Number Of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Cases Research Articles

Post-COVID-19: Time to Change Our Way of Life for a Better Future.

Background and Objectives: From the year 1 anno Domini until 1855, with the third plague, major pandemics occurred on average every 348 years. Since then, they have occurred on average every 33 years, with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) now underway. Even though current technologies have greatly improved the way of life of human beings, COVID-19, with more than 700,000,000 cases and 6,950,000 deaths worldwide by the end of 2023, reminds us that much remains to be done. This report looks back at 18 months of COVID-19, from March 2020 to August 2021, with the aim of highlighting potential solutions that could help mitigate the impact of future pandemics. Materials and Methods: COVID-19 data, including case and death reports, were extracted daily from the Worldometer platform to build a database for the macroscopic analysis of the spread of the virus around the world. Demographic data were integrated into the COVID-19 database for a better understanding of the spatial spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in cities/municipalities. Without loss of generality, only data from the top 30 (out of 200 and above) countries ranked by total number of COVID-19 cases were analyzed. Statistics (regression, t-test (p < 0.05), correlation, mean ± std, etc.) were carried out with Excel software (Microsoft® Excel® 2013 (15.0.5579.1001)). Spectral analysis, using Matlab software (license number: 227725), was also used to try to better understand the temporal spread of COVID-19. Results: This study showed that COVID-19 mainly affects G20 countries and that cities/municipalities with high population density are a powerful activator of the spread of the virus. In addition, spectral analysis highlighted that the very first months of the spread of COVID-19 were the most notable, with a strong expansion of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. On the other hand, the following six months showed a certain level of stability, mainly due to multiple preventive measures such as confinement, the closure of non-essential services, the wearing of masks, distancing of 2 m, etc. Conclusion: Given that densely populated cities and municipal areas have largely favored the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it is believed that such a demographic context is becoming a societal problem that developed countries must address in a manner that is adequate and urgent. COVID-19 has made us understand that it is time to act both preventatively and curatively. With phenomenological evidence suggesting that the next pandemic could occur in less than 50 years, it may be time to launch new societal projects aimed at relieving congestion in densely populated regions.

Study protocol: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of isavuconazole prophylaxis for the prevention of covid-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis

BackgroundDuring the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, those with severe COVID-19 infection were at risk for a number of opportunistic infections including COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA). We initiated a randomized clinical trial to evaluate whether isavuconazole, a triazole antifungal, could prevent CAPA and improve survival in patients admitted to the ICU with severe COVID-19 infection. MethodsWe designed a phase III/IV randomized, double-blind, two-arm, placebo-controlled trial evaluating standard of care (SOC) plus isavuconazole versus SOC plus placebo and were to enroll participants admitted to the ICU with severe COVID-19 infection at three medical centers in California, United States. The projected sample size was 162 participants. ResultsDue to poor enrollment and the declining number of COVID-19 cases over time, the study was terminated after 7 participants were enrolled, all enrolled at one study site (UC San Diego Health). CAPA was suspected in two participants and they were started on open-label isavuconazole. One was withdrawn due to possible isavuconazole-related adverse side effects. ConclusionEnrollment was slower-than-expected due to multiple factors, including competing COVID-19-related studies and hesitancy from potential study participants or their families to join the study. Our experience highlights some of the difficulties in planning and running a clinical trial focused on fungal superinfections involving severely ill patients during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons learned from this study will help in the design of proposed studies examining antifungal prophylaxis against aspergillosis following other severe respiratory viral infections.

Using the Lagrange Interpolation Polynomial Method to calculate the prevalence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Turkey

The goal of this paper is to look into a numerical approximation for the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Turkey. From March 11th to November 30th, all data is examined one by one for this purpose. The Lagrange interpolation method does not require evenly spaced x values. On the other hand, it is usually preferable to look for the closest value in the table and then use the lowest-order interpolation that is consistent with the functional form of the data. Using this method, a function for monthly and general data on the number of COVID-19 disease deaths and cases infected with the disease is obtained. Matlab programming is used to obtain Lagrange interpolation polynomials. Simulations for month by month and general data are obtained using Lagrange interpolation polynomial. The rate of spread of disease and death numbers is obtained by taking the first derivative of this function. Monthly and general tables are constructed for this propagation rate data. Peak point of the disease and different change values ​​are determined from the information in these simulations. The rates of death and spread of the disease by months are compared. As a result of this comparison, it can be seen in which months the rate of spread of disease and death increases and decreases. Monthly increase and decrease values ​​can be seen from the Figure 3-Figure 6. For example, a relative decrease can be observed in April and May

