1
|
Honda H, Takamatsu A, Miwa T, Tabuchi T, Nakamura H, Taniguchi K, Shibuya K, Tokuda Y. Association of Individual Behaviors With Infection Prevention Measures and COVID-19 Development: A Japanese Cross-Sectional Study. Asia Pac J Public Health 2024:10105395241245496. [PMID: 38600739 DOI: 10.1177/10105395241245496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people often modified their behaviors and performed individual infection control practices despite the uncertain effectiveness of these in preventing COVID-19. A cross-sectional study using a nationwide internet survey (Japan COVID-19 Society Internet Survey) was conducted from September 2022 through October 2022. The questionnaire consisted of individual-level social distancing behaviors and infection prevention measures, and COVID-19 vaccination status. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with the diagnosis of COVID-19 in the last 2 months of the survey date. In total, 19,296 respondents were selected for the primary analysis. Of 19,296 respondents, those with COVID-19 diagnosed in the last 2 months were 1,909 (9.9%). Factors independently associated with a recent history of COVID-19 were meeting colleagues in person ≧ 1 per week (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36-2.19, P < .001). The response of "never or rarely" to the question of taking out (ie, dining in) foods was marginally associated with a recent history of COVID-19 (aOR 1.27, 95% CI 0.99-1.63, P = .06). Most individual, infection prevention practices and behavioral modifications during the omicron variant phase of the pandemic did not substantially impact COVID-19 prevention in the community.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hitoshi Honda
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan
| | - Akane Takamatsu
- Graduate School of Public Health, St. Luke's International University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toshiki Miwa
- Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takahiro Tabuchi
- Cancer Control Center, Osaka International Cancer Institute, Osaka, Japan
- The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Haruyo Nakamura
- The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Tokyo, Japan
- Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kiyosu Taniguchi
- The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Tokyo, Japan
- National Hospital Organization, Mie Medical Center, Mie, Japan
| | - Kenji Shibuya
- The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yasuharu Tokuda
- The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research, Tokyo, Japan
- Muribushi Okinawa Center for Teaching Hospitals, Okinawa, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Malherbe JAJ, Boan P, Purtill D, Wright M, Cannell P, Gangatharan SA, Sidiqi H, Cooney J. COVID-19 outcomes in haemopoietic stem cell transplant recipients in Western Australia: the value of vaccination and antiviral therapy. Intern Med J 2024; 54:664-670. [PMID: 38572768 DOI: 10.1111/imj.16368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) mortality rates among haemopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients are high, ranging between 20% and 40%. We prospectively evaluated the mortality outcomes of COVID-19 in Western Australian HSCT patients. A total of 32/492 (6.5%) HSCT recipients contracted COVID-19 during the study, of whom 30/32 (94%) developed mild or asymptomatic disease. Two allogeneic HSCT patients were hospitalised for severe COVID-19; one patient died. Stringent healthcare, social isolation practices, aggressive vaccination programmes and rapid access to COVID-19 antivirals may have promoted mild COVID-19 illness in Western Australian HSCT patients, resulting in one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in HSCT recipients worldwide.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jacques A J Malherbe
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Peter Boan
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Duncan Purtill
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Matthew Wright
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Paul Cannell
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Shane A Gangatharan
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Hasib Sidiqi
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Julian Cooney
- Department of Haematology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ihongbe TO, Kim JEC, Dahlen H, Kranzler EC, Seserman K, Moffett K, Hoffman L. Trends in primary, booster, and updated COVID-19 vaccine readiness in the United States, January 2021-April 2023: Implications for 2023-2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines. Prev Med 2024; 180:107887. [PMID: 38325608 DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2024.107887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2023] [Revised: 02/03/2024] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE COVID-19 vaccines have mitigated the severity of COVID-19 and its sequelae. The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants and waning immunity conferred by COVID-19 vaccination have necessitated booster and updated COVID-19 vaccines. This study examined trends in vaccine readiness-a composite measure of intention and uptake-for the primary, booster, and 2022-2023 updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines among U.S. adults. METHODS Data from the nationally-representative U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' COVID-19 Monthly Outcome Survey from January 2021 to April 2023 were analyzed (N = 140,180). We conducted pairwise comparisons (weighted t-tests) to assess for significant between-month differences in the proportion of participants in each vaccine-readiness category (vaccine ready, wait and see, and no vaccine intention) for the following outcomes: (1) primary; (2) booster; and (3) updated COVID-19 vaccine readiness. RESULTS From January 2021 to April 2023, significant increases in the primary vaccine ready group were accompanied by decreases in the wait and see and no vaccine intention groups (p < 0.001). From January to September 2022, the no booster intention group notably increased (p < 0.001), whereas the booster ready group decreased (p < 0.001), and the wait and see group remained stable (p = 0.116). From October 2022 to April 2023, the no updated vaccine intention group increased (p < 0.001), the wait and see group decreased (p < 0.01), and the updated vaccine ready group remained unchanged (p = 0.357). CONCLUSIONS Findings show decreased vaccine readiness for the booster and 2022-2023 updated (bivalent) COVID-19 vaccines relative to the primary COVID-19 vaccines. Implications for the 2023-2024 updated COVID-19 vaccines are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Leah Hoffman
- Fors Marsh, Arlington, VA, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Keskin S, Emecen AN, Ergör A. Infection Risk Prediction in Healthcare Settings: Lessons from COVID-19 Contact Tracing. Infect Dis Clin Microbiol 2024; 6:44-54. [PMID: 38633443 PMCID: PMC11019727 DOI: 10.36519/idcm.2024.315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Objective Contact tracing aids epidemic control by enabling early detection and isolation without overburdening healthcare systems despite potential challenges. This study aimed to evaluate the practical application of contact and risk assessment-based models in predicting SARS-CoV-2 infection following exposure among healthcare workers in a large tertiary public university hospital in Türkiye. Materials and Methods The study was designed as a retrospective cohort study, including contact tracing data from 3389 exposed healthcare workers from March 23, 2020, to October 22, 2021. Contact-based (mask use, contact duration and distance) and exposure risk-assessment-based (low, medium, high-risk) models with and without having symptoms were generated using logistic regression. SARS-CoV-2 infection was defined as having a positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test result. Adjustments were made to the models for demographic and occupational variables, previous infection, and vaccination. Model parameters were compared. Results Of 3389 exposed healthcare workers, 2451 underwent RT-PCR testing. Among those tested, RT-PCR positivity was 5.9% (144/2451). Lack of personal protective equipment use (odds ratio [OR]=1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.03-2.66) and ≥15 minutes of contact duration (1.89, 1.21-3.09) were significantly associated with RT-PCR positivity. In the risk-assessment model, being a high-risk contact increased the odds of RT-PCR positivity (OR=2.76, 95% CI=1.61-5.03). Adding the presence of symptoms to contact-based and risk assessment models improved model parameters (Akaike information criterion [AIC]: from 1086.1 to 1083.1; Tjur's R2: from 0.016 to 0.019, respectively). Conclusion The inclusion of being symptomatic improved the contact-based and risk assessment-based models. Institutions should be encouraged to incorporate symptom inquiries into risk assessment protocols in response to newly emerging respiratory virus epidemics. Institutions lacking the capacity for extensive contact tracing are recommended, at minimum, to track symptomatic exposed workers for epidemic control.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Salih Keskin
- Department of Public Health, Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, İzmir, Türkiye
| | - Ahmet Naci Emecen
- Dokuz Eylül University Research and Application Hospital, İzmir, Türkiye
| | - Alp Ergör
- Department of Public Health, Dokuz Eylül University School of Medicine, İzmir, Türkiye
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Enright C, Gilbourne C, Kiersey R, Parlour R, Flanagan P, McGowan E, Boland M, Mulholland D. Efficacy of facemasks in preventing transmission of COVID-19 in non-healthcare settings: A scoping review. J Infect Prev 2024; 25:24-32. [PMID: 38362115 PMCID: PMC10866118 DOI: 10.1177/17571774231203387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, an abundance of literature relating to the efficacy of face masks on reducing transmission of COVID-19 in non-healthcare settings emerged. Aim/objective The aim of this scoping review was to allow the identification of: types of evidence conducted in this area; knowledge gaps and common concepts relating to mask efficacy in non-healthcare settings. Methods A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase and the Irish Management Institute bibliographic database on December 15th, 2021. All types of face masks were included. Of 722 records, 16 were included after full text screening. Findings/results Themes from an adapted model of Howard et al. framework were used to group results and identify common concepts. The grouped thematic results were then applied to the socio-ecological model. This illustrated the multifactorial elements determining the efficacy of masks themselves while also illustrating how other factors such as individual behaviours, social interactions, settings and national policy can influence the degree of the protective effect. Discussion The findings from this scoping review indicate that an abundance of experimental literature is available indicating that masks are effective at preventing COVID-19 transmission but their degree of efficacy is impacted by external factors. This review highlights that the quality of the evidence available is low.
