Articles: sars-cov-2.
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The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 poses an unprecedented global health challenge. With its variety of clinical manifestations including, but not limited to, fever, cough, diarrhea, vomiting, headache, myalgia and fatigue, it may be challenging to distinguish COVID-19 from a spectrum of diseases with similar presentations, such as malaria, especially in endemic areas. ⋯ We present the first reported case of confirmed COVID and malaria co-infection. In this case, we emphasize the need for vigilance from frontline clinicians for timely diagnosis and appropriate clinical management of potential co-infections in the COVID era.
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Frontiers in pediatrics · Jan 2020
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Among Pediatric Healthcare Workers in Spain.
Spain is one of the countries most severely affected by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with almost 190,000 cases as of April 18, 2020. As healthcare workers (HCW) are one of the groups hardest hit by the infection, it is important to know the seroprevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in pediatric departments. We performed 175 immunoglobulin (Ig)M and IgG immunochromatographic rapid tests in the personnel working at the Pediatric Department of the Hospital Clínico Universitario of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), including pediatricians, residents, nurses, and other staff, on days 31-33 since the lockdown started. ⋯ This is the first SARS-CoV-2 serological survey among HCWs reported in Spain. Notwithstanding the test limitations, our results reveal that personal protection policy and lockdown measures have been effective to limit population exposure. The low seroprevalence rate poses a significant challenge for the next strategic steps of pandemic control.
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Frontiers in microbiology · Jan 2020
The Strengths of Scanning Electron Microscopy in Deciphering SARS-CoV-2 Infectious Cycle.
Electron microscopy is a powerful tool in the field of microbiology. It has played a key role in the rapid diagnosis of viruses in patient samples and has contributed significantly to the clarification of virus structure and function, helping to guide the public health response to emerging viral infections. In the present study, we used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to study the infectious cycle of SARS-CoV-2 in Vero E6 cells and we controlled some key findings by classical transmission electronic microscopy (TEM). ⋯ New SARS-CoV-2 particles were expelled from the cells, through cell lysis or by fusion of virus containing vacuoles with the cell plasma membrane. Overall, this cycle is highly comparable to that of SARS-CoV. By providing a detailed and complete SARS-CoV-2 infectious cycle, SEM proves to be a very rapid and efficient tool compared to classical TEM.
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Frontiers in psychiatry · Jan 2020
Depression, Environmental Reward, Coping Motives and Alcohol Consumption During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Background: Increases in the incidence of psychological distress and alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic have been predicted. Behavioral theories of depression and alcohol self-medication theories suggest that greater social/environmental constraints and increased psychological distress during COVID-19 could result in increases in depression and drinking to cope with negative affect. The current study had two goals: (1) to examine self-reported changes in alcohol use and related outcomes after the introduction of COVID-19 social distancing requirements, and; (2) to test hypothesized mediation models to explain individual differences in self-reported changes in depression and alcohol use during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Discussion: Results provide early cross-sectional evidence regarding the relation of environmental reward, depression, and COVID-19-related psychological distress with alcohol consumption and coping motives during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results are largely consistent with predictions from behavioral theories of depression and alcohol self-medication frameworks. Future research is needed to study prospective associations among these outcomes.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) consists of a severe involvement of the lower respiratory tract leading to an acute respiratory syndrome. But there exist other infectious respiratory syndromes that have the same initial respiratory symptoms, show similar pattern in the size of the antigenic proteins and release comparable cytokines pathways, but with an unlike response magnitude. Here we propose that COVID-19 disease wrong response in the host immune system can be explained in the perspective of the antigen viral size. ⋯ The sustained infected cells lysis overfeeds high levels of viral proteins < 70 kDa, increases B-cell activation and, in the shift from a Th1 to a Th2 immune response, can trigger a cytokine storm. The continuous BCR activation increases IL-10 release that can lead to cytokine storm, apoptosis, and immune paralysis. Here, we propose a new vaccine design using the polymerization of viral antigens that could be ready in short time, would be cheap and easy to develop because it is based on classic technologies available in every country, is safe because it does not employ genetic material, and would able to promote long-lasting B-cell immune memory and IgG2a production.