Psychological Burden in ICU Survivors of Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia, Their Relatives and Their Healthcare...
Corona Virus InfectionPost-traumatic Stress DisorderCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The infection is highly contagious requiring restrictive and stressful measures for patients, family members and ICU healthcare providers. To avoid contagion, patient isolation has become the rule. For patients, these measures add stress to the ICU environment and deprive them of unrestricted family visits. Family members are not only left with fear but also many unanswered questions. In end-of-life situations, many family members are unable to say good-bye and unable to provide support to their loved-one throughout the process. The impact of exclusion or limited inclusion certainly needs to be explored. Moreover, ICU caregivers are having to face new challenges and to work in a unknown situation, juggling with both professional issues such as increased workload, working longer hours and safety issues, and personal issues such as child care and transport as well as family transmission of the virus. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to seasonal flu and community acquired pneumonia, significantly increases post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in family members of critically ill patients. PTSD-related symptoms will be assessed in family members using the IES-R (impact of event scale revised) during a telephone interview 90 days after ICU discharge. The IES-R is a 22-item self-report measure that assesses subjective distress caused by traumatic events. It will be compared across the three groups (COVID-19, FLU and CAP).
Quantification of Binding and Neutralizing Antibody Levels in COVID-19 Vaccinated Health Care Workers...
COVID-19 VaccineCorona Virus Infection4 moreThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic presents a great challenge to global health. The first case was identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China and since has infected nearly 100 million people and claimed almost 2 million lives worldwide. In response, the medical community and scientists have worked hard to develop effective therapies and guidelines to treat a wide range of symptoms including the use of the antiviral drug remdesivir, convalescent plasma, antibiotics, steroids, and anticoagulant therapy. To prevent the spread of the disease, multiple vaccines based on mRNA and DNA technologies that include inactivated viral components have been developed and millions of doses are currently being administered worldwide. Early analysis of data from the phase III Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccine trials suggested the vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing the illness with a good safety profile (Polack et al., 2020). However, there are still many unknowns regarding the long-term safety of these newer vaccine technologies and the level and duration of immunogenicity. SARS-CoV-2 infection results in seroconversion and production of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The antibodies may suppress viral replication through neutralization but might also participate in COVID-19 pathogenesis through a process termed antibody-dependent enhancement (Lu et al., 2020). Rapid progress has been made in the research of antibody response and therapy in COVID-19 patients, including characterization of the clinical features of antibody responses in different populations infected by SARS-CoV-2, treatment of COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma and intravenous immunoglobin products, isolation and characterization of a large panel of monoclonal neutralizing antibodies and early clinical testing, as well as clinical results from several COVID-19 vaccine candidates. In this study, we plan to assess the effic of both vaccines on the healthcare workers. As healthcare workers begin to receive their first vaccination dosage, we will start looking for traces of antibodies within the blood and saliva. The data provided will help us determine the efficacy of the vaccine over a period of 1 year, identify any difference in efficacy amongst different populations (gender, age, and ethnicities) differences among vaccine types, demographics and follow-up on any potential side effects. We will collaborate with Nirmidas Biotech Inc. based in Palto Alto, California, a Stanford University spinoff on this project. Nirmidas Biotech. Inc is a young diagnostic company that have received several FDA EUA tests for COVID-19. We will perform IgG/IgM antibody detection by the NIRMIDAS MidaSpot™ COVID-19 Antibody Combo Detection Kit approved by FDA EUA for POC testing in our hospital site for qualitative antibody testing. We will then send dry blood spot and saliva to Nirmidas for the pGOLD™ COVID-19 High Accuracy IgG/IgM Assay to quantify antibody levels and avidity, both of which are important to immunity. The pGOLD assay is a novel nanotechnology assay platform capable of quantifying antibody levels and binding affinity to viruses. We collaborated recently with Nirmidas on this platform and published a joint paper in Nature Biomedical Engineering on COVID-19 Ab pGOLD assay (Liu et al., 2020). It is also capable of detecting antibodies in saliva samples and could offer a non-invasive approach to assessing antibody response for vaccination.
Effects of Social Isolation From Coronavirus; on Physical Activity, Quality of Life and Stress
Healthy PeopleThe aim of our study is to investigate the physical activity, quality of life and stress levels of individuals living in their homes isolated due to coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. The last three sections of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) will be used to evaluate the current physical activity level of the participants. Parameters such as housework, home care and family care, rest, sports and leisure physical activities, sitting time will be evaluated. Short Form 12 (Short Form12- SF12) quality of life scale will be used to evaluate health-related quality of life. Beck Depression Scale will be applied to investigate the stress levels of the individuals participating in our study.
Study of Biomarkers in the Long-term Impact of Coronavirus Infection in the Cardiorespiratory System...
