Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) related pneumonia is leaded by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which infects host cells through receptors named Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Smoking is thought to be related to poor disease prognosis, as a large amount of evidence highlights the negative effects of smoking on lung health and its causal relationship with various respiratory diseases. Methods: We first evaluated the role of ACE2 expression level with tobacco effect. And correlation analyses were used to identify the related genes of ACE2 both in smoker trait and human normal multi-tissues. After intersections, hub genes were later used to further GSEA and co-regulated mechanisms were explored by GeneMANIA. We used UALCAN to perform survival curves of pan-cancers included 33 types of cancers. New clinical model of top co-occurrence cancer type was constructed and validated. Results: Effected by cigarette smoking, the expression level of ACE2 expressed statistically upwards in current smokers compared with never smokers, upwards in groups after acute smoke exposed compared with normal control. But no strong evidence detected in third-hand smoke, as poor amounts of samples, only 4. A little trend of expressing upwards became in groups after third-hand smoke compared with groups after clean air exposing. 4 genes included PIR, ADH7, AKR1C2 and AKR1C3 were identified as ACE2 related genes in smoker trait and human normal multi-tissues. Then, we made the survival curves of pan-cancers in 4 genes. Brain lower grade glioma was the co-occurrence type as both ACE2, PIR and AKR1C3 had the significantly prognostic situation. Later, we made the new clinical prediction model as the C-index was 0.827 and the Area Under Curves (AUCs) of 1-year survival, 2-year survival and 3-year survival were 0.921(95%CI, 0.882-0.961), 0.911(95%CI, 0.860-0.962) and 0.878(95%CI, 0.818-0.939). In inner validation, the AUCs of 1-year survival, 2-year survival and 3-year survival were 0.777(95%CI, 0.640-0.914), 0.916(95%CI, 0.842-0.990) and 0.888(95%CI, 0.768-1.000). In outer validation one, the AUCs of 1-year survival, 2-year survival and 3-year survival were 0.764(95%CI, 0.672-0.856), 0.848(95%CI, 0.783-0.913) and 0.748(95%CI, 0.656-0.841). And in outer validation two the AUCs of 1-year survival, 2-year survival and 3-year survival were 0.740(95%CI, 0.654-0.826), 0.766(95%CI, 0.688-0.843) and 0.794(95%CI, 0.721-0.866). Conclusions: In our study, we compared the ACE2 expression level between smokers and non-smokers crowds and identified associated hub genes. Then we explored the further role of hub genes in tumor fields to identify the correlation and influence between the avoidable host factors such as smoking on COVID-19 contamination and tumor. ACE2 and AKR1C3 are potential prognostic genes for brain lower grade glioma, and we created the web dynamic nomogram and encapsulation app through validations.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused mankind serious confusion, economic havoc and psychological distress. This study evaluated the level of knowledge, attitude and perception about COVID-19 pandemic, infection control and impact among veterinarians in Nigeria. A cross-sectional online survey was used to collect data from consenting respondents during implementation of lockdown in the country (April 23 - May 31, 2020). Purposive and chain referral sampling techniques were used to recruit 368 respondents from various sectors of the profession. The proportion of respondents surveyed 197/368 (53.5 %) were from the public sector, 35.3 % from private sector, 1.1 % were unemployed and 0.8 % retired. Majority of the respondents were males (72.8 %), within 30 – 39 years (39.7 %) and had 1 – 10 years work experience. Respondents displayed good level of knowledge about COVID-19 (72.4 % ± 9.9 %, range 44.1-91.2 %), with information mostly derived from TV/Radio (81.5%) and social media (81.0 %). The overall attitude level was poor and various determinants for good attitude among respondents were if they were above 60 years (p = 0.013), possessed postgraduate qualification ( p = 0.031), worked over 30 years post DVM (p = 0.001), had household members between 5 and 10 (p = 0.012), and were resident in states on total lockdown (p = 0.024). There was no correlation between the knowledge level score and respondents’ attitude towards the pandemic (p = 0.12). With increasing rate of COVID-19 transmission, research data are needed to develop evidence-driven strategies, policies and effective risk mitigations to reduce the pandemic’s adverse impacts.

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is the clinical manifestation of the respiratory infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). While primarily recognized as a respiratory disease, it is clear that COVID-19 is systemic illness impacting multiple organ systems. One defining clinical feature of COVID-19 has been the high incidence of thrombotic events. The underlying processes and risk factors for the occurrence of thrombotic events in COVID-19 remain inadequately understood. While severe bacterial, viral or fungal infections are well recognized to activate the coagulation system, COVID-19 associated coagulopathy is likely to have unique mechanistic features. Inflammatory-driven processes are likely primary drivers of coagulopathy in COVID-19, but the exact mechanisms linking inflammation to dysregulated hemostasis and thrombosis are yet to be delineated. Cumulative findings of microvascular thrombosis has raised question if the endothelium and microvasculature should be a point of investigative focus. Von Willebrand Factor (VWF) and its protease, ADAMTS13 play important role in the maintenance of microvascular hemostasis. In inflammatory conditions, imbalanced VWF-ADAMTS13 characterized by elevated VWF levels and inhibited and/or reduced activity of ADAMTS13 has been reported. Also, an imbalance between ADAMTS13 activity and VWF antigen is associated with organ dysfunction and death in patients with systemic inflammation. A thorough understanding of VWF-ADAMTS13 interactions during early and advanced phases of COVID-19 could help better define the pathophysiology, guide thromboprophylaxis and treatment and improve clinical prognosis.

Background: The novel emerging virus SARS-CoV-2 has affected all human-kind during the first half of 2020. The aim of the study was to survey the actual circumstances from January until May. Methods: The data are collected and released systematically, by law, from the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Disease (NESID). Findings: Analysis of these data revealed that the infection spread in Japan from late March to early April 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 infection rate at its peak was estimated to be 10%. Thus, the size of the population who may have been exposed to the novel virus in Japan is estimated at 0.2 million, which is relatively small. The number of related deaths is likely to converge on 1,000 people. Interpretation: Applying the law of large numbers allows estimation of the infection rate as well as of the size of the affected population by statistical analysis. How to collect the data must be defined before the data analysis is suggested to be important to reflect the actual circumstances about COVID-19.

SARS-CoV-2 infections underlie the current Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and are causative for a high death toll particularly among elderly subjects and those with comorbidities. Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element of high importance for human health and particularly for a well-balanced immune response. Mortality risk from severe disease like sepsis or polytrauma is inversely related to Se status. We hypothesized that this relation also applies to COVID-19. Serum samples (n=166) from COVID-19 patients (n=33) were collected consecutively and analysed for total Se by X-ray fluorescence and selenoprotein P (SELENOP) by a validated ELISA. Both biomarkers showed the expected strong correlation (r=0.7758, p<0.001), pointing to an insufficient Se status for optimal selenoprotein expression. In comparison to reference data from a European cross sectional analysis (EPIC, n=1915), the patients showed a pronounced deficit in total serum Se (mean±SD, 50.8±15.7 vs. 84.4±23.4 µg/L) and SELENOP (3.0±1.4 vs. 4.3±1.0 mg/L). A Se status below the 2.5th percentile of the reference population, i.e., [Se] < 45.7 µg/L and [SELENOP] < 2.56 mg/L was present in 43.4% and 39.2% of COVID samples, respectively. The Se status was significantly higher in samples from surviving COVID patients as compared to non-survivors (Se; 53.3±16.2 vs. 40.8±8.1 µg/L, SELENOP; 3.3±1.3 vs. 2.1±0.9 mg/L). We conclude that Se status analysis in COVID patients provides diagnostic information. However, causality remains unknown due to the observational nature of this study. Nevertheless, the findings strengthen the notion on a relevant role of Se for COVID convalescence, and support the discussion on adjuvant Se supplementation in severely diseased and Se-deficient patients.

The recent COVID-19 outbreak in China led to a worldwide pandemic associated with a severe acute respiratory illness. A higher incidence of COVID-19 infection was demonstrated in cancer patients, including patients with lung cancer. This study was conducted to get insights into the reasons for this enhanced frequency of COVID-19 infection. Methods: Using different bioinformatic tools, the expression and methylation pattern of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 gene were analyzed in healthy and malignant tissues with a focus on lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and correlated to clinical parameters and smoking history. Results: ACE2 and TMPRSS2 were heterogeneously expressed across 36 healthy tissues with the highest expression in digestive, urinary and reproductive organs, while their expression was significantly lower in 36 cancer tissues. In LUAD, ACE2, but not TMPRSS2 was overexpressed, which inversely correlated to the promoter methylation. An age-dependent upregulation of ACE2 expression was found in LUAD compared to normal lung tissues. In a healthy lung, TMPRSS2 expression was dependent on sex and smoking history and downregulated in LUAD of smokers. Cancer progression was associated with decreased TMPRSS2, but unaltered ACE2 expression, while ACE2 expression in lung metastases of different cancers was higher than in metastasis of other sites. TMPRSS2, but not ACE2 expression, was associated with LUAD patients’ survival. Conclusions: Comprehensive molecular analyses revealed a heterogeneous, distinct expression and methylation profile of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 in healthy lung vs LUAD tissues across sex, age and smoking history, which is associated with clinical parameters and might have implications for COVID-19 disease.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the pandemic is an unprecedented health emergency never seen in the recorded history of humankind due to its sheer scale, rapid spread, and subsequent shock to the global economy. The past respiratory viral pandemics of the 21st century (SARS-CoV-2 in 2003, Influenza AH1N1 in 2009) have revealed seasonality in environmental factors to play a role in the dynamics of their spread. Here, we report the observed state-level relationship between environmental factors such as temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), specific humidity (SH), and solar radiation (SR) on the COVID-19 spread over the Indian region. The results show that T and RH have a significant impact on the disease growth rate and doubling time. Every degree rise in temperature corresponds to a 0.99 % decrease in the number of cases and an increase in doubling time by ~ 1.13 days implying a slowing down of spread. A similar analysis for RH reveals that more moisture leads to a higher growth rate and reduced doubling time. Lower SH and higher surface-reaching SR are found to reduce the spread and increase the doubling time similar to that of temperature. The range of average state-level T (RH) encountered during this period was between 24 and 35^oC (30 and 87%) which implies that environmental impact is still effective at all these T (RH) and is not limited to specific T (RH) ranges. The progression of the season towards monsoon, post-monsoon, and thereafter winter with a continuous reduction in temperature will prove a major challenge for health workers and policymakers attempting to enforce mitigation and control measures.

The novel respiratory disease COVID-19 has reached the status of worldwide pandemic and large efforts are currently being undertaken in molecularly characterizing the virus causing it, SARS-CoV-2. The genomic variability of SARS-CoV-2 specimens scattered across the globe can underly geographically specific etiological effects. In the present study, we gather the 48,635 SARS-CoV-2 complete genomes currently available thanks to the collection endeavor of the GISAID consortium and thousands of contributing laboratories. We analyze and annotate all SARS-CoV-2 mutations compared with the reference Wuhan genome NC_045512.2, observing an average of 7.23 mutations per sample. Our analysis shows the prevalence of single nucleotide transitions as the major mutational type across the world. There exist at least three clades characterized by geographic and genomic specificity. In particular, the clade G, prevalent in Europe, carries a D614G mutation in the Spike protein, which is responsible for the initial interaction of the virus with the host human cell. Our analysis may drive local modulation of antiviral strategies based on the molecular specificities of this novel virus.

Abstract Background: The highest incidence rate of covid-19 in Iran was reported from Shahroud County. This study was conducted by geographic information systems (GIS) to determine the geographical distribution of Covid-19 in 60 days. Study design: A cross-sectional study Methods: This study was conducted in counties covered by Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, namely Shahroud and Mayami, from February 20, 2020 to April 18, 2020. The GIS can better show the spread of epidemics. This software indicates geographical distribution of disease spread and is very helpful in controlling the epidemics. Therefore, maps of spatial distribution and risk of infection to COVID-19 were prepared in different regions of Shahroud county using Arc-GIS software to better implement health policies. Results: During this sixty-day period, 529 confirmed cases were detected, of which 51% were men and the average age was 55 years. The maps showed high-risk to risk-free regions. Shahroud and Bastam cities were known as the coronavirus hot spots. The eastern region of Shahroud has the highest number of cases but some high risk areas are spread throughout the Shahroud city due to high infectivity of virus. Risk-based time maps indicated a reduction in the risk of infection at the end of the research period due to some mitigation and suppression strategies. Conclusions: Shahroud and Bastam are the most dangerous cities that, the number of patients and dissemination has decreased over time because of tracking definite patients and people in contact with them and implementation of preventive care.

The crux of the paper is to present a detailed analysis of COVID-19 data which is available on global basis. This analysis is performed using some specific package of R software. It provides various insights from the data and help to understand the current status of this pandemic in India so that effective measures can be formulated by policymakers. These insights include global summary of this disease, growth rate of this pandemic and performance of SIR model for the given global data. The analysis has been presented in different tables and graphs to understand the outputs of the problem in a more detailed point of view.

