COVID-19 Carriers Research Articles

Epidemiological Significance of Asymptomatic Carriers of COVID-19

Relevance. Pandemic of the new coronavirus infection has become a challenging issue for world healthcare system. Control of the epidemic process is one of the main priorities in combat against new coronavirus disease Aim. The research highlights the issue of asymptomatic carriers of the new coronavirus disease. Conclusions. It was revealed that patients with asymptomatic form of COVID-19 have a less lasting immunity response compared with those that have had clinically active forms of the infection. In order to determine pathogenetic process and fully understand formation of the immune response, it is necessary to study both humoral and cellular immune responses in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. In order to select most optimal anti-epidemic measures to contain the further spread of the disease, including asymptomatic carriage, it is necessary to establish SARS-CoV-2 reproduction index and determine minimal infective dose of SARS-CoV-2.

Experiences of nurses who have children when caring for COVID-19 patients.

AimThis study was conducted to examine the experiences and feelings of nurses who have children when caring for patients with coronavirus disease (COVID‐19).BackgroundThe COVID‐19 pandemic has affected the whole world, including Turkey where this study was conducted. Nurses are among healthcare professionals who are intensively working at the forefront during this pandemic. Countries are implementing many policies to fight this pandemic. Turkey also has implemented protective measures related to travel, sports, and cultural activities and has prohibited social meetings.MethodThe study was conducted with 26 nurses working in COVID‐19 clinics of two hospitals in eastern Turkey between May and July 2020 using a qualitative descriptive design.FindingsNurses who had children longed for their children and worried about them. They were afraid of getting infected with the disease and transmitting it. Based on content analysis, the themes of the study were determined as follows: (1) longing (longing for children and longing for the pre‐pandemic period), (2) fear (fear of transmitting the disease and fear of death), (3) despair, (4) concern (concern resulting from working in a different clinic, concern resulting from lack of knowledge, and concern resulting from lack of protective equipment), and (5) professional responsibility (professional awareness and love for the profession).ConclusionNurses were away from their families for a long time because of the fear of getting infected with COVID‐19 and transmitting it. They longed for their children and experienced desperation, fear, and anxiety. They loved their profession and were not considering quitting their profession.Implications for nursing and health policyNurses working in COVID‐19 units wear protective equipment and work for a long time under difficult conditions. In addition, nurses who have children are separated from their children because of the fear of transmitting COVID‐19. Therefore, nurses caring for COVID‐19 patients should alternately be replaced by nurses working in other services. They should be given the opportunity to rest and spend time with their loved ones if they are not carriers of COVID‐19.

On Identification of High Risk Carriers of COVID-19 Using Masked Mobile Device Data

On Identification of High Risk Carriers of COVID-19 Using Masked Mobile Device Data

Infection control measures during COVID-19 pandemic – An otorhinolaryngological and head-and-neck perspective

Otorhinolaryngologists and head-and-neck surgeons are considered as high-risk group of health-care workers due to their nature of work for exposure to the respiratory tract. During routine assessment and treatment of patients, otorhinolaryngologists and head-and-neck surgeons with their assisting staffs inevitably come in contact with secretions of the respiratory tract which may become aerosolized at time of the sneeze or cough. All otorhinolaryngology patients must be considered as potential carriers of COVID-19. A great emphasis must be given on the history such as flu-like symptoms, travel history, and contact history with potential carriers which will help triage patients into high risk. This review article discusses the infection control measures by otolaryngological and head-and-neck perspective during COVID-19 pandemic so will serve as template for otolaryngologists and head-and-neck specialist at the time of this outbreak.

