Coronavirus (COVID-19) Collection
Admissions to a large tertiary care hospital and Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction positivity: primary, contributing, or incidental COVID-19
Monitoring national hospitalization rates for COVID-19 has been essential throughout the pandemic to guide public health decision-making and to evaluate vaccine efficacy. However, with the rapid worldwide spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern (associated with a decreased severity) and increasing immunity against SARS-CoV-2, interpreting the true impact of these hospitalization rates has been complicated (Viana et al., 2022; World Health Organization, 2021).Real-Time SARS-CoV-2 Genotyping by High-Throughput Multiplex PCR Reveals the Epidemiology of the Variants of Concern in Qatar
Complementing whole genome sequencing strategies with high-throughput multiplex RT-qPCR genotyping allows for more comprehensive and real-time tracking of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. During the second and third waves of COVID-19 in Qatar, PCR genotyping, combined with Sanger sequencing of un-typeable samples, was employed to describe the epidemiology of the Alpha, Beta and Delta variants. A total of 9792 nasopharyngeal PCR-positive samples collected between April-June 2021 were successfully genotyped, revealing the importation and transmission dynamics of these three variants in Qatar.High seroprevalence for SARS-CoV-2 infection in South America, but still not enough for herd immunity!
There has been intense discussion about the importance of reaching herd immunity to achieve global population protection status against SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. For that reason, vaccination coverage and seroprevalence studies are increasing around the world; some of them have shown an increase in the seroprevalence of different populations. For example, a recent study in Jordan (Sughayer et al., 2021) stated the importance of seroprevalence studies for SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthy blood donors.The characteristics and clinical course of patients with COVID-19 who received invasive mechanical ventilation in Osaka, Japan
In Japan, the first laboratory-confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was detected on January 16, 2020. Subsequently, the first case in Osaka was detected on January 29, 2020. On April 7, 2020, in response to the rapid spread of COVID-19, the Japanese government declared a state of emergency (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, 2020a). Early studies showed that 2–12% of patients required invasive mechanical ventilation, and the mortality rate of these patients was 26–97% (Zhou et al., 2020; Hu et al., 2020; Richardson et al., 2020; Yang et al., 2020; Grasselli et al., 2020).COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil: Where are we at?
Introduction: Brazil was the first South American country to report a confirmed case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), on February 26, 2020, in São Paulo state [1]. Since then, the country has presented a complex epidemiological scenario, with marked regional differences. Here, we aimed to analyze the trends of COVID-19 in Brazil in 2020 by Federal Units (FU).Ascertainment rate of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Japan
As of March 1, 2020, a total of 58 countries had reported at least one confirmed case of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and the cumulative number of deaths had reached 2977 persons across the world (WHO, 2020). To achieve appropriate countermeasures, it is vital to understand the current epidemiological situations of the COVID-19 epidemic.COVID-19: Four Paediatric Cases in Malaysia
This is a brief report of 4 paediatric cases of COVID-19 infection in Malaysia