Collapse
|
6
|
Veltri GA, Steinert JI, Sternberg H, Galizzi MM, Fasolo B, Kourtidis P, Büthe T, Gaskell G. Assessing the perceived effect of non-pharmaceutical interventions on SARS-Cov-2 transmission risk: an experimental study in Europe. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4857. [PMID: 38418636 PMCID: PMC10902314 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55447-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
We conduct a large (N = 6567) online experiment to measure the features of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that citizens of six European countries perceive to lower the risk of transmission of SARS-Cov-2 the most. We collected data in Bulgaria (n = 1069), France (n = 1108), Poland (n = 1104), Italy (n = 1087), Spain (n = 1102) and Sweden (n = 1097). Based on the features of the most widely adopted public health guidelines to reduce SARS-Cov-2 transmission (mask wearing vs not, outdoor vs indoor contact, short vs 90 min meetings, few vs many people present, and physical distancing of 1 or 2 m), we conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to estimate the public's perceived risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in scenarios that presented mutually exclusive constellations of these features. Our findings indicate that participants' perception of transmission risk was most influenced by the NPI attributes of mask-wearing and outdoor meetings and the least by NPI attributes that focus on physical distancing, meeting duration, and meeting size. Differentiating by country, gender, age, cognitive style (reflective or intuitive), and perceived freight of COVID-19 moreover allowed us to identify important differences between subgroups. Our findings highlight the importance of improving health policy communication and citizens' health literacy about the design of NPIs and the transmission risk of SARS-Cov-2 and potentially future viruses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Janina Isabel Steinert
- TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Henrike Sternberg
- TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Management, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Munich School of Politics and Public Policy & TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Management, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Matteo M Galizzi
- Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and LSE Behavioural Lab, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
| | - Barbara Fasolo
- Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
| | - Ploutarchos Kourtidis
- Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and LSE Behavioural Lab, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
| | - Tim Büthe
- TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology & TUM School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, USA
| | - George Gaskell
- Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science and LSE Behavioural Lab, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
- Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Givon-Benjio N, Sokolover H, Aderka IM, Hadad BS, Okon-Singer H. Perception of interpersonal distance and social distancing before and during COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4568. [PMID: 38403693 PMCID: PMC10894866 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55218-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Since COVID-19 is easily transmitted among people in close physical proximity, the focus of epidemiological policy during the COVID-19 crisis included major restrictions on interpersonal distance. However, the way in which distance restrictions affected spatial perception is unclear. In the current study, we examined interpersonal distance preferences and perceptions at three time points: pre-pandemic, early post-pandemic, and late post-pandemic. The results indicate that following the pandemic outbreak, people perceived others as farther away than they actually were, suggesting that the distance restrictions were associated with an enlargement of perceived interpersonal distance. Interestingly, however, people maintained the same distance from one another as before the outbreak, indicating no change in actual distance behavior due to the risk of infection. These findings suggest that COVID-19 was associated with a change in the way distance is perceived, while in practice, people maintain the same distance as before. In contrast, COVID-related anxiety predicted both a preference for maintaining a greater distance and a bias toward underestimating perceived distance from others. Thus, individuals who were highly fearful of COVID-19 perceived other people to be closer than they actually were and preferred to maintain a larger distance from them. The results suggest that subjective risk can lead to an increased perception of danger and a subsequent change in behavior. Taken together, even when behaviors should logically change, the decision-making process can be based on distorted perceptions. This insight may be used to predict public compliance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nur Givon-Benjio
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
| | - Hili Sokolover
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Idan M Aderka
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Bat-Sheva Hadad
- Department of Special Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Hadas Okon-Singer
- School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
- The Integrated Brain and Behavior Center (IBBRC), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Yoon H, Jang Y, Lapinski MK, Turner MM, Peng TQ, Lee S. The Role of Collective Group Orientation and Social Norms on Physical Distancing Behaviors for Disease Prevention. Health Commun 2024:1-14. [PMID: 38225888 DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2024.2303826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
To reduce the impact of communicable diseases like COVID-19, collective action is required and likely to be susceptible to normative influence as well as whether people are more or less collectively oriented. We extend the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB) to account for group orientation and predict the relationships between social norms and physical distancing behaviors. Using a rolling cross-sectional design during 17 weeks of the pandemic, a national sample of US residents from 20 states (N = 8,778) participated in the study. The findings show that perceived descriptive norms, injunctive norms, and group orientation are significantly associated with physical distancing. The descriptive norm-behavior relationship and injunctive norm-behavior relationship are moderated by group orientation and the other predicted moderators in the TNSB. The findings extend the TNSB and highlight the need to understand social norms and group orientation in formative research for health communication campaigns designed to promote prevention behaviors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hyungro Yoon
- Department of Communication, Michigan State University
| | - Youjin Jang
- Lineberger Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
| | | | | | - Tai-Quan Peng
- Department of Communication, Michigan State University
| | - Sanguk Lee
- Department of Communication Studies, Texas Christian University
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Zhang H, Zhou J, Chen H, Mao J, Tang Y, Yan W, Zhang T, Li C, Chen S, Li G, Zhang G, Ding Y, Liu L. Phase I study, and dosing regimen selection for a pivotal COVID-19 trial of GST-HG171. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2024; 68:e0111523. [PMID: 38099673 PMCID: PMC10777829 DOI: 10.1128/aac.01115-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024] Open
Abstract
This study is aimed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics (PK), as well as to select an appropriate dosing regimen for the pivotal clinical trial of GST-HG171, an orally bioavailable, potent, and selective 3CL protease inhibitor by a randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled phase I trial in healthy subjects. We conducted a Ph1 study involving 78 healthy subjects to assess the safety, tolerability, and PK of single ascending doses (150-900 mg) as well as multiple ascending doses (MADs) (150 and 300 mg) of GST-HG171. Additionally, we examined the food effect and drug-drug interaction of GST-HG171 in combination with ritonavir through a MAD regimen of GST-HG171/ritonavir (BID or TID) for 5 days. Throughout the course of these studies, no serious AEs or deaths occurred, and no AEs necessitated study discontinuation. We observed that food had no significant impact on the exposure of GST-HG171. However, the presence of ritonavir substantially increased the exposure of GST-HG171, which facilitated the selection of the GST-HG171/ritonavir dose and regimen (150/100 mg BID) for subsequent phase II/III trials. The selected dose regimen was achieved through concentrations continuously at 6.2-9.9-fold above the levels required for protein-binding adjusted 50% inhibition (IC50) of viral replication in vitro. The combination of 150 mg GST-HG171/100 mg ritonavir demonstrated favorable safety and tolerability profiles. The PK data obtained from GST-HG171/ritonavir administration guided the selection of appropriate dose for a pivotal phase II/III trial currently in progress. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT05668897).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hong Zhang
- 1 Phase I Clinical Research Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Jing Zhou
- 1 Phase I Clinical Research Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Hong Chen
- 1 Phase I Clinical Research Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - John Mao
- Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Yanan Tang
- Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Wenhao Yan
- Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Tianxiang Zhang
- Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Chuanjing Li
- Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Shikui Chen
- Fujian Cosunter Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Guoping Li
- Fujian Cosunter Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - George Zhang
- Fujian Akeylink Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Fuzhou, Fujian, China
| | - Yanhua Ding
- 1 Phase I Clinical Research Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Li Liu
- Department of Pediatrics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Chai D, El Mossadeq L, Raymond M, Courtier-Orgogozo V. Recommended distances for physical distancing during COVID-19 pandemics reveal cultural connections between countries. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289998. [PMID: 38100502 PMCID: PMC10723704 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
During COVID-19 pandemic several public health measures were implemented by diverse countries to reduce the risk of COVID-19, including social distancing. Here we collected the minimal distance recommended by each country for physical distancing at the onset of the pandemic and aimed to examine whether it had an impact on the outbreak dynamics and how this specific value was chosen. Despite an absence of data on SARS-CoV-2 viral transmission at the beginning of the pandemic, we found that most countries recommended physical distancing with a precise minimal distance, between one meter/three feet and two meters/six feet. 45% of the countries advised one meter/three feet and 49% advised a higher minimal distance. The recommended minimal distance did not show a clear correlation with reproduction rate nor with the number of new cases per million, suggesting that the overall COVID-19 dynamics in each country depended on multiple interacting factors. Interestingly, the recommended minimal distance correlated with several cultural parameters: it was higher in countries with larger interpersonal distance between two interacting individuals in non-epidemic conditions, and it correlated with civil law systems, and with currency. This suggests that countries which share common conceptions such as civil law systems and currency unions tend to adopt the same public health measures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dongwoo Chai
- Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Paris, France
| | | | - Michel Raymond
- ISEM, University Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Elgersma IH, Fretheim A, Elstrøm P, Aavitsland P. Association between face mask use and risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection: Cross-sectional study. Epidemiol Infect 2023; 151:e194. [PMID: 37952983 PMCID: PMC10728967 DOI: 10.1017/s0950268823001826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 11/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
We examined the association between face masks and risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 using cross-sectional data from 3,209 participants in a randomized trial exploring the effectiveness of glasses in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Face mask use was based on participants' response to the end-of-follow-up survey. We found that the incidence of self-reported COVID-19 was 33% (aRR 1.33; 95% CI 1.03-1.72) higher in those wearing face masks often or sometimes, and 40% (aRR 1.40; 95% CI 1.08-1.82) higher in those wearing face masks almost always or always, compared to participants who reported wearing face masks never or almost never. We believe the observed increase in the incidence of infection associated with wearing a face mask is likely due to unobservable and hence nonadjustable differences between those wearing and not wearing a mask. Observational studies reporting on the relationship between face mask use and risk of respiratory infections should be interpreted cautiously, and more randomized trials are needed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ingeborg Hess Elgersma
- Centre for Epidemic Intervention Research, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Atle Fretheim
- Centre for Epidemic Intervention Research, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway
| | - Petter Elstrøm
- Centre for Epidemic Intervention Research, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Preben Aavitsland
- Division of Infection Control, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
- Pandemic Centre, Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Miguez FGG, Oliveira G, Enriquez-Martinez OG, Fonseca MDJMD, Griep RH, Barreto SM, Molina MDCB. [Factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors in ELSA-Brasil participants]. CAD SAUDE PUBLICA 2023; 39:e00188322. [PMID: 37820234 PMCID: PMC10566559 DOI: 10.1590/0102-311xpt188322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of the study is to assess the adherence to recommended prevention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic and to investigate the factors associated with this adherence in the adult population. This study has a cross-sectional design and used data from the complementary study Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) - COVID, conducted from 2020 to 2021. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test and multinomial logistic regression. The sample consisted of 5,440 participants. The preventive measure with the highest adherence was the use of a face mask (95.5%). There was greater adherence by females and lower chance of adherence by white people, by those who consume alcoholic beverages, people who were retired, as well as for those who live alone or who have family members who did not follow the recommendations to stay at home. Greater adherence to preventive behaviors was observed in only one third of the participating population, which demonstrates that there was a need for greater awareness of the risks in specific populations. The findings contribute to improving our understanding about health promotion and COVID-19 prevention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Sandhi Maria Barreto
- Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brasil
| | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Judson TJ, Zhang S, Lindan CP, Boothroyd D, Grumbach K, Bollyky JB, Sample HA, Huang B, Desai M, Gonzales R, Maldonado Y, Rutherford G. Association of protective behaviors with SARS-CoV-2 infection: results from a longitudinal cohort study of adults in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ann Epidemiol 2023; 86:1-7. [PMID: 37524216 DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2023.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE In an effort to decrease transmission during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials encouraged masking, social distancing, and working from home, and restricted travel. However, many studies of the effectiveness of these measures had significant methodologic limitations. In this analysis, we used data from the TrackCOVID study, a longitudinal cohort study of a population-based sample of 3846 adults in the San Francisco Bay Area, to evaluate the association between self-reported protective behaviors and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. METHODS Participants without SARS-CoV2 infection were enrolled from August to December 2020 and followed monthly with testing and surveys (median of four visits). RESULTS A total of 118 incident infections occurred (3.0% of participants). At baseline, 80.0% reported always wearing a mask; 56.0% avoided contact with nonhousehold members some/most of the time; 9.6% traveled outside the state; and 16.0% worked 20 or more hours per week outside the home. Factors associated with incident infection included being Black or Latinx, having less than a college education, and having more household residents. The only behavioral factor associated with incident infection was working outside the home (adjusted hazard ratio 1.62, 95% confidence interval 1.02-2.59). CONCLUSIONS Focusing on protecting people who cannot work from home could help prevent infections during future waves of COVID-19, or future pandemics from respiratory viruses. This focus must be balanced with the known importance of directing resources toward those at risk of severe infections.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy J Judson
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco.
| | - Shiqi Zhang
- Quantitative Sciences Unit, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
| | - Christina P Lindan
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Derek Boothroyd
- Quantitative Sciences Unit, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
| | - Kevin Grumbach
- Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Jennifer B Bollyky
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - Hannah A Sample
- David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles
| | - Beatrice Huang
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Manisha Desai
- Quantitative Sciences Unit, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
| | - Ralph Gonzales
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Yvonne Maldonado
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA; Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
| | - George Rutherford
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Du W, Jia YJ, Hu FH, Ge MW, Cheng YJ, Qu X, Chen HL. Prevalence of suicidal ideation and correlated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis of 113 studies from 31 countries. J Psychiatr Res 2023; 166:147-168. [PMID: 37774666 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.07.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of suicidal ideation and correlated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Web of Science (WOS) and PubMed were searched according to a pre-set strategy. A total of 132 studies were identified, 104 of which were included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was approximately 14.7% (95%CI: 12.5%, 16.8%, P < 0.01) in the general population, approximately 22.4% (95%CI: 17.1%, 27.8%, P < 0.01)in adolescents, approximately 21.0% (95%CI: 12.8%, 29.2%, P < 0.01) in psychiatric patients, approximately 20.6% (95%CI: 18.7%, 22.5%, P < 0.01)in university students, approximately 18.9% (95%CI: 8.3%, 29.5%, P < 0.01) in younger adults, approximately 10.6% (95%CI: 1.0%, 20.2%, P = 0.031) in COVID-19 patients and approximately 7.4% (95%CI: 4.3%, 10.5%, P < 0.01) in healthcare workers. The prevalence in North America was approximately 16.0% (95%CI: 13.6%-18.4%, P < 0.001), approximately 14.5% in Asia (95%CI: 9.5%-19.4%, P < 0.001), approximately 10.5% in Europe (95%CI: 8.5%-12.4%, P < 0.001), and approximately 20.5% in South America (95%CI: 19.5%-21.5%, P < 0.001). The following were risk factors which might be correlated with suicidal ideation: severe anxiety symptoms, mild to moderate depression, a strong feeling of loneliness/social isolation, poor sleep quality, having COVID-19-related experience, having quarantine or lockdown experience, being female, being single or divorced, having financial problems and having a history of suicidal ideation/attempt. This article reports the prevalence of suicidal ideation and discussing potential risk factors during the pandemic among general population and vulnerable groups. Early detection and follow-up were necessary for the noteworthy population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Du
- Nantong University Medical School, PR China
| | - Yi Jie Jia
- Nantong University Medical School, PR China
| | | | | | | | - Xin Qu
- School of Medicine, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, PR China
| | - Hong Lin Chen
- School of Medicine, Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, PR China.