COVID-19: The enigma of asymptomatic carriers and silent transmission

<br>The presence of asymptomatic carriers is well known in the COVID-19. These carriers play a significant role in the disease transmission. Little is known about its magnitude, types, detection, and management. This narrative review highlights all these aspects of asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers. Much is still unknown about asymptomatic carriers in COVID-19 and its contribution in the silent spread of infection. A literature of three electronic databases with prespecified search terms was done to include the status quo data on asymptomatic carriers in COVID-19 infection. This narrative review will be useful for epidemiologists, clinicians, policymakers as well as the public in general.<br>

459. Outcomes and Factors Associated with a SARS-CoV-2 Positive Test in Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Healthcare Workers of a Mexican Hospital Converted to Treat COVID-19 Patients

BackgroundStarting on 03/16/2020, the hospital was converted to attend only patients with COVID-19. A surveillance program for healthcare workers (HCWs) that included free in-site medical consultation and RT-PCR for detection of SARS-CoV-2 was initiated. On 04/28/2020, screening of HCWs was started to detect asymptomatic carriers. We report the results of such programs updated to 05/21/2020.MethodsSex, worker category, working area, use of personal protective equipment, date of screening, date of onset of symptoms and home address were retrieved from electronic databases. Logistic regression was done to identify factors associated with being a COVID-19 case or carrier, with p< 0.05 being significant. Odds ratios and incidence densities were calculated.ResultsOf 2566 HCWs in the hospital, 976 (38.0%) underwent screening and 41 (4.2%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 (7.4 carriers x 10,000 person-days; median follow-up of 55.5 days); none of the latter were diagnosed with COVID-19 after completing a 14-day follow-up. Of HCWs with negative screen results, 6 (0.6%) ultimately developed COVID-19 after a median of 10 days (1.1 cases x 10,000 person-days). Of 232 symptomatic HCWs that did not undergo basal screening, 131 (56.5%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 (8.8 cases x 10,000 person-days). Ten COVID-19 cases (7.6%) were hospitalized and all were discharged without complications after a median hospital stay of 9 days. Factors associated with COVID-19 were working in a non-clinical area (OR=9.3, 95% CI=1.1–78.6) and being a nurse (OR=1.9, 95% CI=1.1–3.4). Factors associated with being a carrier were living in the State of Mexico (OR=3.7, 95% CI=1.8–8.0) and being a hospital cook (OR=3.7, 95% CI=1.7–8.5). Being a physician was associated with not being a carrier (OR=0.07, 95% CI=0.01–0.5). Wearing a face mask at all times tended to be associated with not being a carrier. Hospital epidemic curves closely ressembled those of the community (Mexico City).Hospital Epidemic Curve, 03/16/2020 - 05/21/2020 ConclusionThis study suggests that factors present inside and outside of the hospital are associated with COVID-19 and asymptomatic carriage in HCWs. This information is of utmost importance for infection prevention and control policies. Additionally, a lower percentage of severe cases and no deaths were observed in this cohort as compared to others.Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasopharyngeal swabs from COVID-19 patients and asymptomatic cases of infection by real-time and digital PCR.

In this work we tested two reagent kits developed by us for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA using a fragment of the ORF1ab gene in digital PCR and real-time PCR formats. Data were obtained on the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA in nasopharyngeal swabs of patients with COVID-19 and asymptomatic carriers. The developed reagent kits provided 100% sensitivity and a detection limit of 103 GE / ml for qPCR, and at least 200 copies / ml of viral RNA when performing digital PCR. These methods were tested using a panel of 1,328 samples collected from patients with suspected COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020 in the Russian Federation. It has been shown that dPCR is more sensitive and can be used to analyze samples with low viral load, including those from patients without clinical symptoms. dPCR significantly improves the accuracy of laboratory research and significantly reduces the number of false negative results in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. Determination of the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in patients with different clinical course of the disease showed that the concentration of viral RNA can sharply decrease in the first days of the disease. A low concentration of viral RNA in samples from patients is also characteristic of asymptomatic disease. Digital PCR provides a higher detection rate for asymptomatic cases, which is approximately 75% of those infected, as opposed to 45% for real-time PCR. The results obtained on the use of the digital PCR method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA showed that this method is especially suitable for detecting RNA in case of its low concentration in contacts, as well as for monitoring changes in viral load in convalescent patients.