Application of Skimmed-Milk Flocculation Method for Wastewater Surveillance of COVID-19 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Wastewater surveillance (WS) has been used globally as a complementary tool to monitor the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) throughout the pandemic. However, a concern about the appropriateness of WS in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) exists due to low sewer coverage and expensive viral concentration methods. In this study, influent wastewater samples (n = 63) collected from two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of the Kathmandu Valley between March 2021 and February 2022 were concentrated using the economical skimmed-milk flocculation method (SMFM). The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was tested by qPCR using assays that target the nucleocapsid (N) and envelope (E) genes. Overall, 84% (53/63) of the total samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 according to at least one of the tested assays, with concentrations ranging from 3.5 to 8.3 log10 gene copies/L, indicating the effectiveness of the SMFM. No correlation was observed between the total number of COVID-19 cases and SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in wastewater collected from the two WWTPs (p > 0.05). This finding cautions the prediction of future COVID-19 waves and the estimation of the number of COVID-19 cases based on wastewater concentration in settings with low sewer coverage by WWTPs. Future studies on WS in LMICs are recommended to be conducted by downscaling to sewer drainage, targeting a limited number of houses. Overall, this study supports the notion that SMFM can be an excellent economical virus-concentrating method for WS of COVID-19 in LMICs.

Change in the Proportion of Death at Home during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Associated Factors in the Municipality Level: A Nationwide Study in Japan.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have led to an increase in home deaths due to hospital bed shortage and hospital visitation restrictions. This study aimed to examine changes in the proportion of home deaths before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and identify associated factors. We used publicly available nationwide data to describe the proportion of home deaths among total deaths from 2015 to 2021. Furthermore, we used municipal-level data to examine the factors associated with the increase in the proportion of home deaths from 2019 to 2021. The dependent variable was the absolute change in the proportion of home deaths from 2019 to 2021. The independent variables included each municipality's 2019 home death percentage, medical and long-term care (LTC) resources divided by the population of older people, population density, and cumulative number of COVID-19 cases. A multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted after the standardization of each variable. The proportions of home deaths in 2015, 2019, and 2021 were 12.7%, 13.6%, and 17.2%, respectively, indicating a sharp increase in home death rate after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the multivariable linear regression analysis that included 1,696 municipalities, conventional home care support clinics and hospitals (HCSCs) (coefficient [95% confidence intervals (CIs)], 0.19 [0.01-0.37]), enhanced HCSCs (0.53 [0.34-0.71]), home-visiting nurses (0.26 [0.06-0.46]), population density (0.44 [0.21-0.67]), and cumulative COVID-19 cases (0.49 [0.27-0.70]) were positively associated with the increase in home deaths, whereas beds of LTC welfare facilities (-0.55 [-0.74--0.37]) and the proportion of home deaths in 2019 (-1.24 [-1.44--1.05]) were negatively associated with the increase. During the COVID-19 pandemic, home deaths significantly increased, particularly in densely populated areas with high cumulative COVID-19 cases. HCSCs, especially enhanced HCSCs, are crucial for meeting the demand for home-based end-of-life care.

An investigation of multivariate data-driven deep learning models for predicting COVID-19 variants

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has swept almost all parts of the world. With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has mutated into various variants. Given the increasingly dangerous conditions of the pandemic, it is crucial to predict the number of COVID-19 cases. Deep Learning and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) have predicted disease progress with reasonable accuracy and small errors. LSTM training is used to predict confirmed cases of COVID-19 based on variants identified using the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) COVID-19 dataset containing confirmed cases identified from 30 European countries. Tests were conducted using the LSTM and Bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM) models with the addition of Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) as comparisons on hidden size and layer size. The obtained result showed that in testing hidden sizes 25, 50, 75, and 100, the RNN model provided better results, with the minimum Mean Squared Error (MSE) value of 0.01 and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) value of 0.012 for B.1.427/B.1.429 variant with a hidden size of 100. Further testing layer sizes 2, 3, 4, and 5 shows that the BiLSTM model provided better results, with a minimum MSE value of 0.01 and an RMSE of 0.01 for the B.1.427/B.1.429 variant with a hidden size of 100 and layer size of 2.

