Current status of COVID-19 pandemic; characteristics, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment

Health Literacy and Acceptance of COVID-19 Preventive Measures and Vaccination in the European Union: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Health literacy is becoming increasingly important in the field of public health as it contributes to individuals' social empowerment. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, preventive measures (mask usage, physical distancing, hand washing) and vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) shaped the degree of infection of the population, and their acceptance was associated with a multitude of factors, health literacy included. The aim of this scoping review is to explore the impact of all health literacy dimensions (namely, understanding, access, evaluation and application of health information) on accepting preventive measures and vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 among adult European citizens.

METHODS

A literature search on three different databases was conducted from July 2022 to December 2022.

KEY RESULTS

A total of 154 articles were initially identified, which were rigorously assessed by two reviewers. Ten studies that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed. The results showed that health literacy played an important role in accepting preventive measures and vaccination as well as in rating health information related to the coronavirus.

DISCUSSION

Health literacy is a positive predictor of coronavirus prophylaxis and could be incorporated into public health policies to appropriately control future health crises. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2025;9(1):e46-e55.].

Identifying COVID-19 variant through symptoms profile: Would it be possible? A rapid review

The first outbreaks of coronavirus CoV, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV have occurred in China and Saudi Arabia over the past decade, respectively. From the end of 2019, a great battle began by the world scientific community against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused COVID-19, a pathology that generated devastating consequences on all existing continents. Several mutations have already been detected in the structure of the virus, which have been responsible for the generation of many types of variants since the detection of the first COVID-19 virus identified in China. The worrisome mutations arising from the first genome of SARS-CoV-2 have been intensively studied. Some mutations increase the transmissibility of the disease through Spike, the protein responsible for binding the virus in the human cell. Among the numerous strains, the most discussed are called by the WHO as "variants of concern". This study aims to review if COVID-19 severity may be variant dependent. Our study found tree publications that associate severity of COVI-19 symptoms to different SARS-CoV-2 variants. The most part of publications do not establish which variant is being expressed during studies. More studies with this focus are needed for a better understanding of the disease and respective variants.

Preparation, Purification and Performance Evaluation of Polyclonal Antibody Against SARS-CoV-2 Produced in Rat

Purpose

Among all known human coronaviruses, some viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2) cause severe pneumonia or even death. With the regard to its spread and the importance of its rapid identification/treatment, and because pAbs are relatively cheap, able to bind to more sites on antigens and even neutralize them, this study was done for the production and purification of anti-SARS-CoV-2 polyclonal antibodies (pAb) in rats.

Methods

Viral antigen purification was performed by PEG/NaCl precipitation. The efficiency of the sucrose cushion method was also investigated to produce a purer antigen. Immunization was done and antibody purification was performed by ammonium sulfate precipitation (33%), dialysis, and ion-exchange chromatography. Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to verify the antibody specificity. All data were analyzed by SPSS software.

Results

The results showed that the amount of concentrated virus increased with the increase of PEG concentration. Moreover, the sucrose cushion method increased its purity. Besides, induction of immune response in rats for pAb production with high titers was reached via these antigens and ELISA/western blot results indicated a suitable antibody-antigen interaction. Additionally, it was shown that ion-exchange chromatography could be a suitable technique for IgG purification.

Conclusion

Herein, we presented a simple and cheap method for the purification of whole viral particles with relatively high quality. The results verified that these antigens could elicit a good immune response in the rat. The obtained pAbs showed a good specificity toward SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Accordingly, this study proposes a promising method for viral vaccine development.

Comparative Analysis and Identification of Spike Mutations in Iranian COVID-19 Samples from the First Three Waves of Disease

Background

The spike surface glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 is the essential protein in virus attachment to the target cell and cell entrance. As this protein contains immunodominant epitopes and is the main target for immune recognition, it is the critical target for vaccine and therapeutics development. In the current research, we analyzed the variability and mutations of the spike glycoprotein isolated from 72 COVID-19-positive patients from Iran's first three waves of disease.

