Interpreting SARS-CoV-2 Test Results

Diagnostic stewardship and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: Lessons learned for prevention of emerging infectious diseases in acute-care settings

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has demonstrated the importance of stewardship of viral diagnostic tests to aid infection prevention efforts in healthcare facilities. We highlight diagnostic stewardship lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss how diagnostic stewardship principles can inform management and mitigation of future emerging pathogens in acute-care settings. Diagnostic stewardship during the COVID-19 pandemic evolved as information regarding transmission (eg, routes, timing, and efficiency of transmission) became available. Diagnostic testing approaches varied depending on the availability of tests and when supplies and resources became available. Diagnostic stewardship lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic include the importance of prioritizing robust infection prevention mitigation controls above universal admission testing and considering preprocedure testing, contact tracing, and surveillance in the healthcare facility in certain scenarios. In the future, optimal diagnostic stewardship approaches should be tailored to specific pathogen virulence, transmissibility, and transmission routes, as well as disease severity, availability of effective treatments and vaccines, and timing of infectiousness relative to symptoms. This document is part of a series of papers developed by the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America on diagnostic stewardship in infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship.1.

Consolidating food safety measures against COVID-19

Background

The world is facing an extraordinarily unprecedented threat from the COVID-19 pandemic triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Global life has turned upside down, and that several countries closed their borders, simultaneously with the blockage of life cycle as a result of the shutdown of the majority of workplaces except the food stores and some few industries.

Main body

In this review, we are casting light on the nature of COVID-19 infection and spread, the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in food products, and revealing the threats arising from the transmission of COVID-19 in food environment between stakeholders and even customers. Furthermore, we are exploring and identifying some practical aspects that must be followed to minimize infection and maintain a safe food environment. We also present and discuss some World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines-based regulations in food safety codes, destined to sustain the health safety of all professionals working in the food industry under this current pandemic.

Conclusion

The information compiled in this manuscript is supporting and consolidating the safety attributes in food environment, for a prospective positive impact on consumer confidence in food safety and the citizens’ public health in society. Some research is suggested on evaluating the use and potentiality of native and chemical modified basic proteins as possible practices aiming at protecting food from bacterial and viral contamination including COVID-19.

Modeling the optimization of COVID-19 pooled testing: How many samples can be included in a single test?

Objectives

This study tries to answer the crucial question of how many biological samples can be optimally included in a single test for COVID-19 pooled testing.

Methods

It builds a novel theoretical model which links the local population to be tested in a region, the number of biological samples included in a single test, the “attitude” toward resource cost saving and time taken in a single test, as well as the corresponding resource cost function and time function, together. The numerical simulation results are then used to formulate the resource cost function as well as the time function. Finally, a loss function to be minimized is constructed and the optimal number of samples included is calculated.

Results

In a numerical example, we consider a region of 1 million population which needs to be tested for the infection of COVID-19. The solution calculates the optimal number of biological samples included in a single test as 4.254 when the time taken is given the weight of 50% under the infection probability of 10%. Other combinations of numerical results are also presented.

Conclusions

As we can see in our simulation results, given the infection probability at 10%, setting the number of biological samples included in a single test (in the integer level) at [4,6] is reasonable for a wide range of the subjective attitude between time and resource costs. Therefore, in the current practice, 5-mixed samples would sound better than the commonly used 10-mixed samples.

Contemporary Concise Review 2021: COVID-19 and other respiratory infections

Bats are likely the primary source of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2).

Minks are highly susceptible to infection by SARS‐CoV‐2.

Transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated to account for over 50% of all transmissions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) cases.

SARS‐CoV‐2 is evolving towards more efficient aerosol transmission.

Remdesivir, baricitinib, tocilizumab and dexamethasone are frequently used for the treatment of patients with respiratory failure due to COVID‐19.

There is a rising incidence of non‐tuberculous Mycobacterium pulmonary disease globally, with a higher prevalence in Asian countries than in the Western world.

Protracted bacterial bronchitis is a common cause of chronic productive cough in childhood.

Re‐emergence of respiratory syncytial virus may occur after the relaxation of infection control measures and the reopening of borders during COVID‐19 pandemic.

Nanotechnology Fundamentals Applied to Clinical Infectious Diseases and Public Health

Nanotechnology involves the discovery and fabrication of nanoscale materials possessing unique physicochemical properties that are being employed in industry and medicine. Infectious Diseases clinicians and public health scientists utilize nanotechnology applications to diagnose, treat, and prevent infectious diseases. However, fundamental principles of nanotechnology are often presented in technical formats that presuppose an advanced knowledge of chemistry, physics, and engineering, thereby limiting the clinician’s grasp of the underlying science. While nanoscience is technically complex, it need not be out of reach of the clinical practitioner. The aim of this review is to introduce fundamental principles of nanotechnology in an accessible format, describe examples of current clinical infectious diseases and public health applications, and provide a foundation that will aid understanding of and appreciation for this burgeoning and important field of science.