Summary

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and the disease now affects nearly every country and region. Caused by SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 continues nearly 18 months later to present significant challenges to health systems and public health in both hemispheres, as well as the economies of every country. The morbidity and mortality of the infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been significant, and various waves of disease outbreaks initially overwhelmed many hospitals and clinics and continue to do so in many countries. This influences everyone, and public health countermeasures have been dramatic in terms of their impact on employment, social systems, and mental health. This entry collection aims to gather diverse fields about COVID-19, including in epidemiology, public health, medicine, genetics, systems biology, informatics, data science, engineering, sociology, anthropology, nursing, environmental studies, statistics, and psychology.

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Entries
Topic Review
Prone Positioning and COVID-19-Related Acute Respiratory Distress
The prone position is a non-invasive technique resulting from the mobilization of the patient, where the person is lying horizontally face down. This technique has been used since the 1970s, but it has gained great relevance in the last year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic with the use of invasive mechanical ventilation.
  • 1.1K
  • 15 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Preventing Physical Inactivity during Future Pandemics
Wearable activity trackers are devices that are comfortably worn on the body and are designed to be effective in monitoring daily physical activity and improving physical fitness of the wearer. This review aimed to investigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on physical activity measured using wearable activity trackers and discuss future perspectives on wearable activity trackers during pandemics. Daily physical activity was significantly decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 857
  • 10 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants
The widespread increase in multiple severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants is causing a significant health concern in the United States and worldwide. These variants exhibit increased transmissibility, cause more severe disease, exhibit evasive immune properties, impair neutralization by antibodies from vaccinated individuals or convalescence sera, and reinfection. 
  • 898
  • 23 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Nucleic Acid Vaccines for COVID-19
Nucleic acid vaccines employ genetic material from a pathogen, such as a virus or bacteria, to induce an immune response against it. Based on the vaccination, the genetic material might be DNA or RNA; as such, it offers instructions for producing a specific pathogen protein that the immune system will perceive as foreign and mount an immune response. Nucleic acid vaccines for multiple antigens might be made in the same facility, lowering costs even more. Most traditional vaccine regimens do not allow for this.  Nucleic acid vaccines could also be applied to COVID-19.
  • 1.2K
  • 05 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Stem Cells against SARS-CoV-2 in Pregnant Women/Children
Similar to children, pregnant women have active fetal-derived stem cells circulating in their bodies, that are able to combat illnesses and repair maternal injured tissues. Fetal stem cells are multipotent stem cells derived from fetal blood and tissues. These cells are more limited in growth potential than pluripotent embryonic stem cells, although their proliferation rate and regenerative properties are higher than those of MSCs from adults.
  • 758
  • 08 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Plasma Renin Concentration in Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients
Plasma renin concentration as a marker of organ perfusion in several intensive care settings have shown a significant correlation between its increase and a lack of perfusion in critical tissues, especially in septic patients.
  • 797
  • 04 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Alveolar Regeneration in COVID-19 Patients: Network Perspective
Lung alveolar regeneration to repair the damaged tissue and restoration of normal tissue function could be achieved by transplantation of progenitor or stem cells and exosome-mediated delivery of therapeutic agents, including miRNAs. Not only as a biomarker of COVID-19but also as therapeutic agents, miRNAs have proven to play a crucial role in lung damage and repair. miRNAs can either be regulated locally in the lungsor transported to the damaged site by extracellular vehicles (EVs) secreted by stem cells to induce tissue regeneration by decreasing inflammation and apoptosis, stimulating surfactant production, regulating gene expression of junction proteins to repair microvascular permeability, and reducing fibrosis.
  • 1.1K
  • 03 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Impacts of COVID-19 on the Aquatic Environment
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), resulted in ecological changes of aquatic ecosystems, affected the aquatic food supply chain, and disrupted the socio-economy of global populations. Due to reduced human activities during the pandemic, the aquatic environment was reported to improve its water quality, wild fishery stocks, and biodiversity. However, the sudden surge of plastics and biomedical wastes during the COVID-19 pandemic masked the positive impacts and increased the risks of aquatic pollution, especially microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and disinfectants. 
  • 1.3K
  • 03 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Preventing Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases
With the growing concern about the spread of new respiratory infectious diseases, several studies involving the application of technology in the prevention of these diseases have been carried out. Among these studies, it is worth highlighting the importance of those focused on the primary forms of prevention, such as social distancing, mask usage, quarantine, among others. This importance arises because, from the emergence of a new disease to the production of immunizers, preventive actions must be taken to reduce contamination and fatalities rates.
  • 945
  • 28 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Extracellular Vesicles-Based Therapy for COVID-19: An Update
COVID-19 pandemic has become a serious concern and negatively impacted the public health and economy. It primarily targets the lungs causing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); however, it may also lead to multiple organ failure (MOF) and enhanced mortality rates. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop effective and potential therapeutic strategies for COVID-19 patients. Extracellular vesicles(EVs) are released from various types of cells that participate in intercellular communication to maintain physiological and pathological processes. EVs derived from various cellular origins have revealed suppressive effects on the cytokine storm during a systemic hyper-inflammatory state of severe COVID-19, leading to enhanced alveolar fluid clearance, promoted epithelial and endothelial recovery, and cell proliferation. Being the smallest subclass of EVs, exosomes offer striking characteristics such as cell targeting, nano-carrier for drug delivery, high biocompatibility, safety, and low-immunogenicity, hence renders them a potential cell-free therapeutic candidate against the pathogenesis of the various disease. Following these properties, numerous studiesand clinical trials have been performed to assess their safety and therapeuticefficacyagainst COVID-19.
  • 1.3K
  • 25 Oct 2021
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