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Hussain B, Wu C. Evolutionary and Phylogenetic Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Variants: A Genetic Comparative Study of Taiyuan and Wuhan Cities of China. Viruses 2024; 16:907. [PMID: 38932199 PMCID: PMC11209594 DOI: 10.3390/v16060907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2024] [Revised: 05/25/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA genome-containing virus which has infected millions of people all over the world. The virus has been mutating rapidly enough, resulting in the emergence of new variants and sub-variants which have reportedly been spread from Wuhan city in China, the epicenter of the virus, to the rest of China and all over the world. The occurrence of mutations in the viral genome, especially in the viral spike protein region, has resulted in the evolution of multiple variants and sub-variants which gives the virus the benefit of host immune evasion and thus renders modern-day vaccines and therapeutics ineffective. Therefore, there is a continuous need to study the genetic characteristics and evolutionary dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 variants. Hence, in this study, a total of 832 complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 variants from the cities of Taiyuan and Wuhan in China was genetically characterized and their phylogenetic and evolutionary dynamics studied using phylogenetics, genetic similarity, and phylogenetic network analyses. This study shows that the four most prevalent lineages in Taiyuan and Wuhan are as follows: the Omicron lineages EG.5.1.1, followed by HK.3, FY.3, and XBB.1.16 (Pangolin classification), and clades 23F (EG.5.1), followed by 23H (HK.3), 22F (XBB), and 23D (XBB.1.9) (Nextclade classification), and lineage B followed by the Omicron FY.3, lineage A, and Omicron FL.2.3 (Pangolin classification), and the clades 19A, followed by 22F (XBB), 23F (EG.5.1), and 23H (HK.3) (Nextclade classification), respectively. Furthermore, our genetic similarity analysis show that the SARS-CoV-2 clade 19A-B.4 from Wuhan (name starting with 412981) has the least genetic similarity of about 95.5% in the spike region of the genome as compared to the query sequence of Omicron XBB.2.3.2 from Taiyuan (name starting with 18495234), followed by the Omicron FR.1.4 from Taiyuan (name starting with 18495199) with ~97.2% similarity and Omicron DY.3 (name starting with 17485740) with ~97.9% similarity. The rest of the variants showed ≥98% similarity with the query sequence of Omicron XBB.2.3.2 from Taiyuan (name starting with 18495234). In addition, our recombination analysis results show that the SARS-CoV-2 variants have three statistically significant recombinant events which could have possibly resulted in the emergence of Omicron XBB.1.16 (recombination event 3), FY.3 (recombination event 5), and FL.2.4 (recombination event 7), suggesting some very important information regarding viral evolution. Also, our phylogenetic tree and network analyses show that there are a total of 14 clusters and more than 10,000 mutations which may have probably resulted in the emergence of cluster-I, followed by 47 mutations resulting in the emergence of cluster-II and so on. The clustering of the viral variants of both cities reveals significant information regarding the phylodynamics of the virus among them. The results of our temporal phylogenetic analysis suggest that the variants of Taiyuan have likely emerged as independent variants separate from the variants of Wuhan. This study, to the best of our knowledge, is the first ever genetic comparative study between Taiyuan and Wuhan cities in China. This study will help us better understand the virus and cope with the emergence and spread of new variants at a local as well as an international level, and keep the public health authorities informed for them to make better decisions in designing new viral vaccines and therapeutics. It will also help the outbreak investigators to better examine any future outbreak.
