Articles: coronavirus.
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Mayo Clinic proceedings · Apr 2021
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPain Manifestations of COVID-19 and Their Association With Mortality: A Multicenter Prospective Observational Study.
To determine the prevalence and breakdown of pain symptoms among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection admitted for nonpain symptoms and the association between the presence of pain and intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death. ⋯ Acute pain is common during active COVID-19 infection with the most common manifestations being headache, chest pain and spine pain. Individuals without pain were more likely to require intensive care and expire than those with pain. Reasons why pain may be associated with reduced mortality include that an intense systemic stimulus (eg, respiratory distress) might distract pain perception or that the catecholamine surge associated with severe respiratory distress might attenuate nociceptive signaling.
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The coronavirus outbreak emerged as a severe pandemic, claiming more than 0.8 million lives across the world and raised a major global health concern. We survey the history and mechanism of coronaviruses, and the structural characteristics of the spike protein and its key residues responsible for human transmissions. ⋯ Coronaviruses can cross the species barrier and infect humans with unexpected consequences for public health. The transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection is higher compared to that of the closely related SARS-CoV infections. In SARS-CoV-2 infection, intrinsically disordered regions are observed at the interface of the spike protein and ACE2 receptor, providing a shape complementarity to the complex. The key residues of the spike protein have stronger binding affinity with ACE2. These can be probable reasons for the higher transmission rate of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we have also discussed the therapeutic compounds and the vaccines to target SARS-CoV-2, which can help researchers to develop effective drugs/vaccines for COVID-19. The overall history and mechanism of entry of SARS-CoV-2 along with structural study of spike-ACE2 complex provide insights to understand disease pathogenesis and development of vaccines and drugs.
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Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol · Apr 2021
Observational StudyPregnancy and neonatal outcomes of COVID-19: coreporting of common outcomes from PAN-COVID and AAP-SONPM registries.
Few large cohort studies have reported data on maternal, fetal, perinatal and neonatal outcomes associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in pregnancy. We report the outcome of infected pregnancies from a collaboration formed early during the pandemic between the investigators of two registries, the UK and Global Pregnancy and Neonatal outcomes in COVID-19 (PAN-COVID) study and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (SONPM) National Perinatal COVID-19 Registry. ⋯ The findings from the UK and USA registries of pregnancies with SARS-CoV-2 infection were remarkably concordant. Preterm delivery affected a higher proportion of women than expected based on historical and contemporaneous national data. The proportions of pregnancies affected by stillbirth, a SGA infant or early neonatal death were comparable to those in historical and contemporaneous UK and USA data. Although maternal death was uncommon, the rate was higher than expected based on UK and USA population data, which is likely explained by underascertainment of women affected by milder or asymptomatic infection in pregnancy in the PAN-COVID study, although not in the AAP-SONPM study. The data presented support strong guidance for enhanced precautions to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy, particularly in the context of increased risks of preterm delivery and maternal mortality, and for priority vaccination of pregnant women and women planning pregnancy. Copyright © 2021 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol · Apr 2021
Outcomes of elective head and neck confirmed or suspected cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To analyse the complication outcomes of COVID-19 negative patients undergoing elective head and neck surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ With careful pre-operative screening of patients for COVID-19 and post-operative care in a COVID-19 clean ward, head and neck surgery can proceed safely during the epidemic. This data could help to minimise delay in treatment by allowing a greater number of elective head and neck cancer operations to proceed.
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Exp. Biol. Med. (Maywood) · Apr 2021
COVID-19 global pandemic planning: Dry heat incubation and ambient temperature fail to consistently inactivate SARS-CoV-2 on N95 respirators.
The ongoing pandemic of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has placed a substantial strain on the supply of personal protective equipment, particularly the availability of N95 respirators for frontline healthcare personnel. These shortages have led to the creation of protocols to disinfect and reuse potentially contaminated personal protective equipment. A simple and inexpensive decontamination procedure that does not rely on the use of consumable supplies is dry heat incubation. ⋯ Furthermore, we show that SARS-CoV-2 can survive on N95 respirators that remain at room temperature for at least five days. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that dry heat incubation procedures and ambient temperature for five days are not viable methods for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 on N95 respirators for potential reuse. We recommend that decontamination procedures being considered for the reuse of N95 respirators be validated at each individual site and that validation of the process must be thoroughly conducted using a defined protocol.