EditorialShortly after I finished delivering a keynote lecture on minor salivary gland cancers on February 23, 2020 at the Candiolo Cancer Institute in Turin, Italy, the conference chairs Drs. Giovanni Succo and Piero Nicolai announced that the conference was urgently adjourned and the rest of the program canceled. This unexpected announcement was in compliance with the Italian government’s orders to immediately end all public gatherings. Two days earlier as I set out to travel to Italy, where no cases of coronavirus infection had yet been reported, news reports were focused mostly on South Korea and Iran as hotspots of COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, I double-checked again before leaving for the airport and confirmed that Italy had no reported cases. Upon my arrival in Turin I was greeted by the usual warm welcome and well-known hospitality of our Italian colleagues. At the welcome reception they discussed the earlier morning report of the first five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lombardy region and its capital Milan. The next day, as the unplanned adjournment was announced on the first day of the 3-day conference, there were more than 120 reported cases ushering what would be the first significant outbreak in Europe. The conference chair read the Italian government emergency prohibition of public gatherings, canceling the Milan fashion week, the Venice carnival, and closing all schools and universities. But when he announced that the football (aka Soccer) game was canceled I knew that the situation was grave. As most of us know it almost takes an act of God to cancel a football game in Italy! Without delay I scrambled to get a flight back home only 24 hours after I arrived in Turin. On my way to the airport I saw on my news app that France had stopped a train of passengers from Italy and diverted it back. I was concerned about my connection in Frankfurt and ultimately getting back to USA. As I passed every step of screening and temperature checks I finally landed in Houston with a huge sigh of relief. Following instructions that were urgently sent that day, I immediately contacted our employee health at MD Anderson where I was carefully screened and cleared to go back to work.

UpdatesA general consensus exists on coronavirus diffusion by droplet transmission, especially the aerosolisation during hospital procedures like intubation or bronchoscopy might represent a big concern, exposing other patients and health-care staff to an increased risk of infection In this context, the general otolaryngology procedures may determine an aerosolisation with nosocomial amplification of the infection.In particular flexible and/or rigid nasolaryngoscopy may include some maneuvers such as puffing out your cheeks, talking, swallowing some coloured water or poking out your tongue. Further, the introduction of the endoscope may cause sneezing and cough.These risks can increase when in-office surgical procedures are applied to cure urgent and emergent pathologies such as epistaxis, removal of foreign bodies in upper aero-digestive tract, cricothyroidotomy as well as elective procedures such as biopsies, inferior turbinoplasty etc.Based on the available evidence, it appears that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted by asymptomatic carriers, which contributes to its basic reproduction number and pandemic potential1.Zou et al2 showed higher viral loads after symptom onset, with higher viral loads detected in the nose than in the throat. Further in the asymptomatic patients, the viral load was similar to symptomatic patients, which suggests the transmission potential of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic patients.The common work-load of a ENT are symptoms related to upper airways inflammations or infections. Sore throat with or without fever, sneezing, hoarseness may be prodromic symptoms of a COVID-19 infection in the incubation period3. Moreover, the coughing patients with a negative chest X-ray is one of the most consultation required.Direct contact of droplet spray produced by coughing, sneezing or talking involves relatively large droplets containing organisms and requires close contact usually within 1 m 4. Indirect contact may take place after the droplets are removed from the air by surface deposition5.Han et al6 studied the dynamic features of bio-aerosolisation by sneezing. The velocity of the airflow exhaled by sneeze is much larger than that of breath and cough. Moreover, the total number of droplets generated during sneeze is also larger than that of other respiratory activities. According to the study on flow dynamics and characterization of cough, the maximum velocity of exhaled airflow can be found at t = 