Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at the end of December 2019, more than 85% of the population in China has been infected. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mainly affects the respiratory system, especially the lungs. The mortality rate of patients with severe infection is high. A percentage of 6% to 10% of patients will eventually develop into COVID-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (CARDS), which requires mechanical ventilation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support. Some patients who survive acute lung injury will subsequently develop post COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (PCPF). Both fully treated CARDS and severe PCPF are suitable candidates for lung transplantation. Due to the special course, evaluation strategies are different from those used in patients with common end-stage lung disease. After lung transplantation in COVID-19 patients, special treatment is required, including standardized nucleic acid testing for the novel coronavirus, adjustment strategy of immunosuppressive drugs, and rational use of antiviral drugs, which is a big challenge for the postoperative management of lung transplantation. This consensus was evidence-based written and was reached by experts after multiple rounds of discussions, providing reference for assessment and postoperative management of patients with interstitial pneumonia after COVID-19 infection.
During the COVID-19 epidemic, our national guidelines have suggested that surgical patients should wear a mask to decrease the potential transmission of COVID-19 in the operating room, as long as the condition allows. However, so far, there is no study to discuss the influence of wearing a mask on the ventilation and blood oxygenation status in patients of spontaneous breathing with supplementary oxygen through an anesthetic facemask. This is a before-after study in the same patient, and 10 healthy volunteers were recruited, by testing the arterial blood gas parameters at key time points before and after oxygen inhalation to evaluate the effects of two different supplementary oxygen methods (‘disposable medical mask + anesthetic facemask’ and ‘anesthetic facemask only’) on the oxygenation of subjects. Our data demonstrated whether wearing a disposable medical mask or not could effectively increase the oxygen supply of the subjects compared with the basic value before oxygen inhalation; however, compared with the group without mask, the arterial oxygen partial (PaO2) reduced significantly at each time points when subjects wearing a disposable medical mask. There was no significant difference in other parameters, and our data showed that age growth and smoking had no significant effects on the difference of PaO2 between the groups with and without masks. This study demonstrates effective oxygen supplementation through anesthetic facemask in subjects with spontaneous breathing who is wearing a disposable medical mask, whose pulse oxygen saturation and arterial oxygen saturation can reach 100% rapidly, and this provides a theoretical basis for the management of patients with disseminated respiratory diseases to wear masks in the operating room; however, the rate and amount of PaO2 increase are both decreased as compared to those who is not wearing a disposable medical mask during supplementary oxygenation. Whether this difference will affect the clinical outcome needs further study.
The scientific research on prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a major and urgent task, of which clinical trials occupy a pivotal position in the entire prevention and control system. 204 relative clinical trials of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have been registered on Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Through the analysis of all online public protocols of registered trials, it is found that the clinical studies of TCM in China showed lack of research foundation, tight time and heavy tasks, difficult clinical implementation, and disturbance by changes of the epidemic status. Based on these characteristics, this paper put forward several thoughts and suggestions on the quality management and design improvement for clinical trials of TCM preventing and treating COVID-19, in order to improve the quality of clinical trials in China, provide effective supports for the public health decision-making on the epidemic, and also give a reference for the prevention and control of epidemics in the future.
