Gastrointestinal effects of an attempt to avoid contracting COVID-19 by 'disinfection'

Evaluation of the impact of different disinfectants on new coronavirus and human health

A new health threat was appeared in 2019 known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The new coronavirus distributed all over the world and caused millions of deaths. One way to incomplete the process of COVID-19 transfer from one person to another is using disinfectants. A narrative review study was done on manuscript published documents about the stability of the virus, different types of disinfectants and the effects of disinfectants on SARS-CoV2 and environment from 2005 to 2022 based on Searched databases included Google Scholar, Springer, PubMed, Web of Science and Science Direct (Scopus). All relevant studies published 2005 until 2022 gathered. According to the databases, 670 articles were retrieved. Thirty studies were screened after review and 30 full-text articles entered into the analysis process. Finally, 14 articles were selected in this study. New coronavirus could survive until 9 days in room temperature; the surviving time decreases if temperature increases. The virus can survive in various plastic, glass, and metal surfaces for hours to days. Disinfectants, such as alcohol, isopropanol, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and ethanol, can kill 70-90% viruses in up to 30 s but should be noted that these disinfectants are recognized by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as a potential carcinogen. According to the different reports, increased duration and level of disinfectant exposure can have negative impacts on human and animal health including upper and lower respiratory tract irritation, inflammation, edema, ulceration, and allergic reactions.

The Impact of COVID-19 Infection on Miscellaneous Inflammatory Disorders of the Gastrointestinal Tract

The novel coronavirus pandemic of COVID-19 has emerged as a highly significant recent threat to global health with about 600,000,000 known infections and more than 6,450,000 deaths worldwide since its emergence in late 2019. COVID-19 symptoms are predominantly respiratory, with mortality largely related to pulmonary manifestations, but the virus also potentially infects all parts of the gastrointestinal tract with related symptoms and manifestations that affect patient treatment and outcome. COVID-19 can directly infect the gastrointestinal tract because of the presence of widespread angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors in the stomach and small intestine that can cause local COVID-19 infection and associated inflammation. This work reviews the pathopysiology, clinical manifestations, workup, and treatment of miscellaneous inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract other than inflammatory bowel disease.

Mucosal defense: gastroduodenal injury and repair mechanisms

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The mucosal barrier serves as a primary interface between the environment and host. In daily life, superficial injury to the gastric or duodenal mucosa occurs regularly but heals rapidly by a process called 'restitution'. Persistent injury to the gastroduodenal mucosa also occurs but initiates a regenerative lesion with specific wound healing mechanisms that attempt to repair barrier function. If not healed, these lesions can be the site of neoplasia development in a chronic inflammatory setting. This review summarizes the past year of advances in understanding mucosal repair in the gastroduodenal mucosa, which occurs as a defense mechanism against injury.

RECENT FINDINGS

Organoids are an emerging new tool that allows for the correlation of in vivo and in vitro models; organoids represent an important reductionist model to probe specific aspects of injury and repair mechanisms that are limited to epithelial cells. Additionally, proof-of-concept studies show that machine learning algorithms may ultimately assist with identifying novel, targetable pathways to pursue in therapeutic interventions. Gut-on-chip technology and single cell RNA-sequencing contributed to new understanding of gastroduodenal regenerative lesions after injury by identifying networks and interactions that are involved in the repair process.

SUMMARY

Recent updates provide new possibilities for identifying novel molecular targets for the treatment of acute and superficial mucosal injury, mucosal regeneration, and regenerative lesions in the gastrointestinal tract.

Event-Based Surveillance of Poisonings and Potentially Hazardous Exposures over 12 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen people and governments utilise an array of chemical and pharmaceutical substances in an attempt to prevent and treat COVID-19 infections. The Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) at Public Health England (PHE) routinely undertakes Event-Based Surveillance (EBS) to monitor public health threats and incidents related to chemicals and poisons. From April 2020, EBS functions were expanded to screen international media for potentially hazardous exposures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Media sources reported that poisons centres were experiencing increased enquiries associated with the use and misuse of household cleaners and alcohol-based hand sanitiser (HS). There were also media reports of people self-medicating with over-the-counter supplements and traditional or herbal remedies. Public figures who directly or indirectly facilitated misinformation were sometimes reported to be associated with changes in poisoning trends. Border closures were also believed to have been associated with increasingly toxic illicit drug supplies in Canada, and record numbers of opioid-related deaths were reported. In other countries, where the sale of alcohol was banned or limited, home-brewing and methanol-based supplies resulted in a number of fatalities. At least two chemical incidents also occurred at industrial sites in India, after sites were left unattended or were closed and reopened due to lockdown measures. Reports of poisoning identified in the international media were provided to the UK National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) and contributed to the UK COVID-19 public health response.

The role of disinfectants and sanitizers during COVID-19 pandemic: advantages and deleterious effects on humans and the environment

Disinfectants and sanitizers are essential preventive agents against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; however, the pandemic crisis was marred by undue hype, which led to the indiscriminate use of disinfectants and sanitizers. Despite demonstrating a beneficial role in the control and prevention of COVID-19, there are crucial concerns regarding the large-scale use of disinfectants and sanitizers, including the side effects on human and animal health along with harmful impacts exerted on the environment and ecological balance. This article discusses the roles of disinfectants and sanitizers in the control and prevention of the current pandemic and highlights updated disinfection techniques against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This article provides evidence of the deleterious effects of disinfectants and sanitizers exerted on humans, animals, and the environment as well as suggests mitigation strategies to reduce these effects. Additionally, potential technologies and approaches for the reduction of these effects and the development of safe, affordable, and effective disinfectants are discussed, particularly, eco-friendly technologies using nanotechnology and nanomedicine.

A national survey assessing public readiness for digital health strategies against COVID-19 within the United Kingdom

There is concern that digital public health initiatives used in the management of COVID-19 may marginalise certain population groups. There is an overlap between the demographics of groups at risk of digital exclusion (older, lower social grade, low educational attainment and ethnic minorities) and those who are vulnerable to poorer health outcomes from SARS-CoV-2. In this national survey study (n = 2040), we assessed how the UK population; particularly these overlapping groups, reported their preparedness for digital health strategies. We report, with respect to using digital information to make health decisions, that those over 60 are less comfortable (net comfort: 57%) than those between 18 and 39 (net comfort: 78%) and lower social grades are less comfortable (net comfort: 63%) than higher social grades (net comfort: 75%). With respect to a preference for digital over non-digital sources in seeking COVID-19 health information, those over 60 (net preference: 21%) are less inclined than those between 18 and 39 (net preference: 60%) and those of low educational attainment (net preference: 30%) are less inclined than those of high educational attainment (net preference: 52%). Lastly, with respect to distinguishing reliable digital COVID-19 information, lower social grades (net confidence: 55%) are less confident than higher social grades (net confidence: 68%) and those of low educational attainment (net confidence: 51%) are less confident than those of high educational attainment (net confidence: 71%). All reported differences are statistically significant (p < 0.01) following multivariate regression modelling. This study suggests that digital public health approaches to COVID-19 have the potential to marginalise groups who are concurrently at risk of digital exclusion and poor health outcomes from SARS-CoV-2.

Therapeutic Endoscopy during COVID-19 Pandemic: An Observational Study from Bangladesh

How to cite this article: Al Mahtab M, Huq AKMF, Rahman MF, et al. Therapeutic Endoscopy during COVID-19 Pandemic: An Observational Study from Bangladesh. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2020;10(1): 47–49.