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Li LX, Nissly RH, Swaminathan A, Bird IM, Boyle NR, Nair MS, Greenawalt DI, Gontu A, Cavener VS, Sornberger T, Freihaut JD, Kuchipudi SV, Bahnfleth WP. Inactivation of HCoV-NL63 and SARS-CoV-2 in aqueous solution by 254 nm UV-C. J Photochem Photobiol B 2023; 245:112755. [PMID: 37423001 DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2023.112755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a highly effective means of inactivating many bacteria, viruses, and fungi. UVGI is an attractive viral mitigation strategy against coronaviruses, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This investigation measures the susceptibility of two human coronaviruses to inactivation by 254 nm UV-C radiation. Human coronavirus NL63 and SARS-CoV-2 were irradiated in a collimated, dual-beam, aqueous UV reactor. By measuring fluence and integrating it in real-time, this reactor accounts for the lamp output transients during UVGI exposures. The inactivation rate constants of a one-stage exponential decay model were determined to be 2.050 cm2/mJ and 2.098 cm2/mJ for the NL63 and SARS-CoV-2 viruses, respectively. The inactivation rate constant for SARS-CoV-2 is within 2% of that of NL63, indicating that in identical inactivation environments, very similar UV 254 nm deactivation susceptibilities for these two coronaviruses would be achieved. Given the inactivation rate constant obtained in this study, doses of 1.1 mJ/cm2, 2.2 mJ/cm2, and 3.3 mJ/cm2 would result in a 90%, 99%, and 99.9% inactivation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, respectively. The inactivation rate constant obtained in this study is significantly higher than values reported from many 254 nm studies, which suggests greater UV susceptibility to the UV-C than what was believed. Overall, results from this study indicate that 254 nm UV-C is effective for inactivation of human coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lily X Li
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Architectural Engineering, 104 Engineering Unit A, University Park, PA, 16802, United States of America
| | - Ruth H Nissly
- Pennsylvania State University, Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - Anand Swaminathan
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Architectural Engineering, 104 Engineering Unit A, University Park, PA, 16802, United States of America
| | - Ian M Bird
- Pennsylvania State University, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - Nina R Boyle
- Pennsylvania State University, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - Meera Surendran Nair
- Pennsylvania State University, Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - Denver I Greenawalt
- Pennsylvania State University, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - Abhinay Gontu
- Pennsylvania State University, Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - Victoria S Cavener
- Pennsylvania State University, Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - Ty Sornberger
- Pennsylvania State University, Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America
| | - James D Freihaut
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Architectural Engineering, 104 Engineering Unit A, University Park, PA, 16802, United States of America.
| | - Suresh V Kuchipudi
- Pennsylvania State University, Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America; Pennsylvania State University, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, University Park, PA 16802, United States of America.
| | - William P Bahnfleth
- Pennsylvania State University, Department of Architectural Engineering, 104 Engineering Unit A, University Park, PA, 16802, United States of America.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Chisale MRO, Sinyiza FW, Kaseka PU, Chimbatata CS, Mbakaya BC, Wu TSJ, Nyambalo BW, Chauma-Mwale A, Chilima B, Yu KLJ, Kayira AB. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Reinfection Rates in Malawi: A Possible Tool to Guide Vaccine Prioritisation and Immunisation Policies. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1185. [PMID: 37515002 PMCID: PMC10383452 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11071185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
As the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic continues, reports indicate that the global vaccination rate is still far below the target. Understanding the levels of reinfection may help refocus and inform policymakers on vaccination. This retrospective study in Malawi included individuals and patients who tested for COVID-19 infections via reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) from the data at the Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM). We included all data in the national line list from April 2020 to March 2022. Upon review of 47,032 records, 45,486 were included with a reported 82 (0.18) reinfection representing a rate of 0.55 (95% CI: 0.44-0.68) per 100,000 person-days of follow-up. Most reinfections occurred in the first 90 to 200 days following the initial infection, and the median time to reinfection was 175 days (IQR: 150-314), with a range of 90-563 days. The risk of reinfection was highest in the immediate 3 to 6 months following the initial infection and declined substantially after that, and age demonstrated a significant association with reinfection. Estimating the burden of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections, a specific endurance of the immunity naturally gained, and the role played by risk factors in reinfections is relevant for identifying strategies to prioritise vaccination.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Master R O Chisale
- Faculty of Sciences, Technology and Innovations, Biological Sciences, Mzuzu University, P/Bag 201 Luwinga, Mzuzu, Malawi
- Research Department, Luke International, Mzuzu P.O. Box 1088, Malawi
| | | | - Paul Uchizi Kaseka
- Mzuzu Central Hospital, Ministry of Health, P/Bag 209 Luwinga, Mzuzu, Malawi
| | | | | | - Tsung-Shu Joseph Wu
- Research Department, Luke International, Mzuzu P.O. Box 1088, Malawi
- Overseas Department, Pingtung Christian Hospital, No. 60, Da-lien Rd., Pingtung City 900, Taiwan
| | | | - Annie Chauma-Mwale
- Public Health Institute of Malawi, Ministry of Health, Lilongwe 00265, Malawi
| | - Ben Chilima
- Public Health Institute of Malawi, Ministry of Health, Lilongwe 00265, Malawi
| | - Kwong-Leung Joseph Yu
- Research Department, Luke International, Mzuzu P.O. Box 1088, Malawi
- Overseas Department, Pingtung Christian Hospital, No. 60, Da-lien Rd., Pingtung City 900, Taiwan
| | | |
Collapse
|
17
|
Wang J, Xie Q, Song H, Chen X, Zhang X, Zhao X, Hao Y, Zhang Y, Li H, Li N, Fan K, Wang X. Utilizing nanozymes for combating COVID-19: advancements in diagnostics, treatments, and preventative measures. J Nanobiotechnology 2023; 21:200. [PMID: 37344839 DOI: 10.1186/s12951-023-01945-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses significant challenges to global public health. Despite the extensive efforts of researchers worldwide, there remains considerable opportunities for improvement in timely diagnosis, specific treatment, and effective vaccines for SARS-CoV-2. This is due, in part, to the large number of asymptomatic carriers, rapid virus mutations, inconsistent confinement policies, untimely diagnosis and limited clear treatment plans. The emerging of nanozymes offers a promising approach for combating SARS-CoV-2 due to their stable physicochemical properties and high surface areas, which enable easier and multiple nano-bio interactions in vivo. Nanozymes inspire the development of sensitive and economic nanosensors for rapid detection, facilitate the development of specific medicines with minimal side effects for targeted therapy, trigger defensive mechanisms in the form of vaccines, and eliminate SARS-CoV-2 in the environment for prevention. In this review, we briefly present the limitations of existing countermeasures against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We then reviewed the applications of nanozyme-based platforms in the fields of diagnostics, therapeutics and the prevention in COVID-19. Finally, we propose opportunities and challenges for the further development of nanozyme-based platforms for COVID-19. We expect that our review will provide valuable insights into the new emerging and re-emerging infectious pandemic from the perspective of nanozymes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jia Wang
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Qingpeng Xie
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Haoyue Song
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Xiaohang Chen
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Xiaoxuan Zhang
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Xiangyu Zhao
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Yujia Hao
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Yuan Zhang
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Huifei Li
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Na Li
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China
| | - Kelong Fan
- CAS Engineering Laboratory for Nanozyme, Key Laboratory of Protein and Peptide Pharmaceutical, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
| | - Xing Wang
- Shanxi Medical University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Taiyuan, 030001, China.
- Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Prevention and New Materials, Taiyuan, 030001, China.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Yamamura O, Onishi H, Sakamaki I, Fujita R, Miyashita H, Iwasaki H. Infection rate among close contacts of patients with coronavirus disease in Japan: a descriptive study and literature review. ASIAN BIOMED 2023; 17:115-123. [PMID: 37818161 PMCID: PMC10561678 DOI: 10.2478/abm-2023-0051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/12/2023]
Abstract
Background In Japan, on April 20, 2020, the definition of a close contact regarding coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was changed from a long-term contact time to a specified contact time of 15 min and from a contact distance of 2 m to 1 m. Objectives We aimed to determine the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rate among close contacts of patients with COVID-19 and determine the impact of the infection on transmission among close contacts. Methods The numbers of SARS-CoV-2 tests, SARS-CoV-2-positive cases, and close contacts of patients with COVID-19 were assessed between March 2020 and February 2021 in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The study period was subdivided into 3 periods. The second and third period contained data with the changed definition of close contact. Results Overall, 32,238 SARS-CoV-2 tests were performed. There were 545 patients with COVID-19 and 1487 close contacts, of whom 267 tested positive. The highest infection rate occurred in period 3. Distance, protective measures, and contact time with COVID-19 patients influenced the increased infection rate. The infection rate showed a rising trend from 11.1% in period 1 to 19.2% and 20.0% in periods 2 and 3, respectively (Cochran-Armitage test; P < 0.004). Multivariate analysis revealed that female sex was an independent risk factor for infection of close contacts (odds ratio: 2.23; 95% confidence interval: 1.700-2.930). Conclusions Female sex is a risk factor for transmission by close contacts. The rate of infection among close contacts may be associated with contact time, contact distance, and protective measures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Osamu Yamamura
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui910-1193, Japan
| | - Hidenori Onishi
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui910-1193, Japan
| | - Ippei Sakamaki
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui910-1193, Japan
| | - Ryousuke Fujita
- Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medical Science, University of Fukui, Fukui910-1193, Japan
| | - Hirofumi Miyashita
- Department of Health and Welfare, Fukui Prefecture, Fukui910-8580, Japan
| | - Hiromichi Iwasaki
- Department of Infection Prevention and Control, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui910-1193, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Couture MC, Walicek L, L'Engle KL, Regan AK. High engagement in nonpharmaceutical interventions and their associations with reduced COVID-19 among US college students. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:971. [PMID: 37237362 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-15916-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nonpharmaceutical interventions, including face mask-wearing, physical distancing, and avoidance of crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, have been widely recommended to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2. To date, there is little data available on engagement in nonpharmaceutical interventions and COVID-19 in college students. Using a large sample of college students, we estimate the prevalence of engagement in mask-wearing, physical distancing, and avoidance of crowds/poorly ventilated spaces and their associations with COVID-19. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted (February-March 2021) using a college-wide online survey among students (n = 2,132) in California. Multiple modified poisson regression models assessed associations between mask-wearing indoors, physical distancing (both indoors or public settings/outdoors), avoidance of crowds/poorly ventilated spaces and COVID-19, controlling for potential confounders. RESULTS Fourteen percent (14.4%) reported a previous COVID-19 illness. Most students reported wearing masks consistently indoors (58%), and 78% avoided crowds/poorly ventilated spaces. About half (50%) reported consistent physical distancing in public settings/outdoor and 45% indoors. Wearing a mask indoors was associated with 26% lower risk of COVID-19 disease (RR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.60,0.92). Physical distancing indoors and in public settings/outdoors was associated with a 30% (RR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.56,0.88) and 28% (RR = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.58,0.90) decrease risk of COVID-19, respectively. No association was observed with avoidance of crowds/poorly ventilated spaces. The risk of COVID-19 declined as the number of preventive behaviors a student engaged in increased. Compared to those who did not engage in any preventive behaviors (consistently), students who consistently engaged in one behavior had a 25% lower risk (RR = 0.75; 95% CI: 0.53,1.06), those who engaged in two behaviors had 26% lower risk (RR = 0.74; 95% CI: 0.53,1.03), those who engaged in three behaviors had 51% lower risk (RR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.33,0.74), and those who consistently engaged in all four behaviors had 45% lower risk of COVID-19 (RR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.40,0.78). CONCLUSIONS Wearing face masks and physical distancing were both associated with a lower risk of COVID-19. Students who engaged in more nonpharmaceutical interventions were less likely to report COVID-19. Our findings support guidelines promoting mask-wearing and physical distancing to limit the spread of COVID-19 on campuses and the surrounding communities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Claude Couture
- School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton St, San Francisco, CA, 94117, USA.
