Articles: sars-cov-2.
-
Estimates of prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody positivity (seroprevalence) for tracking the COVID-19 epidemic are lacking for most African countries. ⋯ Our study conducted between the first and second waves of the pandemic shows high levels of current infection among patients attending public health facilities in Gauteng Province.
-
A previously healthy 10-year-old girl, living in a sheep-farming community in South Africa with exposure to dogs, presented to her local hospital with generalised tonic-clonic seizures. The initial clinical assessment and laboratory work-up were unremarkable. When she presented with further seizures 6 months later, attempts to arrange neuroimaging and specialist assessment were unsuccessful owing to restrictions on routine healthcare services during the SARS-CoV-2 nationwide lockdown. ⋯ An emergency burr-hole procedure was performed to relieve the raised intracranial pressure, followed by definitive neurosurgical excision of cysts. Hydatid protoscolices and hooklets were seen on microscopy of cyst fluid, and treatment with albendazole and praziquantel was initiated. While her infection was treated successfully, long-term sequelae including permanent blindness and hemiparesis could potentially have been prevented with early neuroimaging and surgical intervention.
-
Patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) require significant healthcare resources. While published research has shown clinical characteristics associated with severe illness from COVID-19, there is limited data focused on the emergency department (ED) discharge population. ⋯ As EDs across the country continue to treat COVID-19 patients, it is important to understand the clinical factors associated with ED return visits related to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We identified key clinical characteristics associated with return ED visits for patients initially diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection: diabetes mellitus; increased pulse at triage; transaminitis; and complaint of myalgias.
-
Hospital bed saturation has been one of the problems to solve during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, not every patient who is admitted requires close monitoring or specific therapeutics. Mild cases could be managed in the outpatient setting. ⋯ sat/RR index and NEWS2 score have a good capacity to discriminate patients at risk of clinical worsening, being the Sat/RR index simpler and easier to calculate.
-
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic is a current public health concern. Rapid diagnosis is crucial, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is presently the reference standard for SARS-CoV-2 detection. ⋯ ARPA is a sensitive and specific software that facilitates the analysis of RT-PCR data, and its implementation can reduce the time required in the diagnostic pipeline.