Surveillance of the recurrence time of the effectiveness of national and region-level quarantines of COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.

The World Health Organization has recommended a range of social and health measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including strategies such as quarantines, border closures, social distancing, and mask usage, among others. Specifically, the Chilean authorities implemented the "step-by-step" plan, built on the concept of dynamic quarantine. Numerous studies have examined the effectiveness of these quarantines in Chile during the pandemic, utilizing data published by the Chilean Ministry of Health. This study's primary aim was to enhance our understanding of quarantine effectiveness in Chile during the pandemic. We accomplished this by analyzing the distributional behavior of the time until the COVID-19 pandemic was deemed under control or not. In our study, we defined an event with two potential outcomes related to the instantaneous reproductive number (Rt), which signifies the time until a change in the event outcome occurs. Importantly, we did not predefine a specific temporal observation unit. These findings allowed us to complement the concept of effective quarantine by considering the dynamics generated by the protocols, such as phase 1 of the quarantine, in achieving natural herd immunity in response to the number of COVID-19 cases and Rt. We assessed the behavior of the mean and median residual lifetime until the initiation of controlled/uncontrolled episodes of the COVID-19 pandemic based on Rt in all regions of Chile. Despite variations in the distribution of residual times for controlled/uncontrolled episodes in different regions, there was a similar observation during the period considered (between March 2020 and March 2021): the mitigation measures did not produce a clear positive effect for controlling the epidemic. The residual times of episodes with Rr,t > 1 were not different from those episodes with Rr,t ≤ 1.

Remote sensing in the analysis between forest cover and COVID-19 cases in Colombia

This article explores the relationship between forest cover and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Colombia using remote sensing techniques and data analysis. The study focuses on the CORINE land cover methodology's five main land cover categories: artificial territory, agricultural territories, forests and semi-natural areas, humid areas, and water surfaces. The research methodology involves several phases of the unified method of analytical solutions for data mining (ASUM-DM). Data on COVID-19 cases and forest cover are collected from the Colombian National Institute of Health and Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS PALSAR), respectively. Land cover data is processed using QGIS software. The results indicate an inverse relationship between forest cover and COVID-19 cases, as evidenced by Pearson's index ρ of -0.439 (p-value &amp;lt;0.012). In addition, a negative correlation is observed between case density and forests and semi-natural areas, one of the land cover categories. The findings of this study suggest that higher forest cover is associated with lower numbers of COVID-19 cases in Colombia. The results could potentially inform government organizations and policymakers in implementing strategies and policies for forest conservation and the inclusion of green areas in densely populated urban areas.

Beyond linear regression: Modeling COVID-19 clinical cases with wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 for the city of Athens and Ohio University campus

Wastewater-based surveillance has emerged as a detection tool for population-wide infectious diseases, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Infected individuals shed the virus, which can be detected in wastewater using molecular techniques such as reverse transcription-digital polymerase chain reaction (RT-dPCR). This study examined the association between the number of clinical cases and the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater beyond linear regression and for various normalizations of viral loads. Viral loads were measured in a total of 446 wastewater samples during the period from August 2021 to April 2022. These samples were collected from nine different locations, with 220 samples taken from four specific sites within the city of Athens and 226 samples from five sites within Ohio University. The correlation between COVID-19 cases and wastewater viral concentrations, which was estimated using the Pearson correlation coefficient, was statistically significant and ranged from 0.6 to 0.9. In addition, time-lagged cross correlation was applied to identify the lag time between clinical and wastewater data, estimated 4 to 7 days. While we also explored the effect on the correlation coefficients of various normalizations of viral loads accounting for procedural loss or amount of fecal material and of estimated lag times, these alternative specifications did not change our substantive conclusions. Additionally, several linear and non-linear regression models were applied to predict the COVID-19 cases given wastewater data as input. The non-linear approach was found to yield the highest R-squared and Pearson correlation and lowest Mean Absolute Error values between the predicted and actual number of COVID-19 cases for both aggregated OHIO Campus and city data. Our results provide support for previous studies on correlation and time lag and new evidence that non-linear models, approximated with artificial neural networks, should be implemented for WBS of contagious diseases.

