Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/06/covid-19-scan-jun-15-2020
COVID-19 Scan for Jun 15, 2020
COVID-19 spread in casual contacts; Coronavirus and surgery
Filed Under:
COVID-19
Coronavirus spread among close, casual contacts in China
An investigation by Chinese and US scientists of a cluster of COVID-19 infections in China provides evidence that the coronavirus can spread through casual contacts at social gatherings.
The case-contact investigation, published late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, looked at transmission events from a cluster of seven COVID-19 cases in Jiaxing, China, that occurred from mid-January to early February. The cluster involved four confirmed cases from a family and three confirmed cases thought to be linked to the family through social events, which included a birthday party on Jan 19 and a 2-day wedding party on Jan 22-23.
Extensive case tracking was performed on a total of 539 people who had contact with two members of the family cluster at the wedding and the birthday party. All 539 were contacted by phone and subsequently quarantined in centralized locations for 14 days.
Close contacts were defined as people who had close, prolonged, and repeated interactions with the source cases (cases 2 and 3), who had been in Wuhan, China, 1 week prior to being diagnosed. Those included the son-in-law of the source cases (case 1) and the grandchild (case 4). All other contacts were defined as casual.
Of the 539 people who had close contact with the source cases, four tested positive for COVID-19, for an attack rate of approximately 0.7%. Based on detailed contact information, the researchers estimated the secondary attack rate among close contacts to be 29% (2 of 7), while the attack rate among the casual contacts to be 0.6% (3 of 473). All three of the casual contact cases either sat at the same table or were near case 3 at the wedding.
"In conclusion, our investigation of a cluster of infections associated with COVID-19 demonstrates that person-to-person transmission among casual contacts can and does occur at social gatherings with congregation of large groups of susceptible individuals," the authors wrote. "Importantly, from an individual perspective, the attack rate from casual contact was much lower than through close contact."
Jun 12 Open Forum Infect Dis abstract
COVID-19 associated with increased mortality rates, complications
A matched cohort study from Italy shows that surgical mortality and complications are higher in patients with COVID-19 compared to those without COVID-19. The findings, published in JAMA Surgery, suggest that, when possible, surgeries should be delayed for patients infected with the novel coronavirus.
The study was based at the Spedali Civili Hospital in Brescia, Italy, and involved patients from general, vascular and thoracic, orthopedic, and neurosurgery units from Feb 23 to Apr 1. Brescia is located in the Lombardy region, which had the most COVID-19 activity in Italy.
Surgical outcomes from 41 patients with COVID-19 and 82 matched control patients without COVID-19 were compared. The COVID-19 patients had positive test results for COVID-19 either before or within 1 week after surgery.
The authors found that 30-day mortality was significantly higher for those with COVID-19 compared with control patients without COVID-19 (odds ratio [OR], 9.5; 95% CI, 1.77-96.53), with pulmonary complications the most common (OR, 35.62; 95% CI, 9.34-205.55). In total, 8 patients from the COVID-19 cohort died (19.5%), compared with 2 (2.4%) from the matched cohort.
"This matched cohort study documents that surgical mortality and complications are significantly higher in patients with COVID-19. Pulmonary and thrombotic complications are significantly associated with it," the authors concluded.
Jun 12 JAMA Surg study
COVID-19 Scan for Jun 15, 2020
COVID-19 spread in casual contacts; Coronavirus and surgery
Filed Under:
COVID-19
Coronavirus spread among close, casual contacts in China
An investigation by Chinese and US scientists of a cluster of COVID-19 infections in China provides evidence that the coronavirus can spread through casual contacts at social gatherings.
The case-contact investigation, published late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, looked at transmission events from a cluster of seven COVID-19 cases in Jiaxing, China, that occurred from mid-January to early February. The cluster involved four confirmed cases from a family and three confirmed cases thought to be linked to the family through social events, which included a birthday party on Jan 19 and a 2-day wedding party on Jan 22-23.
Extensive case tracking was performed on a total of 539 people who had contact with two members of the family cluster at the wedding and the birthday party. All 539 were contacted by phone and subsequently quarantined in centralized locations for 14 days.
Close contacts were defined as people who had close, prolonged, and repeated interactions with the source cases (cases 2 and 3), who had been in Wuhan, China, 1 week prior to being diagnosed. Those included the son-in-law of the source cases (case 1) and the grandchild (case 4). All other contacts were defined as casual.
Of the 539 people who had close contact with the source cases, four tested positive for COVID-19, for an attack rate of approximately 0.7%. Based on detailed contact information, the researchers estimated the secondary attack rate among close contacts to be 29% (2 of 7), while the attack rate among the casual contacts to be 0.6% (3 of 473). All three of the casual contact cases either sat at the same table or were near case 3 at the wedding.
"In conclusion, our investigation of a cluster of infections associated with COVID-19 demonstrates that person-to-person transmission among casual contacts can and does occur at social gatherings with congregation of large groups of susceptible individuals," the authors wrote. "Importantly, from an individual perspective, the attack rate from casual contact was much lower than through close contact."
Jun 12 Open Forum Infect Dis abstract
COVID-19 associated with increased mortality rates, complications
A matched cohort study from Italy shows that surgical mortality and complications are higher in patients with COVID-19 compared to those without COVID-19. The findings, published in JAMA Surgery, suggest that, when possible, surgeries should be delayed for patients infected with the novel coronavirus.
The study was based at the Spedali Civili Hospital in Brescia, Italy, and involved patients from general, vascular and thoracic, orthopedic, and neurosurgery units from Feb 23 to Apr 1. Brescia is located in the Lombardy region, which had the most COVID-19 activity in Italy.
Surgical outcomes from 41 patients with COVID-19 and 82 matched control patients without COVID-19 were compared. The COVID-19 patients had positive test results for COVID-19 either before or within 1 week after surgery.
The authors found that 30-day mortality was significantly higher for those with COVID-19 compared with control patients without COVID-19 (odds ratio [OR], 9.5; 95% CI, 1.77-96.53), with pulmonary complications the most common (OR, 35.62; 95% CI, 9.34-205.55). In total, 8 patients from the COVID-19 cohort died (19.5%), compared with 2 (2.4%) from the matched cohort.
"This matched cohort study documents that surgical mortality and complications are significantly higher in patients with COVID-19. Pulmonary and thrombotic complications are significantly associated with it," the authors concluded.
Jun 12 JAMA Surg study