Lancet: RETRACTED: Chinese medical staff request international medical assistance in fighting against COVID-19

[Shiloh]

RETRACTED: Chinese medical staff request international medical assistance in fighting against COVID-19

Yingchun Zeng
Yan Zhen

Open AccessPublished:February 24, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30065-6

Correspondence|Online First

On Jan 24, 2020, we came to Wuhan, China, to support the local nurses in their fight against the COVID-19 infection. We entered the Wuhan isolation ward as the first batch of medical aid workers from Guangdong Province, China. The daily work we are doing is mainly focused on provision of oxygen, electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring, tube care, airway management, ventilator debugging, central venous intubation, haemodialysis care, and basic nursing care such as disposal and disinfection...

The conditions and environment here in Wuhan are more difficult and extreme than we could ever have imagined. There is a severe shortage of protective equipment, such as N95 respirators, face shields, goggles, gowns, and gloves. The goggles are made of plastic that must be repeatedly cleaned and sterilised in the ward, making them difficult to see through. Due to the need for frequent hand washing, several of our colleagues' hands are covered in painful rashes. As a result of wearing an N95 respirator for extended periods of time and layers of protective equipment, some nurses now have pressure ulcers on their ears and forehead. When wearing a mask to speak with patients, our voices are muted, so we have to speak very loudly. Wearing four layers of gloves is abnormally clumsy and does not work—we can't even open the packaging bags for medical devices, so giving patients injections is a huge challenge. In order to save energy and the time it takes to put on and take off protective clothing, we avoid eating and drinking for 2 hours before entering the isolation ward. Often, nurses' mouths are covered in blisters. Some nurses have fainted due to hypoglycaemia and hypoxia.
In addition to the physical exhaustion, we are also suffering psychologically...

[JJackson]

This is a retracted article, does anyone know why Nature have retracted it? Is it wrong, was it pulled by the authors or Nature?

[Pathfinder]

Translation Google

New crown pneumonia situation is still bad? Wuhan medical care cries for help

issuing time: 27/02/2020-10:18
Change time: 27/02/2020-10:18

Although Chinese officials have continuously emphasized that they have sufficient experience and ability to respond to the epidemic, some nurses involved in the rescue in Wuhan recently issued a letter to the international community for help through an international authoritative medical journal. The Chinese translation of this article has been deleted from the entire network.

According to Free Asia, Chinese medical staff called for international assistance with The Lancet. It is reported that a special signed article was published on the official website of the British medical journal "The Lancet" on the 24th. The authors of the article, Yingchun Zeng (transliteration) and Yan Yan (transliteration), stated that they were the first members of the medical team from Guangdong to go to Wuhan for assistance, and that the situation in Wuhan was worse than they thought. N95 masks, masks, protective glasses, protective clothing, gloves and other protective materials are seriously lacking. Plastic goggles need to be repeatedly cleaned and disinfected, resulting in serious wear and tear, which makes it difficult to see.

The authors also described the health problems of the medical staff in the text: "Because of the frequent hand washing, our colleagues' hands have become covered with rashes, which is unbearable. Wear N95 respirators for a long time and wear multiple protective equipment Some nurses have pressure ulcers on their ears and foreheads, "said the call for help." At the same time, in order to save energy and time to wear protective clothing, we will avoid eating and drinking for two hours before entering the isolation ward, so We often see some nurses with blisters on their lips and fainting due to hypoglycemia and hypoxia. It is very inconvenient to wear 4 layers of gloves and it is a huge challenge to give patients an injection. "

In addition to being physically exhausted, the author also mentioned the psychological suffering suffered by members of the medical team. "Although we are professional nurses, we are also humans. Like everyone, we also feel helpless, anxious and fearful. Experienced nurses sometimes take the time to comfort colleagues and try to reduce our anxiety. But even Experienced nurses may also cry, maybe because we do n’t know how long we need to stay here, and because we are the highest risk group for the new coronavirus. There are already 1,716 medical staff in China infected with the new coronavirus. Nine people died. "

The author issued a call for help at the end of the article." Given the shortage of medical staff in Wuhan, 140,000 nurses across the country came to Wuhan voluntarily. We need more help. We call on nurses and medical staff from all over the world to go now. China, help us in this battle. "

The report said that it is worth noting that after the outbreak of the new crown virus, Chinese officials have repeatedly expressed confidence and ability to deal with the epidemic, while maintaining a conservative attitude towards the assistance of the international community, especially the US government. As the epidemic situation continues to worsen, criticism from the public is growing louder. In order to "reassure the people", Chinese officials began to block the news and put an end to all "rumors".

According to the report, the Guangdong Medical Assistance Team of Wuhan in Hubei issued a statement on Wednesday asking The Lancet to withdraw the article, clarify the facts and apologize.

According to Free Asia, in addition, the Chinese medical information platform "Lilac Garden" translated and reprinted the article "The Lancet" that morning, which caused widespread discussion among netizens. But the article has been deleted by the entire network by the afternoon.

http://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20200227-%E6%96%B0%E5%86%A0%E8%82%BA%E7%82%8E%E5%B1%80%E5%8A%BF%E4%BB%8D%E4%B8%8D%E5%A5%BD-%E6%AD%A6%E6%B1%89%E5%8C%BB%E6%8A%A4%E5%AF%B9%E5%A4%96%E5%96%8A%E6%B1%82%E6%8F%B4

[JJackson]

The situation they describe sounds accurate but out of date. If you listen to https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/watc...20Organization
Bruce Aylward's comments on returning from the WHO fact finding mission they were overwhelmed and there was a shortage of everything but the case numbers have dropped dramatically and now there are spare beds and things have eased considerably. The other point he made was the experts in this disease are not in the WHO or anyone else's CDC they are Chinese and if we want to know what works ask China for help.

They do not need a whole load of foreigners who are new to the disease and don't speak the language as they would probably more trouble than they are worth (that's my comment not Dr. Aylward's).