COVID-19 Containment Measures at Childcare and Schools in 19 European Countries: An Observational Study on Local, Federal and National Policies

Objectives: After childcare and schools have been closed in March 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, they were open again in most European countries after the summer holidays till early autumn. Aim of this study is to give an overview and to compare COVID-19 childcare and school containment policies in 19 European countries.Methods: We collected data on containment measures among delegates of the European Academy of Pediatrics (EAP), through an online, closed questionnaire in the second half of October 2020.Results: Most policy has been formulated for secondary education. In all three settings policy was most often formulated for individual hygiene, cleaning of surfaces, exclusion of sick children, ventilation, distance between children and between children and teachers. In secondary schools, policy is formulated on face masks in and outside the class. School closure, cancellation of physical education and class size reduction are measures for which the fewest countries have formulated national policies.Conclusion: We recommend to accompany the opening of children’s facilities and schools by surveillance studies that further clarify questions about control measures implemented to halt COVID-19 pandemic.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of the compliance of people with the containment measures and wearing-mask behaviours in different stages of COVID-19 pandemic: An observational study from Turkey

One Health & Risk Management ◽

10.38045/ohrm.2021.3.03 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 19-26

Author(s):

Erhan KAYA ◽

Hüseyin ÜÇER

Keyword(s):

Observational Study ◽

Control Measures ◽

The People ◽

Medical Facilities ◽

Before And After ◽

Containment Measures ◽

Chisquare Test ◽

And Gender ◽

Collection Form ◽

And Control

Introduction. Protection measurements should be paid attention so that the regions affected to a great extent gain time for medical care and medical facilities can cope with increasing intensive care cases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in the rate of behaviours of people related to going out and wearing a mask during the pandemic in Turkey. Material and methods. This observational study investigated people’s behaviours of going out and mask-wearing in the province of Kahramanmaras in Turkey during 4 different periods with 14-day intervals before and after Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 48 hours camera record made in 4 different periods at 12 pedestrian crossings used intensively by people was examined. Two researchers recorded and examined the number and gender of the people using these pedestrian crossings and their wearing-mask behaviours on a data collection form. The obtained data were presented as tables and graphics, showing numbers and percentages. Appropriate mask-wearing according to gender was analysed by ChiSquare test. Results. The number of people using pedestrian crossings decreased by 70.19% for men and 87.07% for women compared to before the pandemic. When comparing the appropriate mask-wearing according to gender, it was concluded that women had a higher statistically significant rate on the appropriate mask-wearing compared to men (p<0.05).Conclusions. Compliance to mask-wearing and control measures was high at the beginning of the pandemic. A high percentage of women wore masks correctly. About 40 days after the pandemic started, people wore the mask less correctly.

Download Full-text

Health resource utilization associated with skeletal-related events in patients with bone metastases: Results from a multinational retrospective – prospective observational study – a cohort from 4 European countries

Journal of Bone Oncology ◽

10.1016/j.jbo.2014.04.001 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 40-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

H. Hoefeler ◽

I. Duran ◽

G. Hechmati ◽

C. Garzon Rodriguez ◽

D. Lüftner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Observational Study ◽

Bone Metastases ◽

Resource Utilization ◽

Prospective Observational Study ◽

European Countries ◽

Health Resource ◽

Health Resource Utilization ◽

Skeletal Related Events

Download Full-text

Laminar flow ventilation system to prevent airborne infection during exercise in the COVID-19 crisis: A single-center observational study

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0257549 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (11) ◽

pp. e0257549

Author(s):

Yoshinori Katsumata ◽

Motoaki Sano ◽

Hiroki Okawara ◽

Tomonori Sawada ◽

Daisuke Nakashima ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Observational Study ◽

Exercise Intensity ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Ventilation System ◽

Control Measures ◽

Anaerobic Exercise ◽

Single Center ◽

Exercise Tests ◽

Respiratory Droplets ◽

Single Center Observational Study

Particulate generation occurs during exercise-induced exhalation, and research on this topic is scarce. Moreover, infection-control measures are inadequately implemented to avoid particulate generation. A laminar airflow ventilation system (LFVS) was developed to remove respiratory droplets released during treadmill exercise. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the number of aerosols during training on a treadmill and exercise intensity and to elucidate the effect of the LFVS on aerosol removal during anaerobic exercise. In this single-center observational study, the exercise tests were performed on a treadmill at Running Science Lab in Japan on 20 healthy subjects (age: 29±12 years, men: 80%). The subjects had a broad spectrum of aerobic capacities and fitness levels, including athletes, and had no comorbidities. All of them received no medication. The exercise intensity was increased by 1-km/h increments until the heart rate reached 85% of the expected maximum rate and then maintained for 10 min. The first 10 subjects were analyzed to examine whether exercise increased the concentration of airborne particulates in the exhaled air. For the remaining 10 subjects, the LFVS was activated during constant-load exercise to compare the number of respiratory droplets before and after LFVS use. During exercise, a steady amount of particulates before the lactate threshold (LT) was followed by a significant and gradual increase in respiratory droplets after the LT, particularly during anaerobic exercise. Furthermore, respiratory droplets ≥0.3 μm significantly decreased after using LFVS (2120800±759700 vs. 560 ± 170, p<0.001). The amount of respiratory droplets significantly increased after LT. The LFVS enabled a significant decrease in respiratory droplets during anaerobic exercise in healthy subjects. This study’s findings will aid in exercising safely during this pandemic.

Download Full-text

Modelling the Evolution of COVID-19 in High-Incidence European Countries and Regions: Estimated Number of Infections and Impact of Past and Future Intervention Measures

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm9061825 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (6) ◽

pp. 1825 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Juan Fernández-Recio

Keyword(s):

Reproduction Number ◽

Mechanistic Model ◽

Control Measures ◽

European Countries ◽

Intervention Measures ◽

High Incidence ◽

Future Outcomes ◽

Long Term Impact ◽

The Impact

A previously developed mechanistic model of COVID-19 transmission has been adapted and applied here to study the evolution of the disease and the effect of intervention measures in some European countries and territories where the disease has had a major impact. A clear impact of the major intervention measures on the reproduction number (Rt) has been found in all studied countries and territories, as already suggested by the drop in the number of deaths over time. Interestingly, the impact of such major intervention measures seems to be the same in most of these countries. The model has also provided realistic estimates of the total number of infections, active cases and future outcomes. While the predictive capabilities of the model are much more uncertain before the peak of the outbreak, we could still reliably predict the evolution of the disease after a major intervention by assuming the subsequent reproduction number from the current study. A greater challenge is to foresee the long-term impact of softer intervention measures, but this model can estimate the outcome of different scenarios and help to plan changes for the implementation of control measures in a given country or region.

Download Full-text