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April 23, 2020
Prevalence and predictors of PTSS during COVID-19 outbreak in China hardest-hit areas: Gender differences matter
The prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress symptoms (PTSS) in China’s hardest-hit areas a month after the COVID-19 outbreak was 7%. Women reported significant higher PTSS in the domains of re-experiencing, negative alterations in cognition or mood, and hyper-arousal. Participants with better sleep quality or less frequency of early awakenings reported lower PTSS. Professional and effective mental…
Clinical Characteristics of Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients in New York City
Paranjpe et al conducted a descriptive study of about 2,200 patients from the 5 Mount Sinai Health System hospitals in New York. Key findings from this study include: i) of 49% of patients completing their hospital course, the overall mortality was 29% and 36% required intensive care; ii) median age was 65 years overall and…
COVID-19: Melatonin as a potential adjuvant treatment
Zhang et al speculate on the likely benefits of melatonin in the attenuation of COVID-19 based on its putative pathogenesis. Although the direct evidence of melatonin application in COVID-19 is unclear, both its use in experimental animal models and in studies on humans has continuously documented its efficacy and safety, and its role in limiting…
Is there evidence that BCG vaccination has non-specific protective effects for COVID 19 infections or is it an illusion created by lack of testing?
Shivendu et al analyze data from on COVID-19 and BCG vaccination from 98 countries, finding that COVID-19 cases deaths across countries share a relationship with national BCG vaccination, but that this relationship is nullified when controlling for testing. This study concludes that there is no statistical evidence to support the assertion that inclusion of BCG…
Evaluation of the auxiliary diagnostic value of antibody assays for the detection of novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)
Yong et al assess the diagnostic values of different methods for detecting and estimating the SARS-CoV-2 infection of antibody assays in this study. Their findings suggest that antibody detection can be an effective supplementary indicator in diagnosing suspected cases with no detectable viral RNA, and in conjunction with nucleic acid detection in confirming the infection. …
Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by direct RT-qPCR on nasopharyngeal specimens without extraction of viral RNA.
In order to circumvent the limited availability of RNA extraction reagents and to reduce the cost and turn-around time of the assay, the authors describe a new protocol for direct RT-qPCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swabs. The new approach provides higher analytic sensitivity for detection than many other commercial and laboratory-developed methods, and the…
An ecological study of socioeconomic predictors in detection of COVID-19 cases across neighborhoods in New York City
Socioeconomic predictors that could explain the between-neighborhood variation in the number of detected COVID-19 cases in NYC in this ecological analysis include: neighborhoods with a large dependent population (under 18 or 65+ years), those with a high proportion of males, and low-income neighborhoods. Whittle & Diaz-Artiles (Apr 22, 2020). An ecological study of socioeconomic predictors…
No SARS-CoV-2 detected in amniotic fluid in mid-pregnancy
No SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the amniotic fluid of 2 pregnant women who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the early stage of pregnancy in Wuhan. These findings could contribute to understanding the potential for intrauterine transmission in the first trimester. Yu et al. (Apr 22, 2020). No SARS-CoV-2 detected in amniotic fluid in mid-pregnancy. Lancet….
CAN-NPI: A Curated Open Dataset of Canadian Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions in Response to the Global COVID-19 Pandemic
This study describes the rapid development of the first comprehensive, labeled dataset of 1,640 NPIs implemented at federal, provincial/territorial and municipal levels in Canada to guide COVID-19 research. McCoy et al. (Apr 17, 2020). CAN-NPI: A Curated Open Dataset of Canadian Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions in Response to the Global COVID-19 Pandemic. Pre-print downloaded Apr 23 from…
April 22, 2020
The effect of COVID-19 on youth mental health
Liang et al conducted a study to assess and investigate factors of mental health among youth groups after COVID-19 occurrence in China. They report that nearly 40.4% of the sampled youth had psychological problems and 14.4% PTSD symptoms. They conclude that an infectious diseases outbreak, such as COVID-19, may have an immense influence on youth…
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