The outbreak of Corona Virus effected negatively on the world’s economy which has already touched the maximum sectors. Readymade garments sector has the large contribution in Bangladesh’s economy. For increasing the locked down period, it is hitting badly by stopping production and cancellation of orders with some issues. This paper will represent the brief scenario and impacts of garments sector in recent days and the economy status of Bangladesh for the pandemic. The study is based on secondary data, collected from different authentic journals and web portals etc. Bangladesh’s garments earnings mostly depended on export but on these days, the buyers are cancelling their orders and the factories are being failed to give payments to the worker, some are being shut down also. As the duration of locked down is increasing, there is a huge chance to get unemployed and Bangladesh can be faced an undisciplined condition in near future. BGMEA and BKMEA are taking necessary steps to support the worker. Ensuring health security, the authorities are trying to reopen the factories limitedly to meet up the immediate needs. The government has taken the situation on most priority and introduce some improvement packages to run the economy smoothly and reduce the losses of the country for the pandemic.

All over the world, development of micro blog and other social platform indicate that Social Media is now the focus and trend of the Internet. Daily life, study and work are influenced by news in Social Medias . Micro blog is new emergent type of media and it spreads information rapidly in the crowd in recent years. Suppose an user searches for specific information about one topic on micro blog. He/she found easily plenty of information related to his/her search in social medias. The problem is to find out the correct information. Normally, multi-document summarization method deals with a collection of documents about one topic for extracting the valuable points and discards useless information. Actually, it needs to extract the topic content by adding topic factors and social patterns. Topic factor is the lexical information related to the topic. Social pattern relates to special interactive mode owned by online social network, such as comment and repost. People has been seen the fake news on mobile/internet during lockdown period. It is of no doubt that anyone with a social media account has seen at least one example of this.Humanity’s greatest challenges are to detect false information. Fake news are collected from 150 persons using social media The aim of the paper is to investigate the truthfulness of the news people share on social media using K-nearest Neighbour (KNN) based Classifier method.

In the present time, the biggest problem of the world is the outbreak of novel coronavirus. Novel coronavirus (COVID-19), this one name has become a part of our daily lives over the past few months. Beyond the boundaries of medical science, coronavirus is now the main subject of research in all fields like Applied Mathematics, Economy, Philosophy, Sociology, Politics upto living room. The epidemic has brought unimaginable changes in our traditional habits and daily routines. Thousands of people in our country are fighting with the rest of the world to survive in various new situations. There are different kinds of coronavirus appeared in different times. In this time, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). This virus was first identified towards the end of 2019 in the city of Wuhan in the province of Hubei in China. Within very short duration of time and very fast, it has spread throughout a large part of the world. In this study, the main aim is to investigate the spreading rate, death rate, recovery rate due to corona virus infection and to study the future of the coronavirus in India by using mathematical modeling based on the previous data. Mathematical models, in this situation, are the important tools in recruiting effective strategies to fight this epidemic. India is at high risk of spreading the disease and is facing many losses in socio-economic aspects. With current infection rates and existing levels of personal alertness, the number of infected people in India will increase at least in the next three months. Proper social awareness, maintain of social distance, large rate of testing and separation may break the chain of the Coronavirus-2.

The outburst of the CoVid-19 pandemic has raised several questions leading to a complex system in terms of modeling. Indeed, the modeling of the epidemic, at the level of a country, needs considering each of the different sources of contamination as well as the public health authorities' strategy, in a specific way. With this in mind, in the present paper, we develop a mathematical model of the CoVid-19 epidemic in Senegal. In the model, the population is subdivided into five compartments: susceptible, infected but asymptomatic, symptomatic, quarantined, and recovered immune people. In addition, due to its important impact on the propagation of the disease, we add one more variable: the number of infected objects. %\vspace{1mm} Therefore, the model corresponds to a system of six non-linear ordinary differential equations we submit to an analytical study to prove the relevancy of the model, simulate the evolution of the epidemic, and retrieve epidemiological parameters, namely the infection rate and the basic reproduction number, ${\cal R}_0$. Based on the senegalese territory CoVid-19 data, we simulate various scenarios as for the evolution of the epidemic in the country, in order to predict the peak and its magnitude with regard to the application of barrier measures. We also explore the option of collective immunity with special protection for vulnerable people. In doing so, non-available parameters are identified using some mathematical identification technics.

It is highly likely that the wearing of face masks reduces the rate of respiratory infections (e.g. SARS-CoV-2), to protect both the user and those around them. This paper sets out to review the areas that effect the efficacy of masks, the materials, design, hygiene and fit testing, in order to make recommendations as to how to make mask from resources found in most homes for when commercial models are unavailable. This paper finds that a mask constructed with a filter made from high thread count cotton is likely to provide a reasonable level of protection (~70% filtration) and that if a layers of other materials such as chiffon or silk is added the filtration may be much higher (~90%). There is also some promise in less available materials such as vacuum cleaner bags and air conditioner filters. Examples of fabric and rigid designs are reviewed but most are limited by the fit to the users which is hard to determine in a home setting. It would be extremely helpful if a method was devised for people to test or be tested for the fit of home made masks. In the mean time careful thought should be given to whether the user judges a good fit. Users should also be careful to practice other means of hygiene and distancing.

COVID-19 has been a major issue in most countries throughout the world with 213 countries being affected till date due to the disease. The pandemic has raised concerns over the healthcare facilities available in various countries and question the government decisions made during this period of outbreak. Despite having the best healthcare facilities several countries across Europe and America have found it difficult to contain the disease outbreak questioning the available solutions to contain an area. This paper focuses on presenting information on solutions available to control outbreaks in order to prevent another pandemic occurring in the future. The paper also highlights the strategies and plans implemented by various governments who have been successful in combatting the disease with minimum damage. By using available resources such as technology, scientific innovation and digitalized healthcare this paper focuses on providing solutions which are already available to be utilized in the right manner.

COVID-19 induces coagulopathy at the base of SIC (sepsis-induced coagulopathy) and it is an important cause of death in the patients. Cytokine storm causes imbalance in coagulation and fibrinolytic system. A combination of hypercoagulability state, decrease or inhibition of fibrinolytic and endothelialopathy causes thromboembolic events. Underlined disease with a high rate of mortality in COVID-19 like diabetes, hypertension and some conditions like aging and obesity are the main disorders with hemostatic disturbance and increase of coagulopathy. Therefore, it seems that the combination of COVID-19 infection and these risk factors increase the risk of thromboembolic all together.

Watching the international COVID-19 epidemics unfold during February and early March 2020, we began to highlight how outbreaks in care homes were inevitable, given the vulnerable patients in close proximity, and pressures on social care to help relieve pressure on the NHS. We suggested public health measures would significantly impact on care homes. Specifically we felt all homes would have multiple individuals isolated within days of introduction of guidance requiring isolation of new cough (or fever), and that a clear definition of an outbreak would be needed that differentiated COVID19 from influenza. We share the experiences of a GP practice looking after 900 nursing or dual registration care homes in the London Borough of Ealing in the early stages of the COVID19 Pandemic 2020. We believe that the altered presentation of cases of COVID19 in care homes contributed to the size of outbreaks, and that keeping COVID19 out of homes is the only way to manage this disease, with early isolation and complete segregation of positive and negative cases. We have seen over 300 suspected cases resulting in four fold (n=175) average monthly death rates, three fold usual issue of anticipatory medications, and approximately 32% mortality rate (up to 43% in over 90’s). Discharge pathways from hospital and admissions to care homes must be clear and robust. COVID19 naïve patients should not be admitted to units with outbreaks and COVID19 positive patients should not be admitted to anything other than a designated “hot” home until risk of contagion is passed. Some patients are testing positive at over 30 days since initial mild symptoms.

The probability of zoonoses, such as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), emerging is strongly related to remediable factors such as habitat encroachment and trade in wild animals. Tackling these underlying determinants is important to prevent future pandemics from the approximately 700,000 viruses with the potential to cause zoonoses. Reversing habitat destruction is also vital to halt the accelerating rate of extinction of a wide array of life forms - with all the adverse consequences these extinctions will have for human health. These insights depend on viewing health and disease from within an ecological theoretical framework. We therefore argue that preventing future zoonotic outbreaks as well as dealing with a range of contemporary health issues would be facilitated by grounding our health sciences in more a more explicitly ecological conceptual framework.

Globally, an approximate of 380,000 patients succumbed to death due to the pandemic COVID-19 which also infected more than six million people since December 2019. Not sparing anyone, COVID-19 infections are widely reported among healthcare professionals, sanitation workers and researchers too while global leaders and various governments are providing their best in defending their citizens against this airborne and contact spread virus. In order to contain the virus and protect millions of lives from this deadly coronavirus, there is a need to have a combination of advanced engineering technology and medical facilities. Application of applied science, engineering and technology diffuse almost every aspect of contemporary living. Grasping the fundamentals to determine humanity's most imperative and forthcoming challenges is essential. Artificial Intelligence, the technology that learns, adapts and reciprocates the actions according to the situations, finds optimum position in the fight against corona virus and acts as a powerful tool against this pandemic. In this research article, the authors discusses how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to fight the deadly virus. The research paper further discusses the efficient utilization of AI across the globe to help in testing, treating and serving the population in these hard times. This manuscript focuses on the potential impact of the process in which AI can be implemented to prevent, test and treat.

Whilst large-scale changes in population behaviour are required to reduce the transmission of the SARS-COV-2 virus, the emergency context is not conducive to the sort of careful communications planning that would normally be required to meet such a task. Rapid strategic communications planning in a pandemic by governments is, however, possible and necessary. Steps include setting up a dedicated communications task force, mobilising partners and resources, developing a creative brief and theory of change and overseeing the creation, testing, roll out and revision of content. In this short guide we argue that a minimum of strategic planning can be undertaken rapidly, and that good use can be made of simple principles of behaviour change, even during pandemics. Our aim here is to provide a blueprint that governments and their partners, especially in low-income settings, can follow to design, coordinate and resource national communications efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic immediately and for the longer term.

Background: Lung CT provides an effective modality to evaluate patients with suspected COVID-19. However, overlapping imaging findings with cardiogenic pulmonary oedema have been reported. Reports comparing lung CT features of these diseases have not been elaborated. Thus, we aimed to investigate these gaps in the knowledge regarding low-dose lung CT features of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia with those with acute heart failure (HF). Methods: This retrospective analysis enrolled hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (n=10) and acute heart failure (n=9) that exclusively underwent low-dose lung CT scans within 24-hours of admission. Clinical and lung CT characteristics were collected and analysed. Results: Ground-glass-opacities (GGO) appearance has been recorded in all subjects in HF and COVID-19 group. There was no significant statistical difference between the two groups for rounded morphology, consolidation, crazy paving pattern, lesion distribution, parenchymal band (P> 0.05). However, diffuse lesions were more frequent in HF cases (55.6% vs. 0%) than in COVID-19 pneumonia, which had predominantly multifocal pattern. Notably, CT images in HF patients were more likely to have signs of interstitial tissue thickening such as the interlobular septums, fissures and peribronchovascular interstitium (55.6% vs 0%, 88.9% vs 20% and 44.4% vs 0%,respectively), as well as cardiomegaly (77.8% vs 0%), increased artery to bronchus ratio (55.6% vs 0%), and pleural effusions (77.8% vs 0%). Conclusions: Major overlaps of lung CT imaging features existed between COVID-19 pneumonia and acute HF cases. However, signs of fluid redistribution are clues that favour HF over COVID-19 pneumonia.

It has been hypothesized that social distancing as the prevention measures for COVID 19 can affect the air quality including PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ in urban areas. According to this situation, this study aims to compare the PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ before and after the implementation of social distancing. Likewise, this study also forecasts the benefits of social distancing on PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ if social distancing period is continued and extended. To achieve these objectives, an Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model to investigate the daily PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ trends has been developed for social distancing periods (March– May 2020) and after May as well. The model confirms that if social distancing period is extended after May 2020 then the PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ are estimated will be 4% and 9% lower. To confirm that the PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ reductions are only due to social distancing effect, the study has investigated the possible effects of wind speed and rainfall on PM_2.5 and PM₁₀. Nonetheless, the reductions do not correlate with those factors. To conclude social distancing should be considered as an option to control PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ in urban areas.

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus obstructed the Chinese economy and has expanded to the rest of the world at a rapid pace affecting at least 215 countries, areas and territories. The advancement of the disease and its economic repercussions is profoundly ambiguous, making it challenging for policymakers to formulate suitable microeconomic and macroeconomic policy responses. The scenarios in this paper illustrate how an outbreak could significantly affect the global economy in the short run. It has been estimated that each additional month of crisis would cost from about 2.5-3% of the global GDP and that the GDP growth would take a blow, reaching about 3-6%, depending on the country. Scenarios also suggest that GDP can drop by more than 10% and even exceed 15% in some countries. Via addressing the economic consequence of COVID-19 in different industries and countries, the paper presents assessments of the likely global economic costs of COVID-19 and the GDP growth of different countries. Economies will be negatively affected because of the high number of jobs at risk. Countries highly dependent on foreign trade are more negatively affected. Given that disease and its economic influence are highly unpredictable in numerous aspects, the global economy at the moment is the most critically threatened in history.

