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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Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Air Quality during Covid-19 Lockdown
Air pollution exposure is one of the greatest risks to health worldwide. It is estimated to be responsible for about 4.2 million deaths around the world every year owing to many serious diseases such as heart disease, stroke, acute and chronic respiratory diseases, and lung cancer. The WHO guideline limits are exceeded in several areas around the world, and it is estimated that about 90% of the world’s population is exposed to high air pollution levels, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments to implement severe mobility restriction measures to limit the spread of the virus. This represented a unique opportunity to study the impact of mobility on urban air quality. Several studies which have investigated the relations between the quality of the air and such containment measures have shown the significant reduction of the main pollutants in the urban environment so to encourage the adoption of new approaches for the improvement of the quality of air in the cities. The aims of this entry are both a brief analysis and a discussion of the results presented in several papers to understand the relationships between COVID-19 containment measures and air quality in urban areas.
  • 1.3K
  • 13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
The SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein
The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on the world is still expanding. Thus, there is an urgent need to better understand this novel virus and find a way to control its spread. Like other coronaviruses, the nucleocapsid (N) protein is one of the most crucial structural components of SARS-CoV-2. This protein shares 90% homology with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus N protein, implying functional significance. Based on the evolutionary conservation of the N protein in coronavirus, we reviewed the currently available knowledge regarding the SARS-CoV-2 N protein in terms of structure, biological functions, and clinical application as a drug target or vaccine candidate.
  • 689
  • 30 Jun 2021
Topic Review
SARS-CoV-2 and its New Variants
Since the beginning of 2020, the new pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 and named coronavirus disease 19 (COVID 19) has changed our socio-economic life. In just a few months, SARS-CoV-2 was able to spread worldwide at an unprecedented speed, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, especially among the weakest part of the population. Indeed, especially at the beginning of this pandemic, many reports highlighted how people, suffering from other pathologies, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes, are more at risk of severe outcomes if infected. Although this pandemic has put the entire academic world to the test, it has also been a year of intense research and many important contributions have advanced our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 origin, its molecular structure and its mechanism of infection. Unfortunately, despite this great effort, we are still a long way from fully understanding how SARS-CoV-2 dysregulates organismal physiology and whether the current vaccines will be able to protect us from possible future pandemics.
  • 422
  • 04 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Photobiomodulation Therapy and COVID-19
COVID-19 is a viral disease characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. Since then, researchers from all over the world have been looking for ways to fight this disease. Many cases of complications arise from insufficient immune responses due to low immunity, with intense release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that can damage the structure of organs such as the lung. Thus, the hypothesis arises that photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) with the use of a low-level laser (LLLT) may be an ally approach to patients with COVID-19 since it is effective for increasing immunity, helping tissue repair, and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines. This systematic entry was performed with the use of PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar databases with the following keywords: “low-level laser therapy OR photobiomodulation therapy AND COVID-19”. 
  • 741
  • 04 Aug 2021
Topic Review
SARS-CoV-2 Neurological Implications
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an emergent infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths throughout the world. COVID-19 infection’s main symptoms are fever, cough, fatigue, and neurological manifestations such as headache, myalgias, anosmia, ageusia, impaired consciousness, seizures, and even neuromuscular junctions’ disorders. Due to the neurological symptoms associated to COVID-19, damage in the central nervous system has been suggested as well as the neuroinvasive potential of SARS-CoV-2. 
  • 657
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
COVID-19: IoT Adoption in Healthcare
COVID-19 has disrupted normal life and has enforced a substantial change in the policies, priorities and activities of individuals, organisations and governments. These changes are proving to be a catalyst for technology and innovation. In this entry, we discuss the pandemic's potential impact on the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare. Our perspective and forecast of this impact on IoT adoption is based on a thorough research literature review, a careful examination of reports from leading consulting firms and interactions with several industry experts. For each of these sectors, we also provide the details of notable IoT initiatives taken in wake of COVID-19. We also highlight the challenges that need to be addressed and important research directions that will facilitate accelerated IoT adoption.
  • 1.2K
  • 28 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Th17 Response in COVID-19
COVID-19 is an acute infectious disease of the respiratory system caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2). Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infections occurs through droplets and contaminated objects. A rapid and well-coordinated immune system response is the first line of defense in a viral infection. However, a disturbed and over-activated immune response may be counterproductive, causing damage to the body. Severely ill patients hospitalised with COVID-19 exhibit increased levels of many cytokines, including Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-17, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Increasing evidence suggests that Th17 cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of COVID-19, not only by activating cytokine cascade but also by inducing Th2 responses, inhibiting Th1 differentiation and suppressing Treg cells.
  • 560
  • 25 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Misdiagnosis of SARS-CoV-2
SARS-CoV-2 has been the biggest pandemic since the influenza outbreak of 1918-1919. One of the biggest differences during the COVID-19 pandemic, in comparison to 1918-1919, has been the ability to rapidly test and diagnose the presence of the virus within patients and the general public. As with every testing regime, there is always going to be false negatives and misdiagnoses. The aim of this critical review was to assess the factors contributing to misdiagnosis of COVID-19 by examining sample types, diagnostic methods and by looking at asymptomatic versus symptomatic patients. It was found that a combination of detection methods such as the additional use of a computer tomography scan may help in reducing the level of false negatives in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. It was concluded that sputum and oral throat-washing samples should take precedence over swabbing where possible, while sample pooling should be used for widespread screening within the general population. The novel Oxford antibody assay was found to have the highest sensitivity and specificity of all commercially available kits, but should only be used within a specific timeframe to avoid misdiagnosis. Similarly, sample collection time and test method can greatly affect the outcome of the diagnostic method being conducted.
  • 522
  • 24 Jun 2021
Topic Review
A COVID-19 Education Recovery Program
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students have developed substantial educational delays, both cognitively and social-emotionally. To counter such negative effects of the school closures, several policies and support strategies on attainment and social-emotional well-being have been proposed and implemented. In the Netherlands, the focus is on using evidence-based interventions to boost educational achievement. The question is, however, how evidence-based the interventions really are. 
  • 1.2K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Dendrimers for Infectious Diseases
Functionalized and modified dendrimer platforms are capable of precise imaging and efficient treatment of tumors, providing solutions for combined monitoring and early treatment of cancers.
  • 574
  • 05 Jul 2021
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