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
Socially Assistive Robots
Socially assistive robots (SARs) have been used to help to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on older adults, including loneliness and isolation, and to alleviate the workload of both formal and informal caregivers. We identify the specific applications of SARs during the pandemic to help the older population and their caregivers. The robots all have multimodal communication abilities, and were able to perform multiple functions, including: (1) health monitoring (routinely checking vital signs and alerting healthcare professionals of any abnormalities), (2) screening of visitors (checking for masks and measuring temperature upon entering facilities), (3) social facilitation (enabling video communication between residents and families or healthcare staff), (4) activity facilitation (singing, dancing), (5) providing information and reminders for tasks (weather and food menu, scheduled activities), and (6) cognitive and physical training activities (memory games, exercises). Physical characteristics of the robots are outlined, including: height, presence of touchscreen tablet, facial recognition, natural language processing.
  • 974
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Antiviral Drugs against COVID-19
Several FDA-approved available antiviral drugs, alone or in combination, have been screened clinically for their extended use since the early phase of the current pandemic to find a safe and effective treatment option against COVID-19, and many clinical trials of these antiviral drugs are still ongoing. However, an in-depth understanding is required from current clinical literature reports to execute integrated approaches between computational and experimental methods to guarantee high success rates of repositioned drugs. Moreover, multiple challenges associated with repurposed drugs have been identified, including dose adjustments, route of administration, acute/chronic toxicity, appropriate delivery systems, etc..
  • 819
  • 27 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Sex and COVID-19 Mortality
Spain is one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although risk factors for severe disease are published, sex differences have been widely neglected. In this multicentre study, we aimed to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality in men and women hospitalised with COVID-19. An observational longitudinal study was conducted in the cohort of patients admitted to four hospitals in Andalusia, Spain, from 1 March 2020 to 15 April 2020. Sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from hospital records. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate 30-day survival and multiple Cox regression models were applied. All analyses were stratified by sex. A total of 968 patients were included (54.8% men, median age 67.0 years). In-hospital mortality reached 19.1% in men and 16.0% in women. Factors independently associated with an increased hazard of death were advanced age, higher CURB-65 score and not receiving azithromycin treatment, in both sexes; active cancer and autoimmune disease, in men; cardiovascular disease and chronic lung disease, in women. Disease outcomes and predictors of death differed between sexes. In-hospital mortality was higher in men, but the long-term effects of COVID-19 merit further research. The sex-differential impact of the pandemic should be addressed in public health policies.
  • 524
  • 08 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Antibiotics Use in the Community
The general population has been excessively using antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the use of antibiotics for any reported illnesses in the preceding four weeks and knowledge of antibiotics among the general population in the community were assessed for possible interventions. A mobile phone survey among a general population across eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh was conducted during January–March 2021. 
  • 496
  • 27 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Mucormycosis in Indian COVID-19 Patients
Mucormycosis, previously known as zygomycosis, is a lethal fungus in which molds called mucormycetes can cause fungal infection. Mucormycosis causes angioinvasive infection among immunocompromised patients, with a mortality rate of 60%. Mucormycosis is the third most prevalent fungal infection in hematology patients, accounting for 8.3–13% of all fungal infections.
  • 338
  • 24 Sep 2021
Topic Review
COVID-19 Pneumonia/Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias
COVID-19 pneumonia represents a challenging health emergency, due to the disproportion between the high transmissibility, morbidity, and mortality of the virus and healthcare systems possibilities. Literature has mainly focused on COVID-19 pneumonia clinical-radiological diagnosis and therapy, and on the most common differential diagnoses, while few papers investigated rare COVID-19 pneumonia differential diagnoses or the overlapping of COVID-19 pneumonia on pre-existing lung pathologies. This article presents the main radiological characteristics of COVID-19 pneumonia and Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias (IIPs) to identify key radiological features for a differential diagnosis among IIPs, and between IIPs and COVID-19 pneumonia. COVID-19 pneumonia differential diagnosis with IIPs is challenging, since these entities may share common radiological findings as ground glass opacities, crazy paving patterns, and consolidations. Multidisciplinary discussion is crucial to reach a final and correct diagnosis. Radiologists have a pivotal role in identifying COVID-19 pneumonia patterns, reporting possible overlapping with long-lasting lung diseases, and suggesting potential differential diagnoses. An optimal evaluation of HRTC may help in containing the disease, in promoting better treatment for patients, and in providing an efficient allocation of human and economic resources. 
  • 756
  • 24 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Long-Term Impact of COVID-19
Post-COVID-19 patients may experience persistent chest CT abnormalities, decreased lung function, persistent fatigue, and respiratory symptoms, decreased functional capacity, and decreased quality of life up to 6 months after symptom onset or hospital discharge. On average, 8 out of 10 patients had returned to work or reported no work impairment at around 3 months of follow-up.
  • 563
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
CSR during a Pandemic
With corporate social responsibility (CSR) now a major part of many business practices, the airline industry is under growing pressure to provide a clean, safe, and reliable transportation service to their employees and passengers. However, the recent COVID-19 pandemic posed new CSR challenges for an industry struggling to stay viable. By October 2020, the World Health Organization confirmed 30 million cases of COVID-19 and more than one million deaths worldwide. Given that researchers have shown that influenza-type diseases can spread rapidly on aircraft, airlines prioritized reliable health and safety protocols to reduce exposure to significant risks of infection by flight attendants and passengers. However, such activities require significant financial investment. Not surprisingly, the pandemic hit the airline industry hard with canceled flights, staff layoffs, and new hygiene practices for cabin crews. To make matters worse, many flight attendants were furloughed. As airlines neared bankruptcy, the industry explored ways to reduce costs, modify CSR activities (e.g., environmentally sustainable commitment), and overcome unprecedented challenges such as protecting employees and passengers against novel viruses. As they attempt to avoid bankruptcy, airlines may struggle to balance CSR activities with business viability, at least in the short term.
  • 607
  • 24 Sep 2021
Topic Review
B Corps’ Social Media Communications
A growing emphasis on stakeholder values of social and environmental responsibility and the triple bottom line (TBL) thinking led to the emergence of B Corporations (hereafter B Corps). B Corps are social enterprises that are committed to the TBL and certified by B Lab, a non-profit organization that assesses corporations’ overall impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, community, and the environment. Although B Corps serves as a catalyst for sustainable development, little is known about how they communicate on social media during a crisis. In this study, we examined the social media communications of B Corps to (1) identify salient topics and themes, (2) analyze how these themes align with the TBL, and (3) evaluate social media performance against industry benchmarks. We focused on the apparel, footwear, and accessories (AFA) sectors in the U.S. and chose Twitter, a platform known for crisis communication. Using a qualitative method, we found four topics and 21 underlying themes. Topics related to social/environmental issues and COVID-19 were most dominant, followed by product/brand promotions. Further classification of specific themes and cases from a TBL perspective demonstrated that, overall, B Corps in the AFA sectors leveraged various approaches to promote balance between each TBL dimension. Lastly, although collectively B Corps exceeded some of the Twitter industry benchmarks, at an individual level, most brands had room for improvement to build a stronger community and promote synergy among the three pillars of the TBL.
  • 736
  • 23 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Microbiota and Myopericarditis
Myopericarditis is an inflammatory heart condition involving the pericardium and myocardium. It can lead to heart failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia and sudden death. Its pathogenesis is mainly mediated by viral infections but also can be induced by bacterial infections, toxic substances and immune mediated disorders. 
  • 394
  • 22 Sep 2021
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