The world is facing new challenges every day; however, with the spread of the pandemic around the world, this new challenge is different. The pandemic is increasing and concentrating various challenges simultaneously. Although different sectors are facing consequences, the most important sectors, that is, health and economy are the most affected. When the pandemic began, it was not known how long it would last, which complicated health and economic planning. Therefore, it is important for decision makers and the public to know the predictions and expectations of the future of these challenges. In this work, the current situation is analyzed. Then, an expectation model is developed based on the statistics of the pandemic using a growth rate model based on an exponential and logarithmic rate of increase. Based on the available open data about the pandemic spread, the model can successfully predict future expectations, including the duration and maximum number of cases of the pandemic. The model uses the equilibrium point as the day the cases decrease. The model can be used for planning and the development of strategies to overcome these challenges.

Introduction: COVID-19 is an unprecedented global public health emergency currently impacting India in an unprecedented manner. Aim of this study was to assess knowledge, awareness, perceptions and related factors of Indian dentists on COVID-19. Methodology: A cross-sectional, on-line questionnaire-based study was conducted over one week between 3rd May, 2020 to 10th May, 2020. The sample comprised 403 Indian dentists in solo, group practices and in the academic arena. The self-administered questionnaire assessed 1) knowledge/awareness on factors related to COVID-19 patient identification and symptomatology, 2) knowledge/awareness of COVID-19 transmission and 3) perceptions of COVID-19 history taking procedure. Statistical analyses were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows, version 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY., USA). Frequency distributions and logistic regression analyses were used. Results: Indian dentists demonstrated an overall modest level of knowledge on identification of patients with COVID-19. Moreover, they had a high level of awareness of the COVID-19 transmission means, and the generally accepted procedural perceptions on patient history taking. However, there were some gaps in specific aspects of knowledge and perceptions. Those who were aged ≥ 30-years had a significantly higher level of knowledge of patient identification means than those who were < 30-years (OR=1.78:1.12-2.83); p=0.01. Moreover, specialized dentists were significantly knowledgeable of COVID-19 transmission means than the general dentists (OR=1.89:1.22-2.93; p=0.004). Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate identifiable gaps in knowledge/awareness and perceptions of COVID-19 in Indian dental professionals. These gaps should be fulfilled, at the earliest, due to the rising burden of COVID-19 in India, to ensure safe dental care delivery.

This paper is purposed to delineate the current situation around Bangladesh as well as impacts of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) around the country and how the people over here are encountering this threatening pandemic. COVID-19 is an international epidemic that has got rapid wide-spread throughout different countries of the world to date. After its first outbreak in China different continents started to make sense and get aware against COVID-19 though, due to its special strategy of transmission several countries have been quite deteriorated preventing it. All the countries are moving at their best forward to find out any solution so that whole world could get rid of this horrifying situation as soon as possible. The authors here have reported an overview of how the outbreak of COVID-19 had put its commence in Bangladesh and to date how people over here have been tracing the way to tackle this havoc. Also, the changes that have brought around due to the crisis have offered us some fertile lessons that are enunciated here by the authors. To conclude, special considerations are anticipated to be highlighted pertaining COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh.

Background: The question of whether children are less likely to pass on SARS-CoV-2 is important for planning society’s response to the pandemic. A document available on the Charité hospital website has not been formally published but is frequently referred to as supporting the notion that viral loads are similar in children and adults. Methods: The summary data from this document was extracted and used to produce summary statistics for three age groups: younger children (ages up to 11), older children (ages 12 to 19) and adults (ages 20 and above). Viral loads between the two children’s groups and the adult group were compared using Welch’s t test, which only requires group means and standard deviations and which is robust against moderate departures from normality. Findings: Viral loads were significantly lower than in adults for both younger children (p=0.04) and older children (p=0.04). Overall, viral loads were lower in children than adults (p=0.005). Interpretation: For both younger and older children, on average those with detectable SARS-CoV-2 have significantly lower viral loads than adults. Funding: No funding was received for this analysis.

Objectives: In December 2019 a novel human-infecting coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has emerged. The WHO has stated the epidemic as a “public health emergency of international concern”. A dramatic situation has emerged with thousands of deaths, occurring mainly in the aged and very ill people. Epidemiological studies suggest that immune system function is impaired in elderly individuals and these subjects often present a severe deficiency in nutrients as fatsoluble and hydrosoluble vitamins. Design: In this second part of the review about Cov2 in aged people, we searched for studies describing the possible efficacy of vitamins A, D, E and C in improving the immune system function and their possible activities against viruses. Results: Vitamins may shift the proinflammatory Th17 mediated immune-response arising in the autoimmune diseases towards a T-cell regulatory phenotype. These diseases may serve as a paradigm for the study of CRS emerging in the course of SARS CoV-2 infection. Conclusion: This review discusses about the possible activity of Vitamin A, D, E and C in restoring normal antiviral Immune System function or the potential therapeutic role of these micronutrients as a part of a multi-treatment strategy against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Objectives: In December 2019 a novel human-infecting coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has emerged. The WHO has stated the epidemic as a “public health emergency of international concern”. A drammatic situation has emerged with thousands of deaths, occurring mainly in the aged and very ill people. Epidemiological studies suggest that immune system function is impaired in elderly individuals and these subjects often present a severe deficiency in nutrients as fatsoluble and hydrosoluble vitamins. Design: In this first part of the review about Cov2 in aged people, we searched for reviews describing the characteristics of autoimmune diseases and the available therapeutic protocols for their treatment. We sed them as a paradigm with the purpose to retrieve pathogenetic mechanisms in common among these pathological conditions and SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as the alteration induced in immune system function by this virus, or by its homologous SARS-CoV. Results: SARS-CoV-2 infection induces an important immune system dysfunction with the development of an exhuberant proinflammatory response in the host, and with the development of a life-threatening condition defined as Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS). This leads to the Acute Respiratory Syndrome (ARDS), mainly in the aged people. High mortality and lethality rates have been observed in the elderly subjects with CoV-2-related infection. Conclusion: These diseases may serve as a paradigm for the study of CRS emerging in the course of SARS CoV-2 infection. This review discusses about the possible activity of Vitamin A, D, E and C in restoring normal antiviral Immune System function or the potential therapeutic role of these micronutrients as a part of a multi-treatment strategy against SARS- CoV-2 infection.

A novel coronavirus has been reported as the causative pathogen of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak Wuhan city, China in December 2019. Due to the rapid spreading of COVID-19 worldwide, it has been announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Hospitalized patients in Wuhan are associated with the Huanan seafood wholesale market where live animals, such as poultry, bats, snakes, frogs, rabbits, marmots, and hedgehogs are sold in that market which suggests a possible zoonotic infection. Therefore, it is essential to identify the potential animal reservoir, and the possibility of infection for other animal species. This short review aims to provide an overview on the relation between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection and animals.

Globally, there is massive uptake and explosion of data and challenge is to address issues like scale, pace, velocity, variety, volume and complexity of this big data. Considering the recent epidemic in China, modeling of COVID-19 epidemic for cumulative number of infected cases using data available in early phase was big challenge. Being COVID-19 pandemic during very short time span, it is very important to analyze the trend of these spread and infected cases. This chapter presents medical perspective of COVID-19 towards epidemiological triad and the study of state-of-the-art. The main aim this chapter is to present different predictive analytics techniques available for trend analysis, different models and algorithms and their comparison. Finally, this chapter concludes with the prediction of COVID-19 using Prophet algorithm indicating more faster spread in short term. These predictions will be useful to government and healthcare communities to initiate appropriate measures to control this outbreak in time.

On 11 March 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was defined by the World Health Organization as a pandemic. Severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the newly evolving human coronavirus infection, causing (COVID-19), first appeared in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread rapidly all over the world. COVID-19 is being increasingly investigated in virology, epidemiology, and clinical management strategies. There is currently no established consensus on the standard of care in the pharmacological treatment of COVID-19 patients. However, certain medications suggested for other diseases tend to be potentially effective for treating this infection, although, so far, without clear evidence. Therapies include new agents which are currently tested in several clinical trials, in addition to other medications that have been repurposed as antiviral and immune-modulating therapies. Previous high-morbidity human coronavirus epidemics such as the 2003 SARS-CoV and the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) prompted the identification of compounds that could theoretically be active against the emerging coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the advances in molecular biology techniques and computational analysis allowed better recognition of the virus structure and quicker screening of chemical libraries to suggest potential therapies. This review aims to summarize rationalized pharmacotherapy considerations in COVID-19 patients, to serve as a tool for health care professionals at the forefront of clinical care during this pandemic. All the therapies reviewed require either additional drug development or randomized large-scale clinical trials to be justified for clinical use.

Amid the covid-19 pandemic, other diseases, including viruses, are still acting to the detriment of their seasonality and risk factors for contagion. For this reason, it is interesting to know the degree of impact of other viruses, mainly respiratory, in which they have similar symptoms, in diagnoses for contamination by the new coronavirus based on epidemiological surveys, via epidemiological weeks, in Brazil. To what extent there may be a hypothesis of confusion of contaminated data, harming the health system, with regard to the need for intensive care units and control of viruses, and negatively or positively implying in the control or uncontrolling of viruses in general.

Evidence for the potential for airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-19 continues to accumulate, with important implications for healthcare workers, as well as the general public. Three lines of evidence support this conclusion.

The COVID 19 related social distancing is hypothesized can affect the environmental quality including the air and water quality. Correspondingly, this study aims to study how the reduction of activities of people living near the rivers and the coastal areas due to social distancing may decrease the discharges of materials and nutrients to the water body. The chlorophyll-a was used as bio indicators of nutrient contents related to the anthropogenic activities in the coast. The study was conducted in the Jakarta coast considering that this coast was surrounded by populated cities with total population equal to 16 million people. The chlorophyll-a was measured in mg/m³ and monitored using remote sensing data from January to April 2020 representing the period before and after the implementation of social distancing. The determinant environmental factor measured was sea surface temperature (⁰C). The study considered that there were reductions of levels and areas of chlorophyll-a in the coast. The chlorophyll-a levels were reduced from January to April (p<0.05). The chlorophyll-a levels for January, February, March, and April were 7.36 mg/m³ (95%CI: 6.34-8.37), 7.90 mg/m³ (95%CI: 7.32-8.47), 6.52 mg/m³ (95%CI: 5.37-7.66), and 4.21 mg/m³ (95%CI: 3.34-5.07) respectively. However, the differences of chlorophyll-a were not influenced by the sea surface temperature factor (p>0.05). Based on remote sensing data in January and February, the sizes of coastal areas with chlorophyll-a levels >7.00 mg/m³ were larger than areas observed in March and April. Contrarily, the coastal area sizes with low chlorophyll-a levels <5.00 mg/m³ were increasing in April. To conclude the dynamic of anthropogenic activities in coastal setting is responsible and associated with the water quality and nutrient contents as indicated by chlorophyll-a levels.

This paper aims to analyze the effects of Covid-19 on financial markets from the perspective of Complexity. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused turmoil in financial markets and is already one of the most important financial crises in history, causing a fall in several stock markets as well as great volatility. Unlike past crises, which in most cases were caused either by problems of fiscal deficits or in the financial system, this crisis has its origin in an epidemic disease, which occurred in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread across the globe affecting transport networks, commerce and finance, and will affect the public debt of many countries. This is a systemic situation in which there is a need to consider several interconnected systems, financial instability and high financial risk, something that econophysics and some complexity theorists already do. Therefore, this paper intends to show, theoretically, the systemic and complex character of the recent financial crisis caused by Covid-19.

Background: World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. There is sudden need of statistical modeling due to onset of COVID-19 pandemic across the world. But health planning and policy requirements the estimates of disease problem form clinical data. Objective: To predict recovery rate, cases load rate on the basis of cumulative confirmed Novel Corona virus (NCV) cases, recovered cases and deaths form COVID-19 in India. Methods: The reported COVID-19 cases in the country were obtained from website (https://datahub.io/core/covid-19#resource-covid-19_zip/). The cumulative NCV confirmed cases; recovery cases and deaths were used for estimating recovery rate, cases load rate and death rate till date 24 April 2020. Results: A total of 24530 NCV confirmed cases were reported nationwide in India on 24 April 2020. It is found that the recovery rate increased 22% and case load rate decreased 74%. Death rate is found to be very low 3%. The difference of cases load rate and recovery rate (delta) coincide at 50 % then NCV cases expected would be declined. Conclusion: The epidemic in the country was mainly caused by the importation of India. Lockdown as restricting the migration of population and decided to quarantine of population may greatly reduce the risk of continued spread of the epidemic in India. This study predicts that by 20 May 2020, the cases load rate lesser than recovery rate there after COVID-19 patients would be started to reducing.