57–110 ms for different persons which is most likely to occur at 100 ms. Usually, sneeze lasts 0.3–0.7 s, so t = 100 ms is in the duration of the sneeze. As the velocity of the airflow exhaled by sneeze is really high, it can be assumed that the droplets that are exhaled at t =0–100 ms will not re-enter the measurement zone before t=100 ms. The high-speed airflow and corresponding turbulence produced by sneeze may also lead to a large number of droplets, i.e. the number of the droplets generated by sneeze is about 18 times larger than that of cough. Further, the size of sneezing droplets is 341.5–398.1 µm for unimodal distribution and 73.6–85.8 µm for bimodal distribution. After the droplets are exhaled into the indoor environment, the evaporation effects will strongly influence the size and mass of the droplets. The final equilibrium diameter of expiratory droplets after evaporation is highly dependent upon the temperature and relative humidity of the environment. In the indoor environment, the relative humidity and temperature are much lower than those in the respiratory tract. So the volatile content of these droplets will keep evaporating and result in the shrinkage of the droplets.Definitively, these findings demonstrate that the routine activities of an otolaryngologist are constantly at high risk of contagion in COVID-19 epidemic areas.Taking a look at the current Italian situation, the experience of the region Veneto demonstrated that the application of COVID-19 screening also in asymptomatic people can reduce the contagion spreading. Thus, it seems clear that extend the screening to all health-workers included otolaryngologists could be a valid strategy to reduce the onset of a worst case scenario, the hospital outbreak.In conclusion, the professional exposure to SARS-CoV-2 is really high for the otolaryngologist and nurse staff, even in in-office settings. Personal protective equipments are strongly recommended as well as for health-workers in close contact with infected patients.REFERENCESZhu W, Xie K, Lu H, Xu L, Zhou S, Fang S. Initial clinical features of suspected Coronavirus Disease 2019 in two emergency departments outside of Hubei, China. J Med Virol. 2020 Mar 13. doi: 10.1002/jmv.25763. [Epub ahead of print]Zou L, Ruan F, Huang M et al. SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Upper Respiratory Specimens of Infected Patients. N Engl J Med. 2020 Feb 19. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2001737. [Epub ahead of print]Lauer SA, Grantz KH, Bi Q et al. The Incubation Period of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) From Publicly Reported Confirmed Cases: Estimation and Application. Ann Intern Med. 2020 Mar 10. doi: 10.7326/M20-0504. [Epub ahead of print]Leder K, Newman D. Respiratory infections during air travel. Intern Med J. 2005 Jan;35(1):50-5.Chao CYH, Wan MP, Sze To GN. Transport and removal of expiratory droplets in hospital ward environment. Aerosol Sci Technol 2008;42, 377 – 394.Han ZY, Weng WG, Huang QY. Characterizations of particle size distribution of the droplets exhaled by sneeze. J R Soc Interface. 2013 Sep 11;10(88):20130560.

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused rapid changes in head and neck cancer (HNC) care. ‘Real-time’ methods to monitor practice patterns can optimize provider safety and patient care.Methods: Head and neck surgeons from 14 institutions in the United States regularly contributed their practice patterns to a shared spreadsheet. Data from March 27th, 2020 to April 5th, 2020 was analyzed.Results: All institutions had significantly restricted HNC clinic evaluations. 2 institutions stopped free flap surgery with the remaining scheduling surgery by committee review. Factors contributing to reduced clinical volume included lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) (35%) and lack of rapid COVID-19 testing (86%).Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a reduction in HNC care. Rapid COVID-19 testing and correlation with infectious potential remain paramount to resuming the care of head and neck cancer patients. Cloud-based platforms to share practice patterns will be essential as the pandemic evolves.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended head and neck cancer care delivery in ways unforeseen and unprecedented. The impact of these changes parallels other fields in oncology, but is disproportionate due to protective measures and limitations on potentially aerosolizing procedures and related interventions specific to the upper aerodigestive tract. The moral and professional dimensions of providing ethically appropriate and consistent care for our patients in the COVID-19 crisis are considered herein for head and neck oncology providers.

