• Title/Summary/Keyword: SARS-CoV-2 virus

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COVID-19: an update on diagnostic and therapeutic approaches

  • Iyer, Mahalaxmi;Jayaramayya, Kaavya;Subramaniam, Mohana Devi;Lee, Soo Bin;Dayem, Ahmed Abdal;Cho, Ssang-Goo;Vellingiri, Balachandar
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.53 no.4
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    • pp.191-205
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    • 2020
  • The unexpected pandemic set off by the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has caused severe panic among people worldwide. COVID-19 has created havoc, and scientists and physicians are urged to test the efficiency and safety of drugs used to treat this disease. In such a pandemic situation, various steps have been taken by the government to control and prevent the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This pandemic situation has forced scientists to rework strategies to combat infectious diseases through drugs, treatment, and control measures. COVID-19 treatment requires both limiting viral multiplication and neutralizing tissue damage induced by an inappropriate immune reaction. Currently, various diagnostic kits to test for COVID-19 are available, and repurposing therapeutics for COVID-19 has shown to be clinically effective. As the global demand for diagnostics and therapeutics continues to rise, it is essential to rapidly develop various algorithms to successfully identify and contain the virus. This review discusses the updates on specimens/samples, recent efficient diagnostics, and therapeutic approaches to control the disease and repurposed drugs mainly focusing on chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine and convalescent plasma (CP). More research is required for further understanding of the influence of diagnostics and therapeutic approaches to develop vaccines and drugs for COVID-19.

"COVID-19 : Our Memory" : A Digital Archive for Social Changes caused by SARS-CoV-2 ("코로나-19 : 우리의 기억" : 코로나바이러스 감염증과 사회변화에 대한 디지털 아카이브)

  • Kim, Haklae
    • Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.229-236
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    • 2020
  • In light of SARS-CoV-2's significant impact, human society has experienced rapid changes in lifestyle that it has not yet experienced before. One way this virus has influenced people's lives is the emergence of the zero-contact society, an initiative for preventing the spread of infectious diseases. As can be seen, the social impact of COVID-19 is widespread. Various issues, such as those about government policy, personal information protection, and health care, are affecting society as a whole. At the same time, factual information is difficult to track and record because of the rapid and transient nature of related events and issues. As such, a method of effectively describing COVID-19 and real-time information is necessary. The "COVID-19: Our Memory" project is an attempt to record the sociocultural impact of the coronavirus infection. This project collects major events and issues classified into several subjects, records those events from a neutral point of view, and develops a digital archive so that all records are accessible. All the data collected and built through the project, the application, including the source code and visualization, are all published to bring about new opportunities for collaboration.

Korean Red Ginseng, a regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome, in the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Jung, Eui-Man;Lee, Geun-Shik
    • Journal of Ginseng Research
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    • v.46 no.3
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    • pp.331-336
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    • 2022
  • Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibits various symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to severe pneumonia or death. The major features of patients in severe COVID-19 are the dysregulation of cytokine secretion, pneumonia, and acute lung injury. Consequently, it leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome, disseminated intravascular coagulation, multiple organ failure, and death. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative virus of COVID-19, influences nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain, leucine-rich repeat, and pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), the sensor of inflammasomes, directly or indirectly, culminating in the assembly of NLRP3 inflammasome and activation of inflammatory caspases, which induce the inflammatory disruption in severe COVID-19. Accordingly, the target therapeutics for inflammasome has attracted attention as a treatment for COVID-19. Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) inhibits several inflammatory responses, including the NLRP3 inflammasome signaling. This review discusses the role of KRG in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 based on its anti-NLRP3 inflammasome efficacy.

Development of Guidelines for Preventing COVID-19 in Childcare Centers, Institutional Foodservices and Restaurants (COVID-19 확산방지를 위한 보육시설, 집단급식소 및 식품접객업소 생활방역 매뉴얼 개발)

  • Lee, Seung-Wan;Chang, Hye-Ja;Han, Areum;Lee, Sun-Young;Kim, Sung-Il;Bahn, Kyeong-Nyeo
    • Journal of the FoodService Safety
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.37-44
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    • 2020
  • The virus isolated from patients with severe pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan City, Hubei province in China was termed SARS-CoV-2 and the World Health Organization (WHO) named the disease caused by this virus as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The COVID-19 infection has spread rapidly and become a pandemic. In July 2020, there were 13.25 million infected patients and over 570,000 deaths worldwide, and 13,711 infected patients and 294 deaths were reported in South Korea. Since the primary mode of transmission of COVID-19 is through respiratory droplets, the importance of preventive measures, including social distancing, has become important in daily life. In response to the continuous spread of COVID-19, this study developed three guidelines for preventing COVID-19 for the food service industry including childcare centers, institutional foodservices and restaurants by the integration of the manual of controlling foodborne illness. These are included the COVID-19 prevention action methods for food deliverers, for food service administrator, for foodservice works and for customers. All guidelines were designed for easy understanding using illustrations and have been systematically explained subject wise. Thus, these COVID-19 prevention guidelines can be appropriately applied depending on the specific situation and workplace. In addition, they are worthy as educational materials that contribute to the food safety.

