The recent COVID-19 pandemic poses a serious threat to global public health, thus there is an urgent need to define the molecular mechanisms involved in SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein-mediated virus entry that is essential for preventing and/or treating this emerging infectious disease. In this study, we examined the blocking activity of human COVID-19 convalescent plasma by cell–cell fusion assays using SARS-CoV-2-S-transfected 293 T as effector cells and ACE2-expressing 293 T as target cells. We demonstrate that the SARS-CoV-2 S protein exhibits a very high capacity for membrane fusion and is efficient in mediating virus fusion and entry into target cells. Importantly, we find that COVID-19 convalescent plasma with high titers of IgG neutralizing antibodies can block cell–cell fusion and virus entry by interfering with the SARS-CoV-2-S/ACE2 or SARS-CoV-S/ACE2 interactions. These findings suggest that COVID-19 convalescent plasma may not only inhibit SARS-CoV-2-S but also cross-neutralize SARS-CoV-S-mediated membrane fusion and virus entry, supporting its potential as a preventive and/or therapeutic agent against SARS-CoV-2 as well as other SARS-CoV infections.

Bakgrund: I december 2019 kom den första rapporten om ett nytt coronavirus. I januari hade coronaviruset vid namn SARS-CoV-2 nått Sverige som benämns som sjukdomen Covid-19. Flera personer insjuknade snabbt och svårt och den förändrade arbetsmiljön ökade belastningen på sjukvården. Sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsansvar vidgades då patientgruppen var ny och patienterna blev fler. Den nya patientgruppen krävde ökad kompetens och förhöjd arbetskraft. För att öka kunskapen om sjuksköterskans hälsa, och erfarenheter av Covid-19 pandemins förändring på vården kan verkligheten och den subjektiva upplevelsen studeras. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva upplevelse av hälsa hos sjuksköterskor inom slutenvården under Covid-19 pandemin. Metod: En litteraturstudie genomfördes och baseras på tio vetenskapliga artiklar från databaserna CINAHL och PsycINFO. Artiklarna är kvalitetsgranskade och en integrerad innehållsanalys har genomförts.  Resultat: I resultatet presenteras tre kategorier med sju underkategorier: Upplevelser av en förändrad arbetsmiljö – påverkad social hälsa med underkategorierna nya omständigheter, upplevelse av rädsla och upplevelse av personlig utveckling, Betydelse av information & stöd med underkategorierna avsaknad av stöd i yrkesrollen och stöd av varandra samt Upplevd psykosomatisk ohälsa med underkategorierna fysiska hälsoproblem och psykiska hälsoproblem.  Slutsats: Studien visade att sjuksköterskors hälsa har påverkats under Covid-19 pandemin. Sjuksköterskorna har påverkats både fysiskt, psykiskt och socialt. Vissa sjuksköterskor upplevde tillfredsställelse medan andra upplevde sig avskräckas av Covid-19 pandemin. En ökad uppmärksamhet och ett bättre stöd kan förbättra förutsättningarna till god hälsa för sjuksköterskorna.

No description available.

The Covid-19 pandemic first entered the international news cycle with mixed levels of concern. How did people across the globe react to first encounters with this virus? For many it was like seeing for the first time the spewing ash of a volcano, or the receding tides of a tsunami. Many reacted with disbelief, not knowing the proper course of action for themselves or for their community. This study explores the topics of discussion and reactions to the pandemic through the lens of quote-tweets--from the initial confusion and disbelief to the eventual politicization, economic closures, and reopening events. Quote-tweets are reactions to other tweets. This makes them idea to study opinions on various topics. If a tweet covers something interesting, often a quote-tweet will follow, displaying a reaction message tacked under the original message. This generates discussion about the topic in the original tweet. We gathered tweets from five of the first months of the pandemic and found several trends. Early on, collected quote-tweets were much more likely to discuss health-related topics such as symptoms, demographic information, or death. Conspiracy theories and disinformation also abounded during this time. Quote-tweet reactions were often short, simple, and expressing disbelief. Quote-tweets made up between 30 and 40 percent of all tweets streamed from twitter using search terms of Coronavirus and Covid-19. Later in our collected data, quote-tweets discussing the economy in relation to Covid-19 began to appear. They also grew more critical and political, often directing criticisms toward local or foreign government officials. Quote-tweet reactions followed suit and more often expressed criticisms and opinions of their own. Both agreement and disagreement increased over time. Although disasters often generate political debate, online discussion about the Covid-19 pandemic shifted dramatically over the course of this study. The trends of topics and opinions that make up these online discussions via quote-tweets and original tweets can inform health and emergency officials on trends to be found in pandemics and disasters to come.

