Article Summary
April 30, 2020
Pregnancy and breastfeeding during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of published pregnancy cases
A systematic review summarizes characteristics and pregnancy outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19 and highlights that fetal distress and preterm delivery may be more frequent among pregnant women with COVID-19. There is emerging evidence on vertical transmission, but the clinical relevance of fetal infection remains unclear. No evidence links the SARS-CoV-2 virus to transmission via…
Informative Ranking of Stand Out Collections of Symptoms: A New Data-Driven Approach to Identify the Strong Warning Signs of COVID 19
This paper introduces a Conditionally Predictively Informative Ranking (CPIR) approach to analyze COVID-19 symptoms. This approach provides a ranking of informative symptoms that may help in clinical settings and potentially be used for broader public policy discussions. The authors provide multiple combinations of symptoms associated with typical patients, as well as critical and risky symptoms…
Cotton tipped plastic swabs for SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR diagnosis to prevent supplies shortage
Freire-Paspuel et al. validated nasopharyngeal sampling for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis using inexpensive and easily available cotton-tipped plastic swabs with no inhibition effect over PCR reaction instead of plastic synthetic fiber tipped rayon swabs (gold standard by CDC) and found a total agreement among swabs (n=33 positives and n=11 negatives). These results suggest that cotton-tipped swabs could…
Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on Viral Shedding and Survival in COVID-19 Patients
This retrospective, observational study from COVID-19 patients (n=6 treated and n=15 controls) in 2 Chinese hospitals found that all patients treated with convalescent plasma (CP) achieved viral clearance following treatment; however, there was no evidence that CP reduced mortality in critically end-stage patients. Zeng et al. (Apr 29, 2020). Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on…
Poolkeh finds the optimal pooling strategy for a population-wide COVID-19 testing (Israel, UK, and US as test cases)
This study presents a data-driven tool (Poolkeh) to allow decision-makers to assess the spread of virus among the world population. This online tool allows users to develop an optimal scheme to pool tests for an entire population based on COVID-19 prevalence in the test population and the sensitivity of the test being used. Eliaz et…
Modelling of Systemic versus Pulmonary Chloroquine Exposure in Man for COVID-19 Dose Selection
This study explores the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) relationship of chloroquine (CQ) for COVID-19 by modeling both achievable systemic and pulmonary drug concentrations. CQ is unlikely to achieve systemic levels that would exert meaningful anti-viral activity given its in-vitro pharmacodynamics profile. However, if lung exposure is the driver for CQ’s activity, the simulations shows that currently suggested…
Successful manufacturing of clinical-grade SARS-CoV-2 specific T Cells for adoptive cell therapy
Leung et al. demonstrate that clinical-grade SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells can be isolated from the blood of convalescent donors rapidly and efficiently using SARS-CoV-2 specific peptides and an automated medical device expedient for emergent treatment of severe COVID-19 disease until effective vaccines or treatment are developed. Leung et al. (Apr 30, 2020). Successful manufacturing of…
The role of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections: rapid living systematic review and meta-analysis
Findings from this systematic review suggest that most SARS-CoV-2 infections are not asymptomatic throughout the course of infection, contrary to modeling studies that have suggested that 80-90% of SARS-CoV-2 transmissions are asymptomatic. From 8 included studies, the authors estimated the upper bound for the proportion of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections to be 29% (95% CI: 23-37%)….
Evaluation of “stratify and shield” as a policy option for ending the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK
McKeigue and Colhoun suggest that a ‘stratify-and-shield’ policy–a strategy that would shield elderly and others at high risk of severe disease, while allowing immunity to build up in those at low risk until the entire population is protected– has potential to save lives, and restore economic activity. In spite of key uncertainties about the theoretical…
April 29, 2020
COVID-19 in Prisons and Jails in the United States
Hawk at al, in an opinion piece about COVID-19 in prisons and jails in the US, detail the challenges of social distancing in prisons and jails and the prisoners at high risk for severe infection and death. The authors discuss the effects COVID-19 on prison health care systems, solutions to mitigate harm, and preparing prisoners…
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