Danish satisfaction and Austrian discontent with their governments’ measures during the Covid-19 crisis: Explanations from a citizenship perspective

The various interventions that governments took in the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak impacted people severely. Given the low satisfaction with the government performance in Austria compared to Denmark, though both governments set out with a suppression strategy early on and were able to lower infection rates, we analyse the changes in civil, political and social citizenship and the governmental communicative practices during the first Covid response phase from March to August 2020. Employing a case-oriented qualitative comparison, we find that a combination of factors explains the different degree of satisfaction. In Austria, there was a combination of politics of fear, extensive and authoritarian regulations of civil citizenship, political citizenship was challenged and social citizenship undermined. In Denmark, an engaging and caring communicative strategy was employed, political citizenship was maintained and civil citizenship was curtailed less obstructively and was less policed. Social citizenship also was upheld for larger groups.

A clinical-statistical study on COVID-19 infection and death status at the Alshifaa Healthcare Center/ Baghdad

Background: COVID-19 is an ongoing disease that caused, and still causes, many challenges for humanity. In fact, COVID-19 death cases reached more than 4.5 million by the end of August 2021, although an improvement in the medical treatments and pharmaceutical protocols was obtained, and many vaccines were released. Objective: To, statistically, analyze the data of COVID-19 patients at Alshifaa Healthcare Center (Baghdad, Iraq). Methods: In this work, a statistical analysis was conducted on data included the total number, positive cases, and negative cases of people tested for COVID-19 at the Alshifaa Healthcare Center/Baghdad for the period 1 September – 31 December 2020. The number of people who got the test was 1080, where 424 were infected and the rest of them were not. Results: The study showed that males’ infection and death cases were higher than females by more than double, despite the population ratios of the two genders being almost equal. Furthermore, as the age of patients is older, the chance of death is higher. Death cases were lower in December than the previous three months, which could be attributed to lower infection cases compared with the previous months. Conclusions: We can conclude that the peak of infected ages was the same as the other countries. Hence, the number of checked children was low, while we have the peak around the 40s and 50s. Females’ death cases were much less than males, which could be attributed to the genetic influence and the higher responsibility that females showed than males to prevent the disease’s spreading.

Transgenic refractory Aedes aegypti lines are resistant to multiple serotypes of dengue virus

The areas where dengue virus (DENV) is endemic have expanded rapidly, driven in part by the global spread of Aedes species, which act as disease vectors. DENV replicates in the mosquito midgut and is disseminated to the mosquito’s salivary glands for amplification. Thus, blocking virus infection or replication in the tissues of the mosquito may be a viable strategy for reducing the incidence of DENV transmission to humans. Here we used the mariner Mos1 transposase to create an Aedes aegypti line that expresses virus-specific miRNA hairpins capable of blocking DENV replication. These microRNA are driven by the blood-meal-inducible carboxypeptidase A promoter or by the polyubiquitin promoter. The transgenic mosquitoes exhibited significantly lower infection rates and viral titers for most DENV serotypes 7 days after receiving an infectious blood meal. The treatment was also effective at day 14 post infection after a second blood meal had been administered. In viral transmission assay, we found there was significantly reduced transmission in these lines. These transgenic mosquitoes were effective in silencing most of the DENV genome; such an approach may be employed to control a dengue fever epidemic.

Association of comorbidities with COVID-19 infection rate and severity: a nationwide cohort study with propensity score matching (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Confirming the relationship between comorbidities and coronavirus infection-19 (COVID-19) is important for efficient use of medical facilities. OBJECTIVE This study investigated the impact of patient demographics and comorbidities on the infection rate and severity of COVID-19. METHODS Data were derived from a Korean nationwide cohort study with propensity score matching. We included 8070 individuals with positive covid-19 test and 12015 controls between January 1, 2020, and May 30, 2020. Outcomes were confirmation of the comorbidities affecting the infection rate and the severity of COVID-19. Endpoints were COVID-19 positivity and severe clinical outcomes of COVID-19 (tracheostomy, continuous renal replacement therapy, intensive care unit admission, ventilator use, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or death). RESULTS In people aged 60 or older, in those insured with Medicaid, and in the disabled, the proportion corresponding to the severe group of patients showed a tendency to increase. The infection rate of COVID-19 was highest in pulmonary disease (adjusted odds ratio 1.88, 95% confidence interval 1.70 to 2.03), and hyperlipidemia (0.73, 0.67 to 0.80) had a lower infection rate. Disease severity was highest in kidney disease (5.59, 2.48 to 12.63), and lower in hyperlipidemia (0.78, 0.60 to 1.00). CONCLUSIONS Using propensity matching to reduce statistical bias, we found that most comorbidities increased the infection rate and severity of COVID-19, whereas hyperlipidemia reduced the rate and severity of infection. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.22.21263946

COVID-19 Infection in 8 Big Cities of India: The Dynamics of the Spread and Seropositivity

The seroprevalence in the population of 8 big cities (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bangalore, Pune, Coimbatore, Surat, Visakhapatnam, and Nagpur) of India and the dynamics of the COVID-19 spread have been compared. The seropositivity data are of the self-referred residents only. The research is useful to know if the seroprevalence that occurred in the population has decreased the surge in infection in the second wave of the pandemic. The seroprevalence data are for the period July-December 2020 while the monthly new infections have been studied for July 2020-June 2021. For the cities: Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Surat, Pune, and Coimbatore, the seropositivity of the population reached a plateau and then decreased. A decrease in seroprevalence did not result in higher infection rates. The seropositivity of Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore showed a monotonous increase. A relationship between the plateau values of seroprevalence and infection rates could be established. More seroprevalence resulted in lower infection rates in cities (Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur) and (Surat, Coimbatore, Pune) in the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation of seroprevalence in the population will help in ramping up vaccination to eradicate the pandemic.

