A Clinical Profile of Pediatric COVID-19 Testing in the Emergency Department, Dubai, United Arab Emirates by Fatima Farid Mir, Maysa Saleh

“…The presented research was conducted at Latifa Women and Children Hospital Emergency Department to ascertain an association between a child’s presenting features and basic investigations to a subsequent positive COVID-19 test result. Data was collected via electronic medical records and statistical analysis performed with SPSS version 22.0. …”
Get full text

Socio-economic inequalities in access to COVID-19 tests in France in 2020: evidence from the EPICOV socio-epidemiological cohort by Pierre-Yves Geoffard, Pierre-Yves Geoffard, Florence Jusot, Antoine Sireyjol, Josiane Warszawski, Nathalie Bajos

“…Our main objective was to investigate whether access to COVID-19 testing in France was associated with socio-economic conditions, considering gender and ethno-racial status.MethodsA random population-based cohort survey was conducted in France in May 2020 and November 2020, including 95,388 participants aged 18 and over. …”
Get full text

Lessons from China’s 48-h COVID-19 testing regime during the dynamic zero COVID policy period by Ali Cheshmehzangi, Zhaohui Su, Tong Zou, Zaheer Allam, Tian Tang

“…In 2022, most Chinese cities of medium to large size had to conduct regular mass testing, leading to a sort of 48-h/48 h COVID-19 testing regime that financially affected many local governments. …”
Get full text

Asymptomatic testing people for SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare facilities: A systematic review by Olabisi A. Oduwole, Glory Bassey, Grace Esebanmen, Samuel Shoyinka, Johnsolomon Ohenhen, Elise Cogo, Nicholas Henschke, Eleanor Ochodo, Martin M. Meremikwu

Subjects: Get full text

Did the COVID-19 quarantine policies applied in Cochabamba, Bolivia mitigated cases successfully? an interrupted time series analysis by Rodrigo K. Arce Cardozo, Osvaldo Fonseca-Rodríguez, Yercin Mamani Ortiz, Miguel San Sebastian, Frida Jonsson

“…Methods Utilizing COVID-19 testing data from the Cochabamba Department Health Service for the 2020–2022 period. …”
Get full text

Experiences of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic at private retail pharmacies in Kenya: a mixed-methods study by Edwine Barasa, Sassy Molyneux, Jacinta Nzinga, Audrey Mumbi, Peter Mwangi Mugo, Daniella Munene, Collins Jaguga, Davy Odhiambo, Elizabeth Ominde-Ogaja, Mercy Maina, Michael Mungoma, Nadia Butt, Sultani Matendechero, Titus Kahiga, Eric Sedah, Sylvia Opanga

“…Notably, there is an urgent need to develop guidelines for pharmacy-based COVID-19 testing, a service that is clearly needed and which could greatly increase test coverage. …”
Get full text

PMMB COVID-19 Bulletin: United Kingdom (22nd April 2020) by Loh Teng-Hern Tan, Vengadesh Letchumanan, Hooi-Leng Ser, Jodi Woan-Fei Law, Nurul-Syakima Ab Mutalib, Learn-Han Lee

“…The UK government has come under heavy criticism for its response to COVID-19, with lack of preparedness, shortages of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing. Despite the lockdown is in place to slow the spread of COVID-19, UK death toll continues to surge. …”
Get full text

High-frequency PCR-testing as a powerful approach for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in the field of critical infrastructure: A longitudinal, retrospective study in a German tertiary care... by Bastian Fischer, Martin Farr, Jan Gummert, Cornelius Knabbe, Tanja Vollmer

“…Because of high specificity and sensitivity, RT-PCR is considered the gold-standard for COVID-19 testing. The technology played a key role in detecting sources of infection at an early stage and therefore preventing larger outbreaks. …”
Get full text

Toward trustworthy COVID-19 interventions: Building vaccine trust through community-university partnerships. by Laura A Bray, Lori L Jervis, Amanda E Janitz, Laura Ross, Gloria Tallbull, Timothy M VanWagoner, CATCH-UP Vaccines Team

“…We draw on focus groups (N = 27 participants) with community and university partners involved with hosting COVID-19 testing and vaccine events in underserved Oklahoma communities. …”
Get full text

Challenges and Solutions for Keeping Maternity and Gynecology Services Functioning Comprehensively in Secondary Level Health Care Facility in COVID-19 Pandemic Situation Using a Cl... by Jayanta Kumar Biswas, Pratistha Lall, Soumen Das Poddar, Vikas Srivastava, Ajith Nilakantan

“…The number of out-patient attendance and gynecologic laparoscopic surgeries were significantly reduced mostly in the initial month of lockdown (April 2020) and thereafter. Only limited COVID-19 testing was done and there was no mortality in patients or health care workers (HCW) in the obstetrics and gynecological department. …”
Get full text

Meta-analysis of COVID-19 prevalence during preoperative COVID-19 screening in asymptomatic patients by Menno R Vriens, Ellen de Bock, Mando D Filipe, Milan C Richir, Roger K J Simmermacher, A Christiaan Kroese

“…In the event of similar pandemics, modification of preoperative mandatory RT-PCR COVID-19 testing in asymptomatic patients may be considered.…”
Get full text

A post-pandemic snapshot of the magnitude of COVID-19 in Brazil: A countrywide study by Eduardo Ribes Kohn, Maristela Bohlke, Antônia Almeida, Leandro Janelli, Luciana Monteiro Vasconcelos Sardinha, Fernando C. Wehrmeister, Pedro Curi Hallal

