Articles: coronavirus.
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The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis presents an imperative for mental health care systems to make digital mental health interventions a routine part of care. Already because of COVID-19, many therapists have rapidly moved to using telehealth in place of in-person contact. In response to this shift, Waller and colleagues compiled a series of expert recommendations to help clinicians pivot to delivering teletherapy to address eating disorders during COVID-19. ⋯ We advocate for addressing barriers associated with training, licensing, safety, privacy, payment, and evaluation, as these factors have greatly limited use of these promising interventions. We also indicate that longer-term goals should include introducing truly innovative digital mental health practices, such as stepped-care models and simultaneously providing preventive and self-management services in addition to clinical services, into the health care system. Now is the time to catalyze change and comprehensively address the barriers that have prevented widespread delivery of these efficacious digital services to the millions of people who would benefit.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2020
Characteristics, symptom management and outcomes of 101 patients with COVID-19 referred for hospital palliative care.
Hospital palliative care is an essential part of the COVID-19 response but data are lacking. We identified symptom burden, management, response to treatment, and outcomes for a case series of 101 inpatients with confirmed COVID-19 referred to hospital palliative care. Patients (64 men, median [interquartile range {IQR}] age 82 [72-89] years, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index 6 [2-10], Australian-modified Karnofsky Performance Status 20 [10-20]) were most frequently referred for end-of-life care or symptom control. ⋯ Breathlessness and agitation are common but respond well to opioids and benzodiazepines. Availability of subcutaneous infusion pumps is essential. An international minimum data set for palliative care would accelerate finding answers to new questions as the COVID-19 pandemic develops.
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Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand · Jul 2020
Public Health Agency of Sweden's Brief Report: Pregnant and postpartum women with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in intensive care in Sweden.
The Public Health Agency of Sweden has analyzed how many pregnant and postpartum women with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection have been treated in intensive care units (ICU) in Sweden between 19 March and 20 April 2020 compared with non-pregnant women of similar age. Cases were identified in a special reporting module within the Swedish Intensive Care Registry (SIR). Fifty-three women aged 20-45 years with SARS-CoV-2 were reported in SIR, and 13 of these women were either pregnant or postpartum (<1 week). The results indicate that the risk of being admitted to ICU may be higher in pregnant and postpartum women with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 in Sweden, compared with non-pregnant women of similar age.
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Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia (coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19), it has rapidly spread to 187 countries, causing serious harm to the health of people and a huge social burden. However, currently, drugs specifically approved for clinical use are not available, except for vaccines against COVID-19 that are being evaluated. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is capable of performing syndrome differentiation and treatment according to the clinical manifestations of patients, and has a better ability of epidemic prevention and control. The authors comprehensively analyzed the etiology and pathogenesis of COVID-19 based on the theory of TCM, and discussed its syndrome differentiation, treatment and prevention measures so as to provide strategies and reference for the prevention and treatment with TCM.
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Expert Opin Drug Deliv · Jul 2020
EditorialCan 3D printing of oral drugs help fight the current COVID-19 pandemic (and similar crisis in the future)?
The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the importance of a robust drug supply chain which can be quickly and flexibly ramped up to produce life-saving drug treatments. 3D printing (3DP) of oral solid dosage forms (OSDF) could be a viable part of the emergency drug production response to support vulnerable patients in rural regions and other isolated locations. In the context of the current pandemic, the suitability of different 3DP technologies will depend on the physicochemical properties, unit dose strength and BCS classification of the repurposed drug compounds currently being trialed for COVID-19. Furthermore, the deployment strategy should focus on simplifying dosage forms and formulations, scaling down the size and complexity of the printing systems and real-time quality assurance via process analytical technologies (PAT).