COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease in elderly patients: a challenge in the challenge
elderly, Cardiovascular patients, COVID-19
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic state, in relation to the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus disease-2, responsible for the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The pandemical blast of COVID-19 uncovered well known weakness of financial chain and put our economic organizations facing off dramatic consequences if new strategies will not be developed to adapt health-care on detailed sub-groups of patients. Frail individual aged >65 years affected by cardiovascular disease are an aged population that showed a particular attitude to contract infection and a higher mortality rate compared to general population. In this brief article, we will focus on the management of issues related to cardiovascular patients facing coronavirus infection, in particular in the most fragile groups of the population such as the elderly, increasingly numerous and affected by multimorbidity. Protecting aged populations will be a central question, probably primary in everyone's interest.
Raffaele Costa, Giovanni Ruotolo, Alberto Castagna, Carmen Ruberto, Carlo Torchia
Determinants of the Lifestyle Changes during COVID-19 Pandemic in the Residents of Northern Italy
covid-19, lockdown, physical activity, diet, Lifestyle, Food habits
Background: The confinement recommended during COVID-19 pandemic could affect behavior and health. Methods: We conducted a self-reported survey in northern Italy to observe the lockdown effects on lifestyle changes and to assess their determinants. Prevalence Odds Ratio and Prevalence Risk Ratio were determined. Results: 490 adults (84% female) completed the survey: 13% and 43% reported improved and unchanged sleep quality, respectively, while 43% had insomnia symptoms. Among the 272 active subjects in pre-lockdown, 14% continued habitual exercising, 18% increased it and 68% reduced it; 27% of sedentary subjects started physical exercise; 34% reported an improvement in diet quality; 42% increased food intake and 13% decreased it; and 38% of the smokers increased cigarette consumption. Age and the pre-lockdown habit of regular physical exercising were the mainly determinants of lifestyle changes whereas BMI, gender, and the presence of chronic diseases did not. Living with other people increased the likelihood of increasing the food intake (p = 0.002). Conclusions: More than a third of people were able to positively reorganize their lives during the forced home confinement. It is worth to disseminate information to preserve a healthy lifestyle even when confined at home.
Raffaella Cancello, Davide Soranna, Gaia Zambra, Antonella Zambon, Cecilia Invitti
Lung Ultrasound: Its Findings and New Applications in Neonatology and Pediatric Diseases
Children, covid-19, pneumonia, infants, lung ultrasound, Bronchiolitis
Lung ultrasound has become increasingly used in both adult and pediatric populations, allowing the rapid evaluation of many lung and pleura diseases. This popularity is due to several advantages of the method such as the low cost, rapidity, lack of ionizing radiation, availability of bedside and repeatability of the method. These features are even more important after the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, given the possibility of recognizing through ultrasound the signs of interstitial lung syndrome typical of pneumonia caused by the virus. The purpose of this paper is to review the available evidence of lung ultrasound (LUS) in children and its main applications in pediatric diseases.
Raffaella Nenna, Fabio Midulla, Elio Iovine, Silvia Bloise, Domenico Paolo La Regina, Daniela Pepino, Laura Petrarca, Antonella Frassanito, Riccardo Lubrano
Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory
Introduction. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was first recognized in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia. The clinical presentations of MERS and non-MERS SARI are often similar. Therefore, the identification of suspected cases that may have higher chances of being diagnosed as cases of MERS-CoV is essential. However, the real challenge is to flag these patients through some demographic markers. The nature of these markers has not previously been investigated in Saudi Arabia, and hence, this study aims to identify them. Methods. It was a surveillance system-based study, for which data from a total of 23,646 suspected patients in Riyadh and Al Qassim regions were analyzed from January 2017 until December 2017 to estimate the prevalence of MERS-CoV among suspected cases and to determine potential demographic risk factors related to the confirmation of the diagnosis. Results. Of 23,646 suspected cases, 119 (0.5%) were confirmed by laboratory results. These confirmed cases (67.2% of which were males) had a mean age of 43.23 years (SD ± 22.8). Around 42.2% of the confirmed cases were aged between 41 and 60 years and about 47% of confirmed cases had their suspected specimen tested in the summer. The study identified three significant and independent predictors for confirmation of the disease: an age between 41 and 60 years, male gender, and summer season admission. Conclusion. The study provides evidence that the MERS-CoV epidemic in the subject regions has specific characteristics that might help future plans for the prevention and management of such a contagious disease. Future studies should aim to confirm such findings in other regions of Saudi Arabia as well and explore potential preventable risk factors.
