The American journal of the medical sciences
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Review Case Reports
Resurgence of Positive qRT-PCR Test Results in Patients Recovered from COVID-19: Case Reports.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a newly emerging coronavirus. This virus poses a great threat to human society and has been marked as the third introduction of a highly pathogenic coronavirus into the human population. This is following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the 21st-century. ⋯ Thus, there is an urgent need for more information to understand this new virus. Here we report the detailed clinical characteristics of three cases of COVID-19 convalescents that had repeated positive quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) test results for over three months. This may arouse concerns regarding the present quarantine protocol after convalescence and provide a reference for governments to consider when to reopen the community.
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Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a benign and self-limiting syndrome but can progress to life-threatening conditions if leave untreated. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of acetazolamide for the prophylaxis of AMS and disclose potential factors that affect the treatment effect of acetazolamide. ⋯ Acetazolamide is effective prophylaxis for the prevention of AMS in doses of 125, 250, and 375 mg/bid. Future investigations should focus on personal characteristics, disclosing the correlation between acetazolamide efficacy and body mass, height, degree of prior acclimatization, individual inborn susceptibility, and history of AMS.
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In December 2019 novel coronavirus-Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus2 (SARS-CoV2)-originated from Wuhan, China, and spread rapidly around the world. This literature review highlights the dynamic nature of COVID-19 transmission and presentation. Analyzing 59 relevant articles up to May 1st, 2020 reflects that the main reported clinical manifestation of COVID-19 pandemic is fever and respiratory involvement. ⋯ The definite route of SARS-CoV2 transmission is respiratory droplets, however, virus nucleic acid has been detected in the stool and urine specimens as well. The severity of symptoms and outcomes of COVID-19 vary based on the patient's medical background, age, sex, and concurrent medical conditions (e.g. pregnancy). This is the first review that classifies all essential points regarding COVID-19 manifestations at a glance to improve the outcome of the patients by a better insight into diagnosis and management.