Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Comparative Study
Clinical evaluation of an immunochromatographic IgM/IgG antibody assay and chest computed tomography for the diagnosis of COVID-19.
We evaluated the clinical performance of an immunochromatographic (IC) IgM/IgG antibody assay for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and chest computed tomography (CT) for the diagnosis of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). ⋯ The IC assay had low sensitivity during the early phase of infection, and thus IC assay alone is not recommended for initial diagnostic testing for COVID-19. If RT-qPCR is not available, the combination of chest CT and IC assay may be useful for diagnosing COVID-19.
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Acta Neurol. Scand. · Jul 2020
Neurological Manifestations of COVID-19: A systematic review and current update.
The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in December of 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. Since the outbreak, various reports detail its symptoms and outcomes, primarily focusing on respiratory complications. ⋯ Less common symptoms include seizure, stroke and isolated cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome. Further research is now warranted to precisely determine the relationship between those patients developing neurological sequelae, their clinical state and any subsequent morbidity and mortality.
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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected >6 million people worldwide since December 2019. Global reports of HIV/SARS-CoV-2 coinfection are limited. To better understand the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on persons with HIV and improve their care, we present an outpatient and inpatient clinical experience of HIV/SARS-CoV-2 coinfection from Rhode Island, US. ⋯ We highlight challenges of outpatient and inpatient HIV care in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic and present the largest detailed case series to date from the United States on HIV/SARS-CoV-2 coinfection, adding to limited global reports. The aggregated clinical findings suggest that the clinical presentation and outcomes of COVID-19 appear consistent with those without HIV. Whether SARS-CoV-2 infection is more frequent among persons with HIV remains to be determined. More data are needed as we develop our understanding of how HIV and antiretroviral therapy are affected by or have an impact on this pandemic.
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Eur. J. Nucl. Med. Mol. Imaging · Jul 2020
FDG-PET/CT findings highly suspicious for COVID-19 in an Italian case series of asymptomatic patients.
To illustrate the [18F]FDG-PET/CT findings in patients affected by cancer with clinical diagnosis of Covid-19 METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the cases of patients who showed pulmonary involvement unrelated to cancer metastases on March 13 and 16 2020. We reviewed the scans, collected medical history, and exposure information. ⋯ The [18F]FDG-PET/CT can identify probable Covid-19 disease in the absence or before symptoms onset and can guide patient management. Nuclear medicine staff needs to be aware of the possibility of contact with patients affected by the SARS-CoV-2 infection even if they do not present any symptom. Therefore, safety measures need to be adopted for other patients and hospital staff in order to block the spread of infection.
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Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab (NPS and OPS) collection is widely accepted as the preferred method for obtaining respiratory samples. However, it has certain disadvantages which may be overcome by gargling. The primary objective of this study was to assess agreement between gargle lavage and swab as an appropriate respiratory sample for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The secondary objective was to assess the patient acceptability of the two sampling methods. ⋯ Our preliminary results show that the gargle lavage may be a viable alternative to swabs for sample collection for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Adoption of gargle lavage for sample collection will have a significant impact as it will enable easy self-collection, relieve healthcare workers and also lead to substantial cost savings by reducing the need for swabs and personal protective equipment.