Survey on chest CT findings in COVID-19 patients in Okinawa, Japan: differences between the delta and omicron variants

To investigate the frequency of pneumonia and chest computed tomography (CT) findings in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the fifth Delta variant-predominant and sixth Omicron variant-predominant waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Okinawa, Japan. A survey on chest CT examinations for patients with COVID-19 was conducted byhospitals with board-certified radiologists who provided treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia in Okinawa Prefecture. Data from 11 facilities were investigated. Indications for chest CT; number of COVID-19 patients undergoing chest CT; number of patients with late-onset pneumonia, tracheal intubation, and number of deaths; and COVID-19 Reporting and Data System classifications of initial chest CT scans were compared by the chi-squared test between the two pandemic waves (Delta vs. Omicron variants). A total of 1944 CT scans were performed during the fifth wave, and 1178 were performed during the sixth wave. CT implementation rates, which were the number of patients with COVID-19 undergoing CT examinations divided by the total number of COVID-19 cases in Okinawa Prefecture during the waves, were 7.1% for the fifth wave and 2.1% for the sixth wave. The rates of tracheal intubation and mortality were higher in the fifth wave. Differences between the distributions of the CO-RADS classifications were statistically significant for the fifth and sixth waves (p < 0.0001). In the fifth wave, CO-RADS 5 (typical of COVID-19) was most common (65%); in the sixth wave, CO-RADS 1 (no findings of pneumonia) was most common (50%). The finding of “typical for other infection but not COVID-19” was more frequent in the sixth than in the fifth wave (13.6% vs. 1.9%, respectively). The frequencies of pneumonia and typical CT findings were higher in the fifth Delta variant-predominant wave, and nontypical CT findings were more frequent in the sixth Omicron variant-predominant wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Okinawa, Japan.

Development of highly sensitive one-step reverse transcription-quantitative PCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection in wastewater

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants is a major public health concern that has highlighted the need to monitor circulating strains to better understand the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study was carried out to monitor SARS-CoV-2 RNA and its variant-specific mutations in wastewater using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). One-step RT-qPCR using the SARS-CoV-2 Detection RT-qPCR Kit for Wastewater (Takara Bio), which amplified two N-gene regions simultaneously using CDC N1 and N2 assays with a single fluorescence dye, demonstrated better performance in detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA (positive ratio, 66 %) compared to two-step RT-qPCR using CDC N1 or N2 assay (40 % each, and 52 % when combined), with significantly lower Ct values. The one-step RT-qPCR assay detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in 59 % (38/64) of influent samples collected from a wastewater treatment plant in Japan between January 2021 and March 2022. The correlation between the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wastewater and the number of COVID-19 cases reported each day for 7 days pre- and post-sampling was significant (p < 0.05, r = 0.76 ± 0.03). Thirty-one influent samples which showed two-well positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA were further tested by six mutations site-specific one-step RT-qPCR (E484K, L452R, N501Y, T478K, G339D, and E484A mutations). The N501Y mutation was detected between March and June 2021 but was replaced by the L452R and T478K mutations between July and October 2021, reflecting the shift from Alpha to Delta variants in the study region. The G339D and E484A mutations were identified in January 2022 and later when the incidence of the Omicron variant peaked. These findings indicate that wastewater-based epidemiology has the epidemiological potential to complement clinical tests to track the spread of COVID-19 and monitor variants circulating in communities.

Comparison of The Nutritional Habits of Individuals With and Without a COVID-19 Diagnosis: An Online Cross-Sectional Study From Türkiye

Objective: Türkiye, which is located in the European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) has been also affected by the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study was conducted between January and April 2021, in which the number of daily COVID-19 cases increased from an average of 8,500 to 50,000. This cross-sectional online study aimed to compare the dietary habits of individuals with and without a COVID-19 diagnosis. &#x0D; Material and Method: The study included a total of 1,448 individuals aged 18-64 years. Study data were collected through the Google platform using a questionnaire that included sociodemographic characteristics, COVID-19 status, anthropometric measurements, physical activity status, and nutritional characteristics. &#x0D; Results: Those with COVID-19 had higher Body Mass Index (BMI) than those without COVID-19. The rates of those who had regular physical activity, considered nutrition important for protection from COVID-19, and ordered food online were lower among those participants with COVID-19 than those without COVID-19. The rates of those who lost appetite and weight, used nutritional supplements, increased their nutritional budget during the pandemic, and shopped for food from online marketplaces were higher too among those with COVID-19. Those with COVID-19 were found to consume red meat, fruit, and herbal tea more frequently and soft drinks less frequently than those without COVID-19. &#x0D; Conclusion: In line with these results, it may be considered that those with COVID-19 try to comply with healthy nutrition recommendations. Our results can be used to prepare appropriate nutritional guidelines for pandemic and quarantine periods.

