RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: It has been demonstrated that reduction in smell and/or taste is the most predictive symptom in SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 infection. We used Google Trends to analyze regional searches relating to loss of smell and taste across Italy, Spain, France, Brazil, and the United States of America and determined the association with reported Covid-19 cases. METHODS: In order to retrieve the data, we built a Python software program that provides access to Google Trends data via an application program interface. Daily COVID-19 case data for subregions of the five countries selected were retrieved from respective national health authorities. We sought to assess the association between raw search interest data and COVID-19 new daily cases per million for all regions individually. RESULTS: In total, we yielded 2188 sets of Google Trends data which included 548 time series of 4 anosmia and ageusia search concepts over the study period for 137 regions. These data indicated that differences in search interest for terms relating to anosmia and ageusia, between regions, is associated with geographical trends in new Covid-19 cases. CONCLUSIONS: We feel that Google search trends relating to loss of smell can be utilized to identify potential Covid-19 outbreaks on a national and regional basis.
Asunto(s)
Ageusia/virología , Betacoronavirus , Infecciones por Coronavirus/fisiopatología , Trastornos del Olfato/virología , Neumonía Viral/fisiopatología , Olfato , Gusto , Ageusia/epidemiología , Brasil/epidemiología , COVID-19 , Infecciones por Coronavirus/epidemiología , Europa (Continente)/epidemiología , Salud Global , Humanos , Internet , Trastornos del Olfato/epidemiología , Pandemias , Neumonía Viral/epidemiología , Estudios Retrospectivos , Factores de Riesgo , SARS-CoV-2 , Estados Unidos/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and its associated mortality continue to increase in developing countries despite unparalleled improvements in cardiovascular medicine over the last century. Cardiovascular care in developing nations is often constrained by limited resources, poor access, lack of specialty training and inadequate financial support. Medical volunteerism by experienced health care teams can provide mentorship, medical expertise and health policy advice to local teams and improve cardiovascular patient outcomes. METHODS: We report our experience from annual successive humanitarian medical missions to Arequipa, Peru, and describe the challenges faced when performing cardiovascular interventions with limited resources. RESULTS: Over a 2-year period, we performed a total of 15 cardiac repairs in patients with rheumatic, congenital and ischemic heart disease. We assessed and managed 150 patients in an outpatient clinic, including 7 patients at 1-year postoperative follow-up. CONCLUSION: Despite multiple challenges, we were able to help the local team deliver advanced cardiovascular care to many patients with few alternatives and achieve good early and 1-year outcomes. Interdisciplinary education at all levels of cardiac care, including preoperative assessment, intraoperative surgical and anesthetic details, and postoperative critical care management, were major goals for our medical missions.