ObjectiveTo investigate the anxious level of people with epilepsy (PWE) during the outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19) and explore the reasons of anxiety.MethodsAn internet questionnaire survey were conducted on the anxiety state of PWE and health controls (HC) aged 18 to 45 years old between Feb 9, 2020 and Feb 17, 2020. The questionnaire included demographic information, general status and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).ResultsIn all, 148 PWE and 300 HC were included in this study. The total SAI score (46.72±9.98 vs. 41.77±10.20, P<0.001) and the total TAI score (44.18±8.88 vs. 31.27±17.44, P<0.001) were significantly higher in PWE than in HC. PWE concerned most (69.9%) about the difficulty of obtaining antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) while HC concerned most about the lack of face masks (73.3%).ConclusionHigh anxious level in PWE during the outbreak of COVID is probably due to the difficulty of obtaining AEDs. Thus, the society should strengthen the solution of the problem of purchasing AEDs and conduct timely psychological counseling.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), to provide a basis for clinical classification, diagnosis, and treatment.MethodsThe clinical data of COVID-19 patients comfirmed between January 17th and February 13th, 2020 were collected, single-factor test and multivariate logistic regression were used to compare the relevant indicators between the mild or common cases and the severe or critically severe cases.ResultsA total of 202 patients with COVID-19 were included, with an average age of 45.2 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1∶1.02. There were 146 patients (72.3%) without underlying diseases. The average time from onset to diagnosis was 5.4 d, and 31 were clustering epidemic cases. There were 13 (6.4%) mild cases, 151 (74.8%) common cases, 32 (15.8%) severe cases, and 6 (3.0%) critically severe cases. The main clinical symptoms were fever, cough, gasp, and diarrhea. Of the 202 patients, 135 (66.8%) had normal white blood cell count, 22 (10.9%) had lymphocyte ratio >40%, 18 (8.9%) had elevated aspartate aminotransferase (AST), 11 (5.4%) had elevated creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CKMB), and 143 (70.8%) had elevated C-reactive protein (CRP). Single factor analyses showed that there were statistically significant differences between the mild or common cases and the severe or critically severe cases in the days of diagnosis, age, underlying disease, percentage of neutrophil, percentage of lymphocyte, arterial oxygen partial pressure, CRP, procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, CKMB, and AST (all P<0.05); multiple logistic regression analysis showed that CRP [odds ratio (OR)=1.035, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.015, 1.055), P=0.001], CKMB [OR=1.078, 95%CI (1.023, 1.135), P=0.005], and AST [OR=1.042, 95%CI (1.016, 1.069), P=0.002] were correlated with clinical classification.ConclusionsCOVID-19 patients are mild or common cases mostly. CRP, CKMB, and AST are elevated in some cases, which may be related to early inflammation and certain myocardial damages and are independent risk factors for predicting classification.
At present, coronavirus disease 2019 has become the most serious public health emergency in the world. The disease is still spreading around the world. The disease progresses rapidly and is highly contagious, causing great harm to the public health security of the world. Based on the research evidence published at home and abroad, this article systematically summarizes the biological structure of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and the pathogenesis, transmission routes and susceptible populations, clinical features and treatment methods of coronavirus disease 2019. It aims to help medical workers understand coronavirus disease 2019 in order to better diagnose and treat the disease, and provide references for future research.
When a clustered coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic occurs, how to prevent and control hospital infection is a challenge faced by each medical institution. Under the normalization situation, building an effective prevention and control system is the premise and foundation for medical institutions to effectively prevent and control infection when dealing with clustered epidemics. According to the principles of control theory, medical institutions should quickly switch to an emergency state, and effectively deal with the external and internal infection risks brought by clustered epidemics by strengthening source control measures, engineering control measures, management control measures and personal protection measures. This article summarizes the experience of handling clustered outbreaks in medical institutions in the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, and aims to provide a reference for medical institutions to take effective prevention and control measures when dealing with clustered outbreaks.
ObjectiveTo explore the effects of corticosteroid on peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).MethodsThis was a retrospective study and 376 patients were included in the study. The patients were classified into three type: moderate type (118 patients), severe type (215 patients), critical type (43 patients). Six critical patients died. T lymphocyte subsets were analyzed and compared among these patients. In severe patients, T lymphocyte subsets were compared between no corticosteroid therapy patients (178 patients) and patients who were treated with corticosteroid for 3 to 5 days (37 patients).Results(1) In contrast with those in moderate patients, in severe patients total lymphocytes [(1359.2±597.9)×106 vs. (1703.7±702.4)×106/L, LSD-t=4.786, P<0.001], total T lymphocytes [(949.2±454.0)×106 vs. (1235.5±555.7)×106/L, LSD-t=5.175, P<0.001] and CD8+ T cells [(336.8±189.8)×106 vs. (461.7±242.8)×106/L, LSD-t=5.332, P<0.001] decreased significantly, and CD4+/CD8+ ratio (1.81±0.92 vs. 1.64±0.74, LSD-t=1.574, P=0.116) was increased. In contrast with those in severe patients, in critical patients CD4+/CD8+ ratio (2.23±1.24 vs. 1.81±0.92, LSD-t=2.627, P=0.009) increased and CD8+ T cells [(232.5±159.8)×106/L vs. (336.8±189.8)×106/L, LSD-t=2.867, P=0.004] decreased significantly, total lymphocytes [(1161.1±583.7)×106/L vs. (1359.2±597.9)×106/L, LSD-t=1.772, P=0.077], total T lymphocytes [(790.5±419.3)×106/L vs. (949.2±454.0)×106/L, LSD-t=1.846, P=0.066] also decreased but without significant difference. There was no significant difference between dead and survived critical patients. (2) In severe type, in contrast with no corticosteroid therapy patients, 37 patients were therapy with corticosteroid for 3 to 5 days, and their total T lymphocytes [(770.6±480.3)×106 vs. (986.3±440.7)×106/L, t=2.666, P=0.008] and CD4+/CD8+ ratio (1.30±0.73 vs. 1.91±0.92, t=3.771, P<0.001) were decreased significantly.ConclusionsIn COVID-19 patients, lymphocytes, T lymphocytes and CD8+ T cells are decreased, but CD4+/CD8+ ratio is increased, and these changes are positively related to the severity of the disease. After corticosteroid therapy, the increase of CD4+/CD8+ ratio is relieved, but T lymphocytes are decreased further.
