SARS Pandemic Research Articles

Financial flexibility, firm performance, and financial distress: A comparative study of China and the U.S. during pandemics

This study examines the relationship between financial flexibility, financial distress, and firm performance during pandemics, using data from 26,621 North American-listed firms and 5212 China-listed firms from 2000 to 2022. We investigate whether financial flexibility influences firm performance and financial distress, with firm performance acting as a moderator in this relationship. Our findings highlight that financial flexibility is a crucial strategic tool for mitigating economic uncertainties, effectively reducing financial distress in the U.S. In contrast, its impact in China is more complex, influenced by market maturity and regulatory interventions, especially during economic turbulence. The study also reveals differing roles of profitability and firm size between the two markets. In the U.S., larger and more profitable firms prioritize growth over financial stability, whereas in China, there is a greater emphasis on liquidity and market perception. During the SARS pandemic, China's rapid regulatory response and strong government intervention made financial flexibility more effective in reducing financial distress. Conversely, during COVID-19, the U.S. market showed robust mechanisms and corporate adaptability, with financial flexibility helping firms manage liquidity crises and market volatility. In China, stricter regulations during COVID-19 limited the role of financial flexibility, but strong government support-maintained market stability. Overall, this study underscores the different impacts of financial flexibility on Chinese and U.S. markets during pandemics and the critical role of firm performance in moderating the relationship between financial flexibility and financial distress under varying economic conditions and policy environments.

Decentralisation, intergovernmental coordination, and response to extreme events in Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT Despite common lessons learned during the SARS pandemic in 2003, country responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeast Asia have been very diverse, with many lacking coordination among government bodies. I consider how government structure and political decentralisation shape emergency response to extreme events, focusing on two of Southeast Asia’s largest decentralised countries, Indonesia and the Philippines. I explore variation in provincial-level responses and outcomes, showing that intergovernmental coordination can augment the beneficial aspects of decentralisation in world regions where human and economic costs associated with extreme events are high.

Pembangunan dan Ekonomi Politik Turisme Massal di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

This research aimed to explore the transition from community-based tourism into mass tourism which has been initiated by the government. Data was collected through in depth interviews, observation, and secondary data analysis. This research found that the central government has been creating mass tourism since the ‘80s, because the state was interested in making tourism become one of the main incomes after the end of oil boom era. Mass tourism was booming until the end of the ‘90s. Nevertheless, the decrease in international tourist arrival was occurred because of forest fires, economic crises, Bali Bombing I and II, and SARS pandemic. Unfortunately, Yogyakarta’s earthquake in 2006 has hindered the recovery process. One decade after the earthquake, a mass tourism was booming again which was marked by the expansion of hotel construction. There were negative impacts such as lack of water access for public, repression of the labour movement, and policies that neglected public participation. The government continued to develop mass tourism through RPJMD DIY 2017-2022 as the nexus of central and local government interests. Projects from RPJMD DIY 2017-2022 were done by cultures and repressions mobilization, thus lead to another problems such as worsened public interests marginalization, land and labour privatization.

The prevalence of mental ill-health in women during pregnancy and after childbirth during the Covid-19 pandemic: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

BackgroundThis systematic review aims to explore the prevalence of the impact of the COVID-19, MERS, and SARS pandemics on the mental health of pregnant women.MethodsAll COVID-19, SARS and MERS studies that evaluated the mental health of pregnant women with/without gynaecological conditions that were reported in English between December 2000 – July 2021 were included. The search criteria were developed based upon the research question using PubMed, Science Direct, Ovid PsycINFO and EMBASE databases. A wide search criterion was used to ensure the inclusion of all pregnant women with existing gynaecological conditions. The Newcastle-Ottawa-Scale was used to assess the risk of bias for all included studies. Random effects model with restricted maximum-likelihood estimation method was applied for the meta-analysis and I-square statistic was used to evaluate heterogeneity across studies. The pooled prevalence rates of symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, stress, and sleep disorders with 95% confidence interval (CI) were computed.ResultsThis systematic review identified 217 studies which included 638,889 pregnant women or women who had just given birth. There were no studies reporting the mental health impact due to MERS and SARS. Results showed that women who were pregnant or had just given birth displayed various symptoms of poor mental health including those relating to depression (24.9%), anxiety (32.8%), stress (29.44%), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (27.93%), and sleep disorders (24.38%) during the COVID-19 pandemic.DiscussionIt is important to note that studies included in this review used a range of outcome measures which does not allow for direct comparisons between findings. Most studies reported self-reported measure of symptoms without clinical diagnoses so conclusions can be made for symptom prevalence rather than of mental illness. The importance of managing mental health during pregnancy and after-delivery improves the quality of life and wellbeing of mothers hence developing an evidence-based approached as part of pandemic preparedness would improve mental health during challenging times.OtherThe work presented in this manuscript was not funded by any specific grants. A study protocol was developed and published in PROSPERO (CRD42021235356) to explore several key objectives.

