Recommendations for the management of headaches during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
pp. 48-50
Author(s):  
Yara Dadalti Fragoso ◽  
Marcelo Calderaro ◽  
Marcio Nattan Portes Souza ◽  
Patrick Emanuell Mesquita Sousa Santos ◽  
Eduardo Nogueira ◽  
...  

BackgroundDuring the novel coronavirus - COVID-19 pandemic, health care systems are facing one of its greatest challenges.ResultsSecondary headaches may need urgent care at an emergency department. Primary headaches exacerbations may require intravenous infusion. Treatment optimization is key for a better outpatient management.ConclusionWe give recommendations on when a headache patient should go to the hospital despite the current limited resources, and primary headache management aspects during the outbreak.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kapila Hari ◽  
Shivesh Maharaj

Abstract The novel coronavirus and accompanying lockdown measures have resulted in the disruption of specialist clinic services. There have been reports of a decrease in the number of clinic attendees and surgical procedures performed in clinics throughout the worldThe study period was from the 2 January 2020 until 19 June 2020 which was divided by the lockdown date of the 26 March 2020, into two periods of 85 days for comparative review.During the pre-lockdown phase (2 January 2020 to 25 March 2020), 2160 patients were booked for the outpatient clinics and 1911 attended in this period (88.5%). In contrast during the post-lockdown period (26 March 2020 to 19 June 2020), 1220 visits were scheduled. Of these, 937 (76.8%) visits were completed. The number of patient visits booked (p=0.01) and completed (0.0001) after lockdown declined significantly. The total number of outpatient procedures performed pre-lockdown was 1892 (0.99/ patient) compared to 937 (1.04/ patient) post-lockdown. This represents an approximate decrease of 50% in the number of procedures completed post-lockdown but the change in the number of procedures/ patient was not significant (p=0.4).During the pre-lockdown phase 228 theatre cases were completed, including 66 emergencies and post-lockdown there were 188 cases together with 48 emergencies. There were no elective cases post-lockdown. The study illustrates that even during a stringent lockdown period there is an ongoing need for specialist ENT services and health care systems need to be tailored to manage all patients such that care is not shifted away from vulnerable groups and solely focused on Covid19 patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 980-984
Author(s):  
Santiago Lopez ◽  
Gene Decastro ◽  
Katlynn M. Van Ogtrop ◽  
Sindee Weiss-Domis ◽  
Samuel R. Anandan ◽  
...  

As the spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues worldwide, health care systems are facing increased demand with concurrent health care provider shortages. This increase in patient demand and potential for provider shortages is particularly apparent for palliative medicine, where there are already shortages in the provision of this care. In response to the developing pandemic, our Geriatrics and Palliative (GAP) Medicine team formulated a 2-team approach which includes triage algorithms for palliative consults as well as acute symptomatic management for both patients diagnosed with or under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19. These algorithms provided a delineated set of guidelines to triage patients in need of palliative services and included provisions for acute symptoms management and the protection of both the patient care team and the families of patients with COVID-19. These guidelines helped with streamlining care in times of crisis, providing care to those in need, supporting frontline staff with primary-level palliative care, and minimizing the GAP team’s risk of infection and burnout during the rapidly changing pandemic response.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo M. P. Morales ◽  
Murilo Guedes ◽  
Jennifer S. Silva ◽  
Adriano Massuda

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) forced rapid adaptations in the way healthcare is delivered and coordinated by health systems. Brazil has a universal public health system (Sistema Unico de Saúde—SUS), being the main source of care for 75% of the population. Therefore, a saturation of the system was foreseen with the continuous increase of cases. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to empower telehealth could help to tackle this by increasing a coordinated patient access to the health system. In the present study we describe a descriptive case report analyzing the use of Laura Digital Emergency Room—an AI-powered telehealth platform—in three different cities. It was computed around 130,000 interactions made by the chatbot and 24,162 patients completed the digital triage. Almost half (44.8%) of the patients were classified as having mild symptoms, 33.6% were classified as moderate and only 14.2% were classified as severe. The implementation of an AI-powered telehealth to increase accessibility while maintaining safety and leveraging value amid the unprecedent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was feasible in Brazil and may reduce healthcare overload. New efforts to yield sustainability of affordable and scalable solutions are needed to truly leverage value in health care systems, particularly in the context of middle-low-income countries.


