Coronavirus (COVID-19) Collection
Epidemiological assessment of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection
COVID-19 began as an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020 (WHO, 2020). The disease, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has affected >271,900,000 people worldwide and led to >5,000,000 deaths as of December 19, 2021 (WHO, 2021c). There are currently five SARS-CoV-2 variants that are classified as variants of concern: Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), Delta (B.1.617.2), and more recently, Omicron (B.1.1.529) (WHO, 2021b).SARS-CoV-2 saliva testing using RT-PCR: a systematic review
There remain challenges in using SARS-CoV-2 RNA diagnostic assays in the respiratory tract in a pandemic. More so certain countries such as Hong Kong have already included saliva as part of their mass-testing protocol. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review on the alternate use of saliva as a SARS-CoV-2 RNA testing specimen in the context of mass screening with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.Safety and heart rate changes in Covid-19 patients treated with Remdesivir
Remdesivir is the only antiviral drug currently approved under emergency use authorization to treat patients hospitalized for mild and moderate COVID-19 (Beigel et al., 2020). Isolated cases of cardiac rhythm abnormalities have been reported in patients on Remdesivir, including sinus bradycardia and QTc interval-prolongation (Gubitosa et al., 2020; Gupta et al. 2020), warranting close cardiac rhythm monitoring during Remdesivir administration.SARS-CoV-2 in cardiomyocytes
We read with interest the article by Nakamura et al. about a 72-year-old male with follicular lymphoma being treated with steroids and chemotherapy who acquired a severe SARS-CoV-2 infection of the lungs (COVID-19) (Nakamura et al. 2021). Despite treatment with steroids and remdesivir, the patient died 24 days after clinical onset of the infection (Nakamura et al. 2021). Autopsy revealed the virus within cardiomyocytes, liver cells, muscle cells, and tubular and glomerular cells (Nakamura et al. 2021).Association of COVID-19 case fatality rate with disease burden: an ecological analysis in Italy during the first wave
Estimates of the case fatality rate (CFR) of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varied greatly among countries during the first phase of the pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020). An analysis of data from nine countries found that two-thirds of this heterogeneity was accounted for by differences in age distribution of the cases (Sudharsanan et al., 2020). Other factors, such as the prevalence of comorbidities and rate of detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also contributed to the variability in the CFR (Emanuel et al., 2020).Symptomatic Bradycardia in Covid-19 Hospitalized Patients: A Case Series
The novel human coronavirus (COVID-19) was first reported in Wuhan, China, and has become the fifth documented pandemic, which has spread worldwide and is currently a global threat. (Yu et al., 2006) Arrhythmic events have become a part of cardiac manifestations related to Covid-19 infection that have been reported in multiple publications. (Xiong et al., 2020, Bansal, 2020, Ulhaq and Soraya, 2020) Bradycardia as a possible clinical feature in Covid-19 hospitalized patients is not well understood but studies suggest that this condition to be due to multiple factors, which include direct myocardial damage, inflammatory response, hypoxia, and down-regulation of angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2).Self-collected oral, nasal and saliva samples yield sensitivity comparable to professionally collected oro-nasopharyngeal swabs in SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis among symptomatic outpatients
Containment of the current COVID-19 pandemic(Lu et al., 2020, Zhu et al., 2020) requires broad-scale testing capacities(Zhu and Wong, 2020) for patients, potentially contagious persons and groups at risk of infection. Laboratory capacities for real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rtRT-PCR) have been significantly increased in many countries, and are complemented by novel rapid test devices based on antigen detection(Rai et al., 2021). Still, professionally collected (oro-)nasopharyngeal samples are considered the gold standard(Marty et al., 2020, Pan et al., 2020).Drug exposure may have a substantial influence on COVID-19 prognosis among residents of long-term care facilities: an exploratory analysis
Older people living in long-term care (LTC) facilities have been the population hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent estimates suggest that as much as 47% of first-wave Covid-19 fatalities in Western countries occurred in LTC facilities. (Comas-Herrera et al., 2020) This appalling statistic is related to the combination of optimal epidemiological conditions for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in enclosed spaces crowded with a highly vulnerable population. One feature of this population that has received scant attention in this connection is drug consumption.Dramatic rise in seroprevalence rates of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among healthy blood donors: The evolution of a pandemic
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic had resulted in more than 147 million cases of confirmed infection, and more than 3 million deaths worldwide as of week 2021-16, 2021 (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2021).The potential significance of high avidity immunoglobulin G (IgG) for protective immunity towards SARS-CoV-2