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Affiliation(s)
- Behzad Hussain
- Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan 030006, China;
- Shanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Cell Biology, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan 030006, China
| | - Changxin Wu
- Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan 030006, China;
- Shanxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Cell Biology, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan 030006, China
- The Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Molecular Engineering of National Ministry of Education, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan 030006, China
- Shanxi Provincial Key Laboratory for Major Infectious Disease Response, Taiyuan 030006, China
- The Fourth People’s Hospital of Taiyuan, Taiyuan 030006, China
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2
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Ho SYC, Chien TW, Chou W. Visualizing burst spots on research for four authors in MDPI journals named to be Citation Laureates 2021 using temporal bar graph. Medicine (Baltimore) 2023; 102:e34578. [PMID: 37565889 PMCID: PMC10419625 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000034578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The appearance of a topic in a document stream is signaled by a burst of activity, with certain features rising sharply in frequency as the topic emerges. Although temporal bar graph (TBG) is frequently applied to present the burst spot in the bibliographical study, none of the research has combined the inflection point (IP) to interpret the burst spot feature. The aims of this study are to improve the traditional TBG and apply the TBG to understand better the evolution of a topic (e.g., publications and citations for a given author). METHODS The EISTL model, including entity, indicator, selection of a few vital ones (named attributes) with higher values in quantity (e.g., the citation data of the top 10 entities), TBG and line-chart plots to verify the trend of interest, was proposed to demonstrate the TBG as a whole. The IP locations compared to the median point in data along with the heap map and line-chart trend were identified. The burst strength was computed. A dashboard on Google Maps was designed and launched for bibliometric analysis. Four authors in MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute) journals named to be Citation Laureates 2021 were recruited to compare their research achievements shown on the TBG, particularly displaying the burst spots and the recent developments and stages (e.g., increasing, ready to increase, slowdown, or decreasing). RESULTS We observed that the highest burst strengths in publication and citations are earned by Barry Halliwell (8.99) and Jean-Pierre Changeux (18.01). The breakthrough of TBG using the EISTL model to display the influence of authors in academics was made with 2 parts of the primary IP point and the trend feature in the data. CONCLUSION The dashboard-type TBG shown on Google Maps is unique and innovative and able to provide deeper insights to readers, not merely limited to the publications and citations for a given author as we did in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Yu-Chieh Ho
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Tsair-Wei Chien
- Department of Medical Research, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Willy Chou
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chiali Chi-Mei Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chung San Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
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3
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Gao J, Ma Q, Sun D, Yang Y, Ren M, Wang L, Fan C, Fan Z, Cao M, Zhao J. Telemedicine in the Battle with 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Henan Province, China: A Narrative Study. Telemed J E Health 2023; 29:1211-1223. [PMID: 36602780 DOI: 10.1089/tmj.2022.0247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Based on practical services of the Henan Province Telemedicine Center (HTCC), the purpose of this study is to investigate the design, construction, implementation, and application effect of a specific telemedicine system in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Data on COVID-19 cases from December 31, 2019, through October 17, 2022, were collected from official websites. Data and information of telemedicine services related to COVID-19 in HTCC were collected and analyzed, and relevant graphical representations were plotted. Results: All the 147 COVID-19 designated hospitals in the Henan Province were covered by the specific telemedicine system. The cities near to the Hubei Province in the south of Henan tended to be with more COVID-19 cases, where more COVID-19-related telemedicine services were conducted. For the telemedicine system, function modules, including real-time monitoring, command and dispatch, intractable cases transfer, remote guidance, and data sharing, were designed and realized to deal with COVID-19. Through the system, telemedicine services involved COVID-19 such as epidemic surveillance, emergency rescue, case discussion, diagnosis and treatment, remote ward-round, and distance education were performed. During the period between February 2 and March 3, 2020, 646 COVID-19 patients were served by the telemedicine system, with an improvement rate of 73.2%. Conclusions: Telemedicine can improve the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients, which play a helpful role in curbing the COVID-19 epidemic. Given the current global COVID-19 pandemic and the potential re-emerge of novel zoonotic pathogens in the future, the use of telemedicine would be imperative to fight against the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinghong Gao
- National Engineering Laboratory for Internet Medical Systems and Applications, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