Author(s):  
Adjoby Cassou Roland ◽  
◽  
Gbary-Lagaud Eleonore ◽  
Effoh Ndrin Denis ◽  
◽  
...  

The novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) that appeared in December 2019 in China quickly spread to all countries around the world leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic on 11 March 2020. This pandemic is particularly serious in that it severely undermines health care systems in all affected countries, including developing and resource-constrained countries, forcing them to adapt quickly. Current data on COVID-19 and pregnancy are limited. The first published Chinese data seem to show that the symptoms in pregnant women are substantially the same as those in the general population. Through the first 2 cases of COVID-19 observed during pregnancy at Angré University Hospital, the authors wanted to share their experience, under the conditions of a low-resources country.


Author(s):  
Adjoby Cassou Roland ◽  
◽  
Gbary-Lagaud Eleonore ◽  
Effoh Ndrin Denis ◽  
◽  
...  

The novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) that appeared in December 2019 in China quickly spread to all countries around the world leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a pandemic on 11 March 2020. This pandemic is particularly serious in that it severely undermines health care systems in all affected countries, including developing and resource-constrained countries, forcing them to adapt quickly. Current data on COVID-19 and pregnancy are limited. The first published Chinese data seem to show that the symptoms in pregnant women are substantially the same as those in the general population. Through the first 2 cases of COVID-19 observed during pregnancy at Angré University Hospital, the authors wanted to share their experience, under the conditions of a low-resources country


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatrice Mofoluwaso Fasogbon ◽  
Oluwaseun Ademuyiwa ◽  
Oluwaseun Bamidele ◽  
Ibukunoluwa Wahab ◽  
Abimbola Theresa Ola-Adedoyin ◽  
...  

With each passing day since December 2019, more cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infection are being detected and it has spread through all continents of the world except in Antarctica. The virus is transmitted through contact with an infected environment or person, and the symptoms include fever, cough, and then the difficulty in breathing. Health care systems of so many countries are overwhelmed with limited therapeutic options available and no vaccine has yet been approved. Africa also with its poor health care systems could be the worst hit continent if other therapeutic alternatives are not explored. Hence this review looked into the source and origin of the Covid-19 infection and alternative therapeutic option through the use of available and cheap medicinal foods and plants that have been touted to alleviate similar infections. The review findings have likewise demonstrated the inhibitory activities of selected food crops and plants against human viruses similar to the novel Covid-19 virus.


Author(s):  
Douglas Spangler ◽  
Hans Blomberg ◽  
David Smekal

Abstract Background The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has affected prehospital care systems across the world, but the prehospital presentation of affected patients and the extent to which prehospital care providers are able to identify them is not well characterized. In this study, we describe the presentation of Covid-19 patients in a Swedish prehospital care system, and asses the predictive value of Covid-19 suspicion as documented by dispatch and ambulance nurses. Methods Data for all patients with dispatch, ambulance, and hospital records between January 1–August 31, 2020 were extracted. A descriptive statistical analysis of patients with and without hospital-confirmed Covid-19 was performed. In a subset of records beginning from April 14, we assessed the sensitivity and specificity of documented Covid-19 suspicion in dispatch and ambulance patient care records. Results A total of 11,894 prehospital records were included, of which 481 had a primary hospital diagnosis code related to-, or positive test results for Covid-19. Covid-19-positive patients had considerably worse outcomes than patients with negative test results, with 30-day mortality rates of 24% vs 11%, but lower levels of prehospital acuity (e.g. emergent transport rates of 14% vs 22%). About half (46%) of Covid-19-positive patients presented to dispatchers with primary complaints typically associated with Covid-19. Six thousand seven hundred seventy-six records were included in the assessment of predictive value. Sensitivity was 76% (95% CI 71–80) and 82% (78–86) for dispatch and ambulance suspicion respectively, while specificities were 86% (85–87) and 78% (77–79). Conclusions While prehospital suspicion was strongly indicative of hospital-confirmed Covid-19, based on the sensitivity identified in this study, prehospital suspicion should not be relied upon as a single factor to rule out the need for isolation precautions. The data provided may be used to develop improved guidelines for identifying Covid-19 patients in the prehospital setting.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002073142110174
Author(s):  
Md Mijanur Rahman ◽  
Fatema Khatun ◽  
Ashik Uzzaman ◽  
Sadia Islam Sami ◽  
Md Al-Amin Bhuiyan ◽  
...  