Antibiotic-Impregnated Calcium Sulfate vs. Wound Irrigation-Suction to Treat Chronic Calcaneal Osteomyelitis

Background: Chronic osteomyelitis of calcaneus is not rare but is very hard to treat. Irrigation-suction and antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate following debridement are commonly used in managing chronic osteomyelitis, but their effects have rarely been compared. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate with irrigation-suction in the treatment of patients with chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis. Methods: From January 2011 to June 2018, adult patients at our institute with chronic osteomyelitis receiving treatment of either antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate (CS group) or irrigation-suction (IS group) following thorough debridement were screened and selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The clinical presentation, laboratory tests, complications, and the ultimate single-staged cure rate and recurrence were compared. Results: A total of 61 patients, including 41 in the CS group and 20 in the IS group, were included in our study. Of the patients, 85.4% in the CS group and 60.0% in the IS group ( P = .006) were successfully cured in the single stage, respectively, without infection recurrence. Lower infection recurrence rates with shorter hospital stay were found in the CS group than the IS group. Inflammatory biomarkers after surgery with both treatments were slightly decreased and not significantly different from preoperative or between-groups postoperative. Exudate from incision was found primarily in the CS group. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that both antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate and irrigation-suction after careful and thorough surgical debridement are generally effective in treating chronic calcaneal osteomyelitis. Antibiotic-impregnated calcium sulfate achieved a higher single-staged cure rate but was associated with an increased postoperative wound exudate. Level of Evidence: III, retrospective cohort study.

Subsidising the spread of COVID-19: Evidence from the UK’S Eat-Out-to-Help-Out Scheme*

This paper documents that a large-scale government subsidy aimed at encouraging people to eat out in restaurants in the wake of the first 2020 COVID-19 wave in the United Kingdom has had a significant causal impact on new cases, accelerating the subsequent second COVID-19 wave. The scheme subsidised 50% off the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks for an unlimited number of visits in participating restaurants on Mondays–Wednesdays from 3–31 August 2020. Areas with higher take-up saw both a notable increase in new COVID-19 infection clusters within a week of the scheme starting and a deceleration in infections within two weeks of the program ending. Similarly, areas that exhibited notable rainfall during the prime lunch and dinner hours on the days the scheme was active record lower infection incidence—a pattern that is also measurable in mobility data—and non-detectable on days during which the discount was not available or for rainfall outside the core lunch and dinner hours.

Factors affecting adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 infections in the first year of the pandemic in the UK

ObjectiveNon-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), including wearing face covering/masks, social distancing and working from home, have been introduced to control SARS-CoV-2 infections. We provide individual-level empirical evidence of whether adherence reduces infections.Setting and participantsThe COVID-19 Infection Study (CIS) was used from 10 May 2020 to 2 February 2021 with 409 009 COVID-19 nose and throat swab tests nested in 72 866 households for 100 138 individuals in the labour force aged 18–64.AnalysisORs for a positive COVID-19 test were calculated using multilevel logistic regression models, stratified by sex and time, by an index of autonomy to abide by NPIs, adjusted for various socioeconomic and behavioural covariates.ResultsInability to comply with NPIs predicted higher infections when individuals reported not wearing a face covering outside. The main effect for inability to comply was OR 0.79 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.92), for wearing face covering/masks was OR 0.29 (95% CI 0.15 to 0.56) and the interaction term being OR 1.25 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.46). The youngest age groups had a significantly higher risk of infection (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.28 to 1.82) as did women in larger households (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.06). Effects varied over time with autonomy to follow NPIs only significant in the pre-second lockdown May–November 2020 period. Wearing a face covering outside was a significant predictor of a lower chance of infection before mid-December 2020 when a stricter second lockdown was implemented (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.73).ConclusionThe protective effect of wearing a face covering/mask was the strongest for those who were the most unable to comply with NPIs. Higher infection rates were in younger groups and women in large households. Wearing a face covering or mask outside the home consistently and significantly predicted lower infection before the 2020 Christmas period and among women.

COVID-19: Mechanistic Model of the African Paradox Supports the Central Role of the NF-κB Pathway

The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has expanded into a global pandemic, with more than 220 million affected persons and almost 4.6 million deaths by 8 September 2021. In particular, Europe and the Americas have been heavily affected by high infection and death rates. In contrast, much lower infection rates and mortality have been reported generally in Africa, particularly in the sub-Saharan region (with the exception of the Southern Africa region). There are different hypotheses for this African paradox, including less testing, the young age of the population, genetic disposition, and behavioral and epidemiological factors. In the present review, we address different immunological factors and their correlation with genetic factors, pre-existing immune status, and differences in cytokine induction patterns. We also focus on epidemiological factors, such as specific medication coverage, helminth distribution, and malaria endemics in the sub-Saharan region. An analysis combining different factors is presented that highlights the central role of the NF-κB signaling pathway in the African paradox. Importantly, insights into the interplay of different factors with the underlying immune pathological mechanisms for COVID-19 can provide a better understanding of the disease and the development of new targets for more efficient treatment strategies.