An alternate prospect in detecting presymptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers through odor differentiation by HeroRATs

The need for a cheap, ubiquitous, sensitive, rapid, noninvasive means of screening large numbers of presymptomatic and asymptomatic samples at departure or arrival into ports of countries, high-risk areas, and within communities forms the subject of this review. The widely used diagnostic test for the SARS-CoV 2 is the real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction assay while antibody-based techniques are being introduced as supplemental tools, but the lack of specialized nucleic acid extraction and amplification laboratories hampers/slows down timely large-scale testing. The use of animals with sensitive olfactory cue as an alternate testing model could serve as an alternative to detect COVID-19 in the saliva of carriers. The African giant rats are highly versatile and detect odorant molecules from carriers of pathogens with high percentage success after few months of training, hence can be taught to detect odor differences of COVID-19 in asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals. If these are trained, they could help to curtail further spread of COVID infections.

Rethinking policing in Aotearoa New Zealand: decolonising lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT Notwithstanding the global praise directed to New Zealand’s approach to Covid-19, the pandemic has intensified harms and inequalities in many areas of national life. The racialised, classed and gendered inequities that percolate through this settler-state have intensified, especially within criminal justice settings. At the same time, the pandemic has illustrated other opportunities for protective and just measures – not least in terms of how Māori asserted self-determination by establishing checkpoints to prevent potential carriers of Covid-19 from reaching rural Māori communities. This article shows how these responses highlighted the fundamental limits of state protection for Māori on health or law and order grounds but they also offered pathways for greater policing autonomy for Māori. From here, and drawing on the examples of Watene Māori (Māori Wardens) and Te Pae Oranga (Iwi Community Panels), the article considers how self-policing within and among Māori communities might be more clearly determined and actioned in ways aligned to the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi).

Cutaneous Manifestations in Confirmed COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review.

Simple SummaryPatients diagnosed with COVID-19 and concomitant skin rashes have been frequently reported. We summarized the cases described to date, including only patients with positive RT-PCR testing from nasopharyngeal swabs. Six hundred and fifty-five patients were found who presented different types of skin rashes, from maculopapular, vascular, vesicular, urticarial, to atypical forms and ocular involvement. Chilblains which are lesions resembling frostbite have been more frequent in the younger population and seemed to predict a milder disease course. Vascular-purpuric lesions appeared in older patients and were linked to a more severe evolution. In the case of vesicular rashes, the possibility of herpesvirus co-infections was raised. Moreover, cutaneous hydroxychloroquine drug reactions have been described. For patients with conjunctivitis, eye discharge might be contagious. These skin manifestations may help identify asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers in some cases or predict a more severe evolution in others.There have been increasing reports of skin manifestations in COVID-19 patients. We conducted a systematic review and included manuscripts describing patients with positive RT-PCR coronavirus testing from nasopharyngeal swabs who also developed cutaneous manifestations. A total of 655 patients were selected, with different types of skin rashes: Erythematous maculopapular (n = 250), vascular (n = 146), vesicular (n = 99), urticarial (n = 98), erythema multiforme/generalized pustular figurate erythema/Stevens-Johnson syndrome (n = 22), ocular/periocular (n = 14), polymorphic pattern (n = 9), generalized pruritus (n = 8), Kawasaki disease (n = 5), atypical erythema nodosum (n = 3), and atypical Sweet syndrome (n = 1). Chilblain-like lesions were more frequent in the younger population and were linked to a milder disease course, while fixed livedo racemosa and retiform purpura appeared in older patients and seemed to predict a more severe prognosis. For vesicular rashes, PCR determined the presence of herpesviruses in the vesicle fluid, which raised the possibility of herpesvirus co-infections. The erythema-multiforme-like pattern, generalized pustular figurate erythema and Stevens-Johnson syndrome were most frequently linked to hydroxychloroquine intake. A positive PCR determination of SARS-COV-2 from conjunctival swabs suggest that eye discharge can also be contagious. These cutaneous manifestations may aid in identifying otherwise asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers in some cases or predict a more severe evolution in others.

Epidemiological characterisation of asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 in Colombia: a cross-sectional study

IntroductionAsymptomatic carriers (AC) of the new SARS-CoV-2 represent an important source of spread for COVID-19. Early diagnosis of these cases is a powerful tool to control the pandemic. Our objective...

