Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus / 17.07.2020
COVID-19: What Are the Limitations of Social Distancing?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_54880" align="alignleft" width="196"] Dr. Chakrabarty[/caption]
Rajan K. Chakrabarty, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering
Washington University in Saint Louis
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: At the onset of COVID-19, we developed a state-of-the-art epidemic progression model involving the susceptible, exposed, infected, and recovered (SEIR) dynamics, the age-stratified disease transmissibility, and the possible large-scale undocumented asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 taking place in the US states. By informing our model with using epidemiological COVID-19 data for the US between March 19 and 28 – a period corresponding to the early stage of the epidemic when the impacts of social distancing on disease progression were yet to manifest – we investigated: “What is the medical cost benefit of implementing social distancing as the “only” non-pharmaceutical intervention policy to combat COVID-19 in the US?”
As part of this study, we investigated three social distancing strategies – indefinite, finite-duration, and intermittent – on age-stratified US population and benchmark its effectiveness in reducing the burden on hospital beds.
Dr. Chakrabarty[/caption]
Rajan K. Chakrabarty, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering
Washington University in Saint Louis
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: At the onset of COVID-19, we developed a state-of-the-art epidemic progression model involving the susceptible, exposed, infected, and recovered (SEIR) dynamics, the age-stratified disease transmissibility, and the possible large-scale undocumented asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19 taking place in the US states. By informing our model with using epidemiological COVID-19 data for the US between March 19 and 28 – a period corresponding to the early stage of the epidemic when the impacts of social distancing on disease progression were yet to manifest – we investigated: “What is the medical cost benefit of implementing social distancing as the “only” non-pharmaceutical intervention policy to combat COVID-19 in the US?”
As part of this study, we investigated three social distancing strategies – indefinite, finite-duration, and intermittent – on age-stratified US population and benchmark its effectiveness in reducing the burden on hospital beds.
Dr. Jensen[/caption]
Majken K. Jensen, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Nutrition
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health &
Professor in the Department of Public Health
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are highly prevalent conditions. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 50 million people are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias worldwide. Lower apolipoprotein E in plasma is a risk factor for dementia, but the underlying biological mechanisms are not fully understood. Thus, we investigated the role of apolipoprotein E overall and in lipoproteins with distinct metabolic functions in relation to cognitive function and dementia risk..
Prof.l Tower[/caption]
John Gerard Tower
Professor of biological sciences
University of Southern California
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Mifepristone is a synthetic steroid drug that is used in humans for birth control and as a treatment for Cushing’s disease, and is currently in clinical trials as an anti-cancer treatment.
We have previously shown that mifepristone dramatically increases the life span of mated female Drosophila flies.
Dr. Dixon[/caption]
Cinnamon A. Dixon, DO, MPH
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Children’s Hospital Colorado
Senior Investigator | Center for Global Health
Colorado School of Public Health
Aurora, CO
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this commentary?
Response: Dog bites are a long-standing public health problem. Each year there are approximately 4.5 million dog bites across the Unites States (US),1 and global estimates suggest tens of millions of these injuries worldwide.2 Children are the most vulnerable population with nearly 1 million annual dog bites in the US and more severe injury outcomes.1
National organizations espouse consistent strategies on how to prevent dog bites to children, however studies reveal that most children have never received dog bite prevention education.3,4 Furthermore, children lack critical knowledge of how to prevent dog bites in high-risk “resource guarding” situations (such as when a dog is eating or chewing on toys).4
During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of US households are experiencing restrictions in activities. Children now spend more time in the home environment and presumably have increased exposure to their pet dogs. Parents and caregivers likely experience greater stress with more potential for competing interests and resultant decreased supervision of their children and dogs. Finally, pet dogs may be affected by the increased tension of their environment and be more likely to mirror the emotions of their human caregivers.
We hypothesized that these combined elements compound the risk of dog bites to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jakob Weitzer[/caption]
Jakob Weitzer MSc
Department of Epidemiology
Center for Public Health
Medical University of Vienna
Vienna, Austria
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Chronic insomnia is a highly prevalent, often underdiagnosed and undertreated disease. Previous research has linked dispositional optimism to a better sleep quality and to insomnia symptoms, and showed that optimism can be trained. Since we think that positive psychology plays an important role for our health we wanted to further shed light on this topic. 
Dr. Harper[/caption]
Julie C. Harper, MD
Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology
University of Alabama-Birmingham
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
How common is rosacea?
What are the clinical manifestations of facial rosacea or psoriasis?
Dr. Blundon[/caption]
Elizabeth Blundon PhD
Department of Psychology
University of British Columbia – Vancouver
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Many healthcare workers have noticed that dying patients appear to be comforted by the words of their loved ones, even when patients appear to be unconscious and are no longer able to communicate. There is a persistent belief, therefore, that hearing may persist into the last hours of someone's life. Our study attempts to detect evidence of hearing among a small group of unresponsive hospice patients at the end of life.
To do this, we compared the brain activity of young, healthy control participants, with the brain activity of hospice patients, both when the patients were awake and responsive, and again when they became unresponsive. The brain activity we measured was in response to a complex series of tone-patterns, where participants were asked to identify by pressing a button (control participants) or by counting (hospice patients) every time they heard a tone-pattern that was different from the rest of the series. 
Samia Arshad[/caption]
Samia Arshad, MPH
Epidemiologist II
Infectious Disease
Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI
I would like to start off by saying: We need to keep partisanship out of science. During this pandemic, we hope we can stick to science and help save lives with purposeful data driven facts.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial and immunomodulatory agent has demonstrated antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. We are in an acceleration phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 25% of the world’s cases occurring in the United States. Currently there is no known therapy or vaccine for treatment of SARS-CoV-2, highlighting the urgency around identifying effective therapies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of hydroxychloroquine therapy alone and in combination with azithromycin in hospitalized patients positive for COVID-19. 
Dr. Robbins[/caption]
Dr. Rebecca Robbins, PhD MS
Fellow at Brigham & Women's Hospital
and Harvard Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Sleep difficulties are common among older adults and are associated with cognitive decline. We used data collected over 10 years from a large, nationally representative longitudinal survey of adults over the age of 50 in the U.S. We examined the relationship between specific sleep difficulties and cognitive function over time.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Our results show that early difficulty falling asleep and early morning awakenings, when experienced "most nights" of the week, were each associated with worse cognitive function. Conversely, reports of waking feeling rested was associated with better cognitive function, over time. 
Dr. Zhang[/caption]
Ruiyuan Zhang, MD, MS
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of Georgia College of Public Health
Athens, Georgia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Although there are several studies that focused on the effect of alcohol drinking on cognitive function, their findings were still mixed. So we want to use some new analysis techniques on this topic to see if we can have new findings.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The main finding of our study is that low-to-moderate alcohol drinking is associated with better cognitive function outcomes.