“…Conclusion: There were inequalities in COVID-19 testing in Brazil. Testing and vaccination policies implemented in the COVID-19 pandemic must be reevaluated by the Brazilian government.…”
Get full text

Availability and use of institutional support programs for emergency department healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. by Karin F Hoth, Patrick Ten Eyck, Karisa K Harland, Anusha Krishnadasan, Robert M Rodriguez, Juan Carlos C Montoy, Linder H Wendt, William Mower, Kelli Wallace, Scott Santibañez, David A Talan, Nicholas M Mohr, Project COVERED Emergency Department Network

“…Individual support programs included: financial, workload mitigation, individual COVID-19 testing, emotional (e.g., mental health hotline), and instrumental (e.g., childcare) Clinical work support programs included: COVID-19 team communication (e.g., debriefing critical incident), patient-family communication facilitation, patient services (e.g., social work, ethics consultation), and system-level exposure reduction. …”
Get full text

Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of two point-of-care tests for COVID-19 when used in symptomatic patients in community settings in the UK primary care COVID diagnostic accura... by Brian D Nicholson, Philip J Turner, Thomas R Fanshawe, Alice J Williams, Gayatri Amirthalingam, Sharon Tonner, Maria Zambon, Richard Body, Kerrie Davies, Rafael Perera, Simon de Lusignan, Gail N Hayward, F D Richard Hobbs, RAPTOR-C19 Study Group and the CONDOR Steering Committee

“…<h4>Methods</h4>Adults and children with symptoms consistent with suspected current COVID-19 infection were prospectively recruited from 19 UK general practices and two COVID-19 testing centres between October 2020 and October 2021. …”
Get full text

Impact of viral load on sample pooling for reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction detection-based diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 in Nigeria by Timan T. Eliya, Elvis E. Isere, Bassey Emmana, Chukwuebuka Ugwu, Jonathan Kushim, Precious Ishaku, Aisha E. Ibrahim, John S. Bimba

“…What this study adds: The findings provide critical guidelines for determining the optimal pool sizes based on Ct values, aiding in effective COVID-19 testing strategies. By optimising sample pooling based on viral load, health authorities can improve their response to future COVID-19 outbreaks and similar public health emergencies.…”
Get full text

Multilevel determinants of racial/ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity and mortality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: protocol for a concurrent triang... by Bankole Olatosi, Jiajia Zhang, Xiaoming Li, Chen Liang, Jihong Liu, Peiyin Hung, Shan Qiao, Berry A Campbell, Myriam E Torres, Neset Hikmet

“…We will leverage an existing South Carolina COVID-19 Cohort by creating a pregnancy cohort that links COVID-19 testing data, electronic health records (EHRs), vital records data, healthcare utilisation data and billing data for all births in South Carolina (SC) between 2018 and 2021 (&gt;200 000 births). …”
Get full text

Early COVID-19 and protection from Omicron in a highly vaccinated population in Ontario, Canada: a matched prospective cohort study by Altynay Shigayeva, Christopher Kandel, Lubna Farooqi, Zoe Zhong, Anne-Claude Gingras, Brenda L. Coleman, Lois Gilbert, Wayne L. Gold, Maria Major, Tony Mazzulli, Samira Mubareka, Jelena Vojicic, Jingyan Yang, Pingping Zhang, Catherine Martin, Moe H. Kyaw, John M. McLaughlin, Allison McGeer

“…Methods We enrolled a cohort of adults in Ontario, Canada, with COVID-19 prior to October 2020 (early infection, EI), and a matched cohort with COVID-19 testing and a negative PCR (non-EI). Participants completed baseline surveys then surveys every two weeks until January 2023. …”
Get full text

CSO (Canadian Society of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery) position paper on rhinologic and skull base surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic by Yvonne Chan, Sarfaraz M. Banglawala, Christopher J. Chin, David W. J. Côté, Dustin Dalgorf, John R. de Almeida, Martin Desrosiers, Richard M. Gall, Artur Gevorgyan, A. Hassan Hassan, Arif Janjua, John M. Lee, Randy M. Leung, Bradford D. Mechor, Dominik Mertz, Eric Monteiro, Smriti Nayan, Brian Rotenberg, John Scott, Kristine A. Smith, Doron D. Sommer, Leigh Sowerby, Marc A. Tewfik, Andrew Thamboo, Allan Vescan, Ian J. Witterick

“…Risk assessment, patient selection, case triage, and pre-operative COVID-19 testing will be analyzed and discussed. These guidelines will also consider the optimal use of personal protective equipment for specific cases, general and specific operative room precautions, and practical tips of intra-operative maneuvers to optimize patient and provider safety. …”
Get full text

COVID-19 Infection Negative in Nasopharyngeal Swabs but Suspected in Computed Tomography and Confirmed in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Material by Robert Chrzan, Tadeusz Popiela, Maciej Małecki, Jan Skupień, Amira Bryll, Anna Grochowska

“…We present a case of a patient with clinical symptoms of pneumonia, negative in several polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 tests from nasopharyngeal swabs but suspected in computed tomography and finally confirmed in bronchoalveolar lavage material.…”
Get full text

Ecological study of the association between the English national vaccination programme and area deprivation inequalities in COVID-19 mortality by Clare Bambra, Adam Todd, Fiona Matthews, David Sinclair, Natalie Bennett

“…We use the 2019 edition of the Index of Multiple Deprivation, transformed into quintiles.Results Relative inequalities in age-standardised mortality rates 28 days after a positive COVID-19 test reduced substantially (from around 6.9 times higher in most deprived to least deprived to 1.2 times higher) in the 25 months after the national vaccination rollout began. …”
Get full text