Article Summary
April 9, 2020
Beware of the second wave of COVID-19
Xu and Li warn of potential adverse consequences of premature relaxation of current COVID-19 strict interventions. They point out that such decisions might lead to a second wave of infections. They recommend that each country evaluate the effect of relaxing each intervention or those that were most effective in containing the spread of the pandemic,…
April 8, 2020
Social distancing to slow the U.S. COVID-19 epidemic: interrupted time-series analysis
Siedner et al report that current statewide social distancing measures applied from March 10 to March 27 were effective in reducing the mean daily COVID-19 growth rate. A decline of 0.8% per day was attributed to this effort during this period, corresponding to an increase in doubling time of the epidemic from 3.3 days (before)…
Pain Management Best Practices from Multispecialty Organizations during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Public Health Crises
Cohen et al provide a framework for pain practitioners and institutions to balance the often-conflicting goals of risk mitigation for health care providers, risk mitigation for patients, conservation of resources, and access to pain management services. The paper discusses general and interventional-specific risk mitigation, patient flow issues and staffing plans, telemedicine options, triaging recommendations, strategies…
Global interim guidance on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during pregnancy and puerperium from FIGO and allied partners: Information for healthcare professionals
In response to the World Health Organization (WHO) statements and international concerns regarding COVID-19, experts from FIGO have issued comprehensive guidance for the management of pregnant women. These guidelines can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.13156 Poon et al. (April 4, 2020). Global interim guidance on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during pregnancy and puerperium from FIGO and…
High Contagiousness and Rapid Spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
Sanche et al performed 2 mathematical modeling approaches to infer the outbreak dynamics in Wuhan by using high resolution domestic travel and infection data. Models showed that the doubling time early in the epidemic in Wuhan was 2.3–3.3 days and median R0 value of 5.7. This was in contrast to other studies that reported doubling…
COVID-19 pandemic: Impact of lockdown, contact and non-contact transmissions on infection dynamics.
Roy adapted the classical epidemic modelling framework and incorporated a direct person-to-person contact and indirect airborne and fomites-driven transmission parameters to assess the effectiveness of lockdown. To be effective, the models suggest that considerable reduction in both contact and non-contact transmission rates over a long period is required. The author concludes that any premature withdrawal…
The relationship of COVID-19 severity with cardiovascular disease and its traditional risk factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Matsushita et al conducted a systematic review of studies that explored pre-existing CVD and its traditional risk factors as risk factors of severe COVID-19. In addition to older age, they report that male sex, hypertension, diabetes, and CVD were associated in univariate analyses with severe COVID-19. Matsushita et al. (April 2020). The relationship of COVID-19…
N95 Mask Decontamination using Standard Hospital Sterilization Technologies
The response to the COVID19 epidemic is generating severe shortages of N95 respirator masks around the world. Kumar et al tested the ability of 4 different decontamination methods on 4 different N95 masks and observed if repeated cycles of decontamination would preserve their structural and functional integrity. A standard autoclave treatment was the best with…
Deployment of convalescent plasma for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19
To date, there are no proven options for prophylaxis for those exposed to SARS-CoV-2 nor therapy for COVID-19 patients. Passive antibody administration of convalescent plasma may immediate and short term immunity to susceptible individuals. Convalescent plasma has been used in the COVID-19 pandemic, however, limited data from China suggests that there are nuanced challenges, both…
Lockdown contained the spread of 2019 novel coronavirus disease in Huangshi city, China: Early epidemiological findings
Ji et al. report on the temporal dynamics and characteristics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Huangshi City, China, following lockdown and other non-pharmaceutical interventions. The study provides information on how epidemiological inference may be used to provide guidance on choice of lockdown measures in high-risk cities and help improve public health intervention strategies against the…
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