| | - Lindsey Walicek
- School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton St, San Francisco, CA, 94117, USA
| | - Kelly L L'Engle
- School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton St, San Francisco, CA, 94117, USA
| | - Annette K Regan
- School of Nursing and Health Professions, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton St, San Francisco, CA, 94117, USA
- Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Zhao P, Wang R, Xiang J, Zhang J, Wu X, Chen C, Liu G. Antibacterial, antiviral, and biodegradable collagen network mask for effective particulate removal and wireless breath monitoring. J Hazard Mater 2023; 456:131654. [PMID: 37236103 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Functional face masks that can effectively remove particulate matter and pathogens are critical to addressing the urgent health needs arising from industrial air pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most commercial masks are manufactured by tedious and complicated network-forming procedures (e.g., meltblowing and electrospinning). In addition, the materials used (e.g., polypropylene) have significant limitations such as a lack of pathogen inactivation and degradability, which can cause secondary infection and serious environmental concerns if discarded. Here, we present a facile and straightforward method for creating biodegradable and self-disinfecting masks based on collagen fiber networks. These masks not only provide superior protection against a wide range of hazardous substances in polluted air, but also address environmental concerns associated with waste disposal. Importantly, collagen fiber networks with naturally existing hierarchical microporous structures can be easily modified by tannic acid to improve its mechanical characteristics and enable the in situ production of silver nanoparticles. The resulting masks exhibit excellent antibacterial (>99.99%, 15 min) and antiviral (>99.999%, 15 min) capabilities, as well as high PM2.5 removal efficiency (>99.9%, 30 s). We further demonstrate the integration of the mask into a wireless platform for respiratory monitoring. Therefore, the smart mask has enormous promise for combating air pollution and contagious viruses, managing personal health, and alleviating waste issues caused by commercial masks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peng Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Rui Wang
- Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Jun Xiang
- Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Jinwei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Xiaodong Wu
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
| | - Chaojian Chen
- Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
| | - Gongyan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Leather Chemistry and Engineering of Ministry of Education, College of Biomass Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Jalali M, Moradi V, Babaee T, Aminian G, Mojgani P, Shahabi S. Online education for prosthetics and orthotics students in the era of COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: challenges, opportunities, and recommendations. BMC Med Educ 2023; 23:342. [PMID: 37194002 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-023-04339-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, many higher education programs in Iran, including prosthetics and orthotics (P&O), had to shift to the online environment all at once. This unanticipated transition was challenging for the educational system. However, online education is superior in some aspects to conventional methods, and this situation may offer opportunities. This study was carried out from September 2021 to March 2022 to investigate the challenges and opportunities of online education in the P&O sector in Iran based on the opinions of students and faculty members. Relevant recommendations will also be discussed. METHODS In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted in both oral and written formats. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to recruit undergraduate and postgraduate P&O students, as well as P&O faculty members, for this qualitative study. The data gathered from interviews with study participants were analyzed by thematic analysis. RESULTS Based on the data analysis, many sub-themes of the three main themes were recognized: (1) challenges: technical, socioeconomic, environmental distractors, supervision and evaluation, workload, digital competence, interactions, motivation, sessions-related issues, class time, hands-on and clinical training; (2) opportunities: technological innovations, infrastructure development, flexible learning environment, student-centered learning, availability of contents, time and cost saving, high concentration, more self-confidence; (3) recommendations: technical infrastructure, team dynamics, hybrid courses, time management, awareness. CONCLUSION Online education of P&O during the era of the COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by a series of challenges. Technical issues and the gravity of hands-on training in this field were significant challenges. This era, however, provided the opportunity to facilitate the establishment of needed infrastructure and support technological innovations for online education. Considering hybrid (mixed online and on-site) courses was recommended to improve the quality of learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Jalali
- Center for Educational Research in Medical Sciences (CERM), Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Rehabilitation Research Center, Department of Orthotics and Prosthetics, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Vahideh Moradi
- Iran-Helal Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, Tehran, Iran
- Research Center for Emergency and Disaster Resilience, Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Taher Babaee
- Rehabilitation Research Center, Department of Orthotics and Prosthetics, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Gholamreza Aminian
- Department of Orthotics and Prosthetics, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Parviz Mojgani
- Iran-Helal Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, Tehran, Iran
- Research Center for Emergency and Disaster Resilience, Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Saeed Shahabi
- Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Wu X, Lu Y, Jiang B. Built environment factors moderate pandemic fatigue in social distance during the COVID-19 pandemic: A nationwide longitudinal study in the United States. Landsc Urban Plan 2023; 233:104690. [PMID: 36687504 PMCID: PMC9842632 DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2023.104690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) remain some of the most effective measures for coping with the ever-changing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Pandemic fatigue, which manifests as the declined willingness to follow the recommended protective behaviors (e.g., keeping social distance policies, wearing masks), has commanded increasing attention from researchers and policymakers after the prolonged NPIs and COVID-19 worldwide. However, long-term changes in pandemic fatigue are not well understood, especially amidst the ever-changing pandemic landscape. Built environment factors have been shown to positively affect mental and physical health, but it is still unclear whether built environments can moderate pandemic fatigue. In this study, we used Google mobility data to investigate longitudinal trends of pandemic fatigue in social distance since the onset of NPIs enforcement in the United States. The results indicated that pandemic fatigue continuously worsened over nearly two years of NPIs implementation, and a sharp increase occurred after the vaccination program began. Additionally, we detected a significant moderation effect of greenspace and urbanicity levels on pandemic fatigue. People living in areas with high levels of greenness or urbanicity experienced lower levels of pandemic fatigue. These findings not only shed new light on the effects of greenness and urbanicity on COVID-19 pandemic fatigue, but also provide evidence for developing more tailored and effective strategies to cope with pandemic fatigue.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xueying Wu
- Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Bin Jiang
- Urban Environments and Human Health Lab, HKUrbanLabs, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
- Division of Landscape Architecture, Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Shi S, Si Y, Li Z, Meng S, Zhang S, Wu H, Zhi C, Io WF, Ming Y, Wang D, Fei B, Huang H, Hao J, Hu J. An Intelligent Wearable Filtration System for Health Management. ACS Nano 2023; 17:7035-7046. [PMID: 36994837 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c02099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
To develop intelligent wearable protection systems is of great significance to human health engineering. An ideal intelligent air filtration system should possess reliable filtration efficiency, low pressure drop, healthcare monitoring function, and man-machine interactive capability. However, no existing intelligent protection system covers all these essential aspects. Herein, we developed an intelligent wearable filtration system (IWFS) via advanced nanotechnology and machine learning. Based on the triboelectric mechanism, the fabricated IWFS exhibits a long-lasting high particle filtration efficiency and bacteria protection efficiency of 99% and 100%, respectively, with a low-pressure drop of 5.8 mmH2O. Correspondingly, the charge accumulation of the optimized IWFS (87 nC) increased to 3.5 times that of the pristine nanomesh, providing a significant enhancement of the particle filtration efficiency. Theoretical principles, including the enhancement of the β-phase and the lower surface potential of the modified nanomesh, were quantitatively investigated by molecular dynamics simulation, band theory, and Kelvin probe force microscopy. Furthermore, we endowed the IWFS with a healthcare monitoring function and man-machine interactive capability through machine learning and wireless transmission technology. Crucial physiological signals of people, including breath, cough, and speaking signals, were detected and classified, with a high recognition rate of 92%; the fabricated IWFS can collect healthcare data and transmit voice commands in real time without hindrance by portable electronic devices. The achieved IWFS not only has practical significance for human health management but also has great theoretical value for advanced wearable systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Shi
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Yifan Si
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Zihua Li
- Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Shuo Meng
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Shuai Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Hanbai Wu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Chuanwei Zhi
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Weng-Fu Io
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Yang Ming
- Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Dong Wang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
- College of Textile Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Eco-Textile, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China
| | - Bin Fei
- Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Haitao Huang
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Jianhua Hao
- Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
| | - Jinlian Hu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 999077, Hong Kong S.A.R., China
- City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Lu Y, Giuliano G. Understanding mobility change in response to COVID-19: A Los Angeles case study. Travel Behav Soc 2023; 31:189-201. [PMID: 36467712 PMCID: PMC9708633 DOI: 10.1016/j.tbs.2022.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people's lives throughout the world. Governments have imposed restrictions on business and social activities to reduce the spread of the virus. In the US, the pandemic response has been largely left to state and local governments, resulting in a patchwork of policies that frequently changed. We examine travel behavior across income and race/ethnic groups in Los Angeles County over several stages of the pandemic. We use a difference-in-difference model based on mobile device data to compare mobility patterns before and during the various stages of the pandemic. We find a strong relationship between income/ethnicity and mobility. Residents of low-income and ethnic minority neighborhoods reduced travel less than residents of middle- and high-income neighborhoods during the shelter-in-place order, consistent with having to travel for work or other essential purposes. As public health rules were relaxed and COVID vaccines became available, residents of high-income and White neighborhoods increased travel more than other groups, suggesting more discretionary travel. Our trip purpose model results show that residents of low-income and ethnic minority neighborhoods reduced work and shopping travel less than those of White and high-income neighborhoods during the shelter-in-place order. Results are consistent with higher-income workers more likely being able to work at home than lower-income workers. In contrast, low-income/minorities apparently have more constraints associated with work or household care. The consequence is less capacity to avoid virus risk. Race and socioeconomic disparities are revealed in mobility patterns observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yougeng Lu
- Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Genevieve Giuliano
- Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Al-Bazi A, Madi F, Monshar AA, Eliya Y, Adediran T, Khudir KA. Modelling the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on COVID-19 exposure in closed-environments using agent-based modelling. International Journal of Healthcare Management 2023. [DOI: 10.1080/20479700.2023.2189555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ammar Al-Bazi
- Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
| | - Faris Madi
- Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
| | | | - Yousif Eliya
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact, Health Sciences Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Tunde Adediran
- Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
| | - Khaled Al Khudir
- Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Hendricks B, Price BS, Dotson T, Kimble W, Davis S, Khodaverdi M, Halasz A, Smith GS, Hodder S. If you build it, will they come? Is test site availability a root cause of geographic disparities in COVID-19 testing? Public Health 2023; 216:21-6. [PMID: 36764116 DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2022.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Revised: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between test site availability and testing rate within the context of social determinants of health. STUDY DESIGN A retrospective ecological investigation was conducted using statewide COVID-19 testing data between March 2020 and December 2021. METHODS Ordinary least squares and geographically weighted regression were used to estimate state and ZIP code level associations between testing rate and testing sites per capita, adjusting for neighbourhood-level confounders. RESULTS The findings indicate that site availability is positively associated with the ZIP code level testing rate and that this association is amplified in communities of greater economic deprivation. In addition, economic deprivation is a key factor for consideration when examining ethnic differences in testing in medically underserved states. CONCLUSION The study findings could be used to guide the delivery of testing facilities in resource-constrained states.