Esta investigación analiza los artículos de opinión referidos a la COVID-19 publicados en los principales periódicos de Italia, España y Alemania. Para ello se ha empleado una metodología de análisis de contenido inductivo-deductivo de corte cualitativo a través de dos fases complementarias. Una primera, mediante el examen pormenorizado de la muestra y una segunda en la que se ha seguido un método de análisis textual comparado mediante el uso del software Sketch Engine. Los resultados muestran que existen unos temas comunes sobre el virus, aunque con enfoques diferentes según los países: una visión marcada por la política nacional en el caso español, más interpretativa en el caso alemán y más social-humanística en el italiano. Así, en los tres países estudiados un discurso contrario a generar pánico, pero con una clara subestimación del virus en sus primeros meses de aparición en el caso de la prensa de España e Italia. / This research analyses the opinion articles about the COVID-19 published in the main newspapers of Italy, Spain and Germany. To this purpose, a qualitative inductive-deductive content analysis methodology has been used along two complementary phases. The first included the detailed analysis of the sample, and the second involved a method of comparative textual analysis using the Sketch Engine software. The results show the existence of some common issues about the virus, although with different approaches depending on the country: a certain vision marked by national politics in the Spanish case, an interpretative view in the case of Germany and a more social-humanistic perspective in the Italian dailies. A discourse contrary to generating panic is common in the three countries studied, but with a clear underestimation of the virus’ potential consequences in the first couple of months after the outbreak in Wuhan as regards the Spanish and Italian press.

Identificar si el estilo de vida no saludable es factor asociado a infección por COVID 19 en personal sanitario del Hospital Belén de Trujillo. Material y Métodos: Se llevó a cabo un estudio de tipo analítico, observacional, seccional, transversal. La población de estudio estuvo constituida por 224 trabajadores sanitarios según criterios de inclusión y exclusión establecidos distribuidos en dos grupos: con o sin infección por COVID 19; se calculó el odds ratio y la prueba chi cuadrado. Resultados: No se apreciaron diferencias significativas para las variables edad, género ni grupo ocupacional entre los pacientes con o sin infección por COVID 19 (p>0.05). La frecuencia de estilo de vida no saludable en personal sanitario con infección por COVID 19 fue de 35%. La frecuencia de estilo de vida no saludable en personal sanitario sin infección por COVID 19 fue de 16%. El estilo de vida no saludable es factor de riesgo para infección por COVID 19 en personal sanitario con un odds ratio de 2.82 el cual fue significativo (p<0.05). Conclusiones: El estilo de vida no saludable es factor asociado a infección por COVID 19 en personal sanitario del Hospital Belén de Trujillo. / To identify if an unhealthy lifestyle is a factor associated with COVID 19 infection in health personnel at Hospital Belén de Trujillo. Material and Methods: An analytical, observational, sectional, crosssectional study was carried out. The study population consisted of 224 health workers according to established inclusion and exclusion criteria, distributed in two groups: with or without COVID 19 infection; the odds ratio and the chi square test were calculated. Results: There were no significant differences for the variables age, gender or occupational group between patients with or without COVID 19 infection (p> 0.05). The frequency of unhealthy lifestyle in health personnel with COVID 19 infection was 35%. The frequency of unhealthy lifestyle in health personnel without COVID 19 infection was 16%. An unhealthy lifestyle is a risk factor for COVID 19 infection in healthcare personnel with an odds ratio of 2.82 which was significant (p <0.05). Conclusions: An unhealthy lifestyle is a factor associated with COVID 19 infection in health personnel at Hospital Belén de Trujillo