Voices from the frontline: a review of EMS first responders' experience of COVID-19 in Ireland

PurposeThis study explored the experiences of Irish emergency medical services (EMS) first responders during the first nationwide restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review (SLR) of research into healthcare workers' and first responders' experiences during the COVID-19 and 2003 SARS pandemics was performed. The SLR informed the content of an online questionnaire distributed via the Irish Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council to 2,092 first responders on its live register. Data analysis used both descriptive and content analysis.FindingsEMS first responders faced many challenges including PPE quality, training on its use, issues with decontamination facilities, and organisational effectiveness. Emotional challenges included the anxiety experienced, the impact on families, and ethical dilemmas confronted related to patient care. Positive findings also emerged, such as first responders' dedication to working through the pandemic, collegiality, and the community goodwill displayed.Originality/valueWhile investigations of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers have been undertaken globally, studies focussing exclusively on the experiences of EMS first responders have been rare. This study addressed this knowledge gap, providing an insight into the challenges and successes experienced by first responders and identifying opportunities for learning that can be applied to future public health emergencies.

Blockchain during COVID-19: The Technology to Help Society

At the end of 2019, a new coronavirus was reported in the form of unknown pneumonia: It was the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. It is crucial to develop the strategies to manage this new pandemic in order to improve their effectiveness, as opposed to the ones adopted in 2003 during the SARS pandemic. In 17 years, new digital technologies and tools have been created; therefore, we can take advantage of them in the social management of the pandemic. The aim of our paper is to evaluate how blockchain technology can be used and what advantages it brings in managing an emergency situation such as of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the effects of the adoption of this technology will be assessed when applied both to the management of the information flow between health infrastructures, and to track monetary, technical, and medical supply donations to hospital structures. We therefore propose a high-level, decentralized architecture that assists in administrating large-scale information and stores the gathered data in a blockchain supervised by the authorities. The distrust suffered by institutions today, the fear experienced in the last year due to the pandemic, and the birth of a technology that allows for the creation of reliable networks, pose thoughtful challenges to be faced to recover trust and hope for the future again.

Megatrends of the world politics

In the study, we identify and analyse how conceptual and applied aspects of megatrends of world politics are treated in the expert-academic community by outlining the specifics of megatrends of global development in the international political sphere. The paper summarises the megatrends of world politics that will shape the world by 2030. There is a threefold transformation of the modern political organisation of the world: the transformation of the Westphalian world political model, which is determined by globalisation, the transformation of the modern international system, largely due to integration as a megatrend, and the transformation of political systems. Global governance will be carried out in new formats, which will be reflected in the intensification of the institutions of collective world leadership. A change in the hierarchy of leading international actors, a rethinking of the power of leading global actors (US and EU), and the emergence of new potential political and economic global leaders are projected. The centre of world development is moving, the economic centre is shifting to the east and south. One of the central megatrends of world politics is the decline in human security, which became even clearer during the SARS pandemic, COVID-19, which will lead to the transformation of the modern international order. To these megatrends of world politics, we also adjoin the virtualisation of socio-political relations, a new model of change of political power and governance in individual countries, reideologization of world politics, inversion of fundamental values, universalization of migration flows.