Materials and Methods

The RNA was extracted from nasopharyngeal samples of confirmed COVID-19 cases and served as a template for cDNA synthesis and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction products of each sample were assembled and sequenced.

Results

After analysis of 72 sequences, we obtained 46 single nucleotide polymorphisms, including 23 that produce amino acid changes. Our analysis showed that the most frequent mutation was the D614G (in the samples of the second and third waves).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that developing effective vaccines requires identifying the predominant variants of SARS-CoV-2 in each community.

Fear of COVID-19, death depression and death anxiety: Religious coping as a mediator

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the well-being and mental health of populations worldwide. This study sought to examine whether religious coping mediated the relationship between COVID-19-related fear and death distress. We administered an online survey to 390 adult participants (66.15% females; Mage = 30.85 ± 10.19 years) across Turkey. Participants completed a series of questionnaires measuring the fear they had experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, their levels of religious coping and their levels of death anxiety and depression. Our findings revealed that (a) fear of COVID-19 was associated with positive religious coping, negative religious coping, death anxiety and death distress; (b) negative religious coping was associated with death anxiety and depression and (c) negative religious coping mediated the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and death anxiety and depression. These results highlight the detrimental effect of negative religious coping in increasing the adverse effect of the COVID-19 fear on death depression.

COVID-19 co-infection in a patient with brucellosis

An 89-year-old male case was hospitalized in the COVID-19 department. His CT scan showed nodular opacities, also a variable low P O2, elevated transaminases, and a high D-dimer concentration. The patient diagnosed with active brucellosis. Finally, he treated by combination of doxycycline and rifampicin in addition to anti-COVID-19 treatment.

Estimating the best fraction of inspired oxygen for calculation of PaO2/FiO2 ratio in acute respiratory distress syndrome due to COVID-19 pneumonia

BACKGROUND

The ratio of partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (PaO2) to the fraction of inspiratory oxygen concentration (FiO2) is an indicator of pulmonary shunt fraction. PaO2/FiO2 (P/F) ratio is used to classify severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). With the same shunt fraction, P/F ratio decreases with increases in FiO2 which may lead to errors in classifying severity of ARDS. The effect of FiO2 on P/F ratio has not been investigated in COVID-19 pneumonia. In this study, we estimated the best FiO2 for the calculation of P/F ratio in a sample of patients with ARDS due to COVID-19 pneumonia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Blood gas and ventilatory data of 108 COVID-19 ARDS patients were analyzed in a cross-sectional observational study. Using Oxygen Status Algorithm the calculated shunt fraction served a basis for calculating P/F ratio for different FiO2. The severity of ARDS determined by P/F ratios at each FiO2s was compared with the shunt-based severity to find the optimum FiO2 for calculation of P/F ratio so the resulting classification has the best match with the reference classification.

RESULTS

A FiO2 of 1.0 for calculation of P/F ratio and ARDS classification showed the best match with shunt-based ARDS classification. A regression model was obtained with the PaO2, patient's original FiO2, Hemoglobin concentration, and SaO2 as the independent predictors of the P/F ratio for the FiO2 of 1.0.

CONCLUSION

This study shows a FiO2 of 1.0 as the best value for correct calculation of P/F ratio and proper classification of ARDS.

Assessment of interobserver reliability and predictive values of CT semiquantitative and severity scores in COVID lung disease

Background

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and first reported in December 2019 at Wuhan, China, has since then progressed into an ongoing global pandemic. The primary organ targeted by the virus is the pulmonary system, leading to interstitial pneumonia and subsequent oxygen dependency and morbidity. Computed tomography (CT) has been used by various centers as an imaging modality for the assessment of severity of lung involvement in individuals. Two popular systems of scoring lung involvement on CT are CT semiquantitative score (SQ) and CT severity score (CT-SS), both of which assess extent of pulmonary involvement by interstitial pneumonia and are partly based upon subjective evaluation. Our cross-sectional observational study aims to assess the interobserver reliability of these scores, as well as to assess the statistical correlation between the respective CT scores to severity of clinical outcome.

