Coronavirus pandemic challenges migrants worldwide and in Russia
The paper deals with the situation of one of the most vulnerable social groups under COVID-19, namely migrants and refugees. The author classifies pandemic-related challenges faced by migrants into several groups: (1) economic, (2) medical, or sanitary-epidemiological, (3) socio-psychological, and (4) political. Special attention is paid to the situation in Russia, which largely coincides with what is happening in other countries with numerous numbers of migrants, and at the same time has its own specificity.
Moscow State University, Faculty of Economics
Severe COVID-19: A Review of Recent Progress With a Look Toward the Future
Epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, pathogenesis, COVID-19
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an acute infectious disease caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Currently, the World Health Organization has confirmed that COVID-19 is a global infectious disease pandemic. This is the third acute infectious disease caused by coronavirus infection in this century, after sudden acute respirator syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome. The damage mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 is still unclear. It is possible that protein S binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors and invades alveolar epithelial cells, causing direct toxic effects and an excessive immune response. This stimulates a systemic inflammatory response, thus forming a cytokine storm, which leads to lung tissue injury. In severe cases, the disease can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, metabolic acidosis, coagulation dysfunction, and multiple organ dysfunction syndromes. Patients with severe COVID-19 have a relatively high mortality rate. Currently, there are no specific antiviral drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. Most patients need to be admitted to the intensive care unit for intensive monitoring and supportive organ function treatments. This article reviews the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment methods of severe COVID-19 and puts forward some tentative ideas, aiming to provide some guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of severe COVID-19.
Peng Xie, Daishun Liu, Hong-Bo Tang, Wanyu Ma
Medical image of the month: an “intubation box” to protect healthcare professionals
Intubation, cleaning, PPE, hazard, Person-to-person transmission, acrylic, personal protective equipment, Aerosolization, respiratory spread, intubation box
No abstract available. Article truncated after 150 words. The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as growing global healthcare crisis. There is evidence of transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARC-CoV-2) from aerosolized spread to personal protective equipment worn by healthcare professionals (1). In an attempt to mitigate hazards to healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those at greater risk to exposure during endotracheal intubation, an Intubation Box has been designed by our Emergency Department (Figure 1A) (2). This is an inexpensive apparatus adjusted to include patients of large body habitus. We illustrate use of the box during endotracheal intubation using video laryngoscopy (Figure 1B). The box protects providers from aerosolized particulate and can be cleaned between each use with anti-viral reagents such as bleach-based or alcohol-based solutions. It is assembled in under one hour using acrylic with acrylic adhesive or equivalent plastic welding adhesive. Information on how to build this box in several easy steps …
Southwest Journal of Pulmonary and Critical Care
Medical emergencies. Critical care. Intensive care. First aid, General works
Humoral Immune Responses in COVID-19 Patients: A Window on the State of the Art
Antibodies, Serological tests, Cytokine storm, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19
The novel SARS-CoV-2 is a recently emerging virus causing a human pandemic. A great variety of symptoms associated with COVID-19 disease, ranging from mild to severe symptoms, eventually leading to death. Specific SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR is the standard method to screen symptomatic people; however, asymptomatic subjects and subjects with undetectable viral load escape from the screening, contributing to viral spread. Currently, the lock down imposed by many governments is an important measure to contain the spread, as there is no specific antiviral therapy or a vaccine and the main treatments are supportive. Therefore, there is urgent need to characterize the virus and the viral-mediated responses, in order to develop specific diagnostic and therapeutic tools to prevent viral transmission and efficiently cure COVID-19 patients. Here, we review the current studies on two viral mediated-responses, specifically the cytokine storm occurring in a subset of patients and the antibody response triggered by the infection. Further studies are needed to explore both the dynamics and the mechanisms of the humoral immune response in COVID-19 patients, in order to guide future vaccine design and antibody-based therapies for the management of the disease.
Claudia Pastori, Lucia Lopalco, Gabriel Siracusano
What after? Essays on the expected consequences of the COVID-19 pandemics on the global and Russian economics and population
crisis, economics, Population, Pandemic, COVID-19
Letter from the editor-in-chief of the “Population and Economics” journal about the special issue
Artificial Intelligence-Empowered Mobilization of Assessments in COVID-19-Like Pandemics: A Case Study for Early Flattening of the Curve
artificial intelligence, Public Health, epidemics, Pandemics, COVID-19, mobile assessment centers
The global outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has uncovered the fragility of healthcare and public health preparedness and planning against epidemics/pandemics. In addition to the medical practice for treatment and immunization, it is vital to have a thorough understanding of community spread phenomena as related research reports 17.9–30.8% confirmed cases to remain asymptomatic. Therefore, an effective assessment strategy is vital to maximize tested population in a short amount of time. This article proposes an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven mobilization strategy for mobile assessment agents for epidemics/pandemics. To this end, a self-organizing feature map (SOFM) is trained by using data acquired from past mobile crowdsensing (MCS) campaigns to model mobility patterns of individuals in multiple districts of a city so to maximize the assessed population with minimum agents in the shortest possible time. Through simulation results for a real street map on a mobile crowdsensing simulator and considering the worst case analysis, it is shown that on the 15th day following the first confirmed case in the city under the risk of community spread, AI-enabled mobilization of assessment centers can reduce the unassessed population size down to one fourth of the unassessed population under the case when assessment agents are randomly deployed over the entire city.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
La gobernabilidad en tiempos del COVID 19: una mirada desde Europa y Sudamérica
Un virus de origen animal se ensañó con todo. Devoró vidas, hirió economías, desnudó las carencias de los sistemas sanitarios, evidenció la falta de respuestas y las contradicciones de muchos gobiernos y hasta planteó interrogantes sobre la libertad individual y el bien común. La pandemia por COVID-19 subrayó la importancia de criterios de gobernabilidad regional hoy debilitados, aunque necesarios para nivelar intereses nacionales herméticos, que derivan en desequilibrios e inequidades. Cuestionamiento que no sólo emergieron en la empobrecida y carente Sudamérica, sino también en la Unión Europea. El trabajo pretende un sobrevuelo por esos hechos recientes para, en medio de lo abrumador y lo trágico de la circunstancia, avivar nuevas reflexiones.
