A total of 2,618,862 participants reported their potential symptoms of COVID-19 on a smartphone-based app. Among the 18,401 who had undergone a SARS-CoV-2 test, the proportion of participants who ...reported loss of smell and taste was higher in those with a positive test result (4,668 of 7,178 individuals; 65.03%) than in those with a negative test result (2,436 of 11,223 participants; 21.71%) (odds ratio = 6.74; 95% confidence interval = 6.31-7.21). A model combining symptoms to predict probable infection was applied to the data from all app users who reported symptoms (805,753) and predicted that 140,312 (17.42%) participants are likely to have COVID-19.
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FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Health information systems (HIS) are a pivotal element in epidemiological surveillance. In Brazil, malaria persists as a public health challenge, with 99% of its occurrences concentrated in the ...Amazon region, where cases are reported through the HIS Sivep-Malaria. Recent technological advancements indicate that case notifications can be expedited through more efficient systems with broader coverage. The objective of this study is to analyse opportunities for notification within Sivep-Malaria and explore the implementation of mobile electronic devices and applications to enhance the performance of malaria case notifications and use.
This descriptive study analyses data on malaria-positive cases in the Brazilian Amazon from 2004 to 2022. Malaria Epidemiological Surveillance System (Sivep-Malaria) data were used. The Brazilian Amazon region area is approximately 5 million km
across nine different states in Brazil. Data entry opportunities were assessed by considering the time difference between the 'date of data entry' and the 'date of notification.' Descriptive statistics, including analyses of means and medians, were conducted across the entire Amazon region, and for indigenous population villages and gold mining areas.
Between 2004 and 2022, 6,176,878 new malaria cases were recorded in Brazil. The average data entry opportunity throughout the period was 17.9 days, with a median of 8 days. The most frequently occurring value was 1 day, and 99% of all notifications were entered within 138 days, with 75.0% entered within 20 days after notification. The states with the poorest data entry opportunities were Roraima and Tocantins, with averages of 31.3 and 31.0 days, respectively. For indigenous population villages and gold mining areas, the median data entry opportunities were 23 and 15 days, respectively.
In malaria elimination, where surveillance is a primary strategy for evaluating each reported case, reducing notification time, enhancing data quality and being able to follow-up cases through computerized reports offer significant benefits for cases investigation. Technological improvements in Sivep-Malaria could yield substantial benefits for malaria control in Brazil, aiding the country in achieving disease elimination and fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
5.
Is India missing COVID-19 deaths? Chatterjee, Patralekha
The Lancet (British edition),
09/2020, Volume:
396, Issue:
10252
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The Indian Government says that the national recovery rate has reached 77% and the case fatality rate is down to 1·8%, due to “timely and effective clinical management of the patients in critical ...care” according to an official statement on Aug 30. Rijo John, public health policy analyst and senior fellow at the Centre for Public Policy Research in Kerala, said some under-reporting is happening. “Comparing test positive rates between different states has become extremely difficult as more and more states are moving towards rapid antigen detection tests, which are known to have a high percentage of false negatives and not utilising the gold standard RT-PCR tests to full capacity”, said John.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
In the age of a pandemic, such as the ongoing one caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), the world faces a limited supply of tests, personal protective equipment, and ...factories and supply chains are struggling to meet the growing demands. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of specimen pooling for testing of SARS‐CoV‐2 virus, to determine whether costs and resource savings could be achieved without impacting the sensitivity of the testing. Ten previously tested nasopharyngeal and throat swab specimens by real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), were pooled for testing, containing either one or two known positive specimens of varying viral concentrations. Specimen pooling did not affect the sensitivity of detecting SARS‐CoV‐2 when the PCR cycle threshold (Ct) of original specimen was lower than 35. In specimens with low viral load (Ct > 35), 2 of 15 pools (13.3%) were false negative. Pooling specimens to test for Coronavirus Disease 2019 infection in low prevalence (≤1%) areas or in low risk populations can dramatically decrease the resource burden on laboratory operations by up to 80%. This paves the way for large‐scale population screening, allowing for assured policy decisions by governmental bodies to ease lockdown restrictions in areas with a low incidence of infection, or with lower‐risk populations.
Highlights
Specimen pooling did not affect the sensitivity of detecting SARS‐CoV.
Pooling specimens to test for COVID‐19 infection can dramatically decrease the resource burden on laboratory operations.
Specimen pooling in samples whose cycle threshold (Ct) value is greater than 35 may yield false‐negative results.
Pooling specimens is especially useful for large‐scale population screening.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically changed the lives of people around the globe since it appeared in Wuhan, China, at the beginning of December 2019. The burden of ...disease and its death toll have had an unprecedented impact on the healthcare, economic and financial systems of low-, middle- and high-income countries 1–3. Peoples’ lives have been disrupted and negatively impacted by COVID-19-related suffering and lockdowns at community and household level.
Addressing COVID-19-related stigma
https://bit.ly/2CPuxO1
Correspondence to: T Greenhalgh trish.greenhalgh@phc.ox.ac.uk What you need to know Most patients with covid-19 can be managed remotely with advice on symptomatic management and self isolation ...Although such consultations can be done by telephone in many cases, video provides additional visual cues and therapeutic presence Breathlessness is a concerning symptom, though there is currently no validated tool for assessing it remotely Safety-netting advice is crucial because some patients deteriorate in week 2, most commonly with pneumonia A 37 year-old healthcare assistant develops a cough. ...video can provide additional visual information, diagnostic clues, and therapeutic presence.345 Hence, video may be appropriate for sicker patients, those with comorbidities, those whose social circumstances have a bearing on the illness, and those who are very anxious. Have your current “stay at home” covid-19 guidance on hand.78 Establishing a technical connection for a video consultation Research shows that if the technical connection is high quality, clinicians and patients tend to communicate by video in much the same way as in an in-person consultation.3 When you are ready to connect, follow your local procedure (in some cases, for example, the link will be via a fixed URL and in others, a new URL will be generated for each appointment). Ask open ended questions and listen to whether the patient can complete their sentences: “How is your breathing today?” Align with the NHS 111 symptom checker, which asks three questions (developed through user testing but not evaluated in formal research): “Are you so breathless that you are unable to speak more than a few words?” “Are you breathing harder or faster than usual when doing nothing at all?” “Are you so ill that you've stopped doing all of your usual daily activities?” Focus on change.
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Reporting discrepancies between officially confirmed COVID-19 death counts and unreported COVID-19-like illness (CLI) death counts have been evident across the world, including Bangladesh. Publicly ...available data were used to explore the differences between confirmed COVID-19 death counts and deaths with possible COVID-19 symptoms between March 2, 2020 and August 22, 2020. Unreported CLI death counts totaled more than half of the confirmed COVID-19 death counts during the study period. However, the reporting authority did not consider CLI deaths, which might produce incomplete and unreliable COVID-19 data and respective mortality rates. All deaths with possible COVID-19 symptoms need to be included in provisional death counts to better estimate the COVID-19 mortality rate and to develop data-driven COVID-19 response strategies. An urgent initiative is needed to prepare a comprehensive guideline for reporting COVID-19 deaths.
The coronavirus disease pandemic was declared in March 2020, as the southern hemisphere's winter approached. Australia expected co-circulation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, ...influenza and other seasonal respiratory viruses. However, influenza notifications were 7,029 (March-September) compared with an average 149,832 for the same period in 2015-2019 corrected, despite substantial testing. Restrictions on movement within and into Australia may have temporarily eliminated influenza. Other respiratory pathogens also showed remarkably changed activity in 2020.
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