scholarly journals Increased food contamination with mold and fungi during COVID-19 Crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narges Ansari ◽  
Mohadeseh Pirhadi ◽  
Mahsa Alikord ◽  
Mahmoud Bahmani ◽  
Parisa Sadighara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Packaging ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Food Contamination ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Food Packages ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

COVID-19 known as the “novel coronavirus disease 2019” is a respiratory illness, and the causative pathogen is officially named as Sars-CoV-2whose epidemic has spread rapidly worldwide. Thus, human-to human transmission has reduced if people's attention to health has increased and precautionary measures have been implemented.It is known that the virus can survive on infected surfaces and handsfor hours and days. It is possible to get infected by touchingthe contaminated surface of food packaging by customers in the grocery and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes. Thus, the public supposes that touching food or food packing by salesmen and buyers in the grocery can transmit the virus to the customers. Therefore, the World Health Organization encourages people to wash their hands regularly and disinfect areas where the virus can survive, such as metal and plastic surfaces.In fact, overwashing can cause disadvantages such as moisture penetration into food packages and increased water activity in food, which provides the conditions for fungi to grow and cause spoilage in food. Accordingly, this phenomenon would have shown significant negative effects on public health as the post-pandemic phase of COVID-19. The corona virus has had a significant impact on people's behavior in the food chain, washing and disinfecting food in these critical situations. People also quickly changed the way they bought and procured food from supermarkets to ensure food safety and eradicate the virus.Use of substances/disinfectants such as Sodium hypochlorite, reduce COVID-19 from surfaces and objects or reduce viral particles from surfaces and objects. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the virus. The virus is present on the surface of objects and the disease caused by the virus does not occur on objects. Washing and disinfecting food packaging may cause damage the products thereby reducing their shelf life and provide. Therefore, health experts report public awareness of hands and disinfect surfaces regularly to eliminate the virus. It is also recommended to wash and disinfect hands and disinfect surfaces.

scholarly journals An evidence-based systematic review on emerging therapeutic and preventive strategies to treat novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) during an outbreak scenario

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anupama M. Gudadappanavar ◽  
Jyoti Benni
Keyword(s):  
Antiviral Drug ◽  
Drug Repurposing ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health ◽  
Recombinant Vaccines ◽  
Subunit Vaccines ◽  
Coronavirus Infection ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Full Length Genome

AbstractA novel coronavirus infection coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged from Wuhan, Hubei Province of China, in December 2019 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be originated from bats in the local wet markets. Later, animal to human and human-to-human transmission of the virus began and resulting in widespread respiratory illness worldwide to around more than 180 countries. The World Health Organization declared this disease as a pandemic in March 2020. There is no clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine available to be used against COVID-19. Nevertheless, few broad-spectrum antiviral drugs have been studied against COVID-19 in clinical trials with clinical recovery. In the current review, we summarize the morphology and pathogenesis of COVID-19 infection. A strong rational groundwork was made keeping the focus on current development of therapeutic agents and vaccines for SARS-CoV-2. Among the proposed therapeutic regimen, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, remdisevir, azithromycin, toclizumab and cromostat mesylate have shown promising results, and limited benefit was seen with lopinavir–ritonavir treatment in hospitalized adult patients with severe COVID-19. Early development of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine started based on the full-length genome analysis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. Several subunit vaccines, peptides, nucleic acids, plant-derived, recombinant vaccines are under pipeline. This article concludes and highlights ongoing advances in drug repurposing, therapeutics and vaccines to counter COVID-19, which collectively could enable efforts to halt the pandemic virus infection.

scholarly journals Combating the Coronavirus Pandemic: Early Detection, Medical Treatment, and a Concerted Effort by the Global Community

Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zichao Luo ◽  
Melgious Jin Yan Ang ◽  
Siew Yin Chan ◽  
Zhigao Yi ◽  
Yi Yiing Goh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
Viral Disease ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
World Health ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Sudden Loss ◽  
Difficulty Breathing ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus, known as 2019-nCoV, a pandemic, as the coronavirus has now infected over 2.6 million people globally and caused more than 185,000 fatalities as of April 23, 2020. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes a respiratory illness with symptoms such as dry cough, fever, sudden loss of smell, and, in more severe cases, difficulty breathing. To date, there is no specific vaccine or treatment proven effective against this viral disease. Early and accurate diagnosis of COVID-19 is thus critical to curbing its spread and improving health outcomes. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is commonly used to detect the presence of COVID-19. Other techniques, such as recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), and microfluidics, have allowed better disease diagnosis. Here, as part of the effort to expand screening capacity, we review advances and challenges in the rapid detection of COVID-19 by targeting nucleic acids, antigens, or antibodies. We also summarize potential treatments and vaccines against COVID-19 and discuss ongoing clinical trials of interventions to reduce viral progression.

scholarly journals Pyrethroids: How They Affect Human and Animal Health?