ASYMPTOMATIC COVID-19 CARRIERS: A QUANDARY FOR FAMILY PHYSICIAN

The current COVID-19 pandemic that started in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, infect millions globally so far. The disease is caused by an RNA virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus-2 (SARS CoV-2).The common presenting symptoms include dry cough, fever, sore throat, and malaise. A proportion of patients remain asymptomatic throughout infection. Likewise, pre-symptomatic, asymptomatic patients act as carriers that can infect others.These patients pose a management challenge for family physicians working at the primary care level.Herein we report an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19 who presented to the primary care center for routine follow-upthat confirmed by RT-PCR test.

Human\u2013dog relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic: booming dog adoption during social isolation

The recent COVID-19 pandemic led to uncertainty and severe health and economic concerns. Previous studies indicated that owning a companion animal, such as a dog or a cat, has benefits for good mental health. Interactions with animals may help with depression and anxiety, particularly under stress-prone conditions. Human–animal interactions may even improve peer-to-peer social relationships, as well as enhance feelings of respect, trust, and empathy between people. Interestingly, it has also been shown that stress and poor well-being of dog owners negatively affect the well-being of their companion animals. However, a dramatic increase in dog abandonment could potentially occur due to COVID-19 related health, economic and social stresses, as well as due to the inconclusive reports of companion animals being potential COVID-19 carriers. Such a scenario may lead to high costs and considerable public health risks. Accordingly, we hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic, and the related social isolation, might lead to dramatic changes in human–dog bidirectional relationships. Using unique prospective and retrospective datasets, our objectives were to investigate how people perceived and acted during the COVID-19 pandemic social isolation, in regards to dog adoption and abandonment; and to examine the bidirectional relationship between the well-being of dog owners and that of their dogs. Overall, according to our analysis, as the social isolation became more stringent during the pandemic, the interest in dog adoption and the adoption rate increased significantly, while abandonment did not change. Moreover, there was a clear association between an individual’s impaired quality of life and their perceptions of a parallel deterioration in the quality of life of their dogs and reports of new behavioral problems. As humans and dogs are both social animals, these findings suggest potential benefits of the human–dog relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic, in accordance with the One Welfare approach that implies that there is a bidirectional connection between the welfare and health of humans and non-human animals. As our climate continues to change, more disasters including pandemics will likely occur, highlighting the importance of research into crisis-driven changes in human–animal relationships.

Detection-based prioritisation: Framework of multi-laboratory characteristics for asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers based on integrated Entropy–TOPSIS methods

Context and backgroundCorona virus (COVID) has rapidly gained a foothold and caused a global pandemic. Particularists try their best to tackle this global crisis. New challenges outlined from various medical perspectives may require a novel design solution. Asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers show different health conditions and no symptoms; hence, a differentiation process is required to avert the risk of chronic virus carriers. ObjectivesLaboratory criteria and patient dataset are compulsory in constructing a new framework. Prioritisation is a popular topic and a complex issue for patients with COVID-19, especially for asymptomatic carriers due to multi-laboratory criteria, criterion importance and trade-off amongst these criteria. This study presents new integrated decision-making framework that handles the prioritisation of patients with COVID-19 and can detect the health conditions of asymptomatic carriers. MethodsThe methodology includes four phases. Firstly, eight important laboratory criteria are chosen using two feature selection approaches. Real and simulation datasets from various medical perspectives are integrated to produce a new dataset involving 56 patients with different health conditions and can be used to check asymptomatic cases that can be detected within the prioritisation configuration. The first phase aims to develop a new decision matrix depending on the intersection between ‘multi-laboratory criteria’ and ‘COVID-19 patient list’. In the second phase, entropy is utilised to set the objective weight, and TOPSIS is adapted to prioritise patients in the third phase. Finally, objective validation is performed. ResultsThe patients are prioritised based on the selected criteria in descending order of health situation starting from the worst to the best. The proposed framework can discriminate among mild, serious and critical conditions and put patients in a queue while considering asymptomatic carriers. Validation findings revealed that the patients are classified into four equal groups and showed significant differences in their scores, indicating the validity of ranking. ConclusionsThis study implies and discusses the numerous benefits of the suggested framework in detecting/recognising the health condition of patients prior to discharge, supporting the hospitalisation characteristics, managing patient care and optimising clinical prediction rule.