- Institute for Hospital Management of Henan Province, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Qianqian Ma
- National Engineering Laboratory for Internet Medical Systems and Applications, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Dongxu Sun
- National Engineering Laboratory for Internet Medical Systems and Applications, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yiling Yang
- Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Mingxing Ren
- Office of Academic Research, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Lin Wang
- National Engineering Laboratory for Internet Medical Systems and Applications, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Chaolin Fan
- Department of Emergency Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Zhaohan Fan
- National Engineering Laboratory for Internet Medical Systems and Applications, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Mingbo Cao
- National Engineering Laboratory for Internet Medical Systems and Applications, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Jie Zhao
- National Engineering Laboratory for Internet Medical Systems and Applications, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Phang P, Labadin J, Suhaila J, Aslam S, Hazmi H. Exploration of spatiotemporal heterogeneity and socio-demographic determinants on COVID-19 incidence rates in Sarawak, Malaysia. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:1396. [PMID: 37474904 PMCID: PMC10357875 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16300-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In Sarawak, 252 300 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases have been recorded with 1 619 fatalities in 2021, compared to only 1 117 cases in 2020. Since Sarawak is geographically separated from Peninsular Malaysia and half of its population resides in rural districts where medical resources are limited, the analysis of spatiotemporal heterogeneity of disease incidence rates and their relationship with socio-demographic factors are crucial in understanding the spread of the disease in Sarawak. METHODS The spatial dependence of district-wise incidence rates is investigated using spatial autocorrelation analysis with two orders of contiguity weights for various pandemic waves. Nine determinants are chosen from 14 covariates of socio-demographic factors via elastic net regression and recursive partitioning. The relationships between incidence rates and socio-demographic factors are examined using ordinary least squares, spatial lag and spatial error models, and geographically weighted regression. RESULTS In the first 8 months of 2021, COVID-19 severely affected Sarawak's central region, which was followed by the southern region in the next 2 months. In the third wave, based on second-order spatial weights, the incidence rate in a district is most strongly influenced by its neighboring districts' rate, although the variance of incidence rates is best explained by local regression coefficient estimates of socio-demographic factors in the first wave. It is discovered that the percentage of households with garbage collection facilities, population density and the proportion of male in the population are positively associated with the increase in COVID-19 incidence rates. CONCLUSION This research provides useful insights for the State Government and public health authorities to critically incorporate socio-demographic characteristics of local communities into evidence-based decision-making for altering disease monitoring and response plans. Policymakers can make well-informed judgments and implement targeted interventions by having an in-depth understanding of the spatial patterns and relationships between COVID-19 incidence rates and socio-demographic characteristics. This will effectively help in mitigating the spread of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Piau Phang
- Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, 94300, Sarawak, Malaysia.
| | - Jane Labadin
- Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, 94300, Sarawak, Malaysia
| | - Jamaludin Suhaila
- Department of Mathematical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, 81310, Johor, Malaysia
| | - Saira Aslam
- Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, 94300, Sarawak, Malaysia
| | - Helmy Hazmi
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, 94300, Sarawak, Malaysia
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Belvis F, Aleta A, Padilla-Pozo Á, Pericàs JM, Fernández-Gracia J, Rodríguez JP, Eguíluz VM, De Santana CN, Julià M, Benach J. Key epidemiological indicators and spatial autocorrelation patterns across five waves of COVID-19 in Catalonia. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9709. [PMID: 37322048 PMCID: PMC10272129 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36169-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
This research studies the evolution of COVID-19 crude incident rates, effective reproduction number R(t) and their relationship with incidence spatial autocorrelation patterns in the 19 months following the disease outbreak in Catalonia (Spain). A cross-sectional ecological panel design based on n = 371 health-care geographical units is used. Five general outbreaks are described, systematically preceded by generalized values of R(t) > 1 in the two previous weeks. No clear regularities concerning possible initial focus appear when comparing waves. As for autocorrelation, we identify a wave's baseline pattern in which global Moran's I increases rapidly in the first weeks of the outbreak to descend later. However, some waves significantly depart from the baseline. In the simulations, both baseline pattern and departures can be reproduced when measures aimed at reducing mobility and virus transmissibility are introduced. Spatial autocorrelation is inherently contingent on the outbreak phase and is also substantially modified by external interventions affecting human behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesc Belvis
- Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005, Barcelona, Spain.
