Recovery of anosmia in hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2 is correlated with repair of the olfactory epithelium

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for a pandemic affecting billions of people worldwide. Apart from the extreme global economic impact, the pandemic will likely have a lasting impact through long-term sequelae not yet fully understood. Fully understanding the mechanisms driving the various symptoms and sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection will allow for the eventual development of therapeutics to prevent or treat such life-altering symptoms. In this study, we developed a behavioral test of anosmia in SARS-CoV-2-infected hamsters. We find a moderately strong correlation between the level of anosmia and the score of histological damage within the olfactory epithelium. We also find a moderately strong correlation between the level of anosmia and the thickness of the olfactory epithelium, previously demonstrated to be severely damaged upon infection. Thus, this food-searching behavioral test can act as a simple and effective screening method in a hamster model for various therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2-related anosmia.

Sepsis in Burns—Lessons Learnt from Developments in the Management of Septic Shock

After surviving the acute phase of resuscitation, septic shock is the cause of death in the majority of burn patients. Therefore, the management of septic shock is a cornerstone in modern burn care. Whereas sepsis therapy in general has undergone remarkable developments in the past decade, the management of septic shock in burn patients still has a long way to go. Instead, the differences of burn patients with septic shock versus general patients have been emphasized and thus, burn patients were excluded in every sepsis study which are the basis for modern sepsis therapy. However, due to the lack of evidence in burn patients, the standards of procedure for general sepsis therapy have been adopted in burn care. This review identifies the differences of burn patients with sepsis versus other septic patients and summarizes the scientific basis for modern sepsis therapy in general ICU patients and burn patients. Consequently, the results in general sepsis research should be transferred to burn care, which means the implementation of effective screening, early resuscitation, and efficient antimicrobial treatment. Therefore, on the basis of past developments and in the light of the current update of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines, this review introduces the “Burn SOFA score” and the “3 H’s of burn sepsis” as a screening tool for early sepsis recognition in burn patients.

SCREENING POLICIES FOR OVARIAN CANCER IN NIGERIAN HOSPITALS: A REVIEW

Ovarian Cancer is a problem battled worldwide and is typically diagnosed at an advanced stage due to the lack of effective screening strategies. An effective screening method should detect the disease at an earlier stage at diagnosis such that treatment would result in better outcome and not the inevitable mortality. Diagnosis of Ovarian cancer at an early stage (stage 1) could be a benefit of good screening strategies because it is associated with a high 5- year survival rate (95%) as it appears that globally, there is no early detection for this yet. In this article, we review the epidemiology, risk factors as well as the current state of screening tests for ovarian cancer in Nigeria.

Identifying human trafficking indicators in the UK online sex market

This study identifies the presence of human trafficking indicators in a UK-based sample of sex workers who advertise their services online. To this end, we developed a crawling and scraping software that enabled the collection of information from 17, 362 advertisements for female sex workers posted on the largest dedicated platform for sex work services in the UK. We then established a set of 10 indicators of human trafficking and a transparent and replicable methodology through which to detect their presence in our sample. Most of the advertisements (58.3%) contained only one indicator, while 3,694 of the advertisements (21.3%) presented 2 indicators of human trafficking. Only 1.7% of the advertisements reported three or more indicators, while there were no advertisements that featured more than four. 3, 255 advertisements (19.0%) did not contain any indicators of human trafficking. Based on this analysis, we propose that this approach constitutes an effective screening process for quickly identifying suspicious cases, which can then be examined by more comprehensive and accurate tools to identify if human trafficking is occurring. We conclude by calling for more empirical research into human trafficking indicators.

Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis 2020

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become a serious public health issue not only in Western countries but also in Japan. Within the wide spectrum of NAFLD, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a progressive form of disease that often develops into liver cirrhosis and increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). While a definite diagnosis of NASH requires liver biopsy to confirm the presence of hepatocyte ballooning, hepatic fibrosis is the most important prognostic factor in NAFLD. With so many NAFLD patients, it is essential to have an effective screening method for NAFLD with hepatic fibrosis. As HCC with non-viral liver disease has increased markedly in Japan, effective screening and surveillance of HCC are also urgently needed. The most common death etiology in NAFLD patients is cardiovascular disease (CVD) event. Gastroenterologists must, therefore, pay close attention to CVD when examining NAFLD patients. In the updated guidelines, we propose screening and follow-up methods for hepatic fibrosis, HCC, and CVD in NAFLD patients. Several drug trials are ongoing for NAFLD/NASH therapy, however, there is currently no specific drug therapy for NAFLD/NASH. In addition to vitamin E and thiazolidinedione derivatives, recent trials have focused on sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues, and effective therapies are expected to be developed. These practical guidelines for NAFLD/NASH were established by the Japanese Society of Gastroenterology in conjunction with the Japan Society of Hepatology. Clinical evidence reported internationally between 1983 and October 2018 was collected, and each clinical and background question was evaluated using the Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system. This English summary provides the core essentials of these clinical practice guidelines, which include the definition and concept, screening systems for hepatic fibrosis, HCC and CVD, and current therapies for NAFLD/NASH in Japan.

Health Disparity in Effective Cervical Cancer Screening: Findings from a National Survey of U.S.

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer death for women, but it can often be detected early and sometimes even prevented entirely by having regular tests. An effective way to prevent cervical cancer is to have screening tests. Even though cervical cancer screening programs are implemented in many countries and regions especially in developed countries, cervical cancer incidence has not been effectively controlled and there is still certain health disparity in the population. Inappropriate screening frequency may be the cause of the health disparity. Methods: Drawing on the data from the 2017 Health Information National Trends Survey (Cycle5.1), a national survey conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), we characterized cervical cancer screening (CCS) as two dimensions by the item of screening frequency, namely, active screening and effective screening. We compared the differences between these two screening behavior applying ordered logistic regression and binary logistic regression, and explored the mechanisms of effective screening. Results: The impact factors differed between active screening and effective screening based on theory. Only self-efficacy (β=0.16, p=0.023) had a positively significant association with active screening behavior and both online health information seeking (β=-0.102, p<0.001) and social media participation (β=-0.466, p=0.001) negatively and significantly influenced effective screening behavior. Second, a theory-based mechanism of effective screening behavior found that traditional health perception factors no longer influence effective screening behavior, while environmental factors (social media) significantly reduce women's effective screening. In addition, the higher the level of education, the less inclined to conduct effective screening, but the more inclined to active screening for cervical cancer. Conclusions: Our results indicate that while the Internet has become the main channel through which women acquire health resources, and social media has become a main platform for people to obtain health information, online information cannot guide people to engage in appropriate healthy behaviors. Overloading of online health information and digital divide may cause excessive screening or screening avoidance. Consequently, we must pay attention to the health disparity caused by unreasonable health behaviors caused by factors such as environmental factors and the divide in the use of IT.