Harnessing the Power of Blockchains and Machine Learning to End the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The last catastrophic pandemic the world has seen was the 1918 H1N1 influenza pandemic, considering that it happened 102 years ago, one can perhaps leverage the technologic advancements over the past century to combat the current pandemic of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (COVID-19), which has already infected more than 16 million people globally and shut down the majority of the daily activities of life. The danger and challenge of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 lies in their highly contagious nature, spreading like wildfire with the potential to infect the majority of the world's population unless drastic measures are undertaken. In some countries, the social distancing and quarantine measures are either insufficient or ineffective as the number of cases is still on the rise. A major issue causing this rise is that most COVID-19 carriers appear asymptomatic. Identifying infected individuals as well as healthy/immune ones is the most crucial step in halting the disease spread. This is where the role of mass screening comes in.

The prevalence of asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 as determined by routine preoperative testing.

The coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has swiftly spread throughout the globe, greatly influencing all aspects of life. As in previous pandemics, concerns for limited resources and a sustainable medical workforce have been on the forefront of infrastructure modifications. Consequently, surgical specialties have needed to consider each surgical case for necessity and safety during the COVID-19 outbreak. At our institution, availability of SARS-CoV-2 assay has allowed preoperative testing of asymptomatic surgical patients. To better define the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers in a surgical population and to better understand the impact of testing on our personal protective equipment (PPE) supply. We began routine, preoperative testing for all asymptomatic patients coming to our academic medical centre on 30 March 2020. Scheduled surgeries were deemed urgent by the surgeon with a review for appropriateness by a novel surgical committee. A retrospective patient chart review was performed. Emergency surgeries were excluded. Asymptomatic patients with positive test results had their surgeries rescheduled at the discretion of the surgeon and patient. Patients who tested negative underwent surgery with staff using standard PPE. Eighty-four asymptomatic surgical patients were tested preoperatively with three (3.6%) testing positive for SARS-CoV-2. Preoperative testing saved 498 N95 respirators over this time period. This is the first report of routine COVID-19 preoperative testing in an asymptomatic surgical population. Within this population, there is a 3.6% rate of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers. Through this practice, personnel exposure can be minimised and access to PPE can be preserved.

Clinical characteristics of asymptomatic carriers of novel coronavirus disease 2019: A multi-center study in Jiangsu Province

ABSTRACT Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals are thought to play major roles in virus transmission. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of asymptomatic carriers with COVID-19 to control the spread of the virus. We retrospectively investigated the clinical characteristics of 648 consecutive subjects who were enrolled in the study and were divided into asymptomatic carriers, mild cases, ordinary cases, severe or critical cases, and evaluated their impact on disease severity by means of Spearman correlation and multiple regression analyses. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was conducted to determine the optimum cutoff levels of laboratory findings for diagnostic predictors of asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19. In our study, a total of 648 subjects on admission with a mean age of 45.61 y including 345 males and 303 females were enrolled in our study. The leukocyte, lymphocyte, eosinophil, platelet, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, CD3+, CD4+, and CD8 + T lymphocyte levels, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate differed significantly among the groups (all p ≤ 0.05). Disease severity was negatively associated with the CD3+ (r = −0.340; p < 0.001), CD4+ (r = −0.290; p = 0.001) and CD8+ (r = −0.322; p < 0.001) T lymphocyte levels. The significant diagnostic predictors of asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 included the blood cell, cytokine, and T lymphocyte subset levels. Inflammation and immune response may play important roles in disease progression. Hence, the laboratory parameters identified should be considered in clinical practice, which provide new insights into the identification of asymptomatic individuals and the prevention of virus transmission.

Quantitative assessment of olfactory dysfunction accurately detects asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers.

