Irish journal of medical science
-
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It was first documented in late 2019, but within months, a worldwide pandemic was declared due to the easily transmissible nature of the virus. Research to date on the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 has focused largely on conventional B and T lymphocytes. ⋯ We discuss the potential use of these cells as therapeutic agents in the COVID-19 setting. Due to the rapidly evolving situation presented by COVID-19, there is an urgent need to understand the pathogenesis of this disease and the mechanisms underlying its immune response. Through this, we may be able to better help those with severe cases and lower the mortality rate by devising more effective vaccines and novel treatment strategies.
-
Nucleic acid testing is a reliable method for diagnosing viral infection in clinical samples. However, when the number of cases is huge and there are individual differences in the virus itself, the probability of false-negative results increases. With the advancement in research on the new coronavirus, new detection technologies that use serum-specific antibodies as detection targets have been developed. These detection technologies have high efficiency and shorter turnaround time, which ultimately shortens the time required for diagnosis. This article summarizes the methods that have been reported to date for the detection of the new coronavirus and discusses their principles and technical characteristics. ⋯ With the advancement of technology and the improvement of methods, the detection methods of SARSCoV-2 have become more mature. These advances provided great help to the detection of SARS-CoV-2.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Evaluating the impact of pharmaceutical care services on the clinical outcomes of epilepsy: a randomised controlled trial.
The involvement of pharmacists in the provision of specialised care to patients with epilepsy is poor. ⋯ These findings provide justification for the integration of pharmaceutical care services with other elements of health care for epilepsy patients.
-
We aimed to assess stroke care at an Irish university teaching hospital and benchmark against national (Irish National Audit of Stroke 2019) and international (6th SSNAP Annual Report; American Heart Association, 2013) practice to inform a quality improvement strategy. ⋯ Using national and international audit data as an institutional benchmark provides a standard with which a service can be compared to highlight areas for improvement. We identified mood screening, swallow screening, thrombectomy rates, length of stay and time to neuroimaging as key areas for development in our centre. We are currently completing a process map to determine cause, effect, and solutions, and we will implement change using PDSA methodology as per SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines. The results of the re-audit cycle for 2020 will be available in 2021 to inform our progress. Ongoing quality improvement is essential for stroke care, which is a leading cause of death and disability in Ireland.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The effectiveness of planned discharge education on health knowledge and beliefs in patients with acute myocardial infarction: a randomized controlled trial.
To the best of our knowledge, no other studies investigated acute myocardial infarction patients' beliefs and knowledge level after the discharge education. ⋯ Planned discharge education had a positive effect on the knowledge level of cardiovascular diseases risk factors, drug compliance, nutritional compliance, and individual follow-up in patients with acute myocardial infarction.