The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak.

The pandemic of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has burdened an unprecedented psychological stress on people around the world, especially the medical workforce. The study focuses on assess the psychological status of them. The authors conducted a single-center, cross-sectional survey via online questionnaires. Occurrence of fear, anxiety and depression were measured by the numeric rating scale (NRS) on fear, Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), respectively. A total of 2299 eligible participants were enrolled from the authors' institution, including 2042 medical staff and 257 administrative staff. The severity of fear, anxiety and depression were significantly different between two groups. Furthermore, as compared to the non-clinical staff, front line medical staff with close contact with infected patients, including working in the departments of respiratory, emergency, infectious disease, and ICU, showed higher scores on fear scale, HAMA and HAMD, and they were 1.4 times more likely to feel fear, twice more likely to suffer anxiety and depression. The medical staff especially working in above-mentioned departments made them more susceptible to psychological disorders. Effective strategies toward to improving the mental health should be provided to these individuals.

http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC7195354?pdf=render

Psychological status of medical workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

Follow-up study of the pulmonary function and related physiological characteristics of COVID-19 survivors three months after recovery.

http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC7102548?pdf=render

Lianhuaqingwen exerts anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activity against novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

Background Since December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 virus has extended to most parts of China with more than 80 thousand cases and to at least 100 countries with more than 60 thousand international cases by March 15, 2020. Here we applied household cohort study to determine the features of household transmission of COVID-19. Methods Total 105 index patients and 392 household contacts were enrolled. Both index patients and household members were inspected by SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. The information of all recruited people was extracted from medical records and confirmed or supplemented by telephone interviews. The baseline characteristics of index cases and contact patients were described. Secondary attack rates of SARS-CoV-2 to the contact members were computed and the risk factors for transmission within household were estimated. Results Secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 developed in 64 of 392 household contacts (16.3%). The secondary attack rate to children was 4% comparing with 17.1% to adults. The secondary attack rate to the contacts within the households with index patients quarantined by themselves since onset of symptoms was 0% comparing with 16.9% to the contacts without index patients quarantined. The secondary attack rate to contacts who were spouses of index cases was 27.8% comparing with 17.3% to other adult members in the households. Conclusion The secondary attack rate of SARS-CoV-2 in household is 16.3%. Ages of household contacts and spouse relationship with index case are risk factors for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within household. Quarantine of index patients at home since onset of symptom is useful to prevent the transmission of SARS-Co-2 within household.

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Characteristics of Household Transmission of COVID-19.

The emergence of a new coronavirus in China raises global alarm.

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Outbreak of a novel coronavirus.

In the ongoing outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the West African country Guinea, >120 suspected and confirmed cases have been reported, with a fatality rate of >60% (WHO, 1 April 2014). Ebola virus (EBOV; formerly known as Zaire ebolavirus) was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then known as Zaire) in 1976 and causes outbreaks of severe haemorrhagic fever. The virus is transmitted by direct contact with dead animals or infected individuals, and it is thought that the consumption of infected bats caused this outbreak in West Africa. There are currently no effective therapeutic or preventive treatment options. Clinical samples tested positive for EBOV, which can have a mortality rate of ~90%. Continued efforts to contain the outbreak and prevent further spread are underway, including the establishment of isolation wards and mobile laboratories for more rapid detection of the virus, as well as investigations to identify the origins of the virus and its route of transmission. The consumption of bats has been banned in Guinea and the importance of hand washing is being emphasized. However, in addition to the first reported cases in the remote south-eastern region of Guinea, suspected and confirmed cases of haemorrhagic fever and deaths have also emerged in the capital Conakry in the west of the country as well as in the two neighbouring countries Sierra Leone and Liberia. In the hope of preventing the spread, the Health Minister of Senegal, Awa Marie Coll-Seck, said that “it’s safer to close our borders” (BBC News, 31 March 2014). Mariano Lugli, an official with Médecins Sans Frontières, cautioned that “we are facing an epidemic of a magnitude never before seen in terms of the distribution of cases”. However, Gregory Hartl, a WHO spokesman, said that it was neither an epidemic nor unprecedented. (BBC News, 1 April 2014). Andrea Du Toit R E S E A R C H H I G H L I G H T S

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Ebola virus in West Africa

This study suggests that double-membrane vesicles are the primary and likely only site of coronavirus viral RNA within the replication organelle

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Coronavirus replication factories.

This study reports a large population cohort study in which the authors correlate microbial taxa with quality of life and the incidence of depression.

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The gut microbiome and mental health

The current Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria is the largest recorded outbreak of the virus in the country, with about 1,400 suspected cases and more than 300 cases so far being confirmed in 2018, and case numbers are increasing (NCDC 18 March 2018; WHO, 19 March 2018). The disease was first identified in Lassa, Nigeria, in 1969, after an outbreak in a mission hospital. Lassa virus is endemic in many West African countries, including Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria, and when transmitted from its natural reservoir to humans, it can cause life-threatening haemorrhagic fever. Humans can become infected with Lassa virus from exposure to urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats but also through direct contact with bodily fluids of a patient infected with Lassa fever or through contaminated medical equipment. Continued efforts to contain the outbreak are underway. A national Lassa fever Emergency Operations Centre was activated in Abuja, Nigeria, on 22 January, to coordinate response activities in collaboration with the WHO and other partners. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, which was established in response to the challenges of public health emergencies and to enhance Nigeria’s preparedness and response to epidemics, and the WHO have intensified their responses, which include clinical case management, contact tracing, mobilizing a network of healthcare workers at hospitals, infection control measures and building public awareness. Owing to sequencing efforts by researchers at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, in collaboration with partners from the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Germany, and others, sequences from 15 samples derived from the blood of patients infected with Lassa virus are now available. Based on those early results, no new virus lineages have been detected, the viruses circulating in 2018 seem to be consistent with previous outbreaks and the most likely route of transmission continues to be spillover of viruses from the rodent reservoir to humans rather than human-to-human transmission (NCDC, 12 March 2018). The availability of such sequencing information will support the response to the ongoing outbreak. The Ebola epidemic has highlighted how important the global response to epidemics is, and, as seen with the ongoing Lassa virus outbreak, infectious diseases continue to pose a global public health threat and developing countries can be particularly vulnerable. In an effort to combat deadly outbreaks, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which was set up in 2017 with financial support from the Wellcome Trust, national governments and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, aims to accelerate vaccine production for viruses with known potential to cause serious epidemics (Nature News, 18 Jan 2017; Reuters 18 Jan 2017). Lassa fever is one of the first targets of this vaccinedevelopment initiative, and the CEPI aims to have stockpiles of promising vaccine candidates by 2021 that could be deployed rapidly to contain outbreaks before they become global health emergencies. Andrea Du Toit R E S E A R C H H I G H L I G H T S

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Andrea Du Toit

Papers

Outbreak of a novel coronavirus.

Ebola virus in West Africa

Coronavirus replication factories.

The gut microbiome and mental health

Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria