Ricerc@Sapienza

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy displayed a spatial distribution that made the tracking of its time course quite difficult. The most relevant anomaly was the marked spatial heterogeneity of COVID-19 diffusion. Lombardia region accounted for around 60% of fatal cases (while hosting 15% of Italian population). Moreover, 86% of fatalities concentrated in four Northern Italy regions. The ‘explosive’ outbreak of COVID-19 in Lombardia at the very beginning of pandemic fatally biased the R-like statistics routinely used to control the disease dynamics.

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of symptoms and signs in healthcare workers (HCW) with Sars-CoV-2.

No abstract available

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) environmental
contamination occurs through droplets and biological fluids released in the surroundings
from patients or asymptomatic carriers. Surfaces and objects contaminated
by saliva or nose secretions represent a risk for indirect transmission of coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19). We assayed surfaces from hospital and living spaces to identify
the presence of viral RNA and the spread of fomites in the environment. Anthropic contamination

In this study, analysis of changes of SARS-CoV-2 ORF3a protein during pandemic is reported. ORF3a, a conserved coronavirus protein, is involved in virus replication and release. A set of 70,752 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genomes available in GISAID databank at the end of August 2020 have been scanned. All ORF3a mutations in the virus genomes were grouped according to the collection date interval and over the entire data set. The considered intervals were: start of collection-February, March, April, May, June, July and August 2020.

We read with interest the paper by Giacobbe et al. estimating a cumulative risk of developing at least one bloodstream infection (BSI) episode (largely due to Gram-positive pathogens) of almost 50% after 30 days at risk in (2) Similarly, Somers et al. reported an increased risk to develop bacterial superinfections, principally represented by Staphylococcus aureus ventilatory associated pneumonia (VAP), in critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and treated with Tocilizumab.

Anosmia is a well-described symptom of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Several respiratory viruses are able to cause post-viral olfactory dysfunction, suggesting a sensorineural damage. Since the olfactory bulb is considered an immunological organ contributing to prevent the invasion of viruses, it could have a role in host defense. The inflammatory products locally released in COVID-19, leading to a local damage and causing olfactory loss, simultaneously may interfere with the viral spread into the central nervous system.

Epidemiological evidences show that SARS-CoV-2 infection in children is less frequent and severe than adults. Age-related ACE2 receptor expression, lymphocyte count and trained immunity might be the keystone to reveal children's secret.

SARS-CoV-2 range in size from 0.06 to 0.125 μm, falling squarely within the particle-size range that HEPA filters capture with extraordinary efficiency: 0.01 micron and above. It is incorrect to state that HEPA filters are not able to catch particles below 0.3 micron, like SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Background. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with over 430,000 cases and more than 19,000 deaths globally, forced healthcare systems to reorganise surgical activities. Methods. The paper is intended to be a reference for medical, nursing, social workers and ancillary hospital staff to implement the national and regional governments’ decisions and focus on the Infection Prevention and Control. Results. From the gathered informations, suggestions are given to check carefully workflow and optimize the pre, intra and postoperative elective and emergency surgical activities Results.