- Johns Hopkins University-Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (JHU-UPF PPC), 08005, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Alberto Aleta
- Institute for Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI), University of Zaragoza, 50018, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Álvaro Padilla-Pozo
- Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- Johns Hopkins University-Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (JHU-UPF PPC), 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Juan-M Pericàs
- Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- Johns Hopkins University-Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (JHU-UPF PPC), 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- Liver Unit, Internal Medicine Department, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Vall d'Hebron Institute for Research, CIBERehd, 08035, Barcelona, Spain
- Infectious Disease Department, Hospital Clínic, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan Fernández-Gracia
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar Y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Jorge P Rodríguez
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar Y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), 07190, Esporles, Spain
| | - Víctor M Eguíluz
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar Y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Charles Novaes De Santana
- Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar Y Sistemas Complejos IFISC (CSIC-UIB), 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Mireia Julià
- Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- Johns Hopkins University-Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (JHU-UPF PPC), 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- ESIMar (Mar Nursing School), Parc de Salut Mar, Universitat Pompeu Fabra-Affiliated, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
- SDHEd (Social Determinants and Health Education Research Group), IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), 08005, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Benach
- Research Group on Health Inequalities, Environment, and Employment Conditions (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- Johns Hopkins University-Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center (JHU-UPF PPC), 08005, Barcelona, Spain
- Ecological Humanities Research Group (GHECO), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
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Tong C, Shi W, Zhang A, Shi Z. Predicting onset risk of COVID-19 symptom to support healthy travel route planning in the new normal of long-term coexistence with SARS-CoV-2. ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING. B, URBAN ANALYTICS AND CITY SCIENCE 2023; 50:1212-1227. [PMID: 38603316 PMCID: PMC9482944 DOI: 10.1177/23998083221127703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Due to the increased outdoor transmission risk of new SARS-COV-2 variants, the health of urban residents in daily travel is being threatened. In the new normal of long-term coexistence with SARS-CoV-2, how to avoid being infected by SARS-CoV-2 in daily travel has become a key issue. Hence, a spatiotemporal solution has been proposed to assist healthy travel route planning. Firstly, an enhanced urban-community-scale geographic model was proposed to predict daily COVID-19 symptom onset risk by incorporating the real-time effective reproduction numbers, and daily population variation of fully vaccinated. On-road onset risk predictions in the next following days were then extracted for searching healthy routes with the least onset risk values. The healthy route planning was further implemented in a mobile application. Hong Kong, one of the representative highly populated cities, has been chosen as an example to apply the spatiotemporal solution. The application results in the four epidemic waves of Hong Kong show that based on the high accurate prediction of COVID-19 symptom onset risk, the healthy route planning could reduce people's exposure to the COVID-19 symptoms onset risk. To sum, the proposed solution can be applied to support the healthy travel of residents in more cities in the new normalcy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengzhuo Tong
- Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute and Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wenzhong Shi
- Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute and Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Anshu Zhang
- Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute and Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
| | - Zhicheng Shi
- Research Institute for Smart Cities, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shenzhen University, China
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Vilinová K, Petrikovičová L. Spatial Autocorrelation of COVID-19 in Slovakia. Trop Med Infect Dis 2023; 8:298. [PMID: 37368716 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8060298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The pandemic situation of COVID-19, which affected almost the entire civilized world with its consequences, offered a unique opportunity for analysis of geographical space. In a relatively short period of time, the COVID-19 pandemic became a truly global event with consequences affecting all areas of life. Circumstances with COVID-19, which affected the territory of Slovakia and its regions, represent a sufficient premise for analysis three years after the registration of the first case in Slovakia. The study presents the results of a detailed spatiotemporal analysis of the course of registered cases of COVID-19 in six periods in Slovakia. The aim of the paper was to analyze the development of the number of people infected with the disease COVID-19 in Slovakia. At the level of the districts of Slovakia, using spatial autocorrelation, we identified spatial differences in the disease of COVID-19. Moran's global autocorrelation index and Moran's local index were used in the synthesis of knowledge. Spatial analysis of data on the number of infected in the form of spatial autocorrelation analysis was used as a practical sustainable approach to localizing statistically significant areas with high and low positivity. This manifested itself in the monitored area mainly in the form of positive spatial autocorrelation. The selection of data and methods used in this study together with the achieved and presented results can serve as a suitable tool to support decisions in further measures for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarína Vilinová
- Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Regional Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, Constantine the Philosopher University, 949 01 Nitra, Slovakia
| | - Lucia Petrikovičová
- Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Regional Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, Constantine the Philosopher University, 949 01 Nitra, Slovakia