Raghib Abu-Saris, Ashraf El Metwally, Asmaa Altamimi, Taghreed Alaifan, Aref Alamri
COVIDTAS COVID-19 Tracing App Scale—An Evaluation Framework
governance, coronavirus, covid-19, contact-tracing, privacy
Mobile apps play an important role in COVID-19 tracing and tracking, with different countries taking different approaches. Our study focuses on 17 government owned COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps (CTAs) and analyze them using a proposed COVIDTAS framework. User satisfaction is not directly related to the COVIDTAS score or the interaction between users and the app developers. To increase adoption of CTAs, government leadership must offer assurance to its citizens that their identify will be concealed and emphasize the benefits of CTAs as it relates to shared public health. While no country has topped the list on all three major factors (COVIDTAS Score, User Reviews, and User Ratings), the CTA from India seems to have above average performance on all three factors.
Raghu Raman, Krishnashree Achuthan, Ricardo Vinuesa, Prema Nedungadi
Environmental effects of industries and plants, Renewable energy sources, Environmental sciences
Anti-viral properties of antipsychotic medications in the time of COVID-19.
COVID-19 and Melancholia: Different Perception of the Concept of Stigma and Loss.
Asia and COVID-19; The need to continue mental health care to prevent the spread of suicide in the elderly.
The Use of Technology in Quarantine: A Way to Maintain and Promote Physical Health
exergames physical fitness covid-19 technology quarantine
Background: Along with the outbreak of coronavirus and quarantine practices in many countries, physical activities have certainly been severely restricted. The purpose of this review was to investigate the role of technology in maintaining and improving physical health. Method: For this systematic review study, the research method in this study included searching on PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Articles written in English and Persian in peer reviewed journals that examining the effect of electronic games and virtual reality on physical fitness were selected for analysis. Then, the eligible studies classifieds based on the study population ages. Results: Of 12563 studies found, 14 studies were eligible to enter the study. Research has shown that the use of technology significantly affect gait, balance, strength, flexibility, and mental functioning of the elderly, as well as balance, strength, endurance, and cognitive abilities in adults and children's physical endurance. Conclusions: According to studies under review, the use of technology has a significant effect on improving and maintaining the physical and mental fitness of people in different ages. So, we can suggest using exergame and virtual reality exercises as a possible intervention to promote and maintain physical and mental fitness in quarantine.
Rahman Sheikhhoseini, Parisa Sayyadi, Hashem Piri
Impact of COVID-19 on the outcomes of gastrointestinal surgery.
covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, bariatric surgery, liver transplant, colorectal cancer
COVID-19 pandemic has brought a paradigm shift in the treatment of various surgical gastrointestinal disorders. Given the increasing number of patients requiring hospitalization and intensive care for SARS-CoV-2 infections, various surgical departments worldwide were forced to stop or postpone elective surgeries to save the health resources for COVID-19 patients. Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization on 12th March 2020, the recommendations from the surgical societies kept evolving to help the surgeons in making informed decisions regarding patient care. Moreover, various socio-economic and epidemiological factors have come into play while deciding the optimal approach towards patients requiring gastrointestinal surgery. Surgeries for many abdominal diseases such as acute appendicitis and acute calculous cholecystitis were postponed. Elective surgeries were triaged based on the urgency of performing the surgical procedure, the hospital burden of COVID-19 patients, and the availability of healthcare resources. Various measures were adopted such as preoperative screening for SARS-CoV-2 infection, use of personal protective equipment, and the COVID-19-free surgical pathway to prevent perioperative SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In this article, we have reviewed the recent studies reporting the outcomes of various gastrointestinal surgeries in the COVID-19 pandemic era and the recommendations from various surgical societies on the safety precautions to be followed during gastrointestinal surgery.