by Admin | Aug 17, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Epidemiology
Opinion: Mitigating the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical settings and public spaces is important to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases till a successful vaccination programme is in place. This study can influence public health measures to cut the transmission...
by Admin | Jul 29, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Epidemiology
This study corroborates the earlier study by Long et al. in the Chinese population (doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0965-6), which demonstrated that 40% of asymptomatic patients were seronegative for IgG at 8 weeks. The decline in protective antibody titre is quicker than...
by Admin | Jul 20, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Epidemiology
Spain is one of the European countries most severely affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with about 30,000 deaths to-date. In infectious diseases with large number of asymptomatic cases, serological surveys are the best tool to estimate community spread of the...
by Admin | Jul 9, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Prevention: Non drug strategies
This systematic review and meta-analysis providesthe best available evidence on effectiveness of 3 important non-pharmaceutical interventions––(i) physical distancing, (ii) use of face masks and (iii) eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS,...
by Admin | Jul 1, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Epidemiology, Indications and tests for diagnosis
This study has important public health implications and shows the risk of using COVID-19 ‘immunity passport’. Since immunological responses may vary among different ethnic groups, such temporal seroprevalence surveys in the community are required in different...
by Admin | Jun 29, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Indications and tests for diagnosis
The correct method of testing for COVID-19 antibodies is important in the current phase of the pandemic when gradual re-opening of the workplace is being contemplated.In India, rapid antibody tests were introduced early in the epidemic and then withdrawn due to...
by Admin | Jun 22, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Epidemiology
The study delves into COVID-19 household transmission dynamics which can guide home isolation policy in non-severe COVID-19 cases. It suggests minimal risk of COVID-19 transmission among household contacts if early and strict isolation (masking, eating and residence)...
by Admin | Jun 16, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Pathology
Although earlier publications have mentioned the presence of viral particles in the urine, this is the first report of autopsy findings in COVID-19 substantiating that the virus directly invades the kidney. As kidney or other organ biopsies are unlikely to be done as...
by Admin | Jun 16, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Epidemiology
The study provides evidence, under laboratory conditions, of the number of droplets produced by loud speech and their airborne duration suggesting a plausible role of speech droplets in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in confined spaces. Article: Stadnytskyi V, Bax CE,...
by Admin | Jun 13, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Pathology
Autopsies are gold standard to identify the cause of death and study pathophysiology of novel diseases. Though the studies are less as compared to number of deaths worldwide, findings of pulmonary artery thrombosis and thromboembolism in these studies underpin and...
by Admin | Jun 13, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Management: Surgical
This study suggests that among patients undergoing major surgery who are positive for SARS-CoV-2 there is a high risk of mortality and morbidity. There is a significant influence of age on postoperative mortality with younger patients (<50 years) having a better...
by Admin | May 29, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Management: Surgical
This study, authored by surgeons from Israel, is a review of 4 articles where elective or semi-elective surgery was performed for COVID-19 cases without testing for SARS-CoV-2. More than 50% severe disease and 27.4% mortality in such patients is of concern. All...
by Admin | May 29, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Epidemiology
The study has major implications for judicious resource use as epidemic nears the peak and health system capacity is stretched. While in Wuhan, every patient with mild illness was isolated in the hospital or other isolation facilities for a prolonged period, this is...
by Admin | May 22, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Indications and tests for diagnosis
Based on the limitations of the low quality studies conducted so far, with biased cohorts, confounding variables with lack of body of evidence, in terms of overestimated sensitivity in a predefined clinical setting of variably ill hospitalized patients with no data...
by Admin | May 22, 2020 | COVID Literature Appraisal, Indications and tests for diagnosis
This validation cohort preliminary study had a very good inter observer agreement between the reading radiologists, and the overall CXR score was a good parameter to evaluate severity and outcomes, however there is need for larger study for validation. In the current...