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Xue M, Huang Z, Hu Y, Du J, Gao M, Pan R, Mo Y, Zhong J, Huang Z. Monitoring European data with prospective space-time scan statistics: predicting and evaluating emerging clusters of COVID-19 in European countries. BMC Public Health 2022; 22:2183. [PMID: 36434572 PMCID: PMC9701036 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-14298-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a pandemic infectious disease and become a serious public health crisis. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, it is of vital importance to detect COVID-19 clusters to better distribute resources and optimizing measures. This study helps the surveillance of the COVID-19 pandemic and discovers major space-time clusters of reported cases in European countries. Prospective space-time scan statistics are particularly valuable because it has detected active and emerging COVID-19 clusters. It can prompt public health decision makers when and where to improve targeted interventions, testing locations, and necessary isolation measures, and the allocation of medical resources to reduce further spread. METHODS Using the daily case data of various countries provided by the European Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we used SaTScan™ 9.6 to conduct a prospective space-time scan statistics analysis. We detected statistically significant space-time clusters of COVID-19 at the European country level between March 1st to October 2nd, 2020 and March 1st to October 2nd, 2021. Using ArcGIS to draw the spatial distribution map of COVID-19 in Europe, showing the emerging clusters that appeared at the end of our study period detected by Poisson prospective space-time scan statistics. RESULTS The results show that among the 49 countries studied, the regions with the largest number of reported cases of COVID-19 are Western Europe, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe. Among the 49 countries studied, the country with the largest cumulative number of reported cases is the United Kingdom, followed by Russia, Turkey, France, and Spain. The country (or region) with the lowest cumulative number of reported cases is the Faroe Islands. We discovered 9 emerging clusters, including 21 risky countries. CONCLUSION This result can provide timely information to national public health decision makers. For example, a country needs to improve the allocation of medical resources and epidemic detection points, or a country needs to strengthen entry and exit testing, or a country needs to strengthen the implementation of protective isolation measures. As the data is updated daily, new data can be re-analyzed to achieve real-time monitoring of COVID-19 in Europe. This study uses Poisson prospective space-time scan statistics to monitor COVID-19 in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingjin Xue
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China
| | - Zhaowei Huang
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China
| | - Yudi Hu
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China
| | - Jinlin Du
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China ,grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Pension Industry Research Institute, Guangdong Medical University, Guangdong Province Zhanjiang, China
| | - Miao Gao
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China
| | - Ronglin Pan
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China
| | - Yuqian Mo
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China
| | - Jinlin Zhong
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China
| | - Zhigang Huang
- grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province China ,grid.410560.60000 0004 1760 3078Pension Industry Research Institute, Guangdong Medical University, Guangdong Province Zhanjiang, China
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Zheng J, Shen G, Hu S, Han X, Zhu S, Liu J, He R, Zhang N, Hsieh CW, Xue H, Zhang B, Shen Y, Mao Y, Zhu B. Small-scale spatiotemporal epidemiology of notifiable infectious diseases in China: a systematic review. BMC Infect Dis 2022; 22:723. [PMID: 36064333 PMCID: PMC9442567 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-022-07669-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The prevalence of infectious diseases remains one of the major challenges faced by the Chinese health sector. Policymakers have a tremendous interest in investigating the spatiotemporal epidemiology of infectious diseases. We aimed to review the small-scale (city level, county level, or below) spatiotemporal epidemiology of notifiable infectious diseases in China through a systematic review, thus summarizing the evidence to facilitate more effective prevention and control of the diseases. Methods We searched four English language databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science) and three Chinese databases (CNKI, WanFang, and SinoMed), for studies published between January 1, 2004 (the year in which China’s Internet-based disease reporting system was established) and December 31, 2021. Eligible works were small-scale spatial or spatiotemporal studies focusing on at least one notifiable infectious disease, with the entire territory of mainland China as the study area. Two independent reviewers completed the review process based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Results A total of 18,195 articles were identified, with 71 eligible for inclusion, focusing on 22 diseases. Thirty-one studies (43.66%) were analyzed using city-level data, 34 (47.89%) were analyzed using county-level data, and six (8.45%) used community or individual data. Approximately four-fifths (80.28%) of the studies visualized incidence using rate maps. Of these, 76.06% employed various spatial clustering methods to explore the spatial variations in the burden, with Moran’s I statistic being the most common. Of the studies, 40.85% explored risk factors, in which the geographically weighted regression model was the most commonly used method. Climate, socioeconomic factors, and population density were the three most considered factors. Conclusions Small-scale spatiotemporal epidemiology has been applied in studies on notifiable infectious diseases in China, involving spatiotemporal distribution and risk factors. Health authorities should improve prevention strategies and clarify the direction of future work in the field of infectious disease research in China. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-022-07669-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junyao Zheng
- China Institute for Urban Governance, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Guoquan Shen
- School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Siqi Hu
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Xinxin Han
- School of Public Health and Emergency Management, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China
| | - Siyu Zhu
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Jinlin Liu
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Rongxin He
- Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Ning Zhang
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and the Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics, School of Public Health, Imperial College, London, UK
| | - Chih-Wei Hsieh
- Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hao Xue
- Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Bo Zhang
- Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yue Shen
- Laboratory for Urban Future, School of Urban Planning and Design, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ying Mao
- School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Bin Zhu
- School of Public Health and Emergency Management, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China.