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread over 219 countries of the globe as a pandemic, creating alarming impacts on health care, socioeconomic environments, and international relationships. The principal objective of the study is to provide the current technological aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) and other relevant technologies and their implications for confronting COVID-19 and preventing the pandemic’s dreadful effects. This article presents AI approaches that have significant contributions in the fields of health care, then highlights and categorizes their applications in confronting COVID-19, such as detection and diagnosis, data analysis and treatment procedures, research and drug development, social control and services, and the prediction of outbreaks. The study addresses the link between the technologies and the epidemics as well as the potential impacts of technology in health care with the introduction of machine learning and natural language processing tools. It is expected that this comprehensive study will support researchers in modeling health care systems and drive further studies in advanced technologies. Finally, we propose future directions in research and conclude that persuasive AI strategies, probabilistic models, and supervised learning are required to tackle future pandemic challenges.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olabode E. Omotoso

Abstract Background The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has claimed lots of lives, posing a dire threat to global health. It was predicted that the coronavirus outbreak in the African population would be very lethal and result to economic devastation owing to the prevalence of immune-compromised population, poverty, low lifespan, fragile health care systems, poor economy, and lifestyle factors. Accumulation of mutations gives virus selective advantage for host invasion and adaptation, higher transmissibility of more virulent strains, and drug resistance. The present study determined the severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genomic variability and the contributory factors to the low COVID-19 fatality in Africa. To assess the SARS-CoV-2 mutational landscape, 924 viral sequences from the Africa region with their sociobiological characteristics mined from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database were analyzed. Results Mutational analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 sequences revealed highly recurrent mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein D614G (97.2%), concurrent R203K, and G204R (65.2%) in the nucleocapsid phosphoprotein, and P4715L (97.2%) in the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase flagging these regions as SARS-CoV-2 mutational hotspots in the African population. COVID-19 is more severe in older people (> 65 years); Africa has a low percentage of people within this age group (4.36%). The average age of the infected patients observed in this study is 46 years with only 47 infected patients (5.1%) above 65 years in Africa in comparison to 13.12% in countries in other continents with the highest prevalence of COVID-19. Conclusions Africa’s young generation, the late incidence of the disease, and adherence to public health guidelines are important indicators that may have contributed to the observed low COVID-19 deaths in Africa. However, with the easing of lockdown and regulatory policies, daily increasing incidence in most countries, and low testing and sequencing rate, the epidemiology and the true impact of the pandemic in Africa remain to be unraveled.


Author(s):  
Richard A. Neher ◽  
Robert Dyrdak ◽  
Valentin Druelle ◽  
Emma B. Hodcroft ◽  
Jan Albert

A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) first detected in Wuhan, China, has spread rapidly since December 2019, causing more than 80,000 confirmed infections and 2,700 fatalities (as of Feb 27, 2020). Imported cases and transmission clusters of various sizes have been reported globally suggesting a pandemic is likely.Here, we explore how seasonal variation in transmissibility could modulate a SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Data from routine diagnostics show a strong and consistent seasonal variation of the four endemic coronaviruses (229E, HKU1, NL63, OC43) and we parameterize our model for SARS-CoV-2 using these data. The model allows for many subpopulations of different size with variable parameters. Simulations of different scenarios show that plausible parameters result in a small peak in early 2020 in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and a larger peak in winter 2020/2021. Variation in transmission and migration rates can result in substantial variation in prevalence between regions.While the uncertainty in parameters is large, the scenarios we explore show that transient reductions in the incidence rate might be due to a combination of seasonal variation and infection control efforts but do not necessarily mean the epidemic is contained. Seasonal forcing on SARS-CoV-2 should thus be taken into account in the further monitoring of the global transmission. The likely aggregated effect of seasonal variation, infection control measures, and transmission rate variation is a prolonged pandemic wave with lower prevalence at any given time, thereby providing a window of opportunity for better preparation of health care systems.


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