COVID19Corona Virus Infection2 moreCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a significant threat to global health. As the disease progresses, a series of acute complications tend to develop in multiple organs. Beyond the supportive care, no specific treatment has been established for COVID-19. The effectiveness, both short-term and long-term, of some promising antivirals, such as the hydroxychloroquine combination with azithromycin, needs to be evaluated. This study aims to investigate the predictive role of cardiac biomarkers and pulmonary symptoms for late complications of COVID-19 coronavirus infection on the heart and lung in patients treated with the hydroxychloroquine / azithromycin combination therapy. Thus, COVID-19 coronavirus patients undergoing hydroxychloroquine / azithromycin combination therapy will be compared to patients not undergoing this therapy. The comparison will be made by the analysis of the relationships between (1) levels of ultrasensitive cardiac troponins collected at the beginning of the infection and cardiac magnetic resonance data in the 3rd and 12th months of troponin collection and (2) findings CT scans and the results of the ergospirometers tests performed in those same periods. It is expected to demonstrate that: (1) cardiac troponin and lung tomographic findings can predict late complications of COVID-19 coronavirus infection in the heart and lung, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance and ergospirometers one year after the beginning of the infection, and (2) hydroxychloroquine / azithromycin combined therapy can abolish the onset of these complications late. Furthermore, the results may point to the need for more rigorous monitoring of cardiologists and pulmonologists of these patients, due to the risk of hemodynamic complications, arrhythmogenic and respiratory.
Detection Rate of SARS-CoV-2 in Male Genitourinary System and Its Impact on Male Reproductive Health....
Coronavirus Disease 2019This study will evaluate the changes in sexual function, reproductive function and mental health of male patients discharged from the hospital with COVID-19, and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on male reproductive health and mental health compared with healthy people during the same period. In addition, men's semen examination reports before and after the new coronavirus pneumonia event will be collected and compared to assess the impact of the event on the quality of men's semen. Also, This study will test the SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid of the urogenital system of male patients discharged with COVID-19 to provide evidence for the effect of the new coronavirus on the male reproductive system.
Effects on the Qt Interval of COVID-19 Coronavirus Infection
Coronavirus InfectionIntensive Care PatientsThe present study aims to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 disease and its treatment on ventricular repolarization, assessed by measuring the QTc interval, in patients admitted to the critical care unit.
Prospective Registry of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Patients With Neuromuscular Involvement...
COVIDSars-CoV23 moreProspective registry for multimodal assessment of neuromuscular pathology associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, enrolling consecutive patients with corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19), who are admitted to the intensive care unit of the department of anesthesiology and intensive care medicine, or the department of neurology at Tübingen University Hospital.
The McMaster Multi-Regional COVID-19 Hospital Case Registry
Coronavirus InfectionCoronavirus2 moreThe McMaster Multi-Regional Hospital Coronavirus Registry (COREG) is a platform that is collecting detailed case data on laboratory confirmed COVID-19 hospital inpatients and outpatients. The COREG platform will provide rapid high-quality evidence to improve the prevention and clinical management of COVID-19 for older adults in Canada, and internationally. The COREG platform will also provide researchers and partners with complete regional level clinical data on COVID-19 cases to inform rapid decision-making and projections, sub-studies, extensions, and linkage for all affected populations.
When Distance is an Act of Love: Exploring the Use of Video Diaries for Family Members of Intensive...
CoronavirusAnxiety DepressionDue to Covid-19, intensive care (ICU) patients are not allowed visitors or have severely restricted visiting. After being admitted to ICU most patients are unconscious or extremely weak and therefore cannot speak on a phone or video call to a family member. Before these visiting restrictions, family members of patients admitted to ICU as a result of being critically ill were already known to suffer significant psychological distress and may now face increased distress given they are unable to visit a loved one. Previous research demonstrates that keeping a paper diary has been found to be helpful for ICU patients and families. When lockdown measures were announced, NHS Scotland introduced video diaries as an emergency measure to try to support communication with families and reduce distress. vCreate is an NHS Trusted secure video messaging service that helps patients, families and clinical teams stay connected throughout their care journey. The use of video diaries may have a positive impact for family members but there is a risk that they could also have negative effects for some people. There is a need to explore both ICU healthcare professionals and family members' experiences of using video diaries. At the same time it is also important to test the feasibility and acceptability of measures of distress and psychological well-being on family members during and after their experience of video diaries. In doing so, some initial recommendations about video diaries can be made and a larger subsequent study planned to test their effect on family members and healthcare professionals.
Xiyanping Injection for the Treatment of New Coronavirus Infected Pneumonia
2019 Novel Coronavirus Pneumoniathe investigators conduct a randomized, open-label trial to evaluate and compare the safety and efficacy of Xiyanping injection in patients with 2019-nCoV pneumonia.