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10
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Nazia N, Butt ZA, Bedard ML, Tang WC, Sehar H, Law J. Methods Used in the Spatial and Spatiotemporal Analysis of COVID-19 Epidemiology: A Systematic Review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:8267. [PMID: 35886114 PMCID: PMC9324591 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19148267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic was spatially heterogeneous around the world; the transmission of the disease is driven by complex spatial and temporal variations in socioenvironmental factors. Spatial tools are useful in supporting COVID-19 control programs. A substantive review of the merits of the methodological approaches used to understand the spatial epidemiology of the disease is hardly undertaken. In this study, we reviewed the methodological approaches used to identify the spatial and spatiotemporal variations of COVID-19 and the socioeconomic, demographic and climatic drivers of such variations. We conducted a systematic literature search of spatial studies of COVID-19 published in English from Embase, Scopus, Medline, and Web of Science databases from 1 January 2019 to 7 September 2021. Methodological quality assessments were also performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) risk of bias tool. A total of 154 studies met the inclusion criteria that used frequentist (85%) and Bayesian (15%) modelling approaches to identify spatial clusters and the associated risk factors. Bayesian models in the studies incorporated various spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal effects into the modelling schemes. This review highlighted the need for more local-level advanced Bayesian spatiotemporal modelling through the multi-level framework for COVID-19 prevention and control strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nushrat Nazia
- School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; (Z.A.B.); (M.L.B.); (W.-C.T.); (H.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Zahid Ahmad Butt
- School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; (Z.A.B.); (M.L.B.); (W.-C.T.); (H.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Melanie Lyn Bedard
- School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; (Z.A.B.); (M.L.B.); (W.-C.T.); (H.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Wang-Choi Tang
- School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; (Z.A.B.); (M.L.B.); (W.-C.T.); (H.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Hibah Sehar
- School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; (Z.A.B.); (M.L.B.); (W.-C.T.); (H.S.); (J.L.)
| | - Jane Law
- School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; (Z.A.B.); (M.L.B.); (W.-C.T.); (H.S.); (J.L.)
- School of Planning, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
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11
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Ayora-Talavera G, Kirstein OD, Puerta-Guardo H, Barrera-Fuentes GA, Ortegòn-Abud D, Che-Mendoza A, Parra M, Peña-Miranda F, Culquichicon C, Pavia-Ruz N, Beheshti A, Trovão NS, Granja-Pérez P, Manrique-Saide P, Vazquez-Prokopec GM, Earnest JT. SARS-CoV-2 antibody prevalence in a pediatric cohort of unvaccinated children in Mérida, Yucatán, México. PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 2:e0000354. [PMID: 36962356 PMCID: PMC10021704 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in children during the global COVID-19 pandemic has been underestimated due to lack of testing and the relatively mild symptoms in adolescents. Understanding the exposure rates in the pediatric population is essential as children are the last to receive vaccines and can act as a source for SARS-CoV-2 mutants that may threaten vaccine escape. This cross-sectional study aims to quantify the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 serum antibodies in children in a major city in México in the Spring of 2021 and determine if there are any demographic or socioeconomic correlating factors. We obtained socioeconomic information and blood samples from 1,005 children from 50 neighborhood clusters in Mérida, Yucatán, México. We then tested the sera of these participants for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibodies using lateral flow immunochromatography. We found that 25.5% of children in our cohort were positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and there was no correlation between age and antibody prevalence. Children that lived with large families were statistically more likely to have antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Spatial analyses identified two hotspots of high SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in the west of the city. These results indicate that a large urban population of unvaccinated children has been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and that a major correlating factor was the number of people within the child's household with a minor correlation with particular geographical hotspots. There is also a larger population of children that may be susceptible to future infection upon easing of social distancing measures. These findings suggest that in future pandemic scenarios, limited public health resources can be best utilized on children living in large households in urban areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guadalupe Ayora-Talavera
- Virology Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Oscar D. Kirstein
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States of America
| | - Henry Puerta-Guardo
- Virology Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
- Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Gloria A. Barrera-Fuentes
- Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
- Hematology Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Desiree Ortegòn-Abud
- Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
