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Infectious Disease Reports
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Feature Papers in COVID-19
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Feature Papers in COVID-19

A special issue of Infectious Disease Reports (ISSN 2036-7449).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 25089

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Nicola Petrosillo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Infection Prevention & Control and Infectious Disease Unit, University Hospital "Campus Bio-Medico", 00128 Rome, Italy
Interests: severe infections; infective endocarditis; emerging infections; infections in transplanted patients
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The sudden onset and the wide spread of the COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) pandemic has radically altered medicine, including clinical care, research, and training that in some cases have experienced significant disruption. With regard to training future researchers and clinicians, residencies and fellowship programs have often pivoted to virtual formats, with far-reaching implications for trainees. On the other side, with an extraordinary show of solidarity, scientists across the globe have mobilized to combat COVID-19. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, virology research (including influenza) represented less than 2% of all biomedical research. However, the number of laboratories and investigators that have pivoted to address COVID-19-related research questions is astonishing, likely comprising 10–20% of current biomedical investigation, showing the incredible adaptability of the research community. The sharing of research findings and research data has never been as rapid and efficient.

“Feature Papers on COVID-19” will offer the possibility to collect stimulating articles from top researchers dealing with modern approaches and beyond in the field of pathophysiology, epidemiology, diagnostics, clinical management, research, and more in SARS-CoV-2 infection, including the biomedical, sociobehavioral, economic, environmental, and clinical aspects.

We welcome the submission of manuscripts from Editorial Board Members and from outstanding scholars invited by the Editorial Board and the Editorial Office.

You are welcome to send short proposals for submissions of feature papers to our Editorial Office for evaluation.

Dr. Nicola Petrosillo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infectious Disease Reports is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • prevention, treatment and control
  • infectious diseases
  • public health