Medicina ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 582
Author(s):  
Iga Hołyńska-Iwan ◽  
Karolina Szewczyk-Golec
Keyword(s):  
Public Awareness ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Crop Protection ◽  
The Body ◽  
World Health ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Voltage Gated Sodium Channels ◽  
Influence Activities ◽  
Virus Zika ◽  
Health Organization

Pyrethroids are pesticides commonly used in crop protection; in the forestry, wood, and textile industries; as well as in medicine and veterinary medicine to treat parasitic crustacean infestations. They have been found to be relatively safe for humans and animals. Pyrethroids are recommended for personal protection against malaria and virus Zika by the World Health Organization. Pyrethroids act on voltage-gated sodium channels, which cause an influx of sodium ions into the nerve cells and permanent depolarization. They also influence activities of enzymes, especially in nerve and liver cells. Contact of pyrethroids with the skin, digestive tract, and respiratory tract results in their penetration into the body. Due to the importance of the subject, a summary of the current state of knowledge on the toxic effects of pyrethroids was presented in the comprehensive review by Chrustek et al, published in journal Medicina. Particular attention was paid to nephrotoxic, hepatotoxic, cardiotoxic, immunotoxic, neurotoxic, and behavioral effects of pyrethroids on human and animal bodies. It could be added that pyrethroids generate oxidative stress, which modifies DNA, RNA, protein, lipid and carbohydrate molecules. However, public awareness of the possible negative effects of the use of insecticides is still low. Further research should be carried out to clarify the molecular basis of the pathomechanism of pyrethroid detrimental action. Proper dissemination of the results seems to be of first importance for public health.

scholarly journals COVID–19: Guidance Outlines on Infection Prevention and Control for Health Care Workers

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14
Author(s):  
Suresh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Shiv Mudgal ◽  
Prasan Panda ◽  
Pratima Gupta ◽  
Pradeep Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Severe Disease ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
The People ◽  
Moderate Disease ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control

Coronavirus are a common family of viruses and there are seven different types of coronaviruses including this new member of coronavirus i.e. 2019 novel coronavirus, which can make the people infected and sick. Some strains of this family of virus cause mild to moderate disease symptoms like common cold while other strains cause very severe disease like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).(1,2) In late December, in Wuhan Hubei Province, China a number of people suffered with severe respiratory illness including a cluster of pneumonia cases. On 31 December 2019, China notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about cluster of patient with symptoms of respiratory illness of unknown cause, which were connected to an open seafood and animal market of Wuhan city, China.(3)

scholarly journals A comprehensive review on epidemiology, aetiopathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of the novel coronavirus syndrome – COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-123
Author(s):  
Kulvinder Kochar Kaur ◽  
◽  
Gautam Allahbadia ◽  
Mandeep Singh ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
Polymerase Chain ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Severe Respiratory Illness

Since the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus in December 2019 in Wuhan China, this novel Coronavirus disease(COVID-19) has spread worldwide taking not only epidemic proportions but with its rapid spread world health organization(WHO) was forced to declare it as a pandemic. The Severe Acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-Coronavirus (CoV2) virus is responsible for clusters of severe respiratory illness that simulates acute respiratory syndrome that was what was initially. It is thought although that it is equivalent to the high altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPE), showing glass ground opacities in lungs. More experience is getting acquired with changes in treatment approaches from PEEP to avoid intubation and just ensure oxygen levels maintained. Human to human transmission through droplets, contaminated hands as well as surfaces, has been revealed with an incubation period varying from 2-14 days. Early diagnosis using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or computed tomography (CT) scan chest, quarantine, as well as supportive treatment are necessary for getting a cure. In this review we have tried to analyze the epidemiology, diagnosis, isolation, and treatment, including antiviral drugs like remdesivir, favipiravir, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, corticosteroids, antibiotics, and ivermectin. With 3 successful cases of convalescent plasma achieved in USA, trials going on in India along with vaccines are also detailed in this article.

scholarly journals Development of an Android application for viewing Covid-19 containment zones and monitoring violators who are trespassing into it using Firebase and Geofencing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranajoy Mallik ◽  
Amlan Protim Hazarika ◽  
Sudarshana Ghosh ◽  
Dilip Sing ◽  
Rajib Bandyopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Social Awareness ◽  
World Health ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Android Application ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
Precautionary Measures ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 as pandemic across the world. With its alarming surge of affected cases throughout the world, lockdown and awareness (social distancing, use of masks etc) among people are found to be the only means for restricting the community transmission. In a densely populated country like India, it is very difficult to prevent the community transmission even during lockdown without social awareness and precautionary measures taken by the people. Recently, several containment zones had been identified throughout the country and divided into red, orange and green zones, respectively. The red zones indicate the infection hotspots, orange zones denote some infection and green zones indicate an area with no infection.This paper mainly focuses on development of an Android application which can inform people of the COVID-19 containment zones and prevent trespassing into these zones. This Android application updates the locations of the areas in a Google map which are identified to be the containment zones. The application also notifies the users if they have entered a containment zone and uploads the user’s IMEI number to the online database. With this IMEI number, the police can keep an eye on the people who are frequently violating the lockdown rules. To achieve all these functionalities, many tools and APIs from Google like Firebase and Geofence are used in this app. Therefore, this application can be used as a tool for creating further social awareness about the arising need of precautionary measures to be taken by the people of India.

