Acta bio-medica : Atenei Parmensis
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The long head of biceps (LHB) is one of the tendons of the rotator cuff that runs strictly close to the humeral head. In case of pathology, it can be responsible for pain and shoulder impairment: in such cases, surgical options include tenotomy or tenodesis. The management of LHB along with surgery of the rotator cuff or during shoulder prosthetic replacement has been widely discussed in the literature. Conversely, the possibility of acute impingement and incarceration of LHB in proximal humerus fractures, as well as its role in shoulder pain in outcomes of these fractures, has been poorly considered. ⋯ LHB should be taken into consideration both in the acute phase of fractures of the proximal humerus and in the outcomes. Other studies are needed to better understand its optimal management during fracture surgery.
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One of WHO primary function is to control and monitor internationally the spread of infectious diseases of the common killers. After SARS-COV, the International Health Regulations (IHR) was adopted in 2005 by all 194 member states to set up national preparedness for an efficient "early alert and response system". COVID-19 is a novel virus with an unpredictable course and many uncertainties about its biological, clinical and epidemiological characteristics. COVID-19 is a game changer and calls for a revision of IHR as well as a more biological, clinical and community-cantered preparedness strategy.
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The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019 as cause of the consequent novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The virus has since spread worldwide. ⋯ Search terms include novel coronavirus pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, coronavirus and ventilation. We summarized what SARS-CoV-2 infection means for the lungs.
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, a possible explanation for the high heterogeneity of infection/mortality rates across involved countries was hinted in the prevalence of tuberculosis vaccination with Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG). A systematic review was therefore performed on May 2, 2020. A total of 13 articles were ultimately retrieved, 12 of them as preprint papers. ⋯ Most of them did not include main confounding factors (i.e. demographic of the assessed countries, share of peo- ple residing in urban settings, etc.), and simply assessed the differences among incidence/mortality of COVID-19 with vaccination rates or by having vs. having not any vaccination policy for BCG. Even though all studies shared the very same information sources (i.e. international registries for BCG vaccination rates and open source data for COVID-19 epidemics), results were conflicting, with later studies apparently denying any true correlation between COVID-19 occurrence and BCG vaccination rates and/or policies. As a consequence, there is no sound evidence to recommend BCG vaccination for the prevention of COVID-19.
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The Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) outbreak has been recognized as a global threat to public health. It is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and no effective therapies currently exist against this novel viral agent. ⋯ This brief review focuses on the latest and most promising pharmacological treatments against COVID-19 currently under investigation and discuss their potential use based on either documented efficacy in similar viral infections, or their activity against inflammatory syndromes. Ongoing clinical trials are also emphasized.