During December 2019, a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 has emerged in Wuhan, China. The human to human transmission of this virus has also been established. The virus has so far infected more than 2 million people and spread over 200 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a global health emergency due to its spread well beyond China. It has been established that this virus originates from bats and uses an intermediate host for transfer to humans. The knowledge about the intermediate host is important to find the virus shuttle mechanism to stop future outbreaks. For this, the genetic and structural analysis of coronaviruses spike proteins was performed using a computer-assisted approach.To conduct the In silico analysis, 43 sequences of spike protein belong to different species were retrieved from the NCBI nucleotide database. Pairwise and multiple sequence alignments were performed to check the similarities and differences of the retrieved sequences. Moreover, to highlight relationships among different species, phylogenetics analysis was performed using the MEGA software tool. In the end, protein structure alignment (superimposition) was performed against the reference structure by UCSF Chimera software. The results highlighted that the maximum similarity of human protein was found against Bat and Pangolinsequences. Moreover, among Bat and Pangolin, the highest similarity was found against pangolin based on phylogenetics analysis. These results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 transfers from bats to humans through pangolins.

The disease of COVID-19 comprises the most serious against human health worldwide with a high rate of virulence and mortality. The disease is caused by the 2019-nCoV virus from the beta coronavirus family. The virus makes use of its surface glycoprotein named S protein or spike to enter the human cells. The virus attached to its receptor named angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 on host cells surface via its receptor-binding domain and its fusion is mediated by cleavage at S2' site that is carried out by surface protease. Vaccines or drugs interfering with S protein binding or cleavage sites could be considered as drugs to get rid of the infection. In the current work and though docking and molecular dynamic experiments we have checked more than 100 drugs with high enough molecular weights for their shielding potency toward S protein binding sites and processing S2' sites. Our results indicate the shielding potency of: fidaxomicin > ivermectin > heparin > azithromycin > clarithromycin > eryhthromycin > niclosamide > ritonavir. Considering affluent reports regarding the complex disturbance in the immune system and multi-organ involvement in the disease there is no single or binary drug regime for cure expectedly and instead, we claim the multi-drug regime should be the choice in this context. Accordingly, we suggest our extracted drugs as an adjuvant for clinical trials.

In attempting to predict the further course of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, mathematical models of different types are frequently employed and calibrated to reported case numbers. Among the major challenges in interpreting these data is the uncertainty about the amount of undetected infections, or conversely: the detection ratio. As a result, some models include assumptions about the percentage of detected cases among total infections while others completely neglect undetected cases. Here, we illustrate how model projections about case and fatality numbers vary significantly under varying assumptions on the detection ratio. Uncertainties in model predictions can be significantly reduced by representative testing, both for antibodies and active virus RNA, to uncover past and current infections that have gone undetected thus far.

The recent 2019-nCoV outbreak, spreading infection around the globe is jeopardizing the public health and global economy. The virus was reported to have emerged from an animal market in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019 and presumed to have originated from bats and eventually transmitted in humans. The entry of the virus into human cells is triggered by a series of molecular events initiated with the binding of a receptor-binding domain of viral spike protein to human Ace2 cell surface receptor. Based on the comparative sequence analysis of the well-known binding hotspots of human Ace2, cross-interacting potential of 2019-nCoV was predicted, which suggests Ace2 of wild animals like tiger, bear, orangutan, etc.; aquatic mammals like whale and dolphins; and domestic animals like cat, horse, goat, sheep, dog etc. as potential target. However, the recognition of Ace2 of bats, rats and mice by the 2019-nCoV spike protein remains under question. The study indicates that 2019-nCoV might have broad host range and may thus intensify the gravity of 2019-nCoV outbreak

We analyze the Covid-19 mortality scenario in India and compare it with those in other large-population regions such as Asia-excluding-China, Africa, European Union, South America, and USA. We compare existing fatality data and offer an interpretation for low fatality based on immunity due to endemic malaria and TB. We identify the hot climate in the past summer as a possible cause for low death count in southern-hemisphere countries without endemic malaria and TB. We also make India-specific observations for easing the lockdown and estimations for the time required to attain herd immunity. Whatever optimism we present should be viewed as a guarded optimism. There should not be room for complacency.

Recently, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is threatening human health globally. There is a dire need to find potential therapeutic agents. Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), as an entry receptor of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is considered as potential therapeutic target in COVID-19 pandemic. Here, our bioinformatics analysis revealed that the biological function of ACE2 was correlated with regulation of blood pressure and mediation of SARS-CoV-2 entry into host cells. Ten ACE2 cooperative proteins were identified by using STRING with a high score. ACE2 expressed highly in the small intestine, testis, and kidney. The level of ACE2 expression in tumor tissues varies in different types of cancers compared with that in normal tissues. It was worth noting that the expression level of ACE2 in the tumor has no effect on patient survival. MiRNA hsa-miR-942-5p, and three transcription factors (TFs) including Signal transducer and activator of transcription 4 (STAT4), Estrogen related receptor α (ESRRA), and Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) were selected as novel ACE2 regulators. Moreover, nine potential therapeutic drugs were predicted by two online databases. Thus, our research may expand the overall view of ACE2 in COVID-19 treatment.

Till date there are three full length COVID 19 virus genome sequences available from India. The earlier two were reported from Kerala, Southern India and the more recent one has been reported from Gujarat, western part of India. In this paper we report two novel mutations in the Spike protein sequence of Gujarat’s isolate. These mutations are based on comparison with the original Wuhan sequence. The two mutations have been found to be located just upstream and downstream of the receptor binding domain (RBD). Out of these two one has also been found to affect the secondary structure of the S1 domain. Since both of these mutations lie near the receptor binding domain, they might influence the spike receptor interactions by changing the conformation of the spike protein S1 domain. These mutations are uniquely placed and might be important in the context of vaccine engineering and therapeutic interventions.

Azithromycin has been shown to have a clinical efficacy against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2); ivermectin has also demonstrated a remarkable experimental efficacy with a potential to be used for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Further, BCG vaccination is being considered for clinical trials aiming to test its potential for lowering COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. This article illustrates some structural and functional relationships that may gather these drugs and the author, basing on a combined pathophysiological and pharmacological approach, recommends the FDA-approved antidiarrhea drug; nitazoxanide, which has been previously suggested but unfortunately ignored, to be tested in combination with azithromycin for their potential activity against SARS CoV-2 soonest. The author recommends testing their combined administration as early during the clinical course of COVID-19 as possible. Further, basing on the same represented concept, the author recommends more trials for interferons to be tested against SARS CoV-2 especially in severe and critical cases.

The severity of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with a high transmission rate, 2.6-4.7% lethality and a huge economic impact, poses an urgent need for efficient medical treatments and vaccines. Currently, there are only non-specific treatments to assist the patients in acute respiratory distress during the inflammatory step following the preliminary infection by SARS-CoV-2. Clinical trials of drug repurposing were quickly launched at the international level. Specific treatments such as the transfusion of plasma from patients who have recovered into infected patients or the use of specific inhibitors of the viral RNA-polymerase complex are promising strategies to block infection. To complete the therapeutic arsenal, we believe that the opportunity of targeting the SARS-CoV-2 genome by RNA therapy should be deeply investigated. In the present paper, we propose to design specific antisense oligonucleotides targeting transcripts encoding viral proteins associated to replication and transcription of SARS-CoV-2, aiming to block infection. We designed antisense oligonucleotides targeting the genomic 5’ untranslated region (5’-UTR), open reading frames 1a and 1b (ORF1a and ORF1b) governing expression of the replicase/transcriptase complex, and the gene N encoding the nucleoprotein that is genome-associated. To maximize the probability of efficiency, we predicted the antisense oligonucleotides by using two design methods: i) conventional antisense oligonucleotides with 100% phosphorothioate modifications (ASO); ii) antisense locked nucleic acids GapmeR. After binding the viral RNA target, the hetero-duplexes antisense oligonucleotide-RNA are cleaved by RNAse H1. Nine potent ASO candidates were found and we selected five of them targeting ORF1a (3), ORF1b (1) and N (1). Nine GapmeR candidates were predicted with excellent properties and we retained four of them targeting 5’-UTR (1), ORF1a (3), ORF1b (1) and N (1). The most potent GapmeR candidate targets the 5’-UTR, a key genomic domain with multiple functions in the viral cycle. By this open publication, we are pleased to share these in silico results with the scientific community in hopes of stimulating innovation in translational research in order to fight the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. These antisense oligonucleotide candidates should be now experimentally evaluated.

Hydroxychloroquine, a known antiviral metabolite of chloroquine, is increasingly used along with antibiotic azithromycin for the treatment of COVID-19 infection. In about one month India, the world’s largest manufacturer, delivered hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19 to over 50 countries. The therapy is being used across the world both for patients staying at home at the early phase of symptoms, as well as for patients hospitalized. We summarize achievements as of late April 2020, review possible modes of action and suggest avenues for the quick scale-up of production of hydroxychloroquine.

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that is the causative agent of Coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVD-19). As of the 17^th April 2020, it has infected 2 114 269 people resulting in 145 144 deaths. The timing, magnitude and longevity of humoral immunity is not yet understood for SARS-CoV-2. Nevertheless, understanding this is urgently required to inform the likely future dynamics of the pandemic, to guide strategies to allow relaxation of social distancing measures and to understand how to deploy limiting vaccine doses when they become available to achieve maximum impact. SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh human coronavirus to be described. Four human coronaviruses circulate seasonally and cause common colds. Two other coronaviruses, SARS and MERS, have crossed from animal sources into humans but have not become endemic. Here we review what is known about the human humoral immune response to epidemic SARS CoV and MERS CoV and to the seasonal, endemic coronaviruses. Then we summarize recent, mostly non-peer reviewed studies into SARS-CoV-2 serology and reinfection in humans and non-human primates and summarize current pressing research needs.

The recent pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread so rapidly and severely affected the people of almost every country in the world. The highly contagious nature of this virus makes it difficult to take control of the present pandemic situation. With no specific treatment available, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presents a threat to people of all ages including the elderly people and people with other medical complications as a vulnerable group to this disease. Better understanding of viral pathogenesis, appropriate preventive measures, early diagnosis and supportive treatments of the infected patients are now the general solutions to fight against this viral transmission. But, as an emerging disease, most about it remains still poorly understood. This article holds an overview on the origin and structure, pathogenesis, diagnosis and possible therapeutic options for the causative agent, SARS-CoV-2 and disease, COVID-19. However, few therapeutic options, laboratory experiments and other strategies proposed here need to be further clinically tested.

Quinine and its less toxic derivatives have served humanity for decades as potent antimalarial drugs. Emergence of drug resistance has narrowed the usage of these drugs in malaria prevention and treatment. Fortunately, these drugs have roles in the treatment of other diseases as well including rheumatic disorders and viral infections. Quinine derivatives have proven antiviral effects, especially against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Zika virus (ZiKV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), Ebola virus and dengue virus (DENV). The prophylactic and therapeutic role of Chloroquine/hydroxychroquine has become a topic of interest after the recent outbreak of novel Corona virus-19 (nCoV-19). This virus is also named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and WHO has officially named this disease as Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This lethal virus has affected almost 186 countries of the world till to date just in a period of four months of its outbreak. No approved antiviral drug is existed for the treatment of COVID-19. Therefore, this review is focused on potential prophylactic and therapeutic role of chloroquine/hydroxychlroquine for COVID-19.

Collective spread of aggregated viral particles may have beneficial effects on viral capability to survive in the external environment, to counteract immune responses, and to successfully colonize host cells. Here we ask whether SARS-Cov-2 particles, responsible for COVID-19, display collective clustering behavior. Looking at microphotographs and movies of SARS-Cov-2 particles emerging from the surface of cultured cells, we describe single virions that tend to aggregate in progressively larger globular assemblies, until a network-like appearance is achieved. When SARS-Cov-2 particles stick into each other, the squeezing of single virions leads to improved viral package in host’s fluids. We discuss how these findings might explain both the ability to spread of SARS-Cov-2 and the clinical severity of COVID-19 in humans, paving the way to novel therapeutic strategies to mechanically disrupt collective clustering.

Coronaviruses are an extensive family of viruses that can cause disease in both animals and humans. The current classification of coronaviruses recognizes 39 species in 27 subgenera that belong to the family Coronaviridae. From those, at least seven coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections in humans. Four of these viruses can cause common cold-like symptoms, while others that infect animals can evolve and become infectious to humans. Three recent examples of this viral jumps include SARS CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS CoV-2 virus. They are responsible for causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and the most recently discovered coronavirus disease during 2019 (COVID-19).COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. The rapid spread of the disease has taken the scientific and medical community by surprise. Latest figures from 14 April 2020 show more than 2 million people had been infected with the virus, causing more than 120,000 deaths in over 210 countries worldwide. The large amount of information we receive every day concerning this new disease is so abundant and dynamic that medical staff, health authorities, academics and the media are not able to keep up with this new pandemic. In order to offer a clear insight of the extensive literature available, we have conducted a comprehensive literature review of the SARS CoV-2 Virus and the Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19).

With the emergence of COVID-19 we are confronted with a new clinical picture of acute respiratory distress syndrome in the intensive care unit. In the majority of patients, the respiratory mechanics are very different from the “normal” ARDS patient. We measured transpulmonary pressure and dead space ventilation to assess the effects of high and low PEEP levels on lung compliance and ventilation-perfusion mismatching. Advanced respiratory mechanics were assessed in 14 patients. Compared to ARDS patients, lung compliance was relatively high (61 ± 5 mL/cmH₂O). COVID-19 patients had high dead space ventilation and gas exchange impairment (Bohr 52 ± 3%; Enghoff modification 67 ± 2%; ventilatory ratio 2.24 ± 0.23). we show that higher PEEP levels decrease lung compliance and in most cases increase dead space ventilation, indicating that high PEEP levels probably cause hyperinflation in patients with COVID-19. We suggest using prone position for an extended period of time, and apply lower PEEP levels as much as possible.

