Articles: coronavirus.
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J Coll Physicians Surg Pak · Oct 2020
ReviewPreparing for a Pandemic: Our Plans and Lessons Learnt as a Department in a Tertiary Care Hospital.
This is a descriptive article aiming to present and analyse the steps of preparedness and troubleshooting of problems faced at operating rooms and intensive care unit during the ongoing coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in Ireland from February 2020 to March 2020. Concerning preparation, we reviewed all aspects of our clinical and potential logistic issues and their accessible solutions in times of limited resources. ⋯ We found good communication and training as critical factors in the preparation for a pandemic. Key Words: COVID-19, Pandemic, Preparation, Challenges.
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Eur. J. Clin. Invest. · Oct 2020
ReviewCOVID-19 Susceptibility in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
In barely nine months, the pandemic known as COVID-19 has spread over 200 countries, affecting more than 22 million people and causing over than 786 000 deaths. Elderly people and patients with previous comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes are at an increased risk to suffer a poor prognosis after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Although the same could be expected from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), current epidemiological data are conflicting. ⋯ The present paper is an up-to-date review that discusses the available research regarding the implications of coronavirus infection in COPD. Although validation in large studies is still needed, COPD likely increases SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and increases COVID-19 severity. Hence, specific mechanisms to monitor and assess COPD patients should be addressed in the current pandemic.
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Review
A review of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in the reproductive system.
An outbreak of pneumonia associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) occurred in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and has been spread worldwide rapidly now. Over 5.3-million confirmed cases and 340,000 disease-associated deaths have been found till May 25, 2020. The potential pathophysiology for SARS-CoV-2 to affect the target is via the receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). ⋯ Considering the crucial roles of testicular cells of the male reproductive system, increasing numbers of studies focus on the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the testis. In this literature, we reviewed several studies to evaluate the relevance between SARS-CoV-2, ACE receptor, and female and male reproductive system and found that the risk of being attacked by SARS-CoV-2 is higher in males than in females. Since men infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus may have the risk of impaired reproductive performance, such as the orchitis and an elevated of luteinizing hormone (LH), and additionally, SARS-CoV-2 virus may be found in semen, although the latter is still debated, all suggest that we should pay much attention to sexual transmitted disease and male fertility after recovering from COVID-19.
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the need for health care providers skilled in rapid and flexible decision making, effective and anticipatory leadership, and in dealing with trauma and moral distress. Palliative care (PC) workers have been an essential part of the COVID-19 response in advising on goals of care, symptom management and difficult decision making, and in supporting distressed health care workers, patients, and families. We describe Global Palliative Education Collaborative (GPEC), a training partnership between Harvard, University of California San Francisco, and Tulane medical schools in the U. ⋯ S.-based PC fellows participation in an international elective to learn about resource-limited PC provision, gain perspective on global challenges to caring for patients at the end of life, and cultivate resiliency. International PC colleagues have much to teach about practicing compassionate PC amidst resource constraints and humanitarian crisis. We also describe a novel educational project that our GPEC faculty and fellows are participating in-the Resilience Inspiration Storytelling Empathy Project-and discuss positive outcomes of the project.
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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a national health care emergency in the United States and exposed resource shortages, particularly of health care providers trained to provide critical or intensive care. This article describes how digital health technologies are being or could be used for COVID-19 mitigation. It then proposes the National Emergency Tele-Critical Care Network (NETCCN), which would combine digital health technologies to address this and future crises. Methods: Subject matter experts from the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center examined the peer-reviewed literature and science/technology news to see what digital health technologies have already been or could be implemented to (1) support patients while limiting COVID-19 transmission, (2) increase health care providers' capability and capacity, and (3) predict/prevent future outbreaks. Results: Major technologies identified included telemedicine and mobile care (for COVID-19 as well as routine care), tiered telementoring, telecritical care, robotics, and artificial intelligence for monitoring. ⋯ NETCCN capabilities should be maintained between disasters and regularly tested to ensure continual readiness. Conclusions: COVID-19 has demonstrated the impact of a large-scale health emergency on the existing infrastructures. Short term, an approach to meeting this challenge is to adopt existing digital health technologies. Long term, developing a NETCCN may ensure that the necessary ecosystem is available to respond to future emergencies.