Articles: coronavirus.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Oct 2020
Pandemic March: 2019 Coronavirus Disease's First Wave Circumnavigates the Globe.
March 2020 was a pivotal month for the worldwide geographic and numeric expansion of the first wave of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We examined the major storylines that depicted this explosive spread of COVID-19 around the globe. ⋯ March 2020 was a consequential month when the COVID-19 pandemic wrapped completely around the planet, with outbreaks erupting in most nations worldwide.
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There is an urgent need for safe and effective approaches to combat COVID-19. Here, we asked whether lessons learned from nanotoxicology and nanomedicine could shed light on the current pandemic. SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent, may trigger a mild, self-limiting disease with respiratory symptoms, but patients may also succumb to a life-threatening systemic disease. ⋯ Moreover, recent work has shown that synthetic nanoparticles wrapped with host-derived cellular membranes may prevent virus infection. We posit that nanoparticles decorated with ACE2, the receptor for SARS-CoV-2, could be exploited as decoys to intercept the virus before it infects cells in the respiratory tract. However, close attention should be paid to biocompatibility before such nano-decoys are deployed in the clinic.
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The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 leading to the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 400,000 deaths worldwide and the global economy shut down has substantially accelerated the research and development of novel and efficient COVID-19 antiviral drugs and vaccines. In the short term, antiviral and other drugs have been subjected to repurposing against COVID-19 demonstrating some success, but some excessively hasty conclusions drawn from significantly suboptimal clinical evaluations have provided false hope. On the other hand, more than 300 potential therapies and at least 150 vaccine studies are in progress at various stages of preclinical or clinical research. The aim here is to provide a timely update of the development, which, due to the intense activities, moves forward with unprecedented speed.
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J Coll Physicians Surg Pak · Oct 2020
Association of Inflammatory Markers with Mortality in COVID-19 Infection.
To evaluate the association of serum ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, and C-reactive protein at admission with in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 infection; and to determine best predictive cut-offs. ⋯ Levels of the three inflammatory markers at admission can predict mortality in COVID-19 infection. Key Words: Coronavirus, Inflammation, Mortality, Outcome, Pakistan.
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J Coll Physicians Surg Pak · Oct 2020
Case ReportsEuglycemic Diabetic Ketoacidosis Associated with Empagliflozin Use in the Course of the SARS-Cov-2 Pandemic.
Sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are among the new generation oral anti-diabetic drugs that have started to be used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although these drugs are highly beneficial, life-threatening side effects such as euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (eDKA) are reported with their use. In eDKA, metabolic acidosis and anion gap appear in blood gases and serum glucose in less than 200 mg/dl. ⋯ The patient was initially suspected to be a case of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) complicating the course of diabetes, finally it was diagnosed as a case of eDKA due to empagliflozin use. We noticed that during the current pandemic, some other diagnoses can be missed or their diagnosis can be delayed. Key Words: Euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis, Empagliflozin, COVID-19, Diabetes mellitus.