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 782 KiB  
Article
Strategies to Increase Willingness to Receive a COVID-19 Vaccine among Nursing Home Staff
by Lisa S. van Tol, Wendy Meester, Monique A. A. Caljouw and Wilco P. Achterberg
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2023, 15(1), 34-42; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr15010004 - 31 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2560
Abstract
Background: Nursing home (NH) staff and residents have been prioritized to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. However, NH staff have been hesitant. This study explored what strategies were used to overcome this hesitancy and which of these were found to be important by NH staff [...] Read more.
Background: Nursing home (NH) staff and residents have been prioritized to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. However, NH staff have been hesitant. This study explored what strategies were used to overcome this hesitancy and which of these were found to be important by NH staff to increase their willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: This study employed a sequential exploratory qualitative design. The COVID-19 MINUTES study aimed to describe the challenges presented by, responses to, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in NHs. The minutes of COVID-19 outbreak teams (COTs) in Dutch long-term care organizations (n = 41) were collected and coded using content analysis. Textual units from December 2020 to April 2021 that regarded strategies to increase staff’s vaccination willingness (n = 67) were selected. Subsequently, to validate these data, two panels of NH healthcare workers (HCWs) and policy workers (PWs) (n = 8) selected, discussed, and ranked the strategies that they found to be important using a modified nominal group technique. Results: The strategies described in the minutes included financial reimbursements, personal contact, story sharing, logistics support, role models, visual information, and written information. Except for financial reimbursement, all these strategies were considered important or very important by the panel participants. Some organizations combined multiple strategies. Conclusion: The strategies that were found important in combination may be used more broadly and should be developed further with the involvement of HCWs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in COVID-19)
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32 pages, 2745 KiB  
Article
Risk Stratification of COVID-19 Using Routine Laboratory Tests: A Machine Learning Approach
by Farai Mlambo, Cyril Chironda and Jaya George
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2022, 14(6), 900-931; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr14060090 - 21 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2596
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant stress on an already overburdened health system. The diagnosis was based on detection of a positive RT-PCR test, which may be delayed when there is peak demand for testing. Rapid risk stratification of high-risk patients allows for the [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant stress on an already overburdened health system. The diagnosis was based on detection of a positive RT-PCR test, which may be delayed when there is peak demand for testing. Rapid risk stratification of high-risk patients allows for the prioritization of resources for patient care. The study aims were to classify patients as severe or not severe based on outcomes using machine learning on routine laboratory tests. Data were extracted for all individuals who had at least one SARS-CoV-2 PCR test conducted via the NHLS between the periods of 1 March 2020 to 7 July 2020. Exclusion criteria: those 18 years, and those with indeterminate PCR tests. Results for 15437 patients (3301 positive and 12,136 negative) were used to fit six machine learning models, namely the logistic regression (LR) (the base model), decision trees (DT), random forest (RF), extreme gradient boosting (XGB), convolutional neural network (CNN) and self-normalising neural network (SNN). Model development was carried out by splitting the data into training and testing set of a ratio 70:30, together with a 10-fold cross-validation re-sampling technique. For risk stratification, admission to high care or ICU was the outcome for severe disease. Performance of the models varied: sensitivity was best for RF at 75% and accuracy of 75% for CNN. The area under the curve ranged from 57% for CNN to 75% for RF. RF and SNN were the best-performing models. Machine Learning (ML) can be incorporated into the laboratory information system and offers promise for early identification and risk stratification of COVID-19 patients, particularly in areas of resource-poor settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in COVID-19)
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14 pages, 768 KiB  
Article
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perception towards COVID-19 among Medical Students in Yemen: A Cross-Sectional Survey
by Ruqaiah H. Al-Ghazali, Eman S. Barhoom, Khawla A. Dahdah, Khulood S. Basalem, Tayba A. Mugibel, Khalid M. Sumaily, Essa M. Sabi, Ahmed H. Mujamammi, Saleh M. Ben Salman and Lotfi S. Bin Dahman
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2022, 14(6), 841-854; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr14060086 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2675
Abstract
Numerous measures have been taken to slow the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rapid spread. Such population control techniques may have a substantial impact on people’s attitudes, knowledge, and perception of COVID-19. This web-based cross-sectional survey aimed to assess Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) towards [...] Read more.
Numerous measures have been taken to slow the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) rapid spread. Such population control techniques may have a substantial impact on people’s attitudes, knowledge, and perception of COVID-19. This web-based cross-sectional survey aimed to assess Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 among Hadhramout University Medical Students in Yemen from 15 June to 26 June 2020. This survey was performed using social media via the Google Platform among 422 Hadhramout University Medical students. After consenting, participants completed an online survey assessing sociodemographic data, 21 knowledge items, 15 attitudes items, and 5 perception items towards COVID-19. Of the total 422 participants, 389 (92.18%) were surveyed online, and 256 (65.8%) were females, and 133 (34.2%) were males aged 19-24 years (88.7%), studying medicine (58.9%), and living in urban areas (80.7%). The survey revealed that 64.0% of participants had good knowledge about the disease and 52.7% had positive attitudes towards protective measures against the virus. The majority of participants (98.2%) thought that the virus was transmitted through nasal droplets, and 59.6% agreed that the disease is dangerous. The majority of participants agreed that fever (99.2%), dry cough (97.9%), and difficulty breathing (99.5%) are the most common symptoms of the disease. The survey also showed high knowledge levels about preventive measures against the virus spreading, such as regular proper hand hygiene (99.7%), maintaining an appropriate distance (99.2%), avoiding touching eyes and nose (98.7%), and wearing facemasks in public places (97.4%). Moreover, 69.7% of participants agreed to be isolated at home if they got an infected person, 64.3% implemented washing hands with soap and water, 41.9% agreed to be separated at the hospital until they proved free from the disease, 46.0% agreed to inform the health authorities if they had any symptoms associated with the disease. By using sample T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA), mean knowledge score about COVID-19 was significantly higher in males than in females (p = 0.029). Additionally, medicine students had significantly higher mean knowledge score than students of medical laboratory (p < 0.001) and nursing (p = 0.008). In general, our research revealed that participants had favorable opinions regarding the disease’s preventative measures and a good awareness of it. However, more educational initiatives and campaigns that take into account KAP modifying elements are needed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in COVID-19)
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9 pages, 289 KiB  
Article
COVID-19 Variants in Critically Ill Patients: A Comparison of the Delta and Omicron Variant Profiles
by Alberto Corriero, Mario Ribezzi, Federica Mele, Carmelinda Angrisani, Fabio Romaniello, Antonio Daleno, Daniela Loconsole, Francesca Centrone, Maria Chironna and Nicola Brienza
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2022, 14(3), 492-500; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr14030052 - 17 Jun 2022
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3731
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease is a pandemic that has disrupted many human lives, threatening people’s physical and mental health. Each pandemic wave struck in different ways, infectiveness-wise and mortality-wise. This investigation focuses on critically ill patients affected by the last two variants, Delta and [...] Read more.
Background: Coronavirus disease is a pandemic that has disrupted many human lives, threatening people’s physical and mental health. Each pandemic wave struck in different ways, infectiveness-wise and mortality-wise. This investigation focuses on critically ill patients affected by the last two variants, Delta and Omicron, and aims to analyse if any difference exists between the two groups. Methods: intensive care unit (ICU) COVID-19 consecutive admissions between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022 were recorded daily, and data concerning the patients’ demographics, variants, main comorbidities, ICU parameters on admission, and the outcome were analysed by a univariate procedure and by a multivariate analysis. Results: 65 patients were enrolled, 31 (47.69%) belonging to the Omicron versus 34 (52.31%) to the Delta group. The mortality rate was 52.94% for the Omicron group versus 41.9% for the Delta group. A univariate analysis showed that the Omicron variant was associated with total comorbidities number, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), pre-existing pulmonary disease, vaccination status, and acute kidney injury (AKI). In stepwise multivariate analysis, the total number of comorbidities was positively associated with the Omicron group, while pulmonary embolism was negatively correlated with the Omicron group. Conclusion: Omicron appears to have lost some of the hallmarks of the Delta variant, such as endothelialitis and more limited cellular tropism when it comes to the patients in the ICU. Further studies are encouraged to explore different therapeutic approaches to treat critical patients with COVID-19. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in COVID-19)