SARS pandemic exposure impaired early childhood development in China

Social and mental stressors associated with the pandemic of a novel infectious disease, e.g., COVID-19 or SARS may promote long-term effects on child development. However, reports aimed at identifying the relationship between pandemics and child health are limited. A retrospective study was conducted to associate the SARS pandemic in 2003 with development milestones or physical examinations among longitudinal measurements of 14,647 children. Experiencing SARS during childhood was associated with delayed milestones, with hazard ratios of 3.17 (95% confidence intervals CI: 2.71, 3.70), 3.98 (3.50, 4.53), 4.96 (4.48, 5.49), or 5.57 (5.00, 6.20) for walking independently, saying a complete sentence, counting 0–10, and undressing him/herself for urination, respectively. These results suggest relevant impacts from COVID-19 on child development should be investigated.

The influence of the SARS pandemic on asset prices

The SARS pandemic slowed down household income growth and negatively impacted the financial market. This paper extends the asset pricing literature by providing a new channel to explain the impact of the pandemic on asset prices. First, we propose an income-featuring consumption-based capital asset pricing model (IF-CAPM). Second, the empirical tests show that the IF-CAPM successfully captures structural changes brought about by the SARS pandemic on the financial market and the model performs better than the traditional CAPM.

The 442th amino acid residue of the spike protein is critical for the adaptation to bat hosts for SARS-related coronaviruses

Bats carry diverse severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoVs). The suspected interspecies transmission of SARSr-CoVs from bats to humans has caused two severe CoV pandemics, the SARS pandemic in 2003 and the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The receptor utilization of SARSr-CoV plays the key role in determining the host range and the interspecies transmission ability of the virus. Both SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 use angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as their receptor. Previous studies showed that WIV1 strain, the first living coronavirus isolated from bat using ACE2 as its receptor, is the prototype of SARS-CoV. The receptor-binding domain (RBD) in the spike protein (S) of SARS-CoV and WIV1 is responsible for ACE2 binding and medicates the viral entry. Comparing to SARS-CoV, WIV1 has three distinct amino acid residues (442, 472, and 487) in its RBD. This study aimed at exploring whether these three residues could alter the receptor utilization of SARSr-CoVs. We replaced the three residues in SARS-CoV (BJ01 strain) S with their counterparts in WIV1 S, and then evaluated the change of their utilization of bat, civet, and human ACE2s using a lentivirus-based pseudovirus infection system. To further validate the S-ACE2 interactions, the binding affinity between the RBDs of these S proteins and the three ACE2s were verified by flow cytometry. The results showed that the single amino acid substitution Y442S in the RBD of BJ01 S enhanced its utilization of bat ACE2 and its binding affinity to bat ACE2. On the contrary, the reverse substitution in WIV1 S (S442Y) significantly attenuated the pseudovirus utilization of bat, civet and human ACE2s for cell entry, and reduced its binding affinity with the three ACE2s. These results suggest that the S442 is critical for WIV1 adapting to bats as its natural hosts. These findings will enhance our understanding of host adaptations and cross-species infections of coronaviruses, contributing to the prediction and prevention of coronavirus epidemics.

Reusability of filtering facepiece respirators after decontamination through drying and germicidal UV irradiation

IntroductionDuring pandemics, such as the SARS-CoV-2, filtering facepiece respirators plays an essential role in protecting healthcare personnel. The recycling of respirators is possible in case of critical shortage, but it...

Orthodontics at Times of National Emergency: Past and Current Crises Part 1: Past Crises and Lessons Learnt

This paper explores past natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina (USA), the Great East Japan and Christchurch (New Zealand) Earthquakes as well as the HIV and SARS pandemics and the impact they had on providing orthodontic services at the time of the crisis. It also addresses the lessons learnt during the process of recovery and the long-term changes made as a result to the provision of care. CPD/Clinical Relevance: To provide a review of how orthodontics as a specialty survived past crises and to use the lessons learnt to navigate the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Four pandemics: lessons learned, lessons lost

In the past 100 years, the world has faced four distinctly different pandemics: the Spanish flu of 1918-1919, the SARS pandemic of 2003, the H1N1 or “swine flu” pandemic of 2012, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each public health crisis exposed specific systemic shortfalls and provided public health lessons for future events. The Spanish flu revealed a nursing shortage and led to a great appreciation of nursing as a profession. SARS showed the importance of having frontline clinicians be able to work with regulators and those producing guidelines. H1N1 raised questions about the nature of a global organization such as the World Health Organization in terms of the benefits and potential disadvantages of leading the fight against a long-term global public health threat. In the era of COVID-19, it seems apparent that we are learning about both the blessing and curse of social media.