Social sciences (General), History of scholarship and learning. The humanities
The Phylogeography of MERS-CoV in Hospital Outbreak-Associated Cases Compared to Sporadic Cases in Saudi Arabia
Epidemiology, Phylogeography, phylogenetics, nosocomial, MERS-CoV, hospital outbreaks
This study compared the phylogeography of MERS-CoV between hospital outbreak-associated cases and sporadic cases in Saudi Arabia. We collected complete genome sequences from human samples in Saudi Arabia and data on the multiple risk factors of human MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia reported from 2012 to 2018. By matching each sequence to human cases, we identified isolates as hospital outbreak-associated cases or sporadic cases. We used Bayesian phylogenetic methods including temporal, discrete trait analysis and phylogeography to uncover transmission routes of MERS-CoV isolates between hospital outbreaks and sporadic cases. Of the 120 sequences collected between 19 June 2012 and 23 January 2017, there were 64 isolates from hospital outbreak-associated cases and 56 from sporadic cases. Overall, MERS-CoV is fast evolving at 7.43 × 10−4 substitutions per site per year. Isolates from hospital outbreaks showed unusually fast evolutionary speed in a shorter time-frame than sporadic cases. Multiple introductions of different MERS-CoV strains occurred in three separate hospital outbreaks. MERS-CoV appears to be mutating in humans. The impact of mutations on viruses transmissibility in humans is unknown.
Xin Chen, Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Chandini Raina MacIntyre, Matthew Scotch, Sacha Stelzer-Braid, Dillon Charles Adam
Fast Mass-Production of Medical Safety Shields under COVID-19 Quarantine: Optimizing the Use of University Fabrication Facilities and Volunteer Labor
mass production, personal protection equipment, COVID-19
COVID-19 pandemic provoked a number of restrictive measures, such as the closure or severe restriction of border transit for international trading traffic, quarantines and self-isolation. This caused a series of interrelated consequences that not only prevent or slow down the spread of disease, but also impact the medical systems’ capability to treat the patients and help their recovery. In particular, steeply growing demand for medical safety goods cannot be satisfied by regular suppliers due to the shortage of raw materials originating from other countries or remotely located national sources, under conditions of quarantined manpower. The current context inevitably brings back memories (and records!) of the situation 80 years ago, when WWII necessitated major effort directed at the rapid build-up of low-cost mass production to satisfy all aspects of war-time need. In the present short report we document a successful case of fast mass-production of light transparent medical safety face shields (thousands per day) realized in Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) at Fablab and Machine Shop Shared Facility (Skoltech FabLab). The demand for safety face shields by tens of hospitals in Moscow and other cities rapidly ramped up due to the need to protect medical staff during patient collection and transportation to hospitals, and within both the infected (“red”) and uninfected (“green”) zones. Materials selection for sterilizable transparent materials was conducted based on the analysis of merit indices, namely, minimal weight at given stiffness and minimal cost at given stiffness. Due to the need for permanent wear, design was motivated by low weight and comfortable head fixation, along with high production efficiency. The selection of minimal tooling in University fabrication workshops and the use of distributed volunteer labor are discussed.
Alexander M. Korsunsky, Alexey I. Salimon, Vladimir Kalyaev
Distribution of COVID-19 Morbidity Rate in Association with Social and Economic Factors in Wuhan, China: Implications for Urban Development
morbidity rate, spatial regression analysis, Wuhan city, social and economic factors, COVID-19
Social and economic factors relate to the prevention and control of infectious diseases. The purpose of this paper was to assess the distribution of COVID-19 morbidity rate in association with social and economic factors and discuss the implications for urban development that help to control infectious diseases. This study was a cross-sectional study. In this study, social and economic factors were classified into three dimensions: built environment, economic activities, and public service status. The method applied in this study was the spatial regression analysis. In the 13 districts in Wuhan, the spatial regression analysis was applied. The results showed that: 1) increasing population density, construction land area proportion, value-added of tertiary industry per unit of land area, total retail sales of consumer goods per unit of land area, public green space density, aged population density were associated with an increased COVID-19 morbidity rate due to the positive characteristics of estimated coefficients of these variables. 2) increasing average building scale, GDP per unit of land area, and hospital density were associated with a decreased COVID-19 morbidity rate due to the negative characteristics of estimated coefficients of these variables. It was concluded that it is possible to control infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, by adjusting social and economic factors. We should guide urban development to improve human health.