June 5, 2020 - a podcast by COVID19LST
from 2020-06-07T03:08:08
— Climate: High rates of moral injury and loss of social identity among healthcare workers during the pandemic has authors from the University of Hildesheim advocating for improved stress management techniques to promote positive coping skills. Commonly reported stressors include separation from family, unsafe working conditions, inadequate resources, and high death rate despite appropriate patient care.
— Epidemiology: Iranian researchers review the neurologic manifestations of COVID-19 finding that:
- Over 1/3 of patients experienced neurologic symptoms, commonly as the initial or only chief complaint.
- The most common CNS manifestations are Headache, dizziness, altered consciousness, and acute cerebrovascular disease.
- While common Peripheral Manifestations include anosmia, ageusia, and rarely Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS)
— Understanding the Pathology: A cross-sectional study of 34 adult male COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China found no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen samples within 31 days of their COVID-19 diagnosis. This contradicts a previous study that found RT-PCR positivity in 6 of 38 patients, prompting the need for further investigation.
— Transmission and Prevention:
-Harvard physicians review the literature on asymptomatic and presymtomatic transmission of COVID-19, finding that:
- Viral load of asymptomatic carriers is comparable to symptomatic pts, and viral shedding is highest before symptom onset. Therefore, they recommend that the current ‘symptom-based’ screening strategies need urgent reassessment and Universal testing, irrespective of symptoms, may be warranted in high exposure groups (such as HCW).
-Washington State public health officials conducted extensive contact tracing on the first patient diagnosed with COVID-19 in the US on Jan 20. They found that none of the 78% of identified contacts who agreed to testing were positive by either RT-PCR or follow-up serology, despite 29% reporting prolonged and unprotected exposure. This lack of secondary transmission may be explained by multiple factors including exposure type, duration, and frequency, as well as the patient’s viral load, disease severity, and timing of exposure throughout the course of disease.
— R&D Diagnosis and Treatment: Authors from Taiwan describe an algorithm for the remote management of chronic wound care and follow up during the pandemic.
— Mental Health:
-Researchers from the Institute of History, Philosophy, and Ethics of Medicine in Ulm, Germany studied the psychosocial responses and coping strategies from past pandemics and plagues throughout history. They found that psychological reactions are often complex, contradictory, and a multi-step process.
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