BackgroundCOVID-19 threatens the global community because a large fraction of infected people are asymptomatic, yet can effectively transmit SARS-CoV-2. Finding and isolating these silent carriers is a crucial step in confining the spread of the disease. A sudden loss of the sense of smell has been self-reported by COVID-19 patients across different countries, consistent with expression of the molecular factors mediating SARS-CoV-2 uptake into human olfactory epithelial supporting cells. However, precise quantification of olfactory loss in asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers is missing to date.MethodsTo quantify olfactory functions in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, we designed an olfactory-action meter that determines detectability indices at different odor concentrations and an olfactory matching accuracy score using monomolecular odors. The optimization of test parameters allowed us to reliably and accurately assess olfactory deficits in a patient within 20 minutes.FindingsMeasurement of detection indices at low concentrations revealed a 50% reduction in asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers. Further, patients with better detection scores showed significantly reduced olfactory matching accuracies compared to normal healthy subjects. Our quantification of olfactory loss, considering all parameters, identified 82% of the asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers with olfactory deficits. However, on subjective evaluation, only 15% of the patients noticed a compromised ability to smell.InterpretationCompromised olfactory fitness can serve as a strong basis for identifying asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. Detailed design specifications and protocols provided here should enable the development of a sensitive, fast, and economical screening strategy that can be administered to large populations to prevent the rapid spread of COVID-19.FundingThis work was supported by the DBT – Wellcome Trust India Alliance intermediate grant (IA/I/14/1/501,306 to N.A.) and UGC NET Fellowship (A.B.). All the funding sources played no roles in the study.

S0532 Pre-Procedure COVID-19 Screening and SARS-CoV-2 Testing in a Large Community-Based Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) in SE Michigan

INTRODUCTION: The role of pre-procedure COVID-19 testing in outpatient endoscopy centers remains unclear, especially in areas with declining incidence and prevalence of infection. We developed a strategy utilizing symptom screening and SARS-CoV-2 viral RT-PCR testing in patients referred for elective endoscopy at a large community-based ASC in SE Michigan. We hypothesize that this dual screening approach will allow better detection of symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19. METHODS: A retrospective review of all patients referred for elective outpatient endoscopy during a 3 week period (May 20–June 12, 2020) was conducted. Patients were initially screened for exposure history and symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of procedure scheduling, again 3 days prior to the procedure, and on the actual day of the procedure. All patients were offered SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing 48 hours prior to the scheduled procedure and then advised to follow CDC guidelines of social distancing, donning a face mask and frequent hand hygiene until endoscopy. Uptake of COVID-19 testing, barriers, and impact on subsequent endoscopy were evaluated. RESULTS: 718 consecutive patients were scheduled for elective outpatient endoscopy. All patients were symptom screened and 642 patients (89%) underwent COVID-19 PCR testing within 48 hours of their scheduled procedures. 2 patients reported fevers within 48 hours of their scheduled endoscopy, leading to cancellation. COVID-19 PCR testing of asymptomatic patients (n = 642) revealed no positive results. A total of 76 patients (11%) did not undergo viral testing. Barriers to COVID-19 testing included limited time interval between scheduling and procedure, patient reported challenges with travel/availability, and negative perceptions about testing. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the feasibility and successful implementation of a pre-procedure COVID-19 screening program in a busy endoscopy center. The dual process of clinical screening for symptomatic patients and viral testing of asymptomatic patients optimizes the likelihood of identifying pre-procedure patients with COVID-19. Although there is a low yield of positive viral tests in settings with low disease prevalence, this study forms a framework to expand pre-procedure screening and testing to enhance safety for our patients and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Importância dos antibióticos no tratamento da Covid-19

Os antibióticos estão sendo usados como tratamento experimental nos pacientes infectados com o coronavírus, em alguns pacientes houve uma melhora dos sinais e sintomas e uma redução da carga viral. A partir desses fatos, estudos estão sendo realizados para comprovar a eficácia dos antibióticos, especialmente dos macrolídios, devido a sua capacidade de agir no local da infecção, tendo ação imunomoduladora, possuindo também atividade contra patógenos intracelulares. O objetivo deste estudo é verificar na literatura vigente a importância dos antibióticos no tratamento de portadores do COVID-19. A metodologia utilizada foi um estudo de revisão integrativa nas bases de dados LILACS e PubMed. Os resultados demostraram que os antibióticos, especialmente os macrolídeos, apresentaram resultados positivos quanto a redução da carga viral e a função imunomoduladora. Porém, o pequeno número de estudos realizados e de poucos pacientes analisados, são reflexos de um desafio a ser enfrentado, . Além disso, existe a necessidade de compreender os mecanismos de ação e as interações medicamentosas a nível molecular, sendo necessários também estudos filogenéticos.