Re: Manufactured 'Contagion' - Coronavirus Edition
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2020 9:46 pm
I have laced up some real bummers here in the past six weeks, but for this one, I actually apologize.
Via: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspect ... s-shenzhen
Note that this update comes from the University of Minnesota's CIDRAP news feed, which has evolved into a superior source for straightforward synthesis, especially as major media coverage gets worse.
Here is today's US-centered update and their international summary. Things continue to accelerate, everywhere.
Via: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspect ... s-shenzhen
Study reveals sharp increase in COVID-19 in kids in Shenzhen
COVID-19 has become endemic to the Chinese city of Shenzhen, and a sharp increase in pediatric infections may indicate that community and intra-family transmissions have become the new mode of spreading the virus, according to a study published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Also, in a research letter published yesterday in the Journal of Infection, researchers described and compared the wide range and changing characteristics of COVID-19 infection on computed tomographic (CT) imaging with clinical manifestations to improve diagnosis.
Shifting characteristics in Shenzhen
Led by researchers at the Third People's Hospital in Shenzhen, the study analyzed clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of the city’s first 365 COVID-19 patients with laboratory-confirmed disease, including 74 clusters of 183 cases. The median patient age was 46 years (range, 1 to 86 years), and the cases were split evenly between males and females.
To investigate the shift of the epidemic, the researchers compared patient characteristics before Jan 24 with those from Jan 25 to Feb 5. "Compared with before Jan 24, the proportion of case-patients without definite exposure was much higher from Jan 25 through Feb 5 (11% vs. 6%; P < 0.001) and increased to 36% (12/33) on both Jan 31 and Feb 5," the authors wrote.
They also reported a sharp increase in the proportion of infected children (2% before Jan 24 to 13% for Jan 25 to Feb 5; P < 0.001), meaning that increased exposure for children and familial transmission could contribute substantially to the epidemic.
The researchers noted that the steep increase could be attributed to the low proportion of children exposed early in the outbreak; early detection for children who had had close contact with people with diagnosed or suspected infection after control measures were implemented; or failure to identify the relatively mild signs and symptoms in children, especially because resources were limited early in the Wuhan outbreak.
The investigators caution that delays from infection to illness onset or onset to confirmation may have biased the comparisons.
After Jan 17, infections increased substantially and peaked Jan 22 to 30. The authors said that the decline since then is probably due to both under-identification of cases of recent onset and delayed identification or reporting.
...
In other research news, pregnant women are not at increased risk of having severe symptoms of COVID-19 infection, according to an analysis of 147 women in Wuhan published Friday by the World Health Organization and China.
The analysis found that only 8% of the women had serious illness, and 1% were critically ill.
This is in contrast to other respiratory infections that easily infect pregnant women and can cause serious illness, with long-lasting consequences for them and their babies. While long-term effects on the babies are unknown, a small study published in February in The Lancet showed that the newborns of women infected with COVID-19 appeared healthy and virus-free after cesarean delivery and isolation from their mothers.
Note that this update comes from the University of Minnesota's CIDRAP news feed, which has evolved into a superior source for straightforward synthesis, especially as major media coverage gets worse.
Here is today's US-centered update and their international summary. Things continue to accelerate, everywhere.