Article Summary
July 7, 2020
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Among Frontline Healthcare Personnel During the First Month of Caring for COVID-19 Patients — Nashville, Tennessee
Stubblefiled et al. conducted a cross-sectional seroprevalence study for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among healthcare workers in Nashville, TN 4 weeks after the first identified case in the study hospital. Among 249 healthcare personnel who worked in units with COVID-19 patients, 19 (8%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Only 11 (58%) of the 19 personnel with positive serology reported symptoms…
Tocilizumab in patients with severe COVID‐19: A single‐center observational analysis
Knorr et al. find limited clinical improvement in 66 patients with severe COVID‐19 who received tocilizumab. Within 14 days of treatment, 29% of patients had clinical improvement, 20% had minimal or no improvement, 17% worsened, 27% died, and 7% were transferred to an outside hospital. Ultimately, 42% of all patients who received tocilizumab died and 49% were discharged. Knorr et al. (June 17,…
Clinical Validity of Serum Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2
Caturegli et al. evaluate test characteristics of a serum antibody test for SARS-COV-2 in a case-control study among hospitalized patients with confirmed COVID-19 (n=60) and controls from healthy lab employees and patients hospitalized for reasons other than COVID-19 (n=513). Sensitivity for detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG was 97.6% and specificity was 98.8% when performed at least 14 days after symptom onset. Caturegli et al. (July 6, 2020). Clinical Validity of Serum Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32628534/
Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain (ENE-COVID): a nationwide, population-based seroepidemiological study
Pollán et al. conducted a population-based survey in Spain and estimate the national prevalence of COVID-19 was 5.0% based on point-of-care testing and 4.6% by immunoassay. Seroprevalence varied significantly by region, with a higher prevalence around Madrid (>10%) and a lower prevalence in coastal areas (<3%). Results were based on 61,075 participants who answered a questionnaire on history of symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and risk factors, received a point of-care antibody…
A County-Level Susceptibility Index and Coronavirus Disease 2019 Mortality in the United States A Socioecological Study
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] By linking county-level sociodemographic, health, and environmental metrics to county-level COVID-19 mortality, Khan et al. find that COVID-19 deaths per capita were significantly higher in rural, vulnerable counties (55.8 deaths per 100,000 people) than in urban, diverse counties (32.2 per 100,000) at 76 days since the first case. Their analysis included 867 counties with 5 or…
Visualizing the effectiveness of face masks in obstructing respiratory jets
Using qualitative visualizations of emulated coughs and sneezes, Verma et al. conclude that loosely folded face masks and bandana-style coverings provide minimal stopping-capability for the smallest aerosolized respiratory droplets. Well-fitted homemade masks with multiple layers of quilting fabric and off-the-shelf cone style masks proved to be the most effective in reducing droplet dispersal. They also…
Contact Tracing for Native Americans in Rural Arizona.
Close et al. report the development of an aggressive, integrated early-response plan that relies heavily on contact tracing to limit the spread of COVID-19 in a rural eastern Arizonan community of about 18,000 Native Americans. Since the inception of the staff-intensive program, more than 1,600 cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed on the reservation with a case fatality of 1.1%, which…
July 6, 2020
Kansans in the Middle of the Pandemic: Risk Perception, Knowledge, Compliance with Preventive Measures, and Primary Sources of Information about COVID-19
Geana conducted an online survey among 131 Kansans during the COVID-19 pandemic and found that participants had good knowledge about the disease and preventive measures and were willing to comply with recommendations from local authorities. The author also reported that localized information sources that cater to the community are a primary source of information, while social media is not a valuable source for information pertinent…
Firearm Purchasing and Firearm Violence in the First Months of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the United States
[Preprint, not peer-reviewed] Tomsich et al. conducted a cross-sectional time series study to estimate changes in firearm purchasing and relationships with interpersonal firearm violence in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. They estimate 2.1 million excess firearm purchases between March-May 2020, representing a 64% increase over the expected volume. The estimated relative rate of death and injury…
Modeling, State Estimation, and Optimal Control for the US COVID-19 Outbreak
Tsay et al. reported a novel, optimization-based decision-making framework for managing the COVID-19 outbreak in the US. This includes modeling the dynamics of affected populations, estimating the model parameters and hidden states from data, and an optimal control strategy for sequencing social distancing and testing events such that the number of infections is minimized. Results show…
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