The WHO has declared the end of pandemic phase of COVID-19: Way to come back in the normal life.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in significant global mortality and morbidity affecting millions of lives. As healthcare authorities worldwide are still paying substantial attention to COVID-19, other diseases continue to cause more deaths than COVID-19. The decreasing number of COVID-19 cases and deaths indicates that the pandemic is close to the end. For effective pandemic management, healthcare facilities worldwide have established COVID-19 units and testing facilities, instituting infection prevention and control measures, and employing telehealth services. Healthcare professionals have identified some promising treatments for COVID-19; also, mass vaccinations have improved patient outcomes. Instead of COVID-19 as a pandemic, it is time to pay more attention to other diseases to lessen their impact on public health. Therefore, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the end of the pandemic phase of COVID-19 considering the current COVID-19 situation and our preparedness, past pandemic experience, and long pandemic impact on social and economic life on May 5, 2023. In this article, we briefly discussed the present challenges due to COVID-19, necessary precautions, and future directions to return to life as before COVID-19.

Risk factors of COVID-19 incidence in Bantul Regency, Indonesia

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a public health problem in Indonesia. The highest number of COVID-19 cases in Special Region of Yogyakarta in 2021 was in Bantul Regency. The epidemiological description based on the person, place, time, and risk factors for COVID-19 in Bantul Regency in 2021 has yet to be described. This study aimed to determine risk factors, person, place, and time characteristics associated with the incidence of COVID-19 in the Bantul Regency in 2021. This study employed a cross-sectional design with secondary data on COVID-19 cases in Bantul Regency in 2021. Furthermore, 80,322 samples were analyzed and confirmed COVID-19 was 53,506 cases (66.61%). The case fatality rate was 2.72%. The highest age positive for COVID-19 is &amp;lt;65 years (92.31%), 53.83% of cases were female, and the district of Banguntapan with the highest rate of COVID-19 (15.11%). The peak of cases occurred in July, 2021. There is a relationship between close contact, travel history, age, and gender with the incidence of COVID-19 (p&amp;lt;0.001). The most significant risk factors were close contact (OR=8.657), travel history (OR=3.034), gender (OR=1.147), and age (OR=0.889). Close contact has the most significant association with the incidence of COVID-19, followed by travel history and gender.

The relationship between the cycle threshold value of SARS CoV-2 with neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), severity degrees, long of treatment, and outcomes COVID-19 patients

Link of Video Abstract: https://youtu.be/uGfZNQrEQqY Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused serious public health problems since the end of 2019. Viral load is known in COVID-19 infection, which indicates the number of causative agents and is indirectly assessed by the Cycle threshold value (Ct value). Ct value assessment has not been declared an essential parameter in COVID-19 infection. Due to the high number of COVID-19 cases, an additional strategy is needed to help identify patients at high risk of experiencing severe clinical conditions by knowing the relationship between the Ct value of SARS CoV-2 and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), severity, length of stay, and outcomes. Methods: This was an analytic observational study with cross-sectional approach in confirmed COVID-19 patients to investigate the relationship between the Ct value of SARS CoV-2 and NLR, ALC, severity, length of stay, and outcome of COVID-19 patients. There were 337 patients analyzed with chi square test. Results: The results of this study indicate that the majority of subjects were male (51%), aged &lt;60 years (27%), Ct value ≤29 (70%), had a critical severity (36.5%), length of stay &gt;10 days (64.1%) and survived (74.7%). Inflammatory markers examination shows NLR&lt;3,13 (57.9%) and ALC&lt;1500 (66.2%). The chi-square test shows a significant relationship between Ct value and ALC, degree of severity, and outcome in COVID-19 patients (p &lt;0.05). No association was found between Ct value, NLR, and length of stay (p&gt;0.05). Conclusion: There is a relationship between Ct value and ALC, degree of severity, and outcome in COVID-19 patients.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Pediatric Acute Otitis Media in Seoul, South Korea.