Collapse
|
27
|
Shimbashi R, Shiino T, Ainai A, Moriyama S, Arai S, Morino S, Takanashi S, Arashiro T, Suzuki M, Matsuzawa Y, Kato K, Hasegawa M, Koshida R, Kitaoka M, Ueno T, Shimizu H, Yuki H, Takeda T, Nakamura-Uchiyama F, Takasugi K, Iida S, Shimada T, Kato H, Fujimoto T, Iwata-Yoshikawa N, Sano K, Yamada S, Kuroda Y, Okuma K, Nojima K, Nagata N, Fukushi S, Maeda K, Takahashi Y, Suzuki T, Ohnishi M, Tanaka-Taya K. Specific COVID-19 risk behaviors and the preventive effect of personal protective equipment among healthcare workers in Japan. Glob Health Med 2023; 5:5-14. [PMID: 36865900 PMCID: PMC9974228 DOI: 10.35772/ghm.2022.01060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks in healthcare facilities are a serious public health concern, we performed a case-control study to investigate the risk of COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers. We collected data on participants' sociodemographic characteristics, contact behaviors, installation status of personal protective equipment, and polymerase chain reaction testing results. We also collected whole blood and assessed seropositivity using the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay and microneutralization assay. In total, 161 (8.5%) of 1,899 participants were seropositive between August 3 and November 13, 2020. Physical contact (adjusted odds ratio 2.4, 95% confidence interval 1.1-5.6) and aerosol-generating procedures (1.9, 1.1-3.2) were associated with seropositivity. Using goggles (0.2, 0.1-0.5) and N95 masks (0.3, 0.1-0.8) had a preventive effect. Seroprevalence was higher in the outbreak ward (18.6%) than in the COVID-19 dedicated ward (1.4%). Results showed certain specific risk behaviors of COVID-19; proper infection prevention practices reduced these risks.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Reiko Shimbashi
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Teiichiro Shiino
- Center for Clinical Sciences, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akira Ainai
- Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Saya Moriyama
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Satoru Arai
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Saeko Morino
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Sayaka Takanashi
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takeshi Arashiro
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Motoi Suzuki
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yukimasa Matsuzawa
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | | | - Rie Koshida
- Kanazawa City Health Center, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Shun Iida
- Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomoe Shimada
- Center for Field Epidemic Intelligence, Research and Professional Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hirofumi Kato
- Department of Virology 1, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tsuguto Fujimoto
- Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Naoko Iwata-Yoshikawa
- Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kaori Sano
- Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Souichi Yamada
- Department of Virology 1, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yudai Kuroda
- Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kazu Okuma
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Microbiology, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kiyoko Nojima
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashimurayama, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Noriyo Nagata
- Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shuetsu Fukushi
- Department of Virology 1, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ken Maeda
- Department of Veterinary Science, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yoshimasa Takahashi
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tadaki Suzuki
- Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Makoto Ohnishi
- Deputy Director-General, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Keiko Tanaka-Taya
- Center for Surveillance, Immunization, and Epidemiologic Research, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Kanagawa Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Qorib M, Oladunni T, Denis M, Ososanya E, Cotae P. Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy: Text mining, sentiment analysis and machine learning on COVID-19 vaccination Twitter dataset. Expert Syst Appl 2023; 212:118715. [PMID: 36092862 PMCID: PMC9443617 DOI: 10.1016/j.eswa.2022.118715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2022] [Revised: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
In 2019 there was an outbreak of coronavirus pandemic also known as COVID-19. Many scientists believe that the pandemic originated from Wuhan, China, before spreading to other parts of the globe. To reduce the spread of the disease, decision makers encouraged measures such as hand washing, face masking, and social distancing. In early 2021, some countries including the United States began administering COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccination brought a relief to the public; it also generated a lot of debates from anti-vaccine and pro-vaccine groups. The controversy and debate surrounding COVID-19 vaccine influenced the decision of several people in either to accept or reject vaccination. Because of data limitations, social media data, collected through live streaming public tweets using an Application Programming Interface (API) search, is considered a viable and reliable resource to study the opinion of the public on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy. Thus, this study examines 3 sentiment computation methods (Azure Machine Learning, VADER, and TextBlob) to analyze COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Five learning algorithms (Random Forest, Logistics Regression, Decision Tree, LinearSVC, and Naïve Bayes) with different combination of three vectorization methods (Doc2Vec, CountVectorizer, and TF-IDF) were deployed. Vocabulary normalization was threefold; potter stemming, lemmatization, and potter stemming with lemmatization. For each vocabulary normalization strategy, we designed, developed, and evaluated 42 models. The study shows that Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy slowly decreases over time; suggesting that the public gradually feels warm and optimistic about COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, combining potter stemming and lemmatization increased model performances. Finally, the result of our experiment shows that TextBlob + TF-IDF + LinearSVC has the best performance in classifying public sentiment into positive, neutral, or negative with an accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score of 0.96752, 0.96921, 0.92807 and 0.94702 respectively. It means that the best performance was achieved when using TextBlob sentiment score, with TF-IDF vectorization and LinearSVC classification model. We also found out that combining two vectorizations (CountVectorizer and TF-IDF) decreases model accuracy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miftahul Qorib
- Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Timothy Oladunni
- Department of Computer Science, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Max Denis
- Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Esther Ososanya
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Paul Cotae
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC, United States
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Sasaki R, Yunoki T, Nakano Y, Fukui Y, Takemoto M, Morihara R, Abe K, Yamashita T. Actual Telemedicine Needs of Japanese Patients with Neurological Disorders in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Intern Med 2023; 62:365-371. [PMID: 36418105 PMCID: PMC9970807 DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.9702-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, many social activities have moved online using applications for digital devices (e.g. computers, smartphones). We investigated the needs of telemedicine and trends in medical status and social care situations of Japanese patients with neurological disorders in order to estimate their affinity for an online telemedicine application. Methods We designed an original questionnaire for the present study that asked participants what problems they had with hospital visits, how the COVID-19 pandemic had affected their lives, and whether or not they would like to receive telemedicine. Patients The present study included volunteer caregivers, participants with Parkinson's disease (PD), epilepsy, stroke, dementia, immune-mediated neurological disease (IMMD), spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), headache, myopathy, and other neurological diseases from Okayama University Hospital. Results A total of 29.6% of patients wanted to use telemedicine. Patients with headaches (60.0%) and epilepsy (38.1%) were more likely to want to use telemedicine than patients with PD (17.8%) or stroke (19.0%). Almost 90% of patients had access to a digital device, and there was no association between favoring telemedicine, ownership of a digital device, hospital visiting time, or waiting time at the hospital, although age was associated with motivation to telemedicine use (52.6 vs. 62.2 years old, p<0.001). Conclusion We can contribute to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic and the medical economy by promoting telemedicine, especially for young patients with headaches or epilepsy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ryo Sasaki
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| | - Taijun Yunoki
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| | - Yumiko Nakano
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| | - Yusuke Fukui
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| | - Mami Takemoto
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| | - Ryuta Morihara
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| | - Koji Abe
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| | - Toru Yamashita
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Zhu Z, Huang G, Deng J, Ye Y, Huang J, Chen X, Zhu J, Yang T, Du D, Lu J, Zhou J. WebFace260M: A Benchmark for Million-Scale Deep Face Recognition. IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intell 2023; 45:2627-2644. [PMID: 35471873 DOI: 10.1109/tpami.2022.3169734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Face benchmarks empower the research community to train and evaluate high-performance face recognition systems. In this paper, we contribute a new million-scale recognition benchmark, containing uncurated 4M identities/260M faces (WebFace260M) and cleaned 2M identities/42M faces (WebFace42M) training data, as well as an elaborately designed time-constrained evaluation protocol. First, we collect 4M name lists and download 260M faces from the Internet. Then, a Cleaning Automatically utilizing Self-Training (CAST) pipeline is devised to purify the tremendous WebFace260M, which is efficient and scalable. To the best of our knowledge, the cleaned WebFace42M is the largest public face recognition training set and we expect to close the data gap between academia and industry. Referring to practical deployments, Face Recognition Under Inference Time conStraint (FRUITS) protocol and a new test set with rich attributes are constructed. Besides, we gather a large-scale masked face sub-set for biometrics assessment under COVID-19. For a comprehensive evaluation of face matchers, three recognition tasks are performed under standard, masked and unbiased settings, respectively. Equipped with this benchmark, we delve into million-scale face recognition problems. A distributed framework is developed to train face recognition models efficiently without tampering with the performance. Enabled by WebFace42M, we reduce 40% failure rate on the challenging IJB-C set and rank 3rd among 430 entries on NIST-FRVT. Even 10% data (WebFace4M) shows superior performance compared with the public training sets. Furthermore, comprehensive baselines are established under the FRUITS-100/500/1000 milliseconds protocols. The proposed benchmark shows enormous potential on standard, masked and unbiased face recognition scenarios. Our WebFace260M website is https://www.face-benchmark.org.
Collapse
|
31
|
Takeuchi H, Kawashima R. Disappearance and Re-Emergence of Influenza during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Association with Infection Control Measures. Viruses 2023; 15:223. [PMID: 36680263 PMCID: PMC9862942 DOI: 10.3390/v15010223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 12/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the influenza virus had a very low prevalence, and in many areas, outbreaks were almost non-existent. In this study, the associations between infection control measures taken for COVID-19 and the global disappearance of the influenza virus were investigated. The detection rate of influenza from baseline was investigated during four seasons (12 weeks from epidemiological week 49 in 2020 and 2021 and 12 weeks from epidemiological week 23 in 2020 and 2021) in each country participating in the surveillance system of the World Health Organization. Three measures of infection control: mask use ratio, social distancing index (an index of human mobility and physical distance obligations), and an index of stringency of measures taken by authorities were studied. In mid-2020, most countries analyzed had high levels of infection control measures, and in most countries, influenza was drastically reduced compared to previous years. Multiple regression analyses compared the study data with data from other seasons. There was an association between high mask use with low influenza detection in all three remaining seasons, an association between a low social distancing index (low mobility and more social contact obligations) with a low influenza detection rate in two seasons, and a marginal significant association of high stringency index with a low influenza detection rate(in 2020-end-seasons). These results support the notion that seasonal influenza is controllable through effective preventive measures, especially those of mask use and human social contact, and these measures should be recommended during future waves of novel influenza virus infection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hikaru Takeuchi
- Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
| | - Ryuta Kawashima
- Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
- Smart Aging Research Center, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
- Department of Advanced Brain Science, Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8575, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Chen J, Zhang Q, Liu X, Han Y, Gong Q. Knowledge mapping of COVID-19 and dentistry: A bibliometric analysis. Front Public Health 2023; 10:1040175. [PMID: 36699914 PMCID: PMC9868823 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1040175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Background COVID-19 has a significant impact on dental medicine. The present study aims to overview dental-related research on COVID-19 by visual mapping method. Methods We analyzed the publications in the "Dentistry Oral Surgery Medicine" category in the Web of Science core collection. On June 10, 2022, we conducted an advanced search using the items TS = ("Novel coronavirus 2019" or "COVID 19" or "Coronavirus disease 2019" or "2019-nCOV" or "SARS-CoV-2" or "coronavirus-2") and WC = ("Dentistry Oral Surgery medicine") to screen publications in the dental field that focus on COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2. The contributions of authors, journals, institutions, and countries were described using Microsoft Excel 2010 and VOSviewer. The keywords co-occurring analysis and references analysis were visualized using VOSviewer and CiteSpace. Results A total of 1,732 papers were identified between 2020 and 2022. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil were three major contributors to this field. Univ São Paulo (Brazil) ranked first with 55 publications in this field. Martelli Junior, Hercilio from Universidade Jose do Rosario Vellano (Brazil) was the most prolific author with 19 publications. Oral Diseases and British Dental Journal were the two most productive journals. The central topics were dental practice and infection control, oral manifestation related to COVID-19, dental education and online learning, teledentistry, and mental health problems. Conclusion The growth rate of publications regarding dental research on COVID-19 has risen sharply. Research topics shifted from "Dental practice and infection control, oral manifestation related to COVID-19" in 2020 to "Dental education and online learning, teledentistry, mental health problems," which are three important research topics for the future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jia Chen
- Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Qian Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China,National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Xin Liu
- Department of General Practice, The Chinese People's Liberation Army 921 Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Ying Han
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Center of Stomatology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China,Center for Medical Genetics and Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China,*Correspondence: Ying Han ✉
| | - Qiming Gong
- Department of Nephrology, The Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China,Qiming Gong ✉
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Wangchuk T, Kinga, Wangdi U, Tshering U, Wangdi K. Hand Hygiene, Face Mask Use, and Associated Factors during the COVID-19 Pandemic among the Students of Mongar Higher Secondary School, Bhutan: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2023; 20:1058. [PMID: 36673813 PMCID: PMC9859439 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20021058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/20/2023]
Abstract