The year 2020 began quietly, except for the news of a novel virus outbreak, felt to be a local problem in Wuhan, China. In the United States, economy was booming and the world had great expectations of a wonderful 2020., What followed has stunned the world with a ‘never seen before’, calamity, the Covid-19 Pandemic, , with over one and a quarter million individuals infected, and over 70000 lives lost so far.. The havoc created by this global tragedy has impacted upon many lives in many ways. We need to quickly think and to plan, as to how our professional and personal lives will be conducted in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.At the moment there is total chaos, in every part of the world, particularly in New York city. The day to day life is disrupted, regular patient care of diseases and cancers is in disarray, with the focus of medical care shifted to the management of patients with Covid-19. Surgery is limited to emergencies, and cancer cases that can be, are postponed without a negative impact on their outcome. The Great majority of hospital beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, and sudden make shift hospitals are created to accommodate the surge. Temporary morgues in refrigerated trucks are to be seen at every local hospital in New York city to “house’ the over 4700 patients who have died in the last two weeks. What comes next, and when this will end is unknown; our future, and the future of the world is frightening in its uncertainty.With a fragile future, how do we conduct our day to day activities, and plan to retain our robust education and training programs, to educate and train the next generation of Head and Neck Surgeons? The major onslaught of the first wave of cases and mortality from those exposed to the disease may slow down in the weeks to come, as observed in China, but life is unlikely to return to normal in the foreseeable future. “Business as usual” will not work, since we do not know the impact of the aftermath of this Pandemic, the risk of a rebound second cycle of splurge in the number of cases worldwide in the fall and winter, and the potential risk of annual outbreaks from Covid-19., We have great expectations from our scientists, that we will find a therapeutic solution for the treatment of Covid-19, and great hopes that a vaccine would be developed in the future to prevent infection. , We have to develop strategies, to modify, devise and reshape our current methods of education and training to sustain a robust training program and continue to support our current work force geared to educate and train succeeding generations of students and trainees. (1) The drastic changes that have affected our work and life during the past two months, has taught us, that remote communications, education, teaching, learning and training is possible, and has to be incorporated in our current systems.Communications: Human communication for ever has been practiced on a one to one basis with the production of sounds/ verbal speech and the ability to hear and interpret spoken words. Science and technology permitted the transmission of spoken words to be heard at a distance with the introduction of the megaphone. Advancing technology, gave us the Radio to hear people from remote distances, and television gave us the capability to see and hear people ‘live’ from remote distances. The internet and development of social media made human communications, a ‘norm’ in the current generation. We can now communicate with not one but multiple individuals thru multiple platforms and applications. The development of these technologies in remote communication can easily be applied to remote learning.Academic Activities: The usual academic activities occupying good part of our working week involves, Lectures, Grand Rounds Tumor Boards, Case conferences, Journal clubs and other similar activities. All of these activities had required, physical presence and an assembly of individuals, but, we have come to realize that nearly all of these activities can be conducted remotely thru the internet. Live video lectures, and Grand Rounds can be easily and effectively delivered thru webex or zoom conferencing where hundreds of people are able to see / hear the speaker live with the ability to interact with two way conversations. Case conferences and tumor boards can be conducted quite effectively on these platforms with screen sharing. The need to be ‘physically present’ is not essential for conducting most academic activities. Even after the passing of the current pandemic, such activities may continue to be conducted on such platforms. This would be convenient and effective, and can offer such activities to an even larger audience. We can imagine a future where every Institution and Academic Center will have an open “on line book”,where every learning activity is available to world..Remote Learning: With easy access to internet in every part of the world, remote learning has become a way of life in many domains of education and learning. This is vividly demonstrated by a plethora of on line courses available from many Universities around the world. In the specialty of Otolaryngology / General Surgery / and Head and Neck Surgery, even operative surgery is possible to be learnt, by watching expertly demonstrated surgical procedures performed by leading surgeons and surgical educators, on the web sites of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery,(AAOHNS), the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) and other similar organizations., Remote learning in all domains of surgical education is feasible and available.Validation and Certification: Testing and examinations have traditionally required the candidates to report to a designated