The avidity of immunoglobulin G (IgG) is determined by its affinity and denotes the strength of binding to its target epitope. High avidity is reached after affinity/avidity maturation and reflects the best fit between IgG and epitope. Avidity of IgG is low during acute infection and reaches high values several weeks or months later (Hedman et al., 1997; Bauer, 2021). Memory B cells express and utilize high avidity IgG to establish effective anamnestic responses (Eisen, 2014).A unique tale of COVID-19 induced concomitant overt disseminated intravascular coagulation and acute bilateral pulmonary embolism
A priority call was initiated in the emergency triaging area when paramedics brought in a 65-year-old woman with an oxygen saturation of 65% on room air. She was given full flow oxygen at 15 L through a non-rebreathing mask, which elevated her saturation to 92–95%. Upon stabilising the patient, history revealed that she had been experiencing viral prodrome for the past 7 days. Her symptoms were primarily fever, chest pain, cough with clear expectoration, and intermittent shortness of breath on exertion.Undetected infectives in the Covid-19 pandemic
A critical issue in the control of an epidemic is to know the exact number of infective subjects. Current estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection are significantly hampered by the difficulty to perform large-scale diagnostic tests, despite the current awareness that the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic is mostly caused by undetected carriers.Covid-19 and blood groups: ABO antibody levels may also matter
In 2019, a mass outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), occurred in Wuhan, China and spread throughout the world (Zhu et al., 2020).Transmission dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in India and modeling optimal lockdown exit strategies
Originating out of Wuhan, China, in December 2019 (Zhu et al., 2020), the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020 (WHO, 2020). As of May 2, 2020, there have been more than 3 200 000 cases and 230 000 deaths worldwide and close to 40 000 cases and 1200 deaths in India (Johns Hopkins CSSE, 2020). India reported its first COVID-19 case on 30 January 2020, although the actual epidemic growth started from early March (COVID19India.org, 2020).Compassionate use of tocilizumab in severe SARS-CoV2 pneumonia
Since December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has affected more than 12.5 million people worldwide and more than 560,000 fatalities have been recorded (Anon, 2020a) at the time of writing. Patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia (SSP) die due to poor oxygenation despite ventilatory support and different treatments, including drugs with antiviral activity, such as remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, interferon beta, hydroxychloroquine, and/or anti-inflammatory drugs, such as corticosteroids, azithromycin, and low molecular weight heparin amongst others (Cao et al., 2020; John et al., 2020; Colson et al., 2020; Arabi et al., 2018).Patients with Covid-19 exhibit different immunological profiles according to their clinical presentation
A cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin occurred in Wuhan Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 (Huang et al., 2020). The pathogen was then identified as a novel beta coronavirus now named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) and responsible for the so-called 2019 novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) (Gorbalenya et al., 2020). Human-to-human transmission of Covid-19 has been established and the virus has rapidly spread worldwide (Wang et al., 2020; Chang et al., 2020; Carlos et al., 2020).Covid-19 hyperinflammation and post-Covid-19 illness may be rooted in mast cell activation syndrome
Since December 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic, due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has been rapidly spreading throughout many parts of the world. It has been calamitous to the personal health and finances of millions and also–largely due to the infection’s high mortality rate–to global healthcare systems and societal economic welfare. Approximately 15–20% of Covid-19-infected patients suffer a severe form of the acute infection (Bulut and Kato, 2020; Rabec et al., 2020; Grasselli et al., 2020) hallmarked by hyperinflammatory cytokine storms causing far more morbidity and mortality than from any direct viral cytotoxicity.First report on clinical and radiological features of COVID-19 pneumonitis in a Caucasian population: Factors predicting fibrotic evolution
At the end of February, the Lombardy region (Northern Italy), particularly the province of Cremona, was the first European area involved in the pandemic spread of the new COVID-19. The virus was reported to utilize angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) of pneumocytes as the cell receptor in humans, causing first pulmonary alveolar damage and subsequently, parenchymal changes. At present, the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia is based on clinical symptoms, contact history of the epidemic area, imaging diagnosis, and nucleic acid detection.Estimating the undetected infections in the Covid-19 outbreak by harnessing capture–recapture methods
Currently, health systems across the globe are challenged by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It is not a simple task to assess the efficiency of current health systems in detecting, treating, and preventing onward transmission of Covid-19, as the number of undetected infections is by definition unknown. Understanding the diffusion of the epidemic and assessing the number of real infections of Covid-19 is crucial for implementing effective public and health policies in tackling the virus. Unfortunately, official reporting and statistics significantly underestimate the true number since there exists a vast proportion of asymptomatic infected patients including those with mild symptoms among all infected individuals who are not detected.