World is currently experiencing a new pandemic for which no curative treatment is available. At this time, coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has reached 183 countries and has caused several deaths. Many reports presented chloroquine (CQ) and hydrochloroquine (HCQ), former drugs used against malaria, as the best current choice to fight this terrible disease. As these molecules had been withdrawn in malaria treatment policy due to chemoresistance, their reintroduction could have some consequences. Though local malaria prevalence could decrease for a while, molecular changes are likely to happen on some plasmodium falciparum genes involved in conferring drug resistance. This could threaten efforts in malaria control, if these molecules are widely administered.

The study sought to gauge the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in unleashing digital transformation in the education sector in South Africa. In order to gauge the impact, the study tracked the rate at which the 4IR tools were used by various institutions during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data were obtained from secondary sources, mainly newspaper articles, magazines and peer-reviewed journals. The findings are that, in South Africa, during the lockdown, a variety of 4IR tools were unleashed from primary education to higher and tertiary education where educational activities switched to remote learning (online learning). These observations point to the fact that South Africa generally has, some pockets of excellence to drive the education sector into the 4IR, which has the potential to increase access. Access to education, particularly at a higher education level, has always been a challenge due to a limited number of spaces available. Much as this pandemic has brought with it massive human suffering across the globe, there is an opportunity to assess successes and failures of deployed technologies, costs associated with them, and scaling these technologies to improve access.

With frequencies varying up to 20%, treatment resistant pulmonary failure is a major life-threatening complication in COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2, HCoV19) disease pathology. Both acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), proposed to be caused by an over-reacting immune system which floods the lung with edema, a liquid consisting of inflammatory cells, and diminished lung perfusion, have been postulated to cause this treatment resistant lung failure. Aging, co-morbidities, male gender and obesity are pre-existing factors associated with the more severe outcome. Thrombosis is more frequently observed than usually seen during ICU admission. Different hypotheses explaining the pathophysiological cascade leading to fast progressing severe COVID-19 disease and how to counteract it have been proposed. A variety of intervention studies to control severity are ongoing or planned. Not suggested so far, we here hypothesize that the inflammatory lipid modulator prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) executes a prominent role in COVID-19 pathophysiology. Based on this we suggest measuring PGE₂ in patients and evaluating selective inhibition of the human microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) as a potential innovative therapeutic approach in this devastating condition for which sonlicromanol, a drug currently in phase 2b studies for mitochondrial disease, is a candidate.

A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), causing an emerging coronavirus disease (COVID-19), first detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China has resulted in an outbreak in China which has taken a catastrophic turn with high toll rates in China and subsequently spreading across the globe. The rapid spread of this virus to more than 175 countries while affecting nearly 500,000 persons and causing more than 22,000 human deaths, it has resulted in a pandemic situation in the world. The SARS-CoV-2 virus belongs to the genus Betacoronavirus, like MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, all of which originated in bats. It is highly contagious, causing symptoms like fever, dyspnea, asthenia and pneumonia, thrombocytopenia and the severely infected patients succumb to the disease. Coronaviruses (CoVs) among all known RNA viruses have the largest genomes ranging from 26 to 32 kb in length. Extensive research has been conducted to understand the molecular basis of the SARS-CoV-2 infection and evolution, develop effective therapeutics, antiviral drugs and vaccines, and to design rapid and confirmatory viral diagnostics as well as adopt appropriate prevention and control strategies. Till date, no clinically proclaimed, proven therapeutic antibodies or specific drugs and therapeutics, and vaccines have turned up. Several molecular diagnostic tests such as Real Time-PCR, isothermal loop-mediated amplification of coronavirus (i-LACO), full genome analysis by next-generation sequencing (NGS), multiplex nucleic acid amplification, and microarray-based assays are in use currently for the laboratory confirmation of this CoV infection. In this review article, we describe the basic molecular organization and phylogenetic analysis of the coronaviruses, including the SARS-CoV-2, and recent advances in diagnosis and vaccine development in brief and focusing mainly on developing potential therapeutic options that can be explored to manage this pandemic virus infection, which would help in valid countering of COVID-19.

Background: Countries around the world are facing extraordinary challenges in implementing various measures to slow down the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Guided by international recommendations, Saudi Arabia has implemented a series of infection control measures after the detection of the first confirmed case in the country. However, in order for these measures to be effective, public attitudes and compliance must be conducive as perceived risk is strongly associated with health behaviors. The primary objective of this study is to assess Saudis’ attitudes towards COVID-19 preventive measures to guide future health communication content. Methods: Naïve Bayes machine learning model was used to run Arabic sentiment analysis of Twitter posts through the Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK) library in Python. Tweets containing hashtags pertaining to seven public health measures imposed by the government were collected and analyzed. Results: A total of 53,127 tweets were analyzed. All measures, except one, showed more positive tweets than negative. Measures that pertain to religious practices showed the most positive sentiment. Discussion: Saudi Twitter users showed support and positive attitudes towards the infection control measures to combat COVID-19. It is postulated that this conducive public response is reflective of the overarching, longstanding popular confidence in the government. Religious notions may also play a positive role in preparing believers at times of crises. Findings of this study broadened our understanding to develop proper public health messages and promote stronger compliance with control measures to control COVID-19.

Most striking observations in COVID-19 patients are the hints on pulmonary edema (also seen on CT scans as ground glass opacities), dry cough, fluid restrictions to prevent more severe hypoxia, the huge PEEP that is needed while lungs are compliant, and the fact that anti-inflammatory therapies are not powerful enough to counter the severity of the disease. We propose that the severity of the disease and many deaths are due to a local vascular problem due to activation of B1 receptors on endothelial cells in the lungs. SARS-CoV-2 enters the cell via ACE2, a cell membrane bound molecule with enzymatic activity that next to its role in RAS is needed to inactivate des-Arg⁹ bradykinin, the potent ligand of the bradykinin receptor type 1 (B1). In contrast to bradykinin receptor 2 (B2), the B1 receptor on endothelial cells is upregulated by proinflammatory cytokines. Without ACE2 acting as a guardian to inactivate the ligands of B1, the lung environment is prone for local vascular leakage leading to angioedema. Angioedema is likely a feature already early in disease, and might explain the typical CT scans and the feeling of people that they drown. In some patients, this is followed by a clinical worsening of disease around day 9 due to the formation antibodies directed against the spike (S)-antigen of the corona-virus that binds to ACE2 that could contribute to disease by enhancement of local immune cell influx and proinflammatory cytokines leading to damage. In parallel, inflammation induces more B1 expression, and possibly via antibody-dependent enhancement of viral infection leading to continued ACE2 dysfunction in the lung because of persistence of the virus. In this viewpoint we propose that a bradykinin-dependent local lung angioedema via B1 and B2 receptors is an important feature of COVID-19, resulting in a very high number of ICU admissions. We propose that blocking the B1 and B2 receptors might have an ameliorating effect on disease caused by COVID-19. This kinin-dependent pulmonary edema is resistant to corticosteroids or adrenaline and should be targeted as long as the virus is present. In addition, this pathway might indirectly be responsive to anti-inflammatory agents or neutralizing strategies for the anti-S-antibody induced effects, but by itself is likely to be insufficient to reverse all the pulmonary edema. Moreover, we provide a suggestion of how to ventilate in the ICU in the context of this hypothesis.

Computational studies suggest that hesperidin, a flavonoid abundant in citrus peel, binding the three main cellular receptors of SARS-CoV-2 virus can act in the prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19. Herein we urge the uptake of hydrodynamic cavitation industrial-scale reactors based on the low cost, reliable Venturi tube for the extraction of citrus pectin rich in hesperidin (and in other bioflavonoids including naringing) by very fast processing of waste orange peel or waste lemon peel in water only. A device able to process up to 500 kg of waste peels per session, similar to the one lately deployed in Italy for hydrodynamic cavitation-assisted brewing, is capable to provide 36,000 doses of 1000 mg hesperidin per day.

Background: Covid-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China in Dec 2019. Since then, it has been transmitted rapidly in China and the rest of the world. While Covid-19 transmission rate has been declining in China, it is increasing exponentially in Europe and America. Although there are numerous studies examining Covid-19 infection, including an archived paper looking into the meteorological effect, the role of outdoor air pollution has yet to be explored rigorously. It has been shown that air pollution will weaken the immune system, and increase the rate of respiratory virus infection. We postulate that outdoor air pollution concentrations will have a negative effect on Covid-19 infections in China, whilst lockdowns, characterized by strong social distancing and home isolation measures, will help to moderate such negative effect. Methods: We will collect the number of daily confirmed Covid-19 cases in 31 provincial capital cities in China during the period of 1 Dec 2019 to 20 Mar 2020 (from a popular Chinese online platform which aggregates all cases reported by the Chinese national/provincial health authorities). We will also collect daily air pollution and meteorology data at the city-level (from the Chinese National Environmental Monitoring Center and the US National Climatic Data Center), daily inter-city migration flows and intra-city movements (from Baidu). City-level demographics including age distribution and gender, education, and median household income can be obtained from the statistical yearbooks. City-level co-morbidity indicators including rates of chronic disease and co-infection can be obtained from related research articles. A regression model is developed to model the relationship between the infection rate of Covid-19 (number of confirmed cases/population at the city level) and outdoor air pollution at the city level, after taking into account confounding factors such as meteorology, inter- and intra-city movements, demographics, and co-morbidity and co-infection rates. In particular, we shall study how air pollution affects infection rates across different cities, including Wuhan. Our model will also study air pollution would affect infection rates in Wuhan before and after the lockdown. Expected findings: We expect there be a correlation between Covid-19 infection rate and outdoor air pollution. We also expect that reduced intra-city movement after the lockdowns in Wuhan and the rest of China will play an important role in reducing the infection rate. Interpretation: Infection rate is growing exponentially in major cities worldwide. We expect Covid-19 infection rate is related to the air pollution concentration, and is strongly dependent on inter- and intra-city movements. To reduce the infection rate, the international community may deploy effective air pollution reduction plans and social distancing policies.

With the current rapid spread of COVID-19, global health systems are increasingly overburdened by the sheer number of people that need diagnosis, isolation and treatment. Shortcomings are evident across the board, from staffing, facilities for rapid and reliable testing to availability of hospital beds and key medical-grade equipment. The scale and breadth of the problem calls for an equally substantive response not only from frontline workers such as medical staff and scientists, but from skilled members of the public who have the time, facilities and knowledge to meaningfully contribute to a consolidated global response. Here, we summarise community-driven approaches based on Free and Open Source scientific and medical Hardware (FOSH) currently being developed and deployed to bolster access to personal protective equipment (PPE), patient treatment and diagnostics.

While the COVID-19 pandemic advances, the scientific community struggles in the search for treatments. Several improvements have been made, including the discovery of clinical efficacy of chloroquine (CQ) in COVID-19 patients, but the effective treatment protocols are still missing. In order to find novel treatment options many scientists utilize the in silico approach to identify compounds that could interfere with the key molecules involved in entrance, replication, or dissemination of the SARS-CoV-2. However, most of the identified molecules are currently not available as pharmacological agents, and assessing their safety and efficacy could take many months. Here, we took a different approach based on the proposed pharmacodynamic model of CQ in COVID-19. The main mechanism of action responsible for the favourable outcome of COVID-19 patients treated with CQ seems to be related to pH modulation-mediated effect on the endolysosomal trafficking, a characteristic of chemical compounds often called lysosomotropic agents because of the physico-chemical properties that enable them to passively diffuse through the endosomal membrane and undergo protonation-based trapping in the lumen of the acidic vesicles. In this review, we discuss lysosomotropic and lysosome targeting drugs that are already in clinical use and are characterized by good safety profiles, low cost, and wide availability. We emphasize that some of these drugs, in particular azithromycin and other macrolide antibiotics, indomethacin and some other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, proton pump inhibitors, and fluoxetine could provide additional therapeutic benefits in addition to the potential antiviral effect that still has to be confirmed by well-controlled clinical trials. As some of these drugs, mostly antibiotics, were already empirically used in the treatment of COVID-19, we encourage our colleagues all over the world to publish patient data so potential efficacy of these agents can be evaluated in the clinical context and rapidly implemented in the therapeutic protocols if the beneficial effect on clinical outcome is observed.