location, where the examination in paper form is handed to the candidates to be completed in the designated time frame, while a proctor is supervising the candidates. That is no longer necessary. Multiple choice written examinations can be taken securely on line, with defined time limits.. Many Universities and Colleges offer these examinations coordinated and conducted by commercial examination companies such asExam Soft. Offering such examinations on line is less labor intensive, more cost effective, more practical and may attract a larger number of students from remote locations to participate.Traditionally oral examinations are conducted “in person”, where the candidate and the examiner /s, meet in private and conduct face to face conversation with questions and answers. The purpose of this exercise is to assess the candidates immediate assessment,judgment and knowledge However, with modern technology and two way private video platforms , such an encounter can be effectively conducted remotely. .Global On Line Fellowship(GOLF): The IFHNOS has taken a lead on developing the first remote learning , on line fellowship program in head and neck surgery and oncology, which has been in existence for the past six years. (2) The Global On Line Fellowship (GOLF) program was introduced in 2014. It is a two year curriculum, with seven written multiple choice on line examinations, a one month of observership and an oral examination. (www.ifhnos.net/global ). Nearly 400 candidates have registered from 48 countries during the past six years, and 244 have graduated. The goal of this program is to improve the knowledge base and judgment of surgeons in their own home environment, without displacing them, within their resources, in their institution or place of practice, and on their own patients. This program has been very successful and is received enthusiastically in all parts of the world. In the past the oral examinations were conducted on site in various locations in Australasia, Central Asia, Europe and Latin America. Beginning this year, IFHNOS plans to conduct the oral examinations on line, either using Webex , Zoom, or a similar technological platform.Telemedicine: Medical consultations, conversations and office visits in the private office or in clinics is the mainstay of practice inhead and neck surgery, where follow up visits form a large percentage of our office or clinic volume. With the risk of loco regional failure of up to 40% and the risk of developing multiple primaries approaching 35%, post treatment follow up or surveillance have been emphasized thru decades. This takes a significant amount of investment of time , effort and personnel on the part of the clinician, and an expense, in travel and investment of time away from work and home on the part of the patient. In the past when surgery was the only treatment of mucosal cancers of the head and neck the follow up schedule recommended was very laborious. The common practice was once a month the first year, every other month the second year, every three months the third year, every four months the fourth year, and every six months thereafter. After discovery of a second primary or a recurrence patients were put back on the same schedule. In head and neck surgery the stringent follow up schedule was designed on the basis that nearly 80% of the patients who were to recur, would have recurred in the first 24 months, with a median time to recurrence of 9 months. However, with the combination of surgery and radiotherapy, the loco regional recurrence rates declined significantly, and the median time to recurrence was also prolonged. Thus the need to see the patients every month in the first year, or every two months in the second year, became less compelling. Many have argued against such intensive physician /patient personal interactions, and suggested less stringent follow up schedules. Multiple trials of close follow up vs less stringent follow up for similar staged patients have been proposed, but rarely accepted or came to fruition. (3). The absolute benefit of detecting an asymptomatic recurrence or a new primary during routine follow up examination is questioned, compared to the patient who reports for examination when the earliest symptoms develop suggesting a recurrence. Although, there are no randomized trials to compare this, the probability of a major difference in outcome is unlikely. In addition, only a very small number of patients are found to have recurrence or a new primary which is totally asymptomatic during a routine follow up examination. Some institutions and practices have transitioned the follow up care of low risk patients to “survivorship clinics” run by Physician Assistants / Advanced practice providers (APP) or nurse practitioners. This second level of care for low risk patients will reduce the follow up volume for the clinician, but will still not do away with the inconvenience of travel, and investment of time and cost of the service, on the part of the patient.It is in this arena, that telemedicine will play an important role. Many patients who are at low risk of recurrence can be followed by telemedicine on a video call. If during that call, the care giver finds the need for a close physical examination, the patient may be asked to see his / her primary care physician, closer to home, and a clinical picture, intra oral photograph or a picture of larynx / pharynx done with a fiberoptic laryngoscope can be sent to the head and neck surgeon. Imaging studies can be read and reviewed on line and avoid the need for “physical presence” of patient and surgeon. This practice will require a culture change amongst head and neck surgeons, and their trainees. We will have to train our Residents / Fellows