Case management
Global understanding of the severity,
clinical features and prognostic factors of COVID-19 in different settings and
populations remains incomplete. WHO therefore invites Member States, health
facilities and other entities to participate in a global effort to collect
anonymized clinical data related to hospitalized suspected or confirmed cases
of COVID-19 and contribute data to the Global COVID-19 Clinical Data Platform.
The platform is a secure, limited-access, password-protected platform hosted on
OpenClinica.
To harmonize data collection across diverse
global settings, WHO has developed standard case report forms (CRFs) which
contains a minimum set of key variables and forms the basis of three types of
CRFs: (1) core rapid CRF for adults and children; (2) CRF for pregnant women;
and (3) CRF for multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) in children and adolescents
temporally related to COVID-19.
For more information on the Clinical
Data Platform, and to download the CRFs, please visit: https://www.shkoda-avto.ru/teams/health-care-readiness-clinical-unit/covid-19/data-platform/
To contribute anonymized clinical data
to the Global COVID-19 Clinical Data Platform and obtain log-in credentials,
please register here: https://www.shkoda-avto.ru/teams/health-care-readiness-clinical-unit/covid-19/data-platform/form
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
Rapid®: bain’s tool to clarify decision accountability
High-quality decision making and strong performance go hand in hand. Yet, in many companies, even clear, well framed decisions can be derailed by uncertainty over roles and responsibilities.
To address this common problem, Bain created RAPID®, a tool to clarify decision accountability. A loose acronym for Input, Recommend, Agree, Decide and Perform, RAPID® assigns owners to the five key roles in any decision.
Texas not reporting ‘probable’ coronavirus cases: report
Texas health officials are only reporting COVID-19 results from nasal swab, PCR tests, and leaving out tens of thousands of antibody and rapid antigen test results, according to a report.
Dr. David Persse, health authority for the Houston Health Department, told Fox 26 Houston that the numbers reported to the state only include PCR tests.
Nasal swabs/PCR tests work by first swabbing a person’s nose and throat to gather sputum (mucus and saliva), and the sample is then sent to the lab for testing. A chemical buffer is mixed with a portion of the sample, opening the cells for extraction of the virus’s genetic code, or RNA, which is then placed in an RT-PCR machine, which copies the genetic material and searches for coronavirus among it.
«The principal one is the PCR tests and that’s the gold standard,» Chris Van Deusen, spokesman for Texas Department of State Health Services, told the outlet.
CORONAVIRUS IN THE US: STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN
According to Van Deusen, the reason why both antibody and rapid antigen tests are excluded is due to potential false negatives, Fox 26 Houston reported. Positive tests are considered a “probable” case, the outlet wrote.
«Both of those, if they’re positive, lead to what is called a probable case. So it’s not a laboratory-confirmed, but it’s a probable case and it’s just a different classification,» Van Deusen said, adding that the state has received about «10,000 to 20,000 probable positives from local jurisdiction,» the outlet wrote.
These positives were reportedly not factored into the more than 440,000 cases seen in Texas.
CAN YOU CONTRACT THE CORONAVIRUS FROM SECONDHAND SMOKE?
Persse said rapid antigen tests can show false negatives 15 to 30 percent of the time.
But Texas health officials don’t appear to be concerned.
«In our community, that doesn’t make a huge difference. There’s not a lot of antigen testing that’s going on. There’s some and there will be more as time goes on but at this point, it’s still a very small percentage of the number of tests that are being done,» Persse said.
«I think that the important thing to remember is that we’re looking at the trends here. So we’re seeing those cases track up, track down, over time and that’s really informing our decision making,» Van Deusen said.
Though officials say a “probable” COVID-19 case is not laboratory “confirmed,” those who test positive should take the necessary precautions, the outlet wrote.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Bmj rapid recommendations | the bmj
It can take years for new research evidence to filter into new treatment guidelines—in the meantime, many patients receive outdated care. That is why The BMJ is working with MAGIC, a non-profit research and innovation programme, to develop Rapid Recommendations. These accelerate evidence into practice to answer the questions that matter quickly and transparently through trustworthy recommendations.
Find out more about how it works by watching this video below.
How it works: The Rapid Recommendations team from MAGIC, including The BMJ, will identify and confirm which studies might change practice and are of interest to readers. Researchers will then perform systematic reviews on the benefit and harm of the intervention, baseline risk of important outcomes, and the values and preferences of patients. In parallel a panel including researchers, patients, and doctors will choose the most important outcomes. They will consider the systematic reviews and evaluate the evidence using a GRADE approach, and produce recommendations for practice. The research and recommendations will be submitted to The BMJ for peer review and publication.