Vaccine Development Against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

Various types of vaccines are under pre-clinical and clinical development to address the recent appearance of Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS, an emerging infectious disease that has already caused over 600 deaths and remains a threat to world health. The causative agent for this respiratory disease is a member of the betacoronavirus genus, phylogenetically closely related to the SARS coronavirus that caused an international health emergency in 2002. With lessons learned from the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, and with undeniable technological advances, vaccine development against MERS was initially fast-paced and has produced several DNA and protein vaccine candidates with promising results during early pre-clinical testing. At least one vaccine candidate has even entered first-in-humans clinical trials now. With the number of MERS cases declining though and other infectious diseases attracting increased attention, the question remains, whether, similar to the situation after the SARS pandemic, vaccine development is halted or remains the priority it rightfully should.

Protection from SARS coronavirus conferred by live measles vaccine expressing the spike glycoprotein

The recent identification of a novel human coronavirus responsible of a SARS-like illness in the Middle-East a decade after the SARS pandemic, demonstrates that reemergence of a SARS-like coronavirus from an animal reservoir remains a credible threat. Because SARS is contracted by aerosolized contamination of the respiratory tract, a vaccine inducing mucosal long-term protection would be an asset to control new epidemics. To this aim, we generated live attenuated recombinant measles vaccine (MV) candidates expressing either the membrane-anchored SARS-CoV spike (S) protein or its secreted soluble ectodomain (Ssol). In mice susceptible to measles virus, recombinant MV expressing the anchored full-length S induced the highest titers of neutralizing antibodies and fully protected immunized animals from intranasal infectious challenge with SARS-CoV. As compared to immunization with adjuvanted recombinant Ssol protein, recombinant MV induced stronger and Th1-biased responses, a hallmark of live attenuated viruses and a highly desirable feature for an antiviral vaccine.

Infektionen mit neuem humanen Betacoronavirus 2c EMC/2012 (hCoV-EMC)

ZusammenfassungEin bis dato unbekanntes Coronavirus (hCoV-EMC) konnte Ende 2012 erstmals retrospektiv aus dem Sputum eines ansonsten gesunden 60jährigen Patienten aus Saudi-Arabien isoliert werden, welcher sich mit akutem Atemnotsyndrom und folgendem Nierenversagen vorstellte und im Verlauf der Erkrankung bereits im Juni 2012 verstarb. Die präsentierte Klinik zeigte sich hierbei vergleichbar dem Verlauf der schweren SARS-Erkrankungen aus dem Pandemiegeschehen des Jahres 2003. Auch bei hCoV-EMC handelt es sich um ein Coronavirus mit genetischer Ähnlichkeit zu bekannten tierischen Fledermaus-Viren, welches bis zum heutigen Tag in 9 Fällen ernster Erkrankungsverläufe (5 Tote bislang) beim Menschen nachgewiesen werden konnte.Der folgende Artikel soll einen kurzen Überblick zum aktuellen Stand des Wissens zu diesem neuen Coronavirus sowie Informationen zur Falldefinition und Meldung von Verdachtsfällen bzw. Erkrankungen in Deutschland geben (laut RKI).

A Web-Based System for Mapping Laboratory Networks: Analysis of GLaDMap application

Public health emergencies such as H1N1 and SARS pandemics have demonstrated and validated the necessity of a strong and cohesive laboratory response system that is able to respond to threats in an efficient and timely manner. Individual laboratories, through connection with other laboratories or networks, are able to enhance their capacity for preparedness and response to emergencies. Efficient networks often establish standards and maintain best practices within member laboratories. The Global Laboratory Directory Mapping tool (GLaDMap) supports the efforts of laboratory networks to improve their connectivity by providing a simple and efficient tool to profile laboratories by geographic location, function or expertise. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the GLaDMap search tool and the completeness of the descriptive content of networks and laboratories that are currently contained within the GLaDMap database. We determined the extent of information volunteered and how the system is being used. Although the system aims to attract an array of users from around the globe, our analysis reveals minimal participation and information sharing and that the low profile participation rate limits the tool’s functionality. The Global Laboratory Directory platform has addressed barriers to participation by adding optional functionality such as restricted access to laboratory profiles to protect private information and by implementing additional functional applications complementary to GLaDMap.