Non-pharmacological measures, such as hand hygiene and face mask use, continue to play an important role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is a paucity of studies on the adherence to these measures among students in Bhutan. Therefore, we aimed to investigate hand hygiene and face mask-wearing behaviours, as well as their associated factors, among the students of Mongar Higher Secondary School, Bhutan. We conducted a cross-sectional study amongst the students of Mongar Higher Secondary School in Bhutan. The students self-answered the questionnaire on web-based Google Forms. Multivariable logistic regression for good hand washing and face mask use was conducted in order to identify statistically significant socio-demographic covariates. The correlation between hand hygiene and mask use was investigated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. A total of 533 students completed the survey questionnaire, 52.9% (282) of whom were female students. Facebook (44.3%, 236) and TV (35.5%, 189) were the two most popular sources of information on COVID-19 prevention and control. Good (scores of ≥80% of total scores) hand hygiene and face mask use were reported in 33.6% (179) and 22.1% (118) of students. In multivariable logistic regression, male students presented 79% (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.23−2.613) odds of engaging in good hand hygiene, compared to female students. Compared to grade 9, those in grade 10 were 60% (AOR = 0.4, 95% CI 0.158−0.998) less likely to engage in good hand hygiene. Boarding students presented 68% (AOR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.001, 2.813) higher odds of wearing a face mask compared to day students. There was a significant positive correlation between good hand hygiene and face mask use (r = 0.3671, p-value < 0.001). Good hand hygiene and face mask use were reported in less than one-third of the study participants. It is recommended to continue educating students on good hand hygiene and face mask use through popular information sources.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Kinga
- Mongar Higher Secondary School, Mongar 43002, Bhutan
| | - Ugyen Wangdi
- Mongar Higher Secondary School, Mongar 43002, Bhutan
| | - Ugyen Tshering
- Faculty of Education, University of Canberra, Bruce, Canberra, ACT 2617, Australia
| | - Kinley Wangdi
- National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Acton, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Ding W, Ding L, Kong Z, Liu F. The SAITS epidemic spreading model and its combinational optimal suppression control. Math Biosci Eng 2023; 20:3342-3354. [PMID: 36899584 DOI: 10.3934/mbe.2023157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, an SAITS epidemic model based on a single layer static network is proposed and investigated. This model considers a combinational suppression control strategy to suppress the spread of epidemics, which includes transferring more individuals to compartments with low infection rate and with high recovery rate. The basic reproduction number of this model is calculated and the disease-free and endemic equilibrium points are discussed. An optimal control problem is formulated to minimize the number of infections with limited resources. The suppression control strategy is investigated and a general expression for the optimal solution is given based on the Pontryagin's principle of extreme value. The validity of the theoretical results is verified by numerical simulations and Monte Carlo simulations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wei Ding
- School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Li Ding
- School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Zhengmin Kong
- School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Feng Liu
- School of Systems and Enterprises, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Kloecker G, Nolan J, Korbee L, Calhoun R, Logan B, Flora D, Flora D, Hartman P. Social Distancing to Avoid SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Cancer and Noncancer Patients. J Patient Saf 2022; 18:788-792. [PMID: 35797588 PMCID: PMC9698080 DOI: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social distancing has been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid exposure to SARS-CoV-2 ( Epidemiol Prev 2020;44:353-362).Cancer patients on or after active therapy seem to be more prone to COVID being symptomatic and life-threatening. When evaluating cancer patients' risk of acquiring COVID, it is essential to know the behavior of cancer patients that will affect their risk of exposure. However, it is not known to what degree social distancing is practiced by cancer patients compared with noncancer patients and what factors lead to the decision to distance oneself. METHOD After a pilot phase using patients' MyChart messaging, links to the electronic questionnaires were texted to patients using Twillio. Responses were stored on REDCap (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN). Six questions about their social distancing behavior and mask wearing were posed and responses were compared between cancer and noncancer patients. Demographics, comorbidities, and a questionnaire about anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale) were recorded. To assess differences between cancer and noncancer groups, Bonferroni-corrected χ 2 tests and proportions confidence intervals were used. RESULTS The pilot survey was sent in mid-2020 and the full survey followed in January 2021 during a high community COVID incidence. Three hundred eighty-seven cancer patients (32.4% responded) and 503 noncancer patients (22.9% responded) completed the survey. Questions about leaving their houses, driving, shopping, friends, and family indicated that patients with cancer are more cautious ( P < 0.001). Cancer patients were up to 20% more likely to distance themselves. No difference was seen in wearing a mask-both groups wore approximately 90% of the time. Most respondents were female (63% versus 71%). Cancer patients were older (>60 y, 69% versus 45%) and less likely to work (52% versus 31%) or less likely to be White collar workers (21% versus 38%). In both groups, 54% marked "not at all anxious." CONCLUSIONS Cancer patients' responses revealed a distancing behavior that would likely lower the risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2. It is unclear which of the demographic differences would account for this behavior, although remarkably anxiety was not a clear motivating factor. The high acceptance of masks is encouraging. Early publications during the pandemic and patient education suggesting a higher COVID risk for cancer patients may have reduced risk prone behavior. Considering COVID's impact on the vulnerable cancer population and uncertainty in immunosuppressed patients about clearing the virus or adequately responding to a vaccine, further studies about health behavior and health promotion during the pandemic are needed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Joseph Nolan
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky
| | | | | | | | - Dan Flora
- From the St Elizabeth Healthcare, Edgewood
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
36
|
Lee LYY, Suryadinata R, McCafferty C, Ignjatovic V, Purcell DFJ, Robinson P, Morton CJ, Parker MW, Anderson GP, Monagle P, Subbarao K, Neil JA. Heparin Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Replication in Human Nasal Epithelial Cells. Viruses 2022; 14:v14122620. [PMID: 36560624 PMCID: PMC9785945 DOI: 10.3390/v14122620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccination, supported by social and public health measures, has proven efficacious for reducing disease severity and virus spread. However, the emergence of highly transmissible viral variants that escape prior immunity highlights the need for additional mitigation approaches. Heparin binds the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and can inhibit virus entry and replication in susceptible human cell lines and bronchial epithelial cells. Primary infection predominantly occurs via the nasal epithelium, but the nasal cell biology of SARS-CoV-2 is not well studied. We hypothesized that prophylactic intranasal administration of heparin may provide strain-agnostic protection for household contacts or those in high-risk settings against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, we investigated the ability of heparin to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication in differentiated human nasal epithelial cells and showed that prolonged exposure to heparin inhibits virus infection. Furthermore, we establish a method for PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes in heparin-treated samples that can be adapted for the detection of viruses in clinical studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leo Yi Yang Lee
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
| | - Randy Suryadinata
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Infection and Immunity, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Conor McCafferty
- Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Haematology, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Vera Ignjatovic
- Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Damian F. J. Purcell
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
| | - Phil Robinson
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Infection and Immunity, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Craig J. Morton
- Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Michael W. Parker
- Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
- St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia
| | - Gary P. Anderson
- Lung Health Research Centre, Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Paul Monagle
- Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Haematology, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Department of Haematology, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia
| | - Kanta Subbarao
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
- Correspondence:
| | - Jessica A. Neil
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Cooper DJ, Lear S, Sithole N, Shaw A, Stark H, Ferris M, Bradley J, Maxwell P, Goodfellow I, Weekes MP, Seaman S, Baker S. Demographic, behavioural and occupational risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK healthcare workers: a retrospective observational study. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e063159. [PMID: 36343994 PMCID: PMC9644078 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection than the general population. This group is pivotal to healthcare system resilience during the COVID-19, and future, pandemics. We investigated demographic, social, behavioural and occupational risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs. DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS HCWs enrolled in a large-scale sero-epidemiological study at a UK university teaching hospital were sent questionnaires spanning a 5-month period from March to July 2020. In a retrospective observational cohort study, univariate logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. A Least Absolute Shrinkage Selection Operator regression model was used to identify variables to include in a multivariate logistic regression model. RESULTS Among 2258 HCWs, highest ORs associated with SARS-CoV-2 antibody seropositivity on multivariate analysis were having a household member previously testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (OR 6.94 (95% CI 4.15 to 11.6); p<0.0001) and being of black ethnicity (6.21 (95% CI 2.69 to 14.3); p<0.0001). Occupational factors associated with a higher risk of seropositivity included working as a physiotherapist (OR 2.78 (95% CI 1.21 to 6.36); p=0.015) and working predominantly in acute medicine (OR 2.72 (95% CI 1.57 to 4.69); p<0.0001) or medical subspecialties (not including infectious diseases) (OR 2.33 (95% CI 1.4 to 3.88); p=0.001). Reporting that adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) was 'rarely' available had an OR of 2.83 (95% CI 1.29 to 6.25; p=0.01). Reporting attending a handover where social distancing was not possible had an OR of 1.39 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.9; p=0.038). CONCLUSIONS The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and potential vaccine escape continue to threaten stability of healthcare systems worldwide, and sustained vigilance against HCW infection remains a priority. Enhanced risk assessments should be considered for HCWs of black ethnicity, physiotherapists and those working in acute medicine or medical subspecialties. Workplace risk reduction measures include ongoing access to high-quality PPE and effective social distancing measures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel James Cooper
- Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sara Lear
- Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nyarie Sithole
- Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ashley Shaw
- Medical Director's Office, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Hannah Stark
- NIHR Bioresource, NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge, UK
| | - Mark Ferris
- Occupational Health, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - John Bradley
- Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Patrick Maxwell
- Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ian Goodfellow
- Department of Pathology, Division of Virology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael P Weekes
- Cambridge University Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Shaun Seaman
- MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Stephen Baker
- Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Salanti G, Peter N, Tonia T, Holloway A, White IR, Darwish L, Low N, Egger M, Haas AD, Fazel S, Kessler RC, Herrman H, Kieling C, De Quervain DJF, Vigod SN, Patel V, Li T, Cuijpers P, Cipriani A, Furukawa TA, Leucht S, Sambo AU, Onishi A, Sato A, Rodolico A, Oliveira Solis ACD, Antoniou A, Kapfhammer A, Ceraso A, O'Mahony A, Lasserre AM, Ipekci AM, Concerto C, Zangani C, Igwesi-Chidobe C, Diehm C, Demir DD, Wang D, Ostinelli EG, Sahker E, Beraldi GH, Erzin G, Nelson H, Elkis H, Imai H, Wu H, Kamitsis I, Filis I, Michopoulos I, Bighelli I, Hong JSW, Ballesteros J, Smith KA, Yoshida K, Omae K, Trivella M, Tada M, Reinhard MA, Ostacher MJ, Müller M, Jaramillo NG, Ferentinos PP, Toyomoto R, Cortese S, Kishimoto S, Covarrubias-Castillo SA, Siafis S, Thompson T, Karageorgiou V, Chiocchia V, Zhu Y, Honda Y. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Control Measures on the Mental Health of the General Population : A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med 2022; 175:1560-1571. [PMID: 36252247 PMCID: PMC9579966 DOI: 10.7326/m22-1507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To what extent the COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures influenced mental health in the general population is still unclear. PURPOSE To assess the trajectory of mental health symptoms during the first year of the pandemic and examine dose-response relations with characteristics of the pandemic and its containment. DATA SOURCES Relevant articles were identified from the living evidence database of the COVID-19 Open Access Project, which indexes COVID-19-related publications from MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase via Ovid, and PsycInfo. Preprint publications were not considered. STUDY SELECTION Longitudinal studies that reported data on the general population's mental health using validated scales and that were published before 31 March 2021 were eligible. DATA EXTRACTION An international crowd of 109 trained reviewers screened references and extracted study characteristics, participant characteristics, and symptom scores at each timepoint. Data were also included for the following country-specific variables: days since the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the stringency of governmental containment measures, and the cumulative numbers of cases and deaths. DATA SYNTHESIS In a total of 43 studies (331 628 participants), changes in symptoms of psychological distress, sleep disturbances, and mental well-being varied substantially across studies. On average, depression and anxiety symptoms worsened in the first 2 months of the pandemic (standardized mean difference at 60 days, -0.39 [95% credible interval, -0.76 to -0.03]); thereafter, the trajectories were heterogeneous. There was a linear association of worsening depression and anxiety with increasing numbers of reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and increasing stringency in governmental measures. Gender, age, country, deprivation, inequalities, risk of bias, and study design did not modify these associations. LIMITATIONS The certainty of the evidence was low because of the high risk of bias in included studies and the large amount of heterogeneity. Stringency measures and surges in cases were strongly correlated and changed over time. The observed associations should not be interpreted as causal relationships. CONCLUSION Although an initial increase in average symptoms of depression and anxiety and an association between higher numbers of reported cases and more stringent measures were found, changes in mental health symptoms varied substantially across studies after the first 2 months of the pandemic. This suggests that different populations responded differently to the psychological stress generated by the pandemic and its containment measures. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE Swiss National Science Foundation. (PROSPERO: CRD42020180049).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Salanti
- Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland (G.S., T.T., A.H., N.L., A.D.H.)
| | - Natalie Peter
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (N.P., L.D., S.L.)
| | - Thomy Tonia
- Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland (G.S., T.T., A.H., N.L., A.D.H.)
| | - Alexander Holloway
- Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland (G.S., T.T., A.H., N.L., A.D.H.)
| | - Ian R White
- University College London, London, United Kingdom (I.R.W.)
| | - Leila Darwish
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (N.P., L.D., S.L.)
| | - Nicola Low
- Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland (G.S., T.T., A.H., N.L., A.D.H.)
| | - Matthias Egger
- Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland, and Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom (M.E.)
| | - Andreas D Haas
- Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland (G.S., T.T., A.H., N.L., A.D.H.)
| | - Seena Fazel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab, National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, and Oxford Health National Health Service Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom (A.C., S.F.)
| | - Ronald C Kessler
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (R.C.K.)
| | - Helen Herrman
- Orygen National Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (H.H.)
| | - Christian Kieling
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil (C.K.)
| | | | - Simone N Vigod
- Women's College Hospital, Women's College Research Institute and Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (S.N.V.)
| | - Vikram Patel
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (V.P.)
| | - Tianjing Li
- Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado (T.L.)
| | - Pim Cuijpers
- Department of Clinical, Neuro- and Developmental Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (P.C.)
| | - Andrea Cipriani
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford Precision Psychiatry Lab, National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, and Oxford Health National Health Service Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom (A.C., S.F.)
| | - Toshi A Furukawa
- Department of Health Promotion and Human Behaviour, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (T.A.F.)