Results

Both the SQ and CT-SS scores showed an excellent interobserver reliability (ICC 0.91 and 0.93, respectively, p < 0.05). The CT-SS was marginally more sensitive (99.2%) in detecting severe COVID pneumonia than SQ (86.5%). The positive predictive value of SQ (98.3%) is more than CT-SS (78%) for detecting severe disease. The similarity of interobserver reliability obtained for both scores reiterates the respective cutoff CT scores proposed by the above systems, as 18 for SQ and 19.5 for CT-SS.

Conclusion

Both the SQ and CT-SS scores display excellent interobserver reliability. The CT-SS was more sensitive in detecting severe COVID pneumonia and may thus be preferred over the SQ as an initial radiological tool in predicting severity of infection.

High Performance of SARS-Cov-2N Protein Antigen Chemiluminescence Immunoassay as Frontline Testing for Acute Phase COVID-19 Diagnosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Objectives: COVID-19 emerged and rapidly spread throughout the world. Testing strategies focussing on patients with COVID-19 require assays that are high-throughput, low-risk of infection, and with small sample volumes. Antigen surveillance can be used to identify exposure to pathogens and measure acute infections. Methods: A total of 914 serum samples, collected from 309 currently infected COVID-19 patients, 48 recovered ones, and 410 non-COVID-19 patients, were used to measure N protein antigen levels by a chemilumineseent immunoassay. Diagnostic performances were analyzed in different periods after onset. Results: There was a high level of N protein antigen in COVID-19 patients (0.56 COI), comparing to the recovered patients (0.12 COI) and controls (0.19 COI). In receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, the area under the curve of serum N protein antigen was 0.911 in the first week after onset. In this period, Sensitivity and specificity of serologic N protein antigen testing was 76.27 and 98.78%. Diagnosis performance of specific antibodies became better from the third week after onset. Subgroup analysis suggested that severe patients had higher levels of antigens than mild patients. Conclusions: High level of serum antigen suggested early infection and serious illness. Serum N protein antigen testing by chemiluminescence immunoassay is considered as a viable assay used to improve diagnostic sensitivity for current patients.

Population-Based COVID-19 Screening in Mexico: Assessment of Symptoms and Their Weighting in Predicting SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Background and Objectives: Sentinel surveillance in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico represented a significant cost reduction and was useful in estimating the population infected with SARS-CoV-2. However, it also implied that many patients were not screened and therefore had no accurate diagnosis. In this study, we carried out a population-based SARS-CoV-2 screening in Mexico to evaluate the COVID-19-related symptoms and their weighting in predicting SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also discuss this data in the context of the operational definition of suspected cases of COVID-19 established by the Mexican Health Authority’s consensus. Materials and Methods: One thousand two hundred seventy-nine subjects were included. They were screened for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-PCR. The weighting of COVID-19 symptoms in predicting SARS-CoV-2 infection was evaluated statistically. Results: Three hundred and twenty-five patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 and 954 were negative. Fever, asthenia, dysgeusia, and oxygen saturation predicted SARS-CoV-2 infection (odds ratios ranged from 1.74 to 4.98; p < 0.05). The percentage of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients was 36% and only 38.15% met the Mexican operational definition. Cq-values for the gene N of SARS-CoV-2 were significantly higher in asymptomatic subjects than in the groups of COVID-19 patients with neurological, respiratory, and/or musculoskeletal manifestations (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Dysgeusia, fever, and asthenia increased the odds of a positive result for COVID-19 1.74–4.98-fold among the study population. Patients with neurological, respiratory, and/or musculoskeletal manifestations had higher viral loads at COVID-19 diagnosis than those observed in asymptomatic patients. A high percentage of the participants in the study (61.85%) did not meet the operational definition for a suspected case of COVID-19 established by the Mexican Health Authority’s consensus, representing a high percentage of the population that could have remained without a COVID-19 diagnosis, so becoming a potential source of virus spread.