Critical paths in a metapopulation model of H1N1: Efficiently delaying influenza spreading through flight cancellation

Disease spreading through human travel networks has been a topic of great interest in recent years, as witnessed during outbreaks of influenza A (H1N1) or SARS pandemics. One way to stop spreading over the airline network are travel restrictions for major airports or network hubs based on the total number of passengers of an airport. Here, we test alternative strategies using edge removal, cancelling targeted flight connections rather than restricting traffic for network hubs, for controlling spreading over the airline network. We employ a SEIR metapopulation model that takes into account the population of cities, simulates infection within cities and across the network of the top 500 airports, and tests different flight cancellation methods for limiting the course of infection. The time required to spread an infection globally, as simulated by a stochastic global spreading model was used to rank the candidate control strategies. The model includes both local spreading dynamics at the level of populations and long-range connectivity obtained from real global airline travel data. Simulated spreading in this network showed that spreading infected 37% less individuals after cancelling a quarter of flight connections between cities, as selected by betweenness centrality. The alternative strategy of closing down whole airports causing the same number of cancelled connections only reduced infections by 18%. In conclusion, selecting highly ranked single connections between cities for cancellation was more effective, resulting in fewer individuals infected with influenza, compared to shutting down whole airports. It is also a more efficient strategy, affecting fewer passengers while producing the same reduction in infections.

Acting on the Lessons of SARS: What Remains To Be Done?

On November 16, 2002, a man was admitted with a diagnosis of atypical pneumonia to People’s Hospital #1 in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China. Although it was not recognized at the time, he was the earliest known case of a new human infectious disease, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. Within 4 months SARS was global, eventually infecting 8,098 people in 29 countries on 6 continents and killing 774 of them. Even more concerning than these numbers is the fact that in many locations most of the victims were infected in hospitals and 21% of the victims were healthcare workers. At the time, SARS caused great alarm in the public health and medical preparedness communities. National and international guidance was issued, many health departments and hospitals created SARS plans, personal protective equipment was purchased, and healthcare workers were trained in respiratory precautions. In the months following the SARS pandemic, a number of conferences were held and reports issued on lessons learned from SARS. Now, from the vantage point of 8 years’ distance, what did we really learn? What are the remaining unanswered questions? What remains to be done?

Perceptions and behaviors related to hand hygiene for the prevention of H1N1 influenza transmission among Korean university students during the peak pandemic period

BackgroundThis study was performed to better assess the perceptions, motivating factors, and behaviors associated with the use of hand washing to prevent H1N1 influenza transmission during the peak pandemic period in Korea.MethodsA cross-sectional survey questionnaire was completed by 942 students at a university campus in Suwon, Korea, between December 1 and 8, 2009. The survey included questions regarding individual perceptions, motivating factors, and behaviors associated with hand washing for the prevention of H1N1 influenza transmission.ResultsCompared to one year prior, 30.3% of participants reported increasing their hand washing frequency. Female students were more likely to practice more frequent hand washing. Women also perceived the effectiveness of hand washing to be lower, and illness severity and personal susceptibility to H1N1 infection to be higher. Study participants who were female (OR: 1.79-3.90) who perceived of hand washing to be effective (OR: 1.34-12.15) and illness severity to be greater (OR: 1.00-3.12) washed their hands more frequently.ConclusionsKorean students increased their frequency of hand hygiene practices during the pandemic, with significant gender differences existing in the attitudes and behaviors related to the use of hand hygiene as a means of disease prevention. Here, the factors that affected hand washing behavior were similar to those identified at the beginning of the H1N1 or SARS pandemics, suggesting that public education campaigns regarding hand hygiene are effective in altering individual hand hygiene habits during the peak periods of influenza transmission.