| | - Stefan Leucht
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany (N.P., L.D., S.L.)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
39
|
Coelho LE, Luz PM, Pires DC, Jalil EM, Perazzo H, Torres TS, Cardoso SW, Peixoto EM, Nazer S, Massad E, Silveira MF, Barros FC, Vasconcelos AT, Costa CA, Amancio RT, Villela DA, Pereira T, Goedert GT, Santos CV, Rodrigues NC, Grinsztejn B, Veloso VG, Struchiner CJ. Prevalence and predictors of anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology in a highly vulnerable population of Rio de Janeiro: A population-based serosurvey. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas 2022; 15:100338. [PMID: 35936224 PMCID: PMC9337985 DOI: 10.1016/j.lana.2022.100338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Background COVID-19 serosurveys allow for the monitoring of the level of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and support data-driven decisions. We estimated the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a large favela complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Methods A population-based panel study was conducted in Complexo de Manguinhos (16 favelas) with a probabilistic sampling of participants aged ≥1 year who were randomly selected from a census of individuals registered in primary health care clinics that serve the area. Participants answered a structured interview and provided blood samples for serology. Multilevel regression models (with random intercepts to account for participants’ favela of residence) were used to assess factors associated with having anti-S IgG antibodies. Secondary analyses estimated seroprevalence using an additional anti-N IgG assay. Findings 4,033 participants were included (from Sep/2020 to Feb/2021, 22 epidemic weeks), the median age was 39·8 years (IQR:21·8-57·7), 61% were female, 41% were mixed-race (Pardo) and 23% Black. Overall prevalence was 49·0% (95%CI:46·8%-51·2%) which varied across favelas (from 68·3% to 31·4%). Lower prevalence estimates were found when using the anti-N IgG assay. Odds of having anti-S IgG antibodies were highest for young adults, and those reporting larger household size, poor adherence to social distancing and use of public transportation. Interpretation We found a significantly higher prevalence of anti-S IgG antibodies than initially anticipated. Disparities in estimates obtained using different serological assays highlight the need for cautious interpretation of serosurveys estimates given the heterogeneity of exposure in communities, loss of immunological biomarkers, serological antigen target, and variant-specific test affinity. Funding Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Royal Society, Serrapilheira Institute, and FAPESP.
Collapse
|
40
|
Baumkötter R, Yilmaz S, Zahn D, Fenzl K, Prochaska JH, Rossmann H, Schmidtmann I, Schuster AK, Beutel ME, Lackner KJ, Münzel T, Wild PS. Protective behavior and SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in the population - Results from the Gutenberg COVID-19 study. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:1993. [PMID: 36316662 PMCID: PMC9623959 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-14310-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, preventive measures like physical distancing, wearing face masks, and hand hygiene have been widely applied to mitigate viral transmission. Beyond increasing vaccination coverage, preventive measures remain urgently needed. The aim of the present project was to assess the effect of protective behavior on SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in the population. METHODS Data of the Gutenberg COVID-19 Study (GCS), a prospective cohort study with a representative population-based sample, were analyzed. SARS-CoV-2 infections were identified by sequential sampling of biomaterial, which was analyzed by RT-qPCR and two antibody immunoassays. Self-reported COVID-19 test results were additionally considered. Information on protective behavior including physical distancing, wearing face masks, and hand hygiene was collected via serial questionnaire-based assessments. To estimate adjusted prevalence ratios and hazard ratios, robust Poisson regression and Cox regression were applied. RESULTS In total, 10,250 participants were enrolled (median age 56.9 [43.3/68.6] years, 50.8% females). Adherence to preventive measures was moderate for physical distancing (48.3%), while the use of face masks (91.5%) and the frequency of handwashing (75.0%) were high. Physical distancing appeared to be a protective factor with respect to SARS-CoV-2 infection risk independent of sociodemographic characteristics and individual pandemic-related behavior (prevalence ratio [PR] = 0.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62-0.96). A protective association between wearing face masks and SARS-CoV-2 transmission was identified (PR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.55-0.96). However, the protective effect declined after controlling for potential confounding factors (PR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.68-1.36). For handwashing, this investigation did not find a beneficial impact. The adherence to protective behavior was not affected by previous SARS-CoV-2 infection or immunization against COVID-19. CONCLUSION The present study suggests primarily a preventive impact of physical distancing of 1.5 m, but also of wearing face masks on SARS-CoV-2 infections, supporting their widespread implementation. The proper fit and use of face masks are crucial for effectively mitigating the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the population.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rieke Baumkötter
- grid.410607.4Preventive Cardiology and Preventive Medicine, Center for Cardiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany ,grid.452396.f0000 0004 5937 5237German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Rhine Main, Mainz, Germany
| | - Simge Yilmaz
- grid.410607.4Preventive Cardiology and Preventive Medicine, Center for Cardiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany ,grid.452396.f0000 0004 5937 5237German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Rhine Main, Mainz, Germany
| | - Daniela Zahn
- grid.410607.4Preventive Cardiology and Preventive Medicine, Center for Cardiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Katharina Fenzl
- grid.410607.4Preventive Cardiology and Preventive Medicine, Center for Cardiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Jürgen H. Prochaska
- grid.410607.4Preventive Cardiology and Preventive Medicine, Center for Cardiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany ,grid.452396.f0000 0004 5937 5237German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Rhine Main, Mainz, Germany ,grid.410607.4Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Heidi Rossmann
- grid.410607.4Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Irene Schmidtmann
- grid.410607.4Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Alexander K. Schuster
- grid.410607.4Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Manfred E. Beutel
- grid.410607.4Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Karl J. Lackner
- grid.452396.f0000 0004 5937 5237German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Rhine Main, Mainz, Germany ,grid.410607.4Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Thomas Münzel
- grid.452396.f0000 0004 5937 5237German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Rhine Main, Mainz, Germany ,grid.410607.4Cardiology I, Center for Cardiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Philipp S. Wild
- grid.410607.4Preventive Cardiology and Preventive Medicine, Center for Cardiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Langenbeckstr. 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany ,grid.452396.f0000 0004 5937 5237German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), partner site Rhine Main, Mainz, Germany ,grid.410607.4Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany ,grid.424631.60000 0004 1794 1771Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Mainz, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Ozaki J, Shida Y, Takayasu H, Takayasu M. Direct modelling from GPS data reveals daily-activity-dependency of effective reproduction number in COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17888. [PMID: 36284166 PMCID: PMC9595098 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22420-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments faced difficulties in implementing mobility restriction measures, as no clear quantitative relationship between human mobility and infection spread in large cities is known. We developed a model that enables quantitative estimations of the infection risk for individual places and activities by using smartphone GPS data for the Tokyo metropolitan area. The effective reproduction number is directly calculated from the number of infectious social contacts defined by the square of the population density at each location. The difference in the infection rate of daily activities is considered, where the 'stay-out' activity, staying at someplace neither home nor workplace, is more than 28 times larger than other activities. Also, the contribution to the infection strongly depends on location. We imply that the effective reproduction number is sufficiently suppressed if the highest-risk locations or activities are restricted. We also discuss the effects of the Delta variant and vaccination.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jun’ichi Ozaki
- grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8503 Japan
| | - Yohei Shida
- grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Department of Mathematical and Computing Science, School of Computing, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8503 Japan
| | - Hideki Takayasu
- grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8503 Japan ,grid.452725.30000 0004 1764 0071Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc., 3-14-13, Higashigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 141-0022 Japan
| | - Misako Takayasu
- grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8503 Japan ,grid.32197.3e0000 0001 2179 2105Department of Mathematical and Computing Science, School of Computing, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama, 226-8503 Japan
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Park S, Su Jeon C, Choi N, Moon JI, Min Lee K, Hyun Pyun S, Kang T, Choo J. Sensitive and reproducible detection of SARS-CoV-2 using SERS-based microdroplet sensor. Chem Eng J 2022; 446:137085. [PMID: 35611066 PMCID: PMC9121656 DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2022.137085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based assays have been recently developed to overcome the low detection sensitivity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SERS-based assays using magnetic beads in microtubes slightly improved the limit of detection (LoD) for SARS-CoV-2. However, the sensitivity and reproducibility of the method are still insufficient for reliable SARS-CoV-2 detection. In this study, we developed a SERS-based microdroplet sensor to dramatically improve the LoD and reproducibility of SARS-CoV-2 detection. Raman signals were measured for SERS nanotags in 140 droplets passing through a laser focal volume fixed at the center of the channel for 15 s. A comparison of the Raman signals of SERS nanotags measured in a microtube with those measured for multiple droplets in the microfluidic channel revealed that the LoD and coefficient of variation significantly improved from 36 to 0.22 PFU/mL and 21.2% to 1.79%, respectively. This improvement resulted from the ensemble average effects because the signals were measured for SERS nanotags in multiple droplets. Moreover, the total assay time decreased from 30 to 10 min. A clinical test was performed on patient samples to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the SERS-based microdroplet sensor. The assay results agreed well with those measured by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The proposed SERS-based microdroplet sensor is expected to be used as a new point-of-care diagnostic platform for quick and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the field.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sohyun Park
- Department of Chemistry, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, South Korea
| | - Chang Su Jeon
- R&D Center, Speclipse Inc., Seongnam 13461, South Korea
| | - Namhyun Choi
- Department of Chemistry, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, South Korea
| | - Joung-Il Moon
- Department of Chemistry, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, South Korea
| | - Kang Min Lee
- Department of Chemistry, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, South Korea
| | | | - Taejoon Kang
- Bionanotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon 34141, South Korea
| | - Jaebum Choo
- Department of Chemistry, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, South Korea
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Pete D, Erickson SL, Jim MA, Hatcher SM, Echo-Hawk A, Dominguez AE. COVID-19 Among Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native People Residing in Urban Areas Before and After Vaccine Rollout-Selected States and Counties, United States, January 2020-October 2021. Am J Public Health 2022; 112:1489-1497. [PMID: 36103693 PMCID: PMC9480478 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2022.306966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Objectives. To evaluate COVID-19 disparities among non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) and non-Hispanic White persons in urban areas. Methods. Using COVID-19 case surveillance data, we calculated cumulative incidence rates and risk ratios (RRs) among non-Hispanic AI/AN and non-Hispanic White persons living in select urban counties in the United States by age and sex during January 22, 2020, to October 19, 2021. We separated cases into prevaccine (January 22, 2020-April 4, 2021) and postvaccine (April 5, 2021-October 19, 2021) periods. Results. Overall in urban areas, the COVID-19 age-adjusted rate among non-Hispanic AI/AN persons (n = 47 431) was 1.66 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.36, 2.01) times that of non-Hispanic White persons (n = 2 301 911). The COVID-19 prevaccine age-adjusted rate was higher (8227 per 100 000; 95% CI = 6283, 10 770) than was the postvaccine rate (3703 per 100 000; 95% CI = 3235, 4240) among non-Hispanic AI/AN compared with among non-Hispanic White persons (2819 per 100 000; 95% CI = 2527, 3144; RR = 1.31; 95% CI = 1.17, 1.48). Conclusions. This study highlights disparities in COVID-19 between non-Hispanic AI/AN and non-Hispanic White persons in urban areas. These findings suggest that COVID-19 vaccination and other public health efforts among urban AI/AN communities can reduce COVID-19 disparities in urban AI/AN populations. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(10):1489-1497. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306966).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dornell Pete
- Dornell Pete, Scott L. Erickson, Abigail Echo-Hawk, and Adrian E. Dominguez are with the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board, Seattle, WA. Melissa A. Jim is with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albuquerque, NM. Sarah M. Hatcher is with the Research Triangle Institute International, Durham, NC
| | - Scott L Erickson
- Dornell Pete, Scott L. Erickson, Abigail Echo-Hawk, and Adrian E. Dominguez are with the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board, Seattle, WA. Melissa A. Jim is with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albuquerque, NM. Sarah M. Hatcher is with the Research Triangle Institute International, Durham, NC
| | - Melissa A Jim
- Dornell Pete, Scott L. Erickson, Abigail Echo-Hawk, and Adrian E. Dominguez are with the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board, Seattle, WA. Melissa A. Jim is with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albuquerque, NM. Sarah M. Hatcher is with the Research Triangle Institute International, Durham, NC
| | - Sarah M Hatcher
- Dornell Pete, Scott L. Erickson, Abigail Echo-Hawk, and Adrian E. Dominguez are with the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board, Seattle, WA. Melissa A. Jim is with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albuquerque, NM. Sarah M. Hatcher is with the Research Triangle Institute International, Durham, NC
| | - Abigail Echo-Hawk
- Dornell Pete, Scott L. Erickson, Abigail Echo-Hawk, and Adrian E. Dominguez are with the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board, Seattle, WA. Melissa A. Jim is with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albuquerque, NM. Sarah M. Hatcher is with the Research Triangle Institute International, Durham, NC
| | - Adrian E Dominguez
- Dornell Pete, Scott L. Erickson, Abigail Echo-Hawk, and Adrian E. Dominguez are with the Urban Indian Health Institute, Seattle Indian Health Board, Seattle, WA. Melissa A. Jim is with the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albuquerque, NM. Sarah M. Hatcher is with the Research Triangle Institute International, Durham, NC
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Li Y, Niu L. Identification of the effects of COVID-19 on patients with pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer: a bioinformatics analysis and literature review. Sci Rep 2022; 12:16040. [PMID: 36163484 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20040-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses a serious threat to human health and life. The effective prevention and treatment of COVID-19 complications have become crucial to saving patients’ lives. During the phase of mass spread of the epidemic, a large number of patients with pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancers were inevitably infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Lung cancers have the highest tumor morbidity and mortality rates worldwide, and pulmonary fibrosis itself is one of the complications of COVID-19. Idiopathic lung fibrosis (IPF) and various lung cancers (primary and metastatic) become risk factors for complications of COVID-19 and significantly increase mortality in patients. Therefore, we applied bioinformatics and systems biology approaches to identify molecular biomarkers and common pathways in COVID-19, IPF, colorectal cancer (CRC) lung metastasis, SCLC and NSCLC. We identified 79 DEGs between COVID-19, IPF, CRC lung metastasis, SCLC and NSCLC. Meanwhile, based on the transcriptome features of DSigDB and common DEGs, we identified 10 drug candidates. In this study, 79 DEGs are the common core genes of the 5 diseases. The 10 drugs were found to have positive effects in treating COVID-19 and lung cancer, potentially reducing the risk of pulmonary fibrosis.
