Articles: pandemics.
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To describe different strategies adopted during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic to cope with the shortage of mechanical ventilators. ⋯ The experience and evidence gained during the current pandemic is of paramount importance for physicians and law-makers to plan in advance an appropriate response to any future similar crisis. Intensive care unit, hospital, national and international policies can all be improved to build systems capable of treating an unexpectedly large number of patients, while keeping a high standard of safety.
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Multicenter Study
Six Diagnoses of Separation: Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Emergency Department Visits: A Multicenter Study.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) arrived in the New York metropolitan area in early March 2020. Recommendations were made to self-quarantine within households and limit outside visits, including those to clinics and hospitals, to limit the spread of the virus. This resulted in a decrease in pediatric emergency department (ED) visits. However, it is unclear how this affected visits for some common diagnoses such as anxiety, appendicitis, asthma, headaches, seizures, and urinary tract infection (UTI). These diagnoses were chosen a priori, as they were felt to represent visits to the ED, for which the diagnoses would likely not be altered based on COVID exposure or quarantine due to their acute nature. ⋯ We found a marked decrease in ED visits for six common pediatric diagnoses after COVID-19 arrived in our area. We suspect that this decrease was due to recommendations to quarantine and fear of contracting the virus. Further studies on other diagnoses and potential complications due to the delay in seeking care are needed.
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Preventive medicine · Dec 2022
Association between race, shooting hot spots, and the surge in gun violence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Philadelphia, New York and Los Angeles.
Gun violence rates increased in U. S. cities in 2020 and into 2021. Gun violence rates in U. ⋯ In this paper, we examine the extent to which the increase in shooting victimization in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles during the 2020-2021 pandemic was concentrated in gun violence hot spots, and how the increase impacted race and ethnic disparities in shooting victimization rates. We find that 36% (Philadelphia), 47% (New York), and 55% (Los Angeles) of the increase in shootings observed during the period 2020-2021 occurred in the top decile of census block groups, by aggregate number of shootings, and that the race/ethnicity of victims in these gun violence hot spots were disproportionately Black and Hispanic. We discuss the implications of these findings as they relate to racial disparities in victimization and place-based efforts to reduce gun violence.
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The disruptions of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic impacted the delivery and utilization of healthcare services with potential long-term implications for population health and the hospital workforce. Using electronic health record data from over 700 US acute care hospitals, we documented changes in admissions to hospital service areas (inpatient, observation, emergency room [ER], and same-day surgery) during 2019-2020 and examined whether surges of COVID-19 hospitalizations corresponded with increased inpatient disease severity and death rate. ⋯ Infectious disease admissions increased by 52%. The monthly measures of inpatient case mix index, length of stay, and non-COVID death rate were higher in all months in 2020 compared with respective months in 2019.
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The SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has shed a bright light on the long-standing health inequities experienced by Blacks across the United States. The need to promote the health and well-being for the Black population has been highlighted. ⋯ This concept resulted from empathetic and non-judgmental conversations over a 10-year period with over one thousand patients. This article will provide simple solutions through the practical application of patient engagement and cultural sensitivity using the common thread of the human experience.