Review

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12 pages, 1341 KiB  
Review
Sarilumab Administration in COVID-19 Patients: Literature Review and Considerations
by Andrea Marino, Antonio Munafò, Egle Augello, Carlo Maria Bellanca, Carmelo Bonomo, Manuela Ceccarelli, Nicolò Musso, Giuseppina Cantarella, Bruno Cacopardo and Renato Bernardini
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2022, 14(3), 360-371; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr14030040 - 11 May 2022
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 4582
Abstract
Two years have passed since WHO declared a pandemic state for SARS-CoV-2 infection. COVID-19 pathogenesis consists of a first viral phase responsible for early symptoms followed by an inflammatory phase, cytokine-mediated, responsible for late-onset manifestations up to ARDS. The dysregulated immune response has [...] Read more.
Two years have passed since WHO declared a pandemic state for SARS-CoV-2 infection. COVID-19 pathogenesis consists of a first viral phase responsible for early symptoms followed by an inflammatory phase, cytokine-mediated, responsible for late-onset manifestations up to ARDS. The dysregulated immune response has an outstanding role in the progression of pulmonary damage in COVID-19. IL-6, through the induction of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, plays a key role in the development and maintenance of inflammation, acting as a pioneer of the hyperinflammatory condition and cytokine storm in severe COVID-19. Therefore, drugs targeting both IL-6 and IL-6 receptors have been evaluated in order to blunt the abnormal SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine release. Sarilumab, a high-affinity anti-IL-6 receptor antibody, may represent a promising weapon to treat the fearsome hyperinflammatory phase by improving the outcome of patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Further prospective and well-designed clinical studies with larger sample sizes and long-term follow-up are needed to assess the efficacy and the safety of this therapeutic approach to achieve improved outcomes in COVID-19. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in COVID-19)
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Other

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7 pages, 2245 KiB  
Case Report
A Rare Case of Latent Tuberculosis Reactivation Secondary to a COVID-19 Infection
by Ana-Alicia Leonso, Kyle Brown, Raquel Prol, Saumya Rawat, Arjun Khunger and Romina Bromberg
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2022, 14(3), 446-452; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr14030048 - 12 Jun 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5552
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB) are currently the two leading causes of death among infectious diseases. As we progress towards a “new normal”, more information is required regarding post-COVID-19 syndromes. We present a case of latent tuberculosis reactivation 3 months after [...] Read more.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB) are currently the two leading causes of death among infectious diseases. As we progress towards a “new normal”, more information is required regarding post-COVID-19 syndromes. We present a case of latent tuberculosis reactivation 3 months after a successful inpatient treatment of COVID-19. A 74-year-old female from the Philippines presented with a new left mid-lung infiltrate with worsening shortness of breath and lethargy for one week prior to admission. The clinical course of the patient deteriorated despite broad-spectrum antibiotics, diuretics, and high-dose steroid therapy requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation. Her sputum culture yielded the microbiological diagnosis of TB. Anti-tubercular medications were started and the patient had a favorable clinical outcome. Our case demonstrates that immunosuppression secondary to COVID-19 and its treatments may promote the development of an active TB infection from a latent infection. It is important to be aware of this potential increase in risk during and after a COVID-19 treatment. This is especially important in high-risk populations to ensure an early diagnosis and prompt management as well as to reduce transmission. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in COVID-19)
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5 pages, 225 KiB  
Brief Report
COVID-19 Severity among Healthcare Workers: Overweight Male Physicians at Risk
by Bahar Madran, Zeliha Akbulut, Gözde Akbaba, Emre Taş, Tuğba Güçlüoğlu, Özgür Şencanlı, İsmail Bozkurt, Şiran Keske and Önder Ergönül
Infect. Dis. Rep. 2022, 14(3), 310-314; https://doi.org/10.3390/idr14030036 - 25 Apr 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2185
Abstract
We performed a prospective longitudinal cohort study in two healthcare settings. In total, 909 HCWs out of 3982 (23.35%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 before the vaccination era. Eighty-five per cent of COVID-19 positive HCWs (n = 774) were asymptomatic or mild, and 15% [...] Read more.
We performed a prospective longitudinal cohort study in two healthcare settings. In total, 909 HCWs out of 3982 (23.35%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 before the vaccination era. Eighty-five per cent of COVID-19 positive HCWs (n = 774) were asymptomatic or mild, and 15% were moderate or severe. The mean age of the infected HCWs in the moderate or severe group was higher than the mild or asymptomatic group (35.4 vs. 31.3 years, p < 0.001). Thirty-two per cent of HCWs were male and the rate of male gender was more frequent in the moderate/severe group (p = 0.009). The rate of those who have cardiovascular diseases (p = 0.003) and diabetes mellitus (p = 0.044) were significantly higher among the HCWs with moderate or severe COVID-19. In multivariate analysis, male gender (OR:1.65, CI:1.11–2.46, p = 0.013), BMI > 30 (OR: 1.9, CI: 1.09–3.51, p = 0.024), and being physician (OR: 2.56, CI:1.45–4.52, p = 0.001) were found to be associated with moderate or severe COVID-19. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Papers in COVID-19)
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