Kushta Jast, a conventional herbo-mineral immunity booster tonic: potential use in COVID-19

  • Ahmad, Tasleem;Zakir, Mohammad;Fatma, Syeda Hajra;Kazmi, Munawwar Husain;Javed, Ghazala;Ali, Shakir
    • CELLMED
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.24.1-24.6
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    • 2020
  • Kushta Jast (KJ) is a unique herbo-mineral preparation of the Unani System of Medicine (USM) which is prepared by taklis (calcination) and prescribed by the practitioners of USM for the treatment of various ailments, including the respiratory ailments. It is used as muqawwi (tonic) to boost the immunity (Muqawwi-i-badan), and can increase the phagocyte activity of the immune cells, thereby, promoting the growth and spread of lymphocytes and increasing circulating antibodies to neutralize a harmful pathogen and reduce humma or body fever (Dafi'-i-humma). Incidentally, the principal mineral component of KJ, zinc, has been widely acknowledged for its beneficial influence on the immune function, and decrease the risk of developing serious respiratory illnesses. In this manuscript, we provide a glimpse of the literature on KJ and postulate its potential beneficial effects in respiratory infections, including COVID-19.

Guidelines for dental clinic infection prevention during COVID-19 pandemic (코로나 바이러스 대유행에 따른 치과 의료 관리 가이드라인)

  • Kim, Jin
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Dental Administration
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.1-7
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    • 2020
  • Dental settings have unique characteristics that warrant specific infection control considerations, including (1) prioritizing the most critical dental services and provide care in a way that minimizes harm to patients due to delayed care, or harm to personnel from potential exposure to persons infected with the COVID-19 disease, and (2) proactively communicate to both personnel and patients the need for them to stay at home if sick. For health care, an interim infection prevention and control recommendation (COVID-19) is recommended for patients suspected of having coronavirus or those whose status has been confirmed. SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19, is thought to be spread primarily between people who are in close contact with one another (within 6 feet) through respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks. Airborne transmission from person-to-person over long distances is unlikely. However, COVID-19 is a new disease, and there remain uncertainties about its mode of spreads and the severity of illness it causes. The virus has been shown to persist in aerosols for several hours, and on some surfaces for days under laboratory conditions. COVID-19 may also be spread by people who are asymptomatic. The practice of dentistry involves the use of rotary dental and surgical instruments, such as handpieces or ultrasonic scalers, and air-water syringes. These instruments create a visible spray that can contain particle droplets of water, saliva, blood, microorganisms, and other debris. While KF 94 masks protect the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose from droplet spatter, they do not provide complete protection against the inhalation of airborne infectious agents. If the patient is afebrile (temperature <100.4°F)* and otherwise without symptoms consistent with COVID-19, then dental care may be provided using appropriate engineering and administrative controls, work practices, and infection control considerations. It is necessary to provide supplies for respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, including alcohol-based hand rub (ABHR) with 60%~95% alcohol, tissues, and no-touch receptacles for disposal, at healthcare facility entrances, waiting rooms, and patient check-ins. There is also the need to install physical barriers (e.g., glass or plastic windows) in reception areas to limit close contact between triage personnel and potentially infectious patients. Ideally, dental treatment should be provided in individual rooms whenever possible, with a spacing of at least 6 feet between the patient chairs. Further, the use of easy-to-clean floor-to-ceiling barriers will enhance the effectiveness of portable HEPA air filtration systems. Before and after all patient contact, contact with potentially infectious material, and before putting on and after removing personal protective equipment, including gloves, hand hygiene after removal is particularly important to remove any pathogens that may have been transferred to the bare hands during the removal process. ABHR with 60~95% alcohol is to be used, or hands should be washed with soap and water for at least 20 s.