- Hematology Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Azael Che-Mendoza
- Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Manuel Parra
- Virology Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
- Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | | | - Carlos Culquichicon
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States of America
- Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States of America
| | - Norma Pavia-Ruz
- Hematology Laboratory, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Afshin Beheshti
- KBR, Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, United States of America
- COVID-19 International Research Team, Medford, MA, United States of America
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America
| | - Nídia S. Trovão
- COVID-19 International Research Team, Medford, MA, United States of America
- Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies, Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | | | - Pablo Manrique-Saide
- Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | | | - James T. Earnest
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States of America
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12
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Al-Shaery AM, Hejase B, Tridane A, Farooqi NS, Al Jassmi H. Evaluating COVID-19 control measures in mass gathering events with vaccine inequalities. Sci Rep 2022; 12:3652. [PMID: 35256669 PMCID: PMC8901904 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07609-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
With the increasing global adoption of COVID-19 vaccines, limitations on mass gathering events have started to gradually loosen. However, the large vaccine inequality recorded among different countries is an important aspect that policymakers must address when implementing control measures for such events. In this paper, we propose a model for the assessment of different control measures with the consideration of vaccine inequality in the population. Two control measures are considered: selecting participants based on vaccine efficacy and restricting the event capacity. We build the model using agent-based modeling to capture the spatiotemporal crowd dynamics and utilize a genetic algorithm to assess the control strategies. This assessment is based on factors that are important for policymakers such as disease prevalence, vaccine diversity, and event capacity. A quantitative evaluation of vaccine diversity using the Simpson's Diversity Index is also provided. The Hajj ritual is used as a case study. We show that strategies that prioritized lowering the prevalence resulted in low event capacity but facilitated vaccine diversity. Moreover, strategies that prioritized diversity resulted in high infection rates. However, increasing the prioritization of participants with high vaccine efficacy significantly decreased the disease prevalence. Strategies that prioritized ritual capacity did not show clear trends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali M Al-Shaery
- Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Islamic Architecture, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Bilal Hejase
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Abdessamad Tridane
- Mathematical Sciences Department, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE.
| | - Norah S Farooqi
- College of Computer and Information Systems, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hamad Al Jassmi
- Emirates Center for Mobility Research, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE
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13
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Ho SYC, Chien TW, Shao Y, Hsieh JH. Visualizing the features of inflection point shown on a temporal bar graph using the data of COVID-19 pandemic. Medicine (Baltimore) 2022; 101:e28749. [PMID: 35119031 PMCID: PMC8812627 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000028749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 01/13/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Exponential-like infection growth leading to peaks (denoted by inflection points [IP] or turning points) is usually the hallmark of infectious disease outbreaks, including coronaviruses. To determine the IPs of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), we applied the item response theory model to detect phase transitions for each country/region and characterize the IP feature on the temporal bar graph (TBG). METHODS The IP (using the item difficulty parameter to locate) was verified by the differential equation in calculus and interpreted by the TBG with 2 virtual and real empirical data (i.e., from Collatz conjecture and COVID-19 pandemic in 2020). Comparisons of IPs, R2, and burst strength [BS = ln() denoted by the infection number at IP(Nip) and the item slope parameter(a) in item response theory were made for countries/regions and continents on the choropleth map and the forest plot. RESULTS We found that the evolution of COVID-19 on the TBG makes the data clear and easy to understand, the shorter IP (=53.9) was in China and the longest (=247.3) was in Europe, and the highest R2 (as the variance explained by the model) was in the US, with a mean R2 of 0.98. We successfully estimated the IPs for countries/regions on COVID-19 in 2020 and presented them on the TBG. CONCLUSION Temporal visualization is recommended for researchers in future relevant studies (e.g., the evolution of keywords in a specific discipline) and is not merely limited to the IP search in COVID-19 pandemics as we did in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Yu-Chieh Ho
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Tsair-Wei Chien
- Department of Medical Research, Chiali Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
| | - Yang Shao
- School of Economics, Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China
| | - Ju-Hao Hsieh
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
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