in developing a work ethic of practicing telemedicine.Physician compensation for remote consulatation: . The current methodology of payment is “procedure” based. (CPT). To adequately compensate the specialist for his time, talent, expertise and opinion, a new methodology or codes will need to be developed from current procedural terminology (CPT) to current expertise terminology (CET). An entirely new payment schedule will be required dependent on the extent of consulattion; mail review, telephone, video consultation, tumor board , involving multiple physicians will all require redefinition. For many institutions, including our own this already exists for the International patient, and has been high lighted by the current Covid outbreak..Fellowship Training: The events experienced in the past few weeks has put a significant strain on the practice of medicine in general, and head and neck surgery in particular. They have forced us to think and develop strategies for transition of our current practices in patient care, education and training to innovative solutions, and prioritize the levels of patient care. Only within the past several days numerous guide lines have appeared in all media and means of communications to strategize the optimal use of operating room space and staff. Conduct of safe surgery avoiding exposure to aerosolized viral transmission, and prioritizing patients at high risk of an adverse outcome if surgery is not performed have been put into practice. Routine and elective cancer surgery is being postponed. If the pandemic continues for several months, the current fellows in training will not have the volume of the required surgical cases to gain the experience necessary for completing the fellowship. One solution to address this problem is to extend their fellowship by 3-6 months. However, this may prove to be impractical due to a variety of reasons. These include, commitments made to incoming fellows who will start their training on July 1st , additional salary support, housing, and the fellows themselves may have made personal or professional commitments for their respective post fellowship careers. We will need to develop ongoing tele education, much as is being done with the IFHNOS GOLF program , with similarly defined goals and expectations to be met before certiifcation Another potential solution is to implement regular operative techniques group discussions with faculty members with video demonstration of surgical techniques highlighting the finer details of operative procedures and the “dos” and “donts” in the operative procedure.Experiencing the huge impact of the Covid Pandemic on the society and economy of the globe, and the severe strain it has put on the health care systems has been a humbling experience. It has brought the realization, that all medical and surgical training programs, have a component of disaster management.Surgical manpower: We need a complete reassesment of man power needs, how many surgeons were lost during this Pan endemic? How many more Senior surgeons have elected to take early retirement/ were some lost to Covid? What are the manpower needs for increasing remote evaluation? What new technology is needed ?Current platforms like Zoom , cannot handle the chaos . what are the Privacy issues of remote consultation ?We have many challenges to face, but with challenge comes opportunity.The challenge created by the Covid-19 Pandemic has brought reality to life and humility in our minds, and has given us the appreciation of the “luxuries and comforts” in which we practiced, taught and trained head and neck surgery. I have shared my thoughts for dealing with these difficult times , and any such future calamity that may come, to keep our education and training programs sustainable by embracing technology and alternative means to teach and train our younger generation.Acknowledgment: The author appreciates the input from Dr. Murray Brennan, Director of the International Center of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in the preparation of this manuscript.Full author list: Jatin P. Shah, MD, PhD(Hon), DSc(Hon), FACS,  FRCS(Hon), FDSRCS(Hon), FRCSDS(Hon), FRCSI(Hon), FRACS(Hon) Prof. of Surgery, E W Strong Chair in Head and Neck Oncology Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. 10065. e mail: shahj@mskcc.orgReferences:Shah JP. Training of a Head and Neck Surgeon. In Head and Neck Surgery by DeSouza C. pp 1514-1526. Jaypee publishers, , India 2009.Shah J,, O’Neil P., and Brennan M. Global On line fellowship. JACS. 2020. (In press)Shah J and Harrison L. Personal communication. (1996)

Background: During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, tracheostomy may be required for COVID-19 patients requiring long term ventilation in addition to other conditions such as airway compromise from head and neck cancer. As an aerosol generating procedure, tracheostomy increases healthcare worker exposure to COVID-19 infection. Performing surgical tracheostomy and tracheostomy care requires a strategy that mitigates these risks and maintains the quality of patient care.Methods: A multidisciplinary review of institutional tracheostomy guidelines and clinical pathways. Modifications to support clinical-decision making in the context of COVID-19 were derived by consensus and available evidence.  Results: Modified guidelines for all phases of tracheostomy care at an academic tertiary care center in the setting of COVID-19 are presented. Discussion: During the various phases of the  COVID-19 pandemic,  clinicians must carefully consider the indications, procedural precautions, and post-operative care for tracheostomies. We present guidelines to mitigate risk to healthcare workers while preserving the quality of care.