scholarly journals Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-73
Author(s):  
Ernest Kenu ◽  
Joseph Frimpong ◽  
Kwadwo Koram
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Distress ◽  
Distress Syndrome ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
Wuhan City ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. The disease was christened COVID-19 and the pathogen (an RNA virus) identified as SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).1,2 The virus is primarily spread through contact with small droplets produced from coughing, sneezing, or talking by an infected person. While a substantial proportion of infected individuals may remain asymptomatic, the most common symptoms in clinical cases include, fever, cough, acute respiratory distress, fatigue, and failure to resolve over 3 to 5 days of antibiotic treatment. Complications may include pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.3 Over five million confirmed cases of COVID-19 has been recorded globally with more than 300,000 deaths as at 25th May 2020. The United States of America has recorded the highest number of cases with more than 1.5 million and over 100,000 deaths.4 In Africa, more than 90,0000 cases have been reported with about 3,000 deaths. South Africa has recorded the highest number of cases with 23,615 cases and 481 deaths. Ghana confirmed its first cases of COVID-19 on 12th March 2020 and had as at 25 May 2020 recorded over 7,000 cases with 34 deaths.5  

scholarly journals Multiorgan Involvement in COVID-19 and Possible Therapies

2020 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
pp. 20-24
Author(s):  
Prachee Sathe ◽  
Vijay Sundar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ◽  
Respiratory Distress Syndrome ◽  
Respiratory Distress ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Distress Syndrome ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

AbstractIn late 2019, China reported cases of respiratory illness in humans, which involved a novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (also known as 2019-nCoV). The World Health Organization (WHO) termed the disease COVID-19 (i.e., Coronavirus disease 2019). Most of the morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 is largely due to acute viral pneumonitis that leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This article will discuss the clinical features of the multiorgan involvement in COVID-19 as well as the management of patients who become critically ill due to COVID-19.

scholarly journals Novel Coronavirus: What to Learn from a Microbiologist?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (03) ◽  
pp. 282-284
Author(s):  
Deepinder K. Chhina ◽  
Jyoti Chaudhary
Keyword(s):  
Point Of Care ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
Standard Test ◽  
World Health ◽  
Antibody Detection ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Point Of Care Test ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Antigen Testing

AbstractIn December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) was declared in Wuhan, city of China. Later on, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The clinical course of the disease ranges from asymptomatic cases to fatal severe respiratory illness. Various laboratory tests are available for the diagnosis of disease. The gold standard test is real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction), whereas antigen testing can be used as a point-of-care test. Antibody detection by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) can be used for the surveillance of the immune response.

scholarly journals COVID-19: A Conundrum to Decipher

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishwajit Deshmukh ◽  
Satyendra C. Tripathi ◽  
Arvind Pandey ◽  
Vaishnavi Deshmukh ◽  
Ashlesh Patil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
World Health ◽  
Chronic Medical Condition ◽  
Severe Illness ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

OBJECTIVE: Recent worldwide outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of respiratory coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a current, ongoing life-threatening crisis and international public health emergency. The early diagnosis and management of the disease remains a major challenge. In this review, we aim to summarize the updated epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, as well as prevention and control of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A broad search of the literature was performed in “PubMed” “Medline” “Web of knowledge”, and “Google Scholar” World Health Organization-WHO” using the keywords “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus”, “2019-nCoV”, “COVID-19, “SARS”, “SARS-CoV-2” “Epidemiology” “Transmission” “Pathogenesis” “Clinical Characteristics”. We reviewed and documented the information obtained from literature on epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical appearances of SARS-CoV-2 infection.RESULTS: The global cases of COVID-19 as of April 2, 2020 have risen to more than 900,000 and morbidity has reached more than 47,000. The incidence rate for COVID-19 has been predicted to be higher than the previous outbreaks of other coronavirus family members, including those of SARS-CoV and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). The main clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection ranges from asymptomatic stages to severe lower respiratory infection in the form of pneumonia. Most of the patients also presented with fever, cough, sore throat, headache, fatigue, myalgia and breathlessness.Individuals at higher risk for severe illness include elderly people and patients with a weakened immune system or that are suffering from a underlying chronic medical condition like hypertension, diabetes, cancer, respiratory illness or cardiovascular diseases.CONCLUSIONS: SARS-Cov-2 has emerged as a worldwide threat, currently affecting 170 countries and territories across the globe. There is still much to be understood regarding SARS-CoV-2 about its virology, epidemiology and clinical management strategies; this knowledge will be essential to both manage the current pandemic and to conceive comprehensive measures to prevent such outbreaks in the future.

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