ObjectiveTo analyze dynamic characteristics of peripheral blood cells in patients with different types of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), so as to investigate the predictive value of peripheral blood cells and their dynamic changes for clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19.MethodsForty-eight patients with COVID-19 were collected and analyzed from East Hospital of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from February 2 to March 15, 2020. These patients were divided into general group (group A, 17 cases), severe survival group (group B, 21 cases), and severe death group (group C, 10 cases). Blood routine examination was done and analyzed before and after admission and among the three groups. The changes of neutrophils and lymphocytes were compared. The predictive power of neutrophils, lymphocytes, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) for clinical outcomes was analyzed through the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.ResultsIn group B, the lymphocyte count at discharge was significantly higher than at admission (P=0.002), and the neutrophil count, NLR and PLR were significantly lower than at admission (P values were 0.012, 0.001 and 0.007, respectively). The lymphocyte counts in the A, B, and C groups were ranked from high to low upon admission, and the differences among the three groups were statistically significant (P values were 0.020, <0.001 and 0.006 for the contrasts between groups A and B, groups A and C, groups B and C, respectively), the NLR were ranked from low to high, and the differences among the three groups were statistically significant (P values were 0.001, <0.001 and 0.026 for the contrasts between groups A and B, groups A and C, groups B and C, respectively). Before discharge or death, there was no significant difference in lymphocyte counts and NLR between A and B groups (P>0.05), and there were statistically significant differences between group C and groups A and B (all P values were<0.001). The proportions of “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Convergence” in groups A and B were 64.7% and 76.2%, respectively, which were significantly higher than that in group C (10.0%). The proportions of “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Separation” in group C was 70.0%, which was significantly higher than those in groups A (0) and B (4.8%). The area under the curve of NLR predicting patients with severe disease (excluding death) was 0.843, with the sensitivity and specificity of ≥3.55 be 0.810 and 0.882; The area under the curve of lymphocyte count predicting death in severe patients was 0.845, with the sensitivity and specificity be 0.700 and 0.905, respectively.ConclusionsDynamic changes in the composition of peripheral blood cells are one of the clinical features of COVID-19, “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Convergence” and “Neutrophils Lymphocytes Separation” predict better and worse clinical outcomes, respectively. NLR and lymphocyte counts are effective indicators for predicting the severity and death of COVID-19.
According to the requirements for the “three districts and two channels” in the sanitary industry standard Technique Standard for Isolation in Hospitals, combining with the spirit of current documents related to the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, in order to guide medical institutions at all levels to conduct standardized design of fever clinics in accordance with the principle of “combining normal time and epidemic period”, this article explains the design points of the fever clinics for the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, introduces the specific methods for the fever clinics to achieve “three districts and two channels”, draws a schematic diagram of the fever clinics in general hospitals, and explains the functional layout and medical procedures of the clean area, potential contaminated area, and contaminated area in detail; at the same time, a schematic diagram of the change of fever clinics from “normal” to “during the epidemic” is drawn, and the ideas for the conversion and the process after the conversion are introduced. It proposes design ideas and drawing references for the construction, transformation, and expansion of fever clinics.