Background: In the context of COVID-19, cancer survivors represent a particularly vulnerable population that may be “doubly hit” both by costs of cancer treatment and financial strain imposed by the pandemic. Methods: We performed a review of the literature pertaining to cancer, financial toxicity, and economic challenges.Results: Multiple societies have put forth recommendations to modify delivery of cancer care in order to minimize patient exposure to the virus. Cancer survivors, especially patients with head and neck cancer, have been disproportionately affected by rising unemployment levels and economic recessions in the past, both of which are linked to higher cancer mortality. Patients who rely on employer-provided insurance and do not qualify for Medicaid may lose access to life-saving treatments. Conclusions: It is essential to implement interventions and policy changes in order to mitigate the effects of this pandemic but also to ensure this becomes a non-issue during the next one.

Dear Editor,The COVID-19 infection can be diagnosed from a variety of upper and lower respiratory sources including the oropharynx (OP), nasopharynx (NP), sputum, and bronchial fluid [1-3]. In general the most sensitive detection of COVID-19 is obtained by the collecting and testing of both upper and lower respiratory samples [4].However, bronchoscopy is a highly technical procedure requiring advanced diagnostic tools as well as well-trained staff which are not always available. Furthermore the collection of sputum and particularly BAL via bronchoscopy increases the biosafety risk to healthcare workers through the creation of aerosol droplets.Upper respiratory specimens such as OP and NP swabs are easy to collect especially in limited resource settings. They should be collected within the first few days from the onset of symptoms since RNA positive rates peak in upper respiratory tract specimens at 7–10 days after symptom onset and then they steadily decline [5].In China during the COVID-19 outbreak, Wang et al reported that oropharyngeal (OP) swabs (n = 398) were used much more frequently than NP swabs (n = 8). However, the COVID-19 RNA was detected only in 32% of OP swabs, compared to NP swabs (63%)[4].It appears to be extremely important to properly collect nasopharyngeal swabs reaching the posterior rhinopharyngeal tonsil region. This implies the presence of a regular nasal cavity floor. Some anatomical variants, such as nasal septum deviation, can prevent reaching of the nasopharynx and therefore to collect a proper sample. Numerous studies of nasal septal deviation have revealed a wide range of prevalence [6,7]. In 1978, Gray reported a prevalence of 48% to 60% in neonates [6].1 In adults, a recent international study found a prevalence of approximately 90% [7]. Sooknundun et al. reported a clinically relevant septal deviation prevalence of 15% to 25% [8].Current national and international guidelines do not include any special recommendations in the execution of the rhinopharyngeal swab in patients with documented nasal pathology or in patients in which a bilateral nasal fossa obstacle is encountered. We believe that in these selected cases the ENT support should be mandatory in order to obtain a representative sample. Furthermore the use of endoscopes could be very useful in the direct visualization of obstacles and to guide safely the swab toward the rhinopharynx. This would possibly also reduce the false negative rate which is reported to be more than 30% [4].

For some patients with SARS-CoV-2, the worst clinical damage is not caused by the virus itself, but by an overactive inflammatory state. In fact, in some people the immune system goes into overdrive and launches a large-scale assault on the tissue known as cytokine storm. This excessive immune reaction can damage tissue and eventually kill people. Evidence shows that blocking such cytokine storms can be effective, so trials are underway to test drugs that act by reducing the cytokine response, such as tocilizumab and sarilumab that bind interleukin 6 (IL-6), or anikinra that is interleukin 1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist. However, other drugs that block the cytokine cascade may also be considered. In this article we describe the scientific and molecular motivation for the use of drugs that act by modulating the inflammatory system in patients affected by SARS-CoV-2, considering in particular an old drug that has been in use for many years for other therapeutic indications such as colchicine, and that could result favorable its use, with low cost and good tolerability.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has resulted in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide this disease has infected around 1.5 million individuals with a mortality rate ranging from 5 to 10%. There are several efforts are going on in the drug discovery to control the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection. The main protease (MPro) plays a critical role in viral replication and maturation, thus can serve as the primary drug target. To understand the structural evolution of MPro, we have performed phylