Articles: pandemics.
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Frontiers in psychiatry · Jan 2020
Sleep Disturbance and Psychological Profiles of Medical Staff and Non-Medical Staff During the Early Outbreak of COVID-19 in Hubei Province, China.
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has considerably burdened the healthcare system in the Hubei Province, the most severely affected region in China. The aim of our study was to assess the psychological effects of COVID-19 epidemic on the healthcare workers in Hubei. ⋯ Frontline medical staff are more vulnerable to sleep disturbances. Psychosocial interventions are needed to help allied healthcare personnel to better respond to COVID-19 and future outbreaks.
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Cadernos de saúde pública · Jan 2020
The effect of lockdown on the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil: evidence from an interrupted time series design.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments worldwide have implemented social distancing policies with different levels of both enforcement and compliance. We conducted an interrupted time series analysis to estimate the impact of lockdowns on reducing the number of cases and deaths due to COVID-19 in Brazil. Official daily data was collected for four city capitals before and after their respective policies interventions based on a 14 days observation window. ⋯ In São Luís, we observed a reduction of 37.85% while in Fortaleza the decrease was 33.4% on the average difference in daily deaths if the lockdown had not been implemented. Similarly, the intervention diminished mortality in Recife by 21.76% and Belém by 16.77%. Social distancing policies can be useful tools in flattening the epidemic curve.
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More than 18 million people in 188 countries have been diagnosed as having coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and COVID-19 has been responsible for more than 600,000 deaths worldwide. Brazil is now the second most affected country globally. Faced with this scenario, various public health measures and changes in the daily routines of hospitals were implemented to stop the pandemic. ⋯ These patients need special attention and assistance at this time, especially since treatment for tumors cannot be delayed in most cases. The aim of this guideline was to standardize the management of HCC patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This document was developed, on the basis of the best evidence available, by a multidisciplinary team from Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP), and Instituto Central of the Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo (HC-FMUSP), which are members of the São Paulo Clínicas Liver Cancer Group.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and the fast global spread of the disease resulted in unprecedented decline in world trade and travel. A critical priority is, therefore, to quickly develop serological diagnostic capacity and identify individuals with past exposure to SARS-CoV-2. In this study serum samples obtained from 309 persons infected by SARS-CoV-2 and 324 of healthy, uninfected individuals as well as serum from 7 COVID-19 patients with 4-7 samples each ranging between 1-92 days post first positive PCR were tested by an "in house" ELISA which detects IgM, IgA and IgG antibodies against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2. ⋯ Study of the antibody kinetics of seven COVID 19 patients revealed that while IgG levels are high and maintained for at least 3 months, IgM and IgA levels decline after a 35-50 days following infection. Altogether, these results highlight the usefulness of the RBD based ELISA, which is both easy and cheap to prepare, to identify COVID-19 patients even at the acute phase. Most importantly our results demonstrate that measuring IgG levels alone is both sufficient and necessary to diagnose past exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
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Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig · Jan 2020
Covid-19: a survey on knowledge, awareness and hygiene practices among dental health professionals in an Indian scenario.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) continues to spread globally. It has become a major cause of concern for health care professionals all over the world. ⋯ The findings of the present study showed that some notable deficiencies in knowledge existed among dental professionals regarding some vital aspects of COVID-19. Therefore, there is an urgent need for improving dentists’knowledge via health education and training programs. Further studies on the subject are also warranted once the situation normalizes.