Bakgrund: I december 2019 upptäcktes ett virus i Wuhan, Kina. Mars år 2020 deklarerade WHO Coronavirus disease som en pandemi. Viruset orsakade ARDS och patienterna var i behov av mekanisk ventilation. Intensivvårdens kapacitet överskreds och verksamheten omstrukturerades för att bemöta det ökade patientflödet. Intensivvårdssjuksköterskans arbetsbelastning ökade och grundutbildade sjuksköterskor samt anestesisjuksköterskor omplacerades för att öka personaltätheten. Syfte: Att beskriva intensivvårdssjuksköterskors upplevelser av att arbeta på intensivvårdsavdelningar med patienter med diagnostiserad COVID-19. Metod: Tillämpad metod är en integrerad litteraturstudie. Totalt inkluderades nio artiklar och en innehållsanalys utfördes enligt Graneheim och Lundman (2004). Resultat: Intensivvårdssjuksköterskors upplevelse av att vårda patienter med diagnostiserad COVID-19 beskrivs under temat “Att finna drivkraft trots motgångar” och fyra kategorier. Dessa kategorier var: “Fysisk-, och psykisk påfrestning”, “Känsla av ensamhet”, “Rädsla för viruset” och “Samhörighet”. Konklusion: Den förändrade arbetsmiljön har bidragit till att intensivvårdssjuksköterskor ställts inför situationer som orsakat etiska dilemman och en moralisk stress. Trots förändrade arbetsförhållanden har intensivvårdssjuksköterskor funnit drivkraft i civilsamhället och viljan att fortsätta vårda patienter med diagnostiserad COVID-19. / Background: In December of 2019 a novel coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan, China. In March of 2020 the WHO declared a global pandemic regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. The viral infection caused ARDS, which resulted in a number of patients requiring assisted mechanical ventilation. The high influx of patients in need of intensive care, quickly exceeded the capacity of the Intensive Care Units (ICU: s). This in turn increased the workload of intensive care unit nurses, leading to a reallocation of registered nurses and nurse anesthetists to increase the workforce.  Purpose: To describe the experiences of an intensive care unit nurse working with patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in an intensive care unit.   Method: The method was based on an integrated literature study. A total of nine articles were included and a content analysis according to Graneheim and Lundman (2004) was implemented.  Findings: The nurses reported several different experiences regarding intensive care of patients diagnosed with COVID-19. These were presented under the theme “To keep moving forward despite adversity”. The theme was further subcategorised into four different categories; “Physical and psychological execration”, “To feel alone”, “Fear for the virus” and “Sense of belonging”.   Conclusion: The organizational changes imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic caused ethical dilemmas and moral distress. The civil society provided the ICU nurses with a strong incentive to continue to provide care for patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

Editorial

La globalización y la salud global son consecuencias de las decisiones de los responsables de los gobiernos que generaron las políticas públicas, los modos de producción y desarrollo, sin pensar en el beneficio de las personas y del medio ambiente, actuando sin responsabilidad ética ni social al no centrarse en la persona. El derecho humano prioriza la salud y la equidad para todas las personas, valorando la igualdad en el ámbito de la política global, la globalización económica y tecnológica, y en los problemas globales relacionados al medio ambiente, el calentamiento global y flujos migratorios, cuya comprensión demanda conocer las relaciones entre salud humana, ambiente y riqueza, priorizando la supervivencia óptima de la humanidad, meta final de la bioética global, para garantizar la dignidad humana y los derechos humanos universales, incluido el derecho a la salud. “La moralidad universal es producto histórico de la experiencia humana”, al ser prácticas y lecciones aprendidas en el transcurrir del tiempo. Por consiguiente, las decisiones éticas para solucionar conflictos morales durante la pandemia deben ser racionales y no solo emocionales, circunscritas en el ámbito de lo social y de la justicia distributiva con la finalidad de salvar el mayor número de vidas basado en los principios de la ética social, contraponiendo los principios éticos del ámbito individual como la autonomía que es privilegiada cuando no perjudica a otros y la justicia que la limita cuando se priva la libertad con fines de aislamiento.

Carta al editor / Revisión por pares