Articles: pandemics.
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J Infect Dev Ctries · Mar 2020
The novel zoonotic COVID-19 pandemic: An expected global health concern.
18 years ago, in 2002, the world was astonished by the appearance of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), supported by a zoonotic coronavirus, called SARS-CoV, from the Guangdong Province of southern China. After about 10 years, in 2012, another similar coronavirus triggered the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia. Both caused severe pneumonia killing 774 and 858 people with 8700 cases of confirmed infection for the former, and 2494 for the latter, causing significant economic losses. 8 years later, despite the MERS outbreak remaining in certain parts of the world, at the end of 2019, a new zoonotic coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and responsible of coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), arose from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. ⋯ Nonetheless, as for SARS-CoV and MERS CoV, the Spillover effect linked to animal-human promiscuity, human activities including deforestation, illegal bush-trafficking and bushmeat, cannot be excluded. Recently, however, evidence of inter-human only transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been accumulated and thus, the outbreak seems to be spreading by human-to-human transmission throughout a large part of the world. Herein we will provide with an update on the main features of COVID-19 and suggest possible solutions how to halt the expansion of this novel pandemic.
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Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci · Mar 2020
COVID-19 disease emergency operational instructions for Mental Health Departments issued by the Italian Society of Epidemiological Psychiatry.
During the current COVID-19 disease emergency, it is not only an ethical imperative but also a public health responsibility to keep the network of community psychiatry services operational, particularly for the most vulnerable subjects (those with mental illness, disability, and chronic conditions). At the same time, it is necessary to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 disease within the outpatient and inpatient services affiliated with Mental Health Departments. These instructions, first published online on 16 March 2020 in their original Italian version, provide a detailed description of actions, proposed by the Italian Society of Epidemiological Psychiatry, addressed to Italian Mental Health Departments during the current COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ These instructions could represent a useful resource to mental health providers, and stakeholders to face the current pandemic for which most of Mental Health Departments worldwide are not prepared to. These instructions could provide guidance and offer practical tools which can enable professionals and decision makers to foresee challenges, like those already experienced in Italy, which in part can be avoided or minimised if timely planned. These strategies can be shared and adopted, with the appropriate adjustments, by Mental Health Departments in other countries.
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In the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it is abundantly clear to all the necessity of studying the pathology and widespread health consequences associated with the virus. However, what is much less clear is the impact of COVID-19 on medical education. Already, faculty and medical students are grappling with the changes that have been made and attempting to consolidate these with their plan of career development. ⋯ While every student has a personal story of how COVID-19 has impacted their education, there is no question that the impacts of COVID-19 will be felt on an extensive level. The panic in the community is palpable, and many are confused by how to proceed in the wake of COVID-19. This is no different for medical students and faculty and the questions that arise regarding medical education and their future careers.