. This new reality demanded responses from the authorities and the population in order to mitigate the spread of the virus and avoid the collapse of the health system, as well as health surveillance studies, which enabled a better understanding of the mechanisms of virus transmission and made it possible to identify risk zones within cities or public environments. This study aims to identify the presence of SARS-CoV-2 within the Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, which provides health services to the local population, as well as to perform an internal control at the university's Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory (LaBioqMol), where RT-PCR tests are performed weekly. Twenty-one samples were collected from areas frequently touched by people, and the presence of viral RNA and human genetic material was identified by RT-PCR. In none of the samples was the presence of the virus detected. However, in 8 (38.1%) of the samples the RNaseP gene amplification was verified, indicating the presence of human cells. This study assists in quality control and assurance at LaBioqMol and strengthens the view that environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 is probably less frequent than was previously suggested at the beginning of the pandemic.


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