Plant-derived Anti-HIV Natural Products: A Review of Recent Research (천연물의 항 HIV 효능에 대한 최신 연구동향)

  • Karadeniz, Fatih;Oh, Jung Hwan
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.32 no.9
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    • pp.734-741
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    • 2022
  • Currently, around 40 million people worldwide are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection making HIV a critical global health risk. Present therapies for HIV infection consist of drug cocktails that target different steps of the HIV life cycle to prevent infection, replication, and release of the virus. Due to its mutating nature, drug resistance coupled with side-effects of long-term drug use, novel strategies, and pharmaceuticals to treat and manage HIV infection are constant needs and continuously being studied. Plants allocate a major repertoire of chemical diversity and are therefore regarded as an important source of new bioactive agents that can be utilized against HIV. Since the early 1990s, upon recommendations of the World Health Organization, numerous studies reported phytochemicals from different structural classes such as flavonoids, coumarins, tannins and terpenes with strong inhibitory effects against HIV infection. The present review gathered and presented recent research (2021-present) on plant extracts and phytochemicals that exhibit anti-HIV properties with the aim of providing insights into future studies where ethnomedical and underutilized plant sources may yield important natural products against HIV. Considering the relation and importance of HIV treatment with current viral infection risks such as SARS-CoV-2, screening plants for anti-HIV agents is an important step towards the discovery of novel antivirals.

Study on Automatic Human Body Temperature Measurement System Based on Internet of Things

  • Quoc Cuong Nguyen;Quoc Huy Nguyen;Jaesang Cha
    • International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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    • v.16 no.2
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    • pp.50-58
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    • 2024
  • Body temperature plays an important role in medicine, some diseases are characterized by changes in human body temperature. Monitoring body temperature also allows doctors to monitor the effectiveness of medical treatments. Accurate body temperature measurement is key to detecting fevers, especially fevers related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the recent Covid-19 pandemic in the world. The solution of measuring body temperature using a thermal camera is fast but has a high cost and is not suitable for some organizations with difficult economic conditions today. Use a medical thermometer to measure body temperature directly for a slow rate, making it easier to spread disease from person to person. In this paper, we propose a completely automatic body temperature measurement system that can adjust the height according to the person taking the measurement, has a measurement logging system and is monitored via the internet. Experimental results show that the proposed method has successfully created a fully automatic human body measurement system. Furthermore, this research also helps the school's scientists and students gain more knowledge and experience to apply Internet of Things technology in real life.

Modeling Incorporating the Severity-Reducing Long-term Immunity: Higher Viral Transmission Paradoxically Reduces Severe COVID-19 During Endemic Transition

  • Hyukpyo Hong;Ji Yun Noh;Hyojung Lee;Sunhwa Choi;Boseung Choi;Jae Kyoung Kim;Eui-Cheol Shin
    • IMMUNE NETWORK
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.23.1-23.12
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    • 2022
  • Natural infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 or vaccination induces virus-specific immunity protecting hosts from infection and severe disease. While the infection-preventing immunity gradually declines, the severity-reducing immunity is relatively well preserved. Here, based on the different longevity of these distinct immunities, we develop a mathematical model to estimate courses of endemic transition of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Our analysis demonstrates that high viral transmission unexpectedly reduces the rates of progression to severe COVID-19 during the course of endemic transition despite increased numbers of infection cases. Our study also shows that high viral transmission amongst populations with high vaccination coverages paradoxically accelerates the endemic transition of COVID-19 with reduced numbers of severe cases. These results provide critical insights for driving public health policies in the era of 'living with COVID-19.'

Designing a Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory for Testing Highly Pathogenic Viruses (고병원성 바이러스 검사를 위한 분자진단검사실 구축)

  • Jung, Tae Won;Jung, Jaeyoung;Kim, Sunghyun;Kim, Young-Kwon
    • Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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    • v.53 no.2
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    • pp.143-150
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    • 2021
  • The recent spread of novel and highly variant pathogenic viruses, including the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), has increased the demand for diagnostic testing for rapid confirmation. This has resulted in investigating the functional capability of each space, and preparing facility guidelines to secure the safety of medical technologists. During viral evaluations, there is a requirement of negative pressure facilities along with thread separation, during pre-treatment of samples and before nucleic acid amplification. Space composition therefore needs to be planned by considering unidirectional air flow. This classification of safety management facilities is designated as biosafety level 2, and personal protective equipment is placed accordingly. In case of handling dangerous materials, they need to be carried out of the biosafety cabinet, and sterilizers are required for suitable disposal of infectious agents. A common feature of domestic laboratories is maintenance of the sample pre-treatment space at a negative pressure of -2.5 Pa or less, and arranging separate pre-treatment and reagent preparation spaces during the test process. We believe that the data generated in this study is meaningful, and offers an efficient direction and detailed flow for separation of the inspection process and space functions. Moreover, this study introduces construction of the laboratory by applying the safety management standards.