The implementation of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may affect the incidence of infectious diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the changes in the incidence of pediatric acute otitis media (AOM) after the COVID-19 outbreak in Seoul, South Korea. Retrospective cohort. Tertiary referral center. We ascertained the daily number of COVID-19 and pediatric AOM patients between January 20, 2020, and June 19, 2020. During the same period, the number of children using public transportation was used as an index for implementing NPIs. The same period 1 year ago was set as the control period. Diagnostic. The differences in the incidence of AOM and implementation of NPIs between the COVID-19 pandemic and control period were analyzed using segmented regression analyses. Negative values of difference meant that the number in the COVID-19 pandemic period declined compared with the control period. The study period was divided into two sections based on the change point of the COVID-19 cases. In the first period, the increased number of COVID-19 cases decreased, and in the second period, the number of COVID-19 cases increased again. Similar trends were observed in the incidence of AOM and NPI implementation. Before the change point, the study found a significant decreasing trend in the differences in pediatric AOM cases and children using public transportation. However, these trends changed after the change point, with a significant increase in both indices. Our findings indicate that NPIs for COVID-19 may influence the incidence of pediatric AOM.

Faktor Determinan Kejadian Covid-19 di Kecamatan Nanga Pinoh Kabupaten Melawi Tahun 2021

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2). Common symptoms include fever, dry cough, fatigue, and in some more serious cases, shortness of breath and gastrointestinal disturbances. Based on WHO data (2021) globally, on October 3, 2021, the number of COVID-19 cases was 234,551,981 cases and the death rate was 4,796,171 cases. Based on data from the Health Office, Nanga Pinoh Subdistrict is the highest number of Covid-19 cases, with 1,815 confirmed cases and 51 deaths. The purpose of the study was to determine the determinants of the incidence of Covid-19 in the District of Nanga Pinoh, Melawi Regency. This type of analytic observational research with a case control design with a ratio of 1:1. The sample in this study were 96 cases and 96 controls taken through total sampling technique. The test used is the chi-square test. The results of statistical tests showed that there was a significant relationship between health protocols (p value = 0.043; OR = 0.531), knowledge (p value = 0.017; OR = 0.467), attitudes (p value = 0.013; OR = 0.457) and there was no relationship between the role of health workers (p value = 0.663; OR = 0.845) and the incidence of Covid-19 in Nanga Pinoh District, Melawi Regency. It is recommended to improve health services in an effort to prevent and transmit the spread of the Covid-19 disease.

The unique COVID-19 experience in Western Australia: lessons learnt.

Western Australia (WA) was in a unique position to experience coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a highly vaccinated and geographically isolated population. To describe the COVID-19 Omicron experience at the only quaternary hospital in WA following border opening from 3 March to 11 May 2022. A total of 158 adults with microbiologically confirmed COVID-19 were admitted to the respiratory or intensive care unit (ICU). Admission numbers, disease severity, prevalence of COVID-19 deterioration risk factors, immunisation status, severity of infection, immunosuppression and treatment regimen. One hundred fifty-eight COVID-19-positive patients were admitted to the respiratory ward (n = 123) and the ICU (n = 35) during the study period. COVID-19 infection was the primary admission reason in 32.9% of patients, 51.3% were male and the median age was 62 years. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) were overrepresented (13.3%). Care was predominantly ward based (77.2%). Nearly half of the patients had mild COVID-19 (49.4%). Dexamethasone was the most common treatment provided to patients (58.2%). The median length of stay was 5.8 days (interquartile range, 5-15). Eight patients died during the study period (5.1%), with three of those deaths attributable to COVID-19. COVID-19 case numbers following WA state border opening were of lower care acuity and disease severity than predicted. Two-thirds of admissions were for other primary diagnoses, with incidental COVID detection. Hospital admissions were overrepresented by partially or unvaccinated patients and by ATSI Australians. An increase insocial support along with general and geriatric medicine speciality input were required to treat hospitalised COVID-19 cases in the WA Omicron wave.

