Articles: covid-19.
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Multicenter Study
No evidence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA among blood donors: A multicenter study in Hubei, China.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA could be detected in the blood of infected cases. From February 9, all blood establishments in Hubei province, China, implemented nucleic acid testing (NAT) for SARS-CoV-2 RNA among blood donors to ensure blood safety.
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J. Interferon Cytokine Res. · Sep 2020
Multicenter Study Observational StudyTherapeutic Effectiveness of Interferon-α2b Against COVID-19: The Cuban Experience.
A prospective observational study was conducted for assessing the therapeutic efficacy of interferon (IFN)-α2b in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the first month after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak began in Cuba. From March 11th to April 14th, 814 patients were confirmed SARS-CoV-2 positive in Cuba. Seven hundred sixty-one (93.4%) were treated with a combination of oral antivirals (lopinavir/ritonavir and chloroquine) with intramuscular administration of IFN-α2b (Heberon® Alpha R, Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Havana, Cuba), 3 times per week, for 2 weeks. ⋯ The case fatality rate (CFR) for all patients was 2.95%, and for those patients who received IFN-α2b the CFR was reduced to 0.92. Intensive care was required for 82 patients (10.1%), 42 (5.5%) had been treated with IFN. This report provides preliminary evidence for the therapeutic effectiveness of IFN-α2b for COVID-19 and suggests that the use of Heberon Alpha R may contribute to complete recovery of patients.
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Appropriate dissemination of information to the general public is a key component of the pandemic response. In 2018, recorded infection control advice messages were affixed to 30% of England's automated hospital switchboards during the seasonal influenza and norovirus outbreaks. ⋯ As of May 2020, 85% of NHS trusts made use of infection control messages; on average, these delayed healthcare professionals by 59.4 seconds per call, but had no clear association with patient outcomes from COVID-19. An ongoing national switchboard quality improvement project seeks to establish a gold standard whereby healthcare professionals with urgent enquiries can press 'X' to skip past infection control messages and have their calls triaged immediately.
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The COVD-19 global pandemic has placed a large demand on personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. N-95 respirators, required to perform aerosolizing procedures, are in short supply and have increased significantly in cost. The lack of a clear end to the pandemic requires hospitals to create a long-term, cost effective solution to the N95 shortage. We initially used previously described methods to reuse and resterilize N95 masks; however, we found they did not solve the issues related to just-in-time fit-testing and cost. ⋯ Establishment of an elastomeric mask program is feasible and less expensive than programs focused on reusing and disinfecting disposable N95 masks. A well thought out elastomeric distribution and disinfection program does not pose greater operational challenges than an N95 reuse and resterilization program. In addition, elastomeric masks can be stored for future surges and should be considered an essential part of all healthcare facilities' supply of personal protective equipment. Implementation of the program has eliminated our dependence on disposable N95s to maintain normal operations during the global pandemic.
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Annals of hematology · Sep 2020
Multicenter StudyBlood type and outcomes in patients with COVID-19.
This study aimed to determine if there is an association between ABO blood type and severity of COVID-19 defined by intubation or death as well as ascertain if there is variability in testing positive for COVID-19 between blood types. In a multi-institutional study, all adult patients who tested positive for COVID-19 across five hospitals were identified and included from March 6th to April 16th, 2020. Hospitalization, intubation, and death were evaluated for association with blood type. ⋯ Blood type was not associated with risk of intubation or death in patients with COVID-19. Patients with blood types B and AB who received a test were more likely to test positive and blood type O was less likely to test positive. Rh+ patients were more likely to test positive.