Articles: coronavirus.
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The healthcare and social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic could pose significant risk to patients with intrathecal pump (ITP) who may miss refill or replacement appointments. In some cases, this could be life-threatening. We designed and piloted a novel refill protocol to assess its efficacy and safety. ⋯ Our protocol offers a safe and efficient pathway for ITP management during a pandemic.
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We aimed to examine the literature evidence behind using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in COVID-19 patients in a systematic review manner. ⋯ Our study highlights the paucity of evidence and the need for further data to consolidate the efficacy of ECMO in improving patient outcomes. Although ECMO has been shown to be beneficial in a selected group of patients, the recuperative effects of ECMO remain inconclusive. We must ensure that risk-benefit analysis for each candidate is conducted thoroughly so that patients that have increased probability of survival can benefit from this scarce resource.
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Oct 2020
Efficacy of contact tracing for the containment of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
Contact tracing is a central public health response to infectious disease outbreaks, especially in the early stages of an outbreak when specific treatments are limited. Importation of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) from China and elsewhere into the UK highlights the need to understand the impact of contact tracing as a control measure. ⋯ The current contact tracing strategy within the UK is likely to identify a sufficient proportion of infected individuals such that subsequent spread could be prevented, although the ultimate success will depend on the rapid detection of cases and isolation of contacts. Given the burden of tracing a large number of contacts to find new cases, there is the potential the system could be overwhelmed if imports of infection occur at a rapid rate.
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In December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was discovered. Since its emergence, COVID-19 has been outbreaking rapidly worldwide, where the virus has so far caused the death of hundreds of thousands and infected more than a million, what has been called a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the WHO-Coronavirus disease 2019 Situation Report-142, by June 10, 2020, there are 7,145,539 confirmed cases and 408,025 deaths. ⋯ Some Western medicines including remdesivir, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir, lopinavir/ritonavir, and arbidol, as well as some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) such as Qingfei Paidu decoction, Yupingfeng, Lianhua Qingwen, and TCM injections have revealed a relative activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, in observational studies, and in clinical trials. However, further extensive studies and clinical trials including double-blind and randomized clinical trials, with a higher number of patients, are necessary to confirm the activity of these medicines. There are several ongoing trials conducted on the drugs of COVID-19, and the results are urgently needed to make a suitable treatment recommendation.