To PCR or not? The impact of shifting policy from PCR to rapid antigen tests to diagnose COVID-19 during the omicron epidemic: a nationwide surveillance study.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had caused huge impacts worldwide. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the mainstay diagnostic modality. In most hospitals in Taiwan, samples for PCR are collected at emergency department (ER) or outdoor clinics to avoid virus spread inside hospitals. Home rapid antigen test (RAT) is a feasible, low-cost, and convenient tool with moderate sensitivity and high specificity, which can be performed at home to reduce hospital visits. Due to comparably low severity of omicron variant and high vaccine coverage (~80% residents fully vaccinated with AstraZeneca, Moderna, or Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines as of March 2022), the policy was shifted from containment to co-existing with COVID-19 in Taiwan. Virus spread rapidly in the community after the ease of social restrictive measurements. To acquire a confirmed diagnosis, PCR testing was requested for people with suspected COVID-19 infection. As a consequence, people with respiratory symptoms or contact history surged into hospitals for PCR testing, thus, the medical capacity was challenged. The diagnostic policy was altered from PCR to RAT, but the impact of diagnostic policy change remains unclear. We conducted this study to investigate the number of COVID-19 cases, PCR testing, hospitalizations, mortalities, and hospital visits during the epidemic and evaluate the impact of diagnostic policy change on hospital visits. The diagnostic policy change was implemented in late May 2022. We used nationwide and hospital-based data of COVID-19 cases, PCR testing, hospitalizations, mortalities, and hospital visits before and after policy change as of 31 Jul 2022. During the omicron epidemic, significant and synchronous increase of COVID-19 patients, PCR testing, hospital visits were observed. COVID-19 cases increased exponentially since April 2022 and the COVID-19 patients peaked in June (1,943, 55,571, and 61,511 average daily new cases in April, May, and June, respectively). The PCR testing peaked in May (85,788 daily tests) with high positive rate (81%). The policy of RAT as confirmatory diagnosis was implemented on 26 May 2022 and a substantial decline of PCR testing numbers occurred (85,788 and 83,113 daily tests in May and June). People hospitalized for COVID-19 peaked in June (821.8 patients per day) and decreased in July (549.5 patients). The mortality cases also peaked in June (147 cases/day). This trend was also validated by the hospital-based data with a significant decrease of emergency department visits (11,397 visits in May while 8,126 visits in June) and PCR testing (21,314 in May and 6,158 in June). The proportion of people purely for PCR testing also decreased (10-26 vs. 5-14%, before and after policy change, respectively). The impact of diagnostic policy change was a complicated issue and our study demonstrated the huge impact of diagnostic policy on health seeking behavior. The PCR testing numbers and emergency department visits had substantial decrease after diagnostic policy change, and the plateau of epidemic peak eased gradually in ~1 month later. Widespread RAT application may contribute to the decreased hospital visits and preserve medical capacity. Our study provides some evidences for policy maker's reference.

Estimating the number of severe COVID-19 cases and COVID-19-related deaths averted by a nationwide vaccination campaign in Republic of Korea.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency promotes vaccination by regularly providing information on its benefits for reducing the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to analyze the number of averted severe COVID-19 cases and COVID-19-related deaths by age group and quantify the impact of Republic of Korea's nationwide vaccination campaign. We analyzed an integrated database from the beginning of the vaccination campaign on February 26, 2021 to October 15, 2022. We estimated the cumulative number of severe cases and COVID-19-related deaths over time by comparing observed and estimated cases among unvaccinated and vaccinated groups using statistical modeling. We compared daily age-adjusted rates of severe cases and deaths in the unvaccinated group to those in the vaccinated group and calculated the susceptible population and proportion of vaccinated people by age. There were 23,793 severe cases and 25,441 deaths related to COVID-19. We estimated that 119,579 (95% confidence interval [CI], 118,901-120,257) severe COVID-19 cases and 137,636 (95% CI, 136,909-138,363) COVID-19-related deaths would have occurred if vaccination had not been performed. Therefore, 95,786 (95% CI, 94,659-96,913) severe cases and 112,195 (95% CI, 110,870-113,520) deaths were prevented as a result of the vaccination campaign. We found that, if the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign had not been implemented, the number of severe cases and deaths would have been at least 4 times higher. These findings suggest that Republic of Korea's nationwide vaccination campaign reduced the number of severe cases and COVID-19 deaths.