Collapse
|
45
|
Nie R, Abdelrahman Z, Liu Z, Wang X. Evaluation of the role of vaccination in the COVID-19 pandemic based on the data from the 50 U.S. States. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:4138-4145. [PMID: 35971518 PMCID: PMC9359589 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of vaccines can significantly reduce COVID-19 deaths and mortality. The use of vaccines cannot reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection. The SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant may weaken the effect of vaccines on lessening the severity of COVID-19. Vaccine usage remains effective in reducing the severity of COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant infection.
Vaccination is considered as the ultimate weapon to end the pandemic. However, the role of vaccines in the pandemic remains controversial. To explore the impact of vaccination on the COVID-19 pandemic, we used logistic regression models to predict numbers of population-adjusted confirmed cases, deaths, intensive care unit (ICU) cases, case fatality rates and ICU admission rates of COVID-19 in the 50 U.S. states, based on 17 related variables. The logistic regression analysis showed that percentages of people vaccinated correlated inversely with the numbers of COVID-19 deaths and case fatality rates but showed no significant correlation with numbers of confirmed cases or ICU cases, or ICU admission rates. The Spearman correlation analysis showed that the percentages of people vaccinated correlated inversely with the numbers of COVID-19 deaths, ICU cases, ICU case rates, and case fatality rates but showed no significant correlation with numbers of confirmed cases. The number of deaths and mortality in the group after the vaccine usage were significantly lower than those in the group before the vaccine usage. However, after delta became the dominant strain, there were no longer significant differences in the number of deaths and the mortality rate between before and after delta became the dominant strain, although vaccines were used in both periods. Vaccination can significantly reduce COVID-19 deaths and mortality, while it cannot reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection. In addition to vaccination, other measures, such as social distancing, remain important in containing COVID-19 transmission and lower the risk of COVID-19 severe outcomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rongfang Nie
- Biomedical Informatics Research Lab, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China.,Big Data Research Institute, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| | - Zeinab Abdelrahman
- Department of Neurobiology and Department of Orthopedics, 2nd Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310009, China.,NHC and CAMS Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontier Science Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310003, China
| | - Zhixian Liu
- Jiangsu Cancer Hospital, Jiangsu Institute of Cancer Research, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210009, China
| | - Xiaosheng Wang
- Biomedical Informatics Research Lab, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China.,Big Data Research Institute, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 211198, China
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Zhang Q, Li J, Weng L. A bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 publications in neurology by using the visual mapping method. Front Public Health 2022; 10:937008. [PMID: 35958855 PMCID: PMC9362596 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.937008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The characteristic symptom of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is respiratory distress, but neurological symptoms are the most frequent extra-pulmonary symptoms. This study aims to explore the current status and hot topics of neurology-related research on COVID-19 using bibliometric analysis. Methods Publications regarding neurology and COVID-19 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) on March 28 2022. The Advanced search was conducted using “TS = (‘COVID 19’ or ‘Novel Coronavirus 2019’ or ‘Coronavirus disease 2019’ or ‘2019-nCOV’ or ‘SARS-CoV-2’ or ‘coronavirus-2’) and TS = (‘neurology’or ‘neurological’ or ‘nervous system’ or ‘neurodegenerative disease’ or ‘brain’ or ‘cerebra’ or ‘nerve’)”. Microsoft Excel 2010 and VOSviewer were used to characterize the largest contributors, including the authors, journals, institutions, and countries. The hot topics and knowledge network were analyzed by CiteSpace and VOSviewer. Results A total of 5,329 publications between 2020 and 2022 were retrieved. The United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom were three key contributors to this field. Harvard Medical School, the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, and the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology were the major institutions with the largest publications. Josef Finsterer from the University of São Paulo (Austria) was the most prolific author. Tom Solomon from the University of Liverpool (UK) was the most cited author. Neurological Sciences and Frontiers in Neurology were the first two most productive journals, while Journal of Neurology held the first in terms of total citations and citations per publication. Cerebrovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, encephalitis and encephalopathy, neuroimmune complications, neurological presentation in children, long COVID and mental health, and telemedicine were the central topics regarding the neurology-related research on COVID-19. Conclusion Neurology-related research on COVID-19 has attracted considerable attention worldwide. Research topics shifted from “morality, autopsy, and telemedicine” in 2020 to various COVID-19-related neurological symptoms in 2021, such as “stroke,” “Alzheimer's disease,” “Parkinson's disease,” “Guillain–Barre syndrome,” “multiple sclerosis,” “seizures in children,” and “long COVID.” “Applications of telemedicine in neurology during COVID-19 pandemic,” “COVID-19-related neurological complications and mechanism,” and “long COVID” require further study.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qian Zhang
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Hypothalamic-Pituitary Research Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Jian Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Hydrocephalus Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Ling Weng
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- *Correspondence: Ling Weng
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Szunerits S, Saada H, Pagneux Q, Boukherroub R. Plasmonic Approaches for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Viral Particles. Biosensors 2022; 12:bios12070548. [PMID: 35884352 PMCID: PMC9313406 DOI: 10.3390/bios12070548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The ongoing highly contagious Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), underlines the fundamental position of diagnostic testing in outbreak control by allowing a distinction of the infected from the non-infected people. Diagnosis of COVID-19 remains largely based on reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), identifying the genetic material of the virus. Molecular testing approaches have been largely proposed in addition to infectivity testing of patients via sensing the presence of viral particles of SARS-CoV-2 specific structural proteins, such as the spike glycoproteins (S1, S2) and the nucleocapsid (N) protein. While the S1 protein remains the main target for neutralizing antibody treatment upon infection and the focus of vaccine and therapeutic design, it has also become a major target for the development of point-of care testing (POCT) devices. This review will focus on the possibility of surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based sensing platforms to convert the receptor-binding event of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles into measurable signals. The state-of-the-art SPR-based SARS-CoV-2 sensing devices will be provided, and highlights about the applicability of plasmonic sensors as POCT for virus particle as well as viral protein sensing will be discussed.
Collapse
|
48
|
Tarif AB, Ramadan M, Yin M, Sharkas G, Ali SS, Gazo M, Zeitawy A, Alsawalha L, Wu K, Alonso-Garbayo A, Zayed B, Al-Ariqi L, Kheirallah KA, Talaat M, Rashidian A, Simniceanu A, Allegranzi B, Cassini A, Bellizzi S. Infection prevention and control risk factors in health workers infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Jordan: A case control study. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271133. [PMID: 35802587 PMCID: PMC9269456 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Despite under-reporting, health workers (HWs) accounted for 2 to 30% of the reported COVID-19 cases worldwide. In line with data from other countries, Jordan recorded multiple case surges among HWs. Methods Based on the standardized WHO UNITY case-control study protocol on assessing risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in HWs, HWs with confirmed COVID-19 were recruited as cases from eight hospitals in Jordan. HWs exposed to COVID-19 patients in the same setting but without infection were recruited as controls. The study lasted approximately two months (from early January to early March 2021). Regression models were used to analyse exposure risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in HWs; conditional logistic regressions were utilized to estimate odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for the confounding variables. Results A total of 358 (102 cases and 256 controls) participants were included in the analysis. The multivariate analysis showed that being exposed to COVID-19 patients within 1 metre for more than 15 minutes increased three-fold the odds of infection (OR 2.92, 95% CI 1.25–6.86). Following IPC standard precautions when in contact with patients was a significant protective factor. The multivariate analysis showed that suboptimal adherence to hand hygiene increased the odds of infection by three times (OR 3.18; 95% CI 1.25–8.08). Conclusion Study findings confirmed the role of hand hygiene as one of the most cost-effective measures to combat the spreading of viral infections. Future studies based on the same protocol will enable additional interpretations and confirmation of the Jordan experience.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mo Yin
- WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
- Division of Infectious Diseases, University Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Kaiyue Wu
- WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | | | - Bassim Zayed
- WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Lubna Al-Ariqi
- WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Khalid A. Kheirallah
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan
| | - Maha Talaat
- WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Arash Rashidian
- WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
49
|
Strydhorst NA, Landrum AR. Charting cognition: Mapping public understanding of COVID-19. Public Underst Sci 2022; 31:534-552. [PMID: 35274566 PMCID: PMC9131401 DOI: 10.1177/09636625221078462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic of the last 2 years (and counting) disrupted commerce, travel, workplaces, habits, and-of course-health, the world over. This study aimed to capture snapshots of the perceptions and misperceptions of COVID-19 among 27 participants from three US municipalities. These perspectives are analyzed through thematic analyses and concept maps. Such snapshots, particularly as viewed through the lens of narrative sense-making theory, capture a sample of cognitions at this unique moment in history: a little over 1 year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings suggest that the (mis)perceptions captured are predominantly conveyed via narratives of participants' personal experiences, and that the themes of attitudes toward precautionary measures, uncertainty, and the muddied science communication environment are prevalent. These themes suggest several salient targets for future research and current science communication, such as a focus on basic explainers, vaccinations' safety and effectiveness and the necessity of uncertainty in the practice of science.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Natasha A. Strydhorst
- Natasha A. Strydhorst, College of
Media & Communication, Texas Tech University, Box 43082, Lubbock,
TX 79409, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
50
|
Liu F, Qian H. Uncertainty analysis of facemasks in mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Environ Pollut 2022; 303:119167. [PMID: 35307493 PMCID: PMC8926848 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
In the context of global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), there is a controversial issue on whether the use of facemasks is promising to control or mitigate the COVID-19 transmission. This study modeled the SARS-CoV-2 transmission process and analyzed the ability of surgical mask and N95 in reducing the infection risk with Sobol's analysis. Two documented outbreaks of COVID-19 with no involvers wearing face masks were reviewed in a restaurant in Guangzhou (China) and a choir rehearsal in Mount Vernon (USA), suggesting that the proposed model can be well validated when airborne transmission is assumed to dominate the virus transmission indoors. Subsequently, the uncertainty analysis of the protection efficiency of N95 and surgical mask were conducted with Monte Carlo simulations, with three main findings: (1) the uncertainty in infection risk is primarily apportioned by respiratory activities, virus dynamics, environment factors and individual exposures; (2) wearing masks can effectively reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection risk to an acceptable level (< 10-3) by at least two orders of magnitude; (3) faceseal leakage can reduce protection efficiency by approximately 4% when the infector is speaking or coughing, and by approximately 28% when the infector is sneezing. This work indicates the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions during the pandemic, and implies the importance of the synergistic studies of medicine, environment, social policies and strategies, etc., on reducing hazards and risks of the pandemic.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fan Liu
- School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Hua Qian
- School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Engineering Research Center for Building Energy Environments & Equipments, Ministry of Education, China.
| |
Collapse
|