COVID-19, a rapidly spreading new strain of coronavirus, has affected more than 150 countries and received worldwide attention. The lack of efficacious drugs or vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 has further worsened the situation. Thus, there is an urgent need to boost up research for the development of effective therapeutics and affordable diagnostic against COVID-19. The crystallized form of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) was demonstrated by a Chinese researcher Liu et al. (2020) which is a novel therapeutic drug target. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of medicinal plant-based bioactive compounds against COVID-19 Mpro by molecular docking study. Molecular docking investigations were performed by using Molegro Virtual Docker 7 to analyze the inhibition probability of these compounds against COVID-19. COVID-19 Mpro was docked with 80 flavonoid compounds and the binding energies were obtained from the docking of (PDB ID: 6LU7: Resolution 2.16 Å) with the native ligand. According to obtained results, hesperidin, rutin, diosmin, apiin, diacetylcurcumin, (E)-1-(2-Hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-3-[3-[(E)-3-(2-hydroxy-4- methoxyphenyl)-3-oxoprop-1-enyl]phenyl]prop-2-en-1-one, and beta,beta'-(4-Methoxy-1,3- phenylene)bis(2'-hydroxy-4',6'-dimethoxyacrylophenone have been found as more effective on COVID-19 than nelfinavir. So, this study will pave a way for doing advanced experimental research to evaluate the real medicinal potential of these compounds to cure COVID-19.

The pandemic threat SARS-CoV-2 is now beyond control though the country of origin of this virus had already been limited for the new infection. Number of infected people and countries have been increasing day by day. Considering the previous pandemic flues, it is hypothesizing that COVID-19 will be reduced with warming the global environmental temperature. Therefore, the current study was aimed to analyze the effect of temperature and relative humidity (RH) on spreading of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The COVID-19 confirmed cases of 31 different states in China and 70 cities of 11 countries were obtained from several online databases. The real time temperature and humidity of the respective regions were taken from an online weather forecasting data source. Correlation analyses showed that SARS-CoV-2 infectivity and spreading negatively correlated with temperature of most of the states of China or cities of the world or in a country. The effect of humidity on COVID-19 was found to be positively correlated inside the China and difference of humidity was not found among countries and/or various regions of the world. Moreover, a minimum number of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the temperate regions compared to regions/countries compared to regions/countries with relatively low temperature. In conclusion, the SARS-CoV-2 infection has been found in a wide range of temperatures. It might be hypothesized that comparatively elevated air temperature could play a detrimental effect for SARS-CoV-2 spread.

Background: On late December 2019, a viral pneumonia known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was originated from China and spread very rapidly in the world. Therefore, COVID-19 became a global concern and health problem. Methods: We presented four patients in this study. They were selected from patients who presented with pneumonia symptoms and were suspicious for COVID-19 and referred to the intended centers for COVID-19 diagnosis and management of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in the south of Iran. Two nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal throat swab samples were collected from each patient and tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection by real-time reverse-transcriptase–polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR), and also samples were sent for influenza viruses and all the respiratory panel. Results: In the present report, four patients were diagnosed in the starting days of COVID-19 disease in our center in south of Iran with co-infection of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus. Conclusions: This co-infection of COVID-19 and influenza highlights the importance of considering SARS-CoV-2 PCR assay regardless of other positive findings for other pathogens in the primary test during the epidemic.

The COVID-2019 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (aka 2019-nCoV) has raised significant health concerns in China and worldwide. While novel drug discovery and vaccine studies are long, repurposing old drugs against the COVID-2019 epidemic can help identify treatments, with known preclinical, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and toxicity profiles, which can rapidly enter Phase 3 or 4 or can be used directly in clinical settings. In this study, we presented a novel network based drug repurposing platform to identify potential drugs for the treatment of COVID-2019. We first analysed the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 and identified SARS as the closest disease, based on genome similarity between both causal viruses, followed by MERS and other human coronavirus diseases. Using our AutoSeed pipeline (text mining and database searches), we obtained 34 COVID-2019-related genes. Taking those genes as seeds, we automatically built a molecular network for which our module detection and drug prioritization algorithms identified 24 disease-related human pathways, five modules and finally suggested 78 drugs to repurpose. Following manual filtering based on clinical knowledge, we re-prioritized 30 potential repurposable drugs against COVID-2019 (including pseudoephedrine, andrographolide, chloroquine, abacavir, and thalidomide) . We hope that this data can provide critical insights into SARS-CoV-2 biology and help design rapid clinical trials of treatments against COVID-2019.

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly advancing despite public health measures. Pharmaceutical prophylaxis is an established approach to potentially control infectious diseases and is one solution to the urgent public health challenge posed by COVID-19. Screening and development of new vaccines and antivirals is expensive and time consuming while the repositioning of available drugs should receive priority attention as well as international government and agency support. Here we propose an old drug chloroquine (CQ) to be urgently repositioned as an ideal antiviral prophylactic against COVID-19. CQ has ability to block viral attachment and entry to host cells. Its proven clinical efficacy against a variety of viruses including COVID-19 and its current deployment in COVID-19 therapeutic trials strengthens its potential candidacy as a prophylactic. Furthermore, CQ has a long safety record, is inexpensive and widely available. Here we reviewed CQ's antiviral mechanisms, its laboratory efficacy activity against COVID-19, as well as CQ's pharmacokinetics in its established use against malaria and autoimmune diseases to recommend safe and potentially efficacious dose regimens for protection against COVID-19: a pre-exposure prophylaxis of 250-500mg daily and post-exposure prophylaxis at 8mg/kg/day for 3 days. We recommend further urgent research on CQ for COVID-19 prevention and urge that the above regimens be investigated in parallel with mass deployment by relevant agencies in attempts to contain the pandemic without unnecessary regulatory delays as benefits far outweigh risks or costs.

COVID-19, a new strain of coronavirus (CoV), was identified in Wuhan, China, in 2019. No specific therapies are available and investigations regarding COVID-19 treatment are lacking. Liu et al. (2020) successfully crystallised the COVID-19 main protease (M^pro), which is a potential drug target. The present study aimed to assess bioactive compounds found in medicinal plants as potential COVID-19 M^pro inhibitors, using a molecular docking study. Molecular docking was performed using Autodock 4.2, with the Lamarckian Genetic Algorithm, to analyse the probability of docking. COVID-19 M^pro was docked with several compounds, and docking was analysed by Autodock 4.2, Pymol version 1.7.4.5 Edu, and Biovia Discovery Studio 4.5. Nelfinavir and lopinavir were used as standards for comparison. The binding energies obtained from the docking of 6LU7 with native ligand, nelfinavir, lopinavir, kaempferol, quercetin, luteolin-7-glucoside, demethoxycurcumin, naringenin, apigenin-7-glucoside, oleuropein, curcumin, catechin, epicatechin-gallate, zingerol, gingerol, and allicin were -8.37, -10.72, -9.41, -8.58, -8.47, -8.17, -7.99, -7.89, -7.83, -7.31, -7.05, -7.24, -6.67, -5.40, -5.38, and -4.03 kcal/mol, respectively. Therefore, nelfinavir and lopinavir may represent potential treatment options, and kaempferol, quercetin, luteolin-7-glucoside, demethoxycurcumin, naringenin, apigenin-7-glucoside, oleuropein, curcumin, catechin, and epicatechin-gallate appeared to have the best potential to act as COVID-19 M^pro inhibitors. However, further research is necessary to investigate their potential medicinal use.

The appearance of the novel betacoronavirus 2019-nCoV represents a major threat to human health, and its diffusion around the world is predicted to have dramatic economic consequences. The knowledge of the 3D structures of 2019-nCoV proteins can facilitate the development of diagnostic and therapeutic molecules. Herein, we apply our energy-based method for the prediction of potential epitopes on viral proteins to design peptide-based molecules that can subsequently be used in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. We discuss these aspects in the paper.The designs have not been tested. Our aim is to share information that can be useful in the development of novel biomolecules with potential interesting activities against 2019-nCoV.

There is currently a lack of pathologic data on the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pneumonia, or COVID-19, from autopsy or biopsy. Two patients who recently underwent lung lobectomies for adenocarcinoma were retrospectively found to have had COVID-19 at the time of surgery. These two cases thus provide important first opportunities to study the pathology of COVID-19. Pathologic examinations revealed that, apart from the tumors, the lungs of both patients exhibited edema, proteinaceous exudate, focal reactive hyperplasia of pneumocytes with patchy inflammatory cellular infiltration, and multinucleated giant cells. Hyaline membranes were not prominent. Since both patients did not exhibit symptoms of pneumonia at the time of surgery, these changes likely represent an early phase of the lung pathology of COVID-19 pneumonia.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been first appeared in Wuhan, China but its fast transmission, led to its widespread prevalence in various countries and make it a global concern. In addition, lack of a definitive treatment is another concern that needs to be attention. Researchers have come up with several options, which are not certain, but protease inhibitor and some antiviral agent are in the forefront. In this study a virtual screening procedure employing docking of different databases including 1615 FDA approved drugs was used to identify new potential small molecule inhibitors for protease protein of COVID-19. The docking result indicates that among all, simeprevir (Hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease inhibitor) could fit well to the binding pocket of protease and because of some other positive features including ADME profile, might be a helpful treatment option for COVID-19.

A novel coronavirus strain (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first appeared in December 2019 and can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome and death. However, there are only limited therapy choices and no vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 is currently available. Here we report about a case of a SARS-CoV-2 caused pneumonia successfully treated with thalidomide. Thalidomide is an immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory agent and was combined with a low-dose glucocorticoid. We suggest, that the effects of thalidomide might be related to regulating immunity, inhibiting the inflammatory cytokine surge, alleviating anxiety to reduce oxygen consumption, relieving vomit and lung exudation.

The COVID-19-medical emergency has ended worldwide, yet there is still a need to evaluate the psychological impact of these years of unprecedented changes on students’ life. Methods: This study aims to assess and compare COVID-19-related stressors (Relationships-and-Academic-Life; Isolation; Fear-of-Contagion) and psychophysical symptoms reported by university students in April-2020, April 2021, and April 2022. The predictive role of COVID-19-related stressors on psychophysical symptoms within each time was also tested. Data were collected among 637 university students in April-2020 (n = 197), April-2021 (n = 200), April-2022 (n = 240). Results: In April-2022, perceived Isolation and Fear-of-Contagion decreased from the peak registered in April-2021, but stress related to Relationships-and-Academic-Life remained noteworthy high. A sharp and ongoing increase in psychophysical symptoms was found, with more than 50% of students reporting clinical levels of Sleep-Disorders, Depression, Psychoticism, and Interpersonal-Sensitivity. In April-2022, students still perceiving stress related to Relationships-and-Academic-Life and Isolation were at risk for Anxiety, Somatization, and Sleep-Disorders, while those still perceiving stress related to Fear-of-Contagion were also at risk for Depression, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Psychoticism. Conclusion: Findings emphasized the long-lasting detrimental effects of the COVID-19-related stress. Interventions must pinpoint the complex post-pandemic adjustment process and their effects on university students' psychophysical health.

Patients with COVID-19 often experience significant cardiovascular complications, including heart failure, myocarditis, and acute coronary syndrome. We present the case of a male patient with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, complicated with inferior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), which was attributed to spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD). We also make a review of the literature on case reports of patients with COVID-19 and acute myocardial infarction due to SCAD. Through these clinical cases, a potential correlation between SCAD and COVID-19 infection is implied. Endothelial dysfunction, thrombotic complications and disturbance of the vascular tone are established COVID-19 sequelae, triggered either by direct viral injury or mediated by the cytokines’ storm. These abnormalities in the coronary vasculature and the vasa vasorum could result in SCAD. Moreover, disturbances of the vascular tone can cause coronary vasospasm, a reported precipitant of SCAD. Thus, SCAD should be considered in COVID-19 patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and in the case of STEMI, an early angiographic evaluation, if feasible, rather than thrombolysis performed, to avoid potential adverse events of the latter in the setting of SCAD.

More than 600 Healthcare workers died due to COVID-19 infection until January 2022 in Ecuador. Even though the COVID-19 vaccines are safe, local, and systemic reactions were reported among physicians. This study aims to analyze the Adverse events (AEs) of COVID-19 vaccines with an emphasis on homologous and heterologous booster doses. An electronic survey was performed in Quito- Ecuador, directed to physicians who were vaccinated with the three doses of COVID-19 vaccines. 210 participants were analyzed after administering any doses of the vaccines. At least one AE was identified in 60.0% (126/210) of the sample after the first dose, 52.40% (110/210) after the second dose, and 75.2% (158/210) after the booster dose. The most frequent AEs were localized pain, myalgia, headache, and fever. At least one drug was used in 44.3% of the population after the first dose, 37.1% after the second dose, and 63.8% in the booster dose. Heterol-ogous booster produces more AEs compared with homologous booster (80.1% vs. 53.8%), and 77.3% of participants reported that interfered with daily activities. Similar studies agree that reactogenicity occurs mainly with heterologous vaccination compared to ho-mologous vaccination. This situation affected physicians’ performance in daily activities and led them to use medication for the symptoms

The transcriptional response of human blood leukocytes to SARS-CoV-2 infection was investigated focusing on the differences between mild and severe cases and between age subgroups. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis and comparative gene expression analysis were used. Three transcriptional modules positively associated with the traits of interest and their respective high hierarchy genes were identified. Enrichment analyses showed that the yellow module, associated with severe cases and older patients, had an overrepresentation of genes involved in inflammatory and innate immune responses, and neutrophil activation. The magenta and black modules, associated with disease severity and younger patients, contained genes related to innate immunity and inflammation and genes that regulate those responses. Subnetworks for these modules were constructed using genes enriched for innate immunity, inflammation, immunoregulation and differentially expressed genes (severe vs. mild). Their analysis evidenced that immunoregulatory functions are more activated in the modules associated with younger patients, what may help to explain the better disease course and faster recovery observed in younger COVID-19 patients. Comparative gene expression analysis between severe and mild groups, followed by gene enrichment and normalized gene expression analyses, revelated a set of 23 potential biomarkers for COVID-19 severity, of which 13 are newly described.

Background: The incidences of COVID-19 related suicide among adolescents and youths have been reported across the world. There is no cumulative study focusing on nature, patterns, and causative factors that lead to the present investigation. Methods: A purposive sampling of google news between 15 February to 6 July was performed. After excluding duplicate reports, the final list comprised a total of 37-suicide cases across 11 countries. Results: More male suicides were reported (21-cases, i.e., 56.76%), and the mean age of the total victims was 16.6±2.7 years (out of a total of 29-cases). About two-thirds of the suicides were from three countries named India (11-cases), United Kingdom (8-cases), and the USA (6-cases). Out of 23-student victims, 14 were school-going students. Hanging was the most common suicide method accounting in 51.4% of cases. The most common suicide causalities were related to mental sufferings such as depression, loneliness, psychological distress, etc., whereas either online schooling or overwhelming academic distress was placed as the second most risk factors followed by TikTok addiction-related psychological distress, and tested with COVID-19. Conclusion: The finding of the temporal distribution of suicides concerning lockdowns may help in exploring and evolving public measures to prevent/decrease pandemic-related suicides in young people.

Since December 2019, the COVID-19 virus has rapidly spread worldwide, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare it a pandemic and advocate for the widespread use of face masks to mitigate transmission. In this review, we delve into the potential impact of prolonged face mask use on temporomandibular joint (TMJ) health, an area that has garnered limited attention amidst COVID-19 research. Research has revealed that improper mask fit, and constant readjustment can lead to TMJ abnormalities. Similarly, there is a demonstrated correlation between continuous mask usage and increased incidence of headaches, temporomandibular pain, and diminished quality of life. Many studies have highlighted discomfort in the preauricular area, headaches, TMJ noises, headache, jaw pain, and muscle fatigue, as well as dermatological disorders that have been attributed to prolonged mask wear and its impact on TMJ. Our study catalyzes future research endeavors, urging a deeper exploration of the implications of long-term mask wear, not only in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic but also among occupational groups regularly exposed to extended mask use. By unraveling the complexities of TMJ health in the face of evolving preventive measures, we aim to enhance our understanding and safeguard the well-being of mask-wearers worldwide.

The relationship between pangolin-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 has been a subject of debate. Further evidence of a special relationship between the two viruses can be found by the fact that all known COVID-19 viruses have abnormally hard outer shell (low M disorder; i.e., low content of intrinsically disordered residues in the membrane (M) protein) that so far was found in CoVs associated with burrowing animals, such as rabbits and pangolins, in which transmission involves virus remaining in buried feces for a long time. While a hard outer shell is necessary for viral survival, a harder inner shell could also help. For this reason, the N disorder range of pangolin-CoVs, not bat-CoVs, more closely matches that of SARS-CoV-2 especially when Omicron is included. The low N disorder (i.e., low content of intrinsically disordered residues in the nucleocapsid (N) protein), first observed in pangolin-CoV-2017 amd later in Omicron, is associated with attenuation according to the Shell-Disorder-Model. Our experimental study revealed that pangolin-CoV-2017 and SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (XBB.1.16 subvariant) show similar attenuations with respect to viral growth and plaque formation. Subtle differences have been observed that are consistent with disorder-centric computational analysis.

COVID-19 was an inflammatory pneumonia caused by a respiratory infection with a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2. Severely ill COVID-19 patients could die of acute pulmonary and systemic inflammation. Thus, there was a theory that long COVID-19 shared many similarities with systemic autoimmune diseases. There was also a theory that the SARS-CoV-2 virus could infect many cell- and tissue-types distributed throughout multiple organ systems of the body. I aim to review the above theories using unbiased high-throughput datasets cataloguing gene expression. Studies reviewed used the technology of next generation sequencing, either as bulk tissue RNA sequencing, or as single-cell RNAs sequencing; ingenious methods for signal deconvolution were then used to identify individual cell types. Datasets reviewed suggested that severe COVID-19 induced expression of genes associated with pro-inflammatory signaling, tissue development or remodeling, scarring, or cell death. The datasets also provided evidence for several inflammatory syndromes associated with COVID-19, such as neuronal COVID, acute respiratory disease syndrome, vascular inflammation, or multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Indeed, inflammatory signal during severe COVID-19 was reported in many cell types, for example in structural cells, in infiltrating immune cells, in the vascular system, or in circulating cells in the blood. There was also frequently a change in proportions of immune cell-types in the blood, epithelial cells in the lungs, or among infiltrating immune cells.

BACKGROUND: Is pharmacovigilance at a moment of prominence for science and in relation to government responsibilities towards their nations, as the new coronavirus pandemic has surprised everyone in a negative and lethal way. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate pharmacovigilance as a resource for controlling and understanding the adverse effects caused by vaccines in use. DESIGN AND SETTING: Narrative review developed by a research group at Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. METHODS: This is a narrative review of the literature available in electronic media, government bulletins and similar bodies. The search was carried out using the descriptors: "Pharmacovigilance AND COVID-19 in Brazil", "Vaccine Development AND COVID-19 in Brazil", "Vaccination Hesitancy AND COVID-19 in Brazil", "Pharmacovigilance AND COVID-19", "Vaccine Development AND COVID-19", "Vaccination Hesitancy AND COVID-19", Pharmacovigilance AND COVID-19, Vaccine Development AND COVID-19, Vaccination Hesitancy AND COVID-19, "Public Health Surveillance AND COVID-19". In the period from May 2021 to June 2022. RESULTS: From the database search, 3 journal articles, 4 government bulletins and 535 scientific articles were identified. Of the total of 542 bibliographic materials, 36 were selected according to the selection criteria and objectives of the study. CONCLUSIONS: The vaccines in use have proven efficacy, despite adverse reactions that cannot be attributed solely and exclusively to their use, since the medical history of each patient should be considered in the investigation of each case, especially when there is death. The Brazilian data for adverse events, although the country is continental in its size, are acceptable given the number of deaths recorded.

Background: Given the potential for additional development to clarify a better knowledge of the overall impact of COVID-19 on the pediatric population, the clinical symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents are still being explored. Morbidity in children is characterized by a variable clinical course. Our study's goal was to compare clinical aspects of 230 pediatric patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and were hospitalized between April 2020 and March 2022. Methods: In a retrospective analysis, we compared two groups hospitalized in the infectious diseases clinical ward IX at the National Institute for Infectious Diseases "Prof. Dr. Matei Bals," Bucharest, Romania. The first group of 88 patients was admitted between (April–December 2020) and their clinical manifestations were compared with the second group of 142 children followed between July 2021 and March 2022. Results: Of 230 children, the median age was 4.5 (interquartile range 0.6-17) years, 53.9% were male. 88 (36.21%) patients (first group) were admitted during the second wave in Romania, mostly aged < 5 years old, and experienced digestive manifestations like fever (p=0.001), and diarrhoea (p=0.004). The second group experienced different clinical signs when compared with the first group, with higher temperature and increased respiratory symptoms analogous to those of acute respiratory viral infections. The proportion in the second group increased, and 64.5% had symptoms for a median interval of 5 days; age (0-4 -years old) and length of stay were both proportionally inversely (p<0.01) and with correlation with hospital admission (p = 0.04). We report two Paediatric Inflammatory Multisystem Syndrome (PIMS) in the second group, with favourable evolution under treatment. Comorbidities were risk factors for complications appear (p < 0.001) in both groups. All paediatric cases admitted to our clinic evolved favourably and no death was recorded. Conclusions: In the first group children experienced digestive symptoms, whereas the second group experienced mild and moderate respiratory symptoms. We confirmed risk factors for severe cases as manifestations across the age spectrum, 0-4 (digestive symptoms) and 5-12 years old (for respiratory symptoms), associated comorbidities, fever, and male gender. The potential effects of COVID-19 infection in children older than 5 years should encourage caregivers to vaccinate and improve the prognosis among pediatric patients at risk.

This study aimed to evaluate the mixed and homogeneous application of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine CoronaVac (CV) and the mRNA vaccine BNT162b2 (BNT). This prospective cohort study included 235 health care workers, who had received two prime shots with CoronaVac. They were divided into three cohorts after the third month: Cohort-I (CV/CV); Cohort-II (CV/CV/CV) and Cohort-III (CV/CV/BNT). Anti-S-RBD-IgG and total an-ti-spike/anti-nucleocapsid-IgG antibody concentrations were examined in vaccinated health workers at the 1st, 3rd and 6th months following the second dose of the vaccination. The mean age of 235 health care workers who participated in the project was 39.51±10.39 (min-max: 22-64). At the end of the 6th month, no antibodies were detected in 16.7% of Cohort-I participants, and anti-S-RDB IgG levels showed a decrease of 60% compared to the levels of the 3rd month. The antibody concentrations of the 6th month were found to have increased by an average of 5.13 times compared to the 3rd-month levels in the Cohort-II and 20.4 times in Cohort-III. The heterologous vaccination strategy “CoronaVac and BNT162b2 regimen” is able to induce a stronger immunity and it will help remove inequalities in the developing world where CoronaVac was the initial prime.

COVID-19 infection is extremely dangerous for persons with comorbidities such as kidney disease and diabetes. Although many people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds have suffered due to this pandemic, those with underlying medical conditions like kidney disease and diabetes are more vulnerable to becoming infected with COVID-19 related to weak immunity. However, the role of vaccination in the co-infection of COVID-19 with diabetics is not available in the literature. Therefore, we examine the unique challenges presented by the co-infection of COVID-19 in individuals with diabetes, focusing on its disease transmission dynamics. A mathematical modelling technique is to be employed in this work to analyse the dynamics of COVID-19 outbreaks with seven compartments, including vaccination with comorbidities such as diabetes. We also investigated analytically by displaying the solutions' existence, boundedness, positivity and sensitivity. After calculating the basic reproduction numbers, the stability analysis of model equilibrium points is also covered. If the reproduction numbers are less than unity, the disease-free equilibrium points of the model appear to be both locally and globally stable. The findings of this study are that as the vaccination rate rises, the incidence of COVID-19 and its co-infections with diabetes decreases. Effective disease treatment strategies may be based partly on the possible impact of vaccination on the co-infection of COVID-19 related to diabetic disease insights.

Objective Objective of the study was to evaluate the public perception and acceptance of community pharmacists in providing mental health support in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19. Methods An online questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was carried out among the general public (aged 15 years or above) of Saudi Arabia during March-April 2020 using QuestionPro platform. The validated questionnaire was bilingual (English and Arabic), simple, detailed, and relevant to obtain focused responses from participants. Importantly, an item related to an agreement on a statement “Pharmacist can counsel people on psychological issues” was included on a five-point Likert scale. The survey link was shared across multiple social media platforms. Results A total of 773 participants completed the survey. The majority were female (65.2%) and youngsters (48.1%). Nearly half of the participants disagreed, while 19% agreed that pharmacists could provide support on psychological issues. Factors such as age, employment status, and the management of the psychological issues during the pandemic were significantly associated with the acceptance of community pharmacists’ role in providing mental health services (p

Syndemics theory has been applied to study interactions between biomedical and social factors leading to clustering of diseases. Because syndemics theory focuses on interactions that enhance risk, the concept of vulnerability is central to this approach. We conducted a scoping review to better understand how syndemics theory helped to define, operationalize, and tackle issues of vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic. Original research, review, and opinion pieces elaborating on syndemics, vulnerability and COVID-19, published between December 2019 and October 2022 and available in PubMed, were eligible. We analysed 40 records and identified three framings of syndemics operating during this period: (1) interactions between COVID-19, diseases/health conditions and specific social factors; (2) interactions between COVID-19 and social determinants of health; and (3) impacts of COVID-19 on specific populations. Emerging conceptualizations described vulnerability to COVID-19 as a systemic issue; explained the impact of COVID-19 control measures on increased vulnerability; and presented COVID-19 as a syndemic on its own. However, this theory's potential for deepening our understanding of vulnerability during this pandemic was constrained by superficial explorations of the interactions between biomedical and social spheres, and insufficient theoretical and methodological support from the social sciences.

The emergence of the coronavirus 19 (COVID-19) has posed a major challenge to healthcare systems worldwide, especially as COVID-19 mutations complicate the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs. Therefore, the search for natural products with broad anti-COVID-19 capabilities is an important option for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. Lectins, which are widely recognized as antiviral agents, could contribute to the development of anti-COVID-19 drugs. In this study, we evaluated the binding ability of a total of six lectins, including MVL from Microcystis viridis NIES-102, to the spike protein RBD of the original (wild) COVID-19 and it’s three mutants: alpha, delta, and omicron. As a result, two lectins, MVL from Microcystis viridis NIES-102 and jacalin from Artocarpus altilis, showed distinct binding ability to the RBDs of the four COVID-19 strains. The other lectins (DB1, ConA, PHA-M and CSL3) did not show any binding ability. Although the glycan specificities of the two lectins, MVL and Jacalin, were different, they showed the same affinity for the RBDs of the four COVID-19 strains, i.e., alpha &gt; delta &gt; original &gt; omicron. The verification of glycan-specific inhibition revealed that jacalin binds to RBDs by glycan-specific recognition, whereas MVL binds to RBDs by protein-protein interactions in addition to glycan-specific recognition.

Introduction: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may cause acute respiratory failure but also remains responsible for many other pathologies, including electrolyte disorders. SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause dysfunction of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and disrupt water hemostasis with thirst and appetite abnormalities. Dysnatremia affects prognosis and may be associated with mortality in patients admitted to SARS-CoV2 intensive care. Patients and Methods: The study included 209 patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit between April 12, 2021, and March 1, 2022 who were over 18 years old and diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection by clinical and thoracic tomography findings or with a positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result. The laboratory markers, treatment modalities, nutritional, and respiratory support also for outcome evaluation, length of stay in the ICU, total hospitalization duration, and mortality in ICU were recorded.The laboratory marker comparison was made admission with the final assessment performed before the time of mortality in ICU or discharge. Results: Inotropic requirements among patients were high which was reflected in the first-month mortality. Hypernatremia presence was associated with an increase in enteral support and inotropic support requirement and mortality. Hypernatremia was correlated with diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure, and a longer duration under mechanical ventilation. Discussion: Hypernatremia was an important risk factor in ICU patients hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infection, which was also affected by the treatment regimens given itself. This complex relationship underlies the importance of proper electrolyte management, especially in patients who were under severe stress and organ failure.

Neurologic symptoms associated with Long COVID result from the persistent infection of SARS-CoV-2 in the nasal neuroepithelial cells, leading to inflammation in the central nervous sys-tem (CNS). As of today, there is no evidence that vaccines or medications can clear the persistent viral infection in the olfactory mucosa. Recently published clinical data demonstrate that only 5% of Long COVID anosmia patients have fully recovered during the past 2 years and 10.4% of COVID patients are still symptomatic 18 months post infection. Our group demonstrated that ep-igallocatechin-3-gallate-monopalmitate (EC16m) nanoformulations possess strong antiviral activ-ity against human coronavirus, suggesting this green tea-derived compound in nanoparticle for-mulations could be developed as an intranasally delivered new drug targeting the persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as inflammation and oxidative stress in the CNS, leading to resto-ration of neurologic functions. The objective of the current study is to evaluate the mucociliary safety of the EC16m nasal nanoformulations and the efficacy against human coronavirus. Meth-ods: nanoparticle size and Zeta potential were measured using the ZetaView Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis system; mucociliary safety was determined using MucilAir Human Nasal Epi-thelium Model; contact antiviral activity and post-infection inhibition against OC43 viral strain were assessed by TCID50 assay for cytopathic effect on MRC-5 cells. Results: the saline-based EC16 mucoadhesive nanoformulations containing 0.005 to 0.02% w/v EC16m have no significant difference in comparison to saline (0.9% NaCl) on tissue integrity, cytotoxicity, and cilia beat fre-quency. A 5-minute contact inactivated 99.9% of the β-coronavirus OC43. OC43 viral replication was inhibited by >99% after infected MAR-5 cells were treated with one of the formulations. Con-clusion: the saline-based novel EC16m mucoadhesive nasal nanoformulations rapidly inactivated human coronavirus with mucociliary safety measurements comparable to saline, a solution widely used for nasal applications.

Objective: The study aimed to characterize the changing landscape of circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages in the local community of Hong Kong throughout 2022. We examined how adjustments to quarantine arrangements influenced the transmission pattern of Omicron variants in a city with relatively rigorous social distancing measures at that time. Methods: In 2022, a total of 4,684 local SARS-CoV-2 genomes were sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore GridION sequencer. SARS-CoV-2 consensus genomes were generated by MAFFT, and the maximum likelihood phylogeny of these genomes were determined using IQ-TREE. The dynamic changes in lineages were depicted in a time tree created by Nextstrain. Statistical analysis was conducted to assess the correlation between changes in the number of lineages and adjustments to quarantine arrangements. Results: By the end of 2022, a total of 83 SARS-CoV-2 lineages were identified in the community. The increase in the number of new lineages was significantly associated with the relaxation of quarantine arrangements (One-way ANOVA, F(5,47)=18.233, p&lt;0.001)). Over time, Omicron BA.5 sub-lineages replaced BA.2.2 and became the predominant Omicron variants in Hong Kong. The influx of new lineages reshaped the dynamics of Omicron variants in the community without fluctuating the death rate and hospitalization rate (One-way ANOVA, F(5,47)=2.037, p=0.091). Conclusion: The study revealed that even with an extended mandatory quarantine period for incoming travelers, it may not be feasible to completely prevent the introduction and subsequent community spread of highly contagious Omicron variants. Ongoing molecular surveillance of COVID-19 remains essential to monitor the emergence of new recombinant variants.

To assess if SARS-CoV-2 infection induces changes in the urinary volatilomic fingerprint able to be used in the non-invasive COVID-19 diagnosis and management, urine samples of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients (62), recovered COVID-19 patients (30), and non-infected individuals (41) were analysed using solid-phase microextraction technique in headspace mode, combined with gas chromatography hyphenated with mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS). In total, 101 volatile organic metabolites (VOMs) from 13 chemical families were identified, being terpenes, phenolic compounds, norisoprenoids, and ketones the most represented groups. Overall, a decrease in the levels of terpenes and phenolic compounds was observed in the control group, whereas norisoprenoids and ketones showed a significant increase. In turn, a remarkable increase was noticed in norisoprenoids and ketones and a milder increase in alcohols, furanic, and sulfur compounds in the recovery group than in the COVID-19 group. Multivariate statistical analysis identified sets of VOMs with the potential to constitute volatile signatures for COVID-19 development and progression. These signatures are composed of D-carvone, 3-methoxy-5-(trifluoromethyl)aniline (MTA), 1,1,6-trimethyl-dihydronaphthalene (TDN), 2-heptanone, and 2,5,5,8a-tetramethyl-1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8-octahydro-1-naphthalenyl ester acetate (TONEA) for COVID-19 infection and nonanoic acid, α-terpinene, β-damascenone, α-isophorone, and trans-furan linalool for patients recovering from the disease. This study provides evidence that changes in the urinary volatilomic profile triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection constitute a promising and valuable screening and/or diagnostic and management tool for COVID-19 in clinical environment.

This study explores how young people’s mental health was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic using artwork and semi-structured interviews. This is important to understand so that policy and practice professionals can support those affected, prepare, and respond to future crises, and support young people who are isolated and restricted in other contexts. Co-designed participatory art workshops and interviews were conducted with 16–18-year-olds (N = 21) from the London-based Longitudinal cohort Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (SCAMP). Artworks and interview transcripts were qualitatively co-analysed with young people. From interviews, six themes were identified: adaptation, restriction, change, challenges, overcoming adversity, and lockdown life. From artwork, four themes were identified; trapped, negative mental wellbeing, positive emotions, and technology. Everyday factors such as home environment, relationships, hobbies, habits, and education or work were key determinants of how challenged and restricted participants felt, and their capacity to overcome this. This implies that young people’s mental health services should collaborate with other sectors to address wider life determinants in a holistic way, and that clearer guidance and support in these areas could mitigate the negative mental health impacts of major environmental changes on young people.

Parental refusal of childhood vaccines is a growing public health concern. Numerous reasons exist for this refusal, including religious, personal, and philosophical beliefs, and safety concerns. However, parental refusal of childhood vaccines is not simply an individualized problem for the family; this impacts herd immunity and affects the entire community. To improve vaccination rates among the pediatric population, understanding the thought process and decision-making behind parental opposition and refusal of vaccinations is essential. Using a survey developed to assess attitudes towards recommended childhood vaccines and the COVID-19 vaccine, this study examined the correlation between vaccine literacy and hesitancy among parents and legal guardians of elementary school-aged children in the Midwest. Responses were analyzed using Chi-squared tests on “R” software. Significant negative correlations were found between COVID-19 hesitancy and vaccine literacy, and resistance towards all vaccines and vaccine literacy. No significant negative correlations were found between hesitancy towards all vaccines and vaccine literacy, or hesitancy and literacy among different income and education brackets. Our results suggest that vaccine education may lessen vaccine hesitancy among parents and may be an essential factor in improving vaccination rates among the pediatric population.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) displays clinical heterogeneity, but little information is available for patients with mild or very early disease. We aimed to characterize biomarkers that are useful in discriminating the hospitalization risk in a COVID-19 cohort from Northern Italy during the first pandemic wave. We enrolled and followed for four weeks 76 symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 positive patients and age/sex-matched healthy controls. Patients with mild disease were discharged (n.42), and the remaining were hospitalized (n.34). Blood was collected before any anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressive therapy and assessed for soluble C5b-9/C5a, H3-neutrophil extracellular traps (NET), calprotectin, DNase plasma levels by ELISA, and a panel of pro-inflammatory cytokines by ELLA. Calprotectin and NET levels discriminate between hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, while DNase negatively correlates with NET levels; there are positive correlations between calprotectin and both NET and neopterin levels. Neopterin levels increase in patients at the beginning of the disease and more in hospitalized than non-hospitalized ones. C5a and sC5b-9, and other acute phase proteins correlate with neopterin, calprotectin, and DNase. Both NET and neopterin levels negatively correlate with platelet count. We show that calprotectin, NET, and neopterin are important proinflammatory parameters potentially useful in discriminating between COVID-19 patients at risk for hospitalization.

International students were – and continue to be – particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. 625 international students in Israel completed an online survey assessing risk and protective factors (socio-demographics, health status, COVID-19 related experiences/concerns, financial difficulties, academic challenges/experiences, social support, and coping) for student’s depression, perceived need for help, and seeking help from the university. Approximately 15% of participants had moderately-severe or severe depression. Over half needed at least a little help, but only 19.7% had asked for help. Depression symptoms were related coping (β=-.34) and health (β=.12). Need for help was related to being a postdoc (β=-0.26) and experiencing food insecurity (β=0.20). Universities need to develop services which address international students’ unique needs during global crises.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Madagascar, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic (CAR), with each experiencing multiple waves by mid-2022. This study aimed to evaluate immunity against SARS-CoV-2 strains Wuhan (W) and BA.2 (BA.2) among healthcare workers (HCWs) in these countries, focusing on vaccination and natural infection effects. Methods: HCWs' serum samples were analyzed for neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against W and BA.2 variants, with statistical analyses comparing responses between countries and vaccination statuses. Results: Madagascar showed significantly higher nAb titers against both strains compared to CAR and Cameroon. Vaccination notably increased nAb levels against W by 2.6-fold in CAR and 1.8-fold in Madagascar, and against BA.2 by 1.6-fold in Madagascar and 1.5-fold in CAR. However, in Cameroon, there was no significant difference in nAb levels between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. Conclusion: The study highlights the complex relationship between natural and vaccine-induced immunity, emphasizing the importance of assessing immunity in regions with varied epidemic experiences and low vaccination rates.

The COVID-19 pandemic halted progress in global vaccine coverage and disrupted routine childhood vaccination practices worldwide. While there is ample evidence of vaccination declines experienced during the pandemic, it is less clear how low-income countries were affected. We executed a systematic review to synthesize the current literature on impacts to routine childhood vaccinations in low-income countries from January 1, 2020 to February 8, 2023. We collected data using an extraction form on Covidence and assessed the quality of studies included in the review using the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Effect estimates for changes in vaccination during the pandemic were reported and summarized. Factors that influenced changes were grouped into descriptive themes. Thirteen studies, encompassing 18 low-income countries and evaluating 15 vaccines at varying doses, were included in the final review. We found that routine childhood vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic varied considerably by vaccine type, location, and phase of the pandemic. Nine different themes were identified as factors that influenced changes in vaccination. Documenting past experiences and lessons learned is crucial for informing preparedness efforts in anticipation of future public health emergencies. Failure to effectively address these things in the next public health emergency could result in a recurrence of declining routine childhood vaccinations.

The present minireview assessed the benefits of using artificial intelligence applications in healthcare at predicting the targets of bioactive small molecules in human. Method. The tool is a tuned algorithm, with novel data in web interface. Results. We used tables to order the information of Swiss Target Prediction that allow predictions on combination of chemotherapies and probable side effects. This tool is useful to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying a given phenotype or bioactivity, to rationalize possible favorable or unfavorable side effects and to predict off-targets of known molecules as well as to clear the way for drug repurposing. Predictions are done using a ligand-based approach to compare the similarity between a query molecule and the known ligands of a large collection of protein targets. Conclusion. This study allowed us to formulate recommendations for the use of some of the chemotherapeutic agent groups in cancer patients at a low cost. It is very important and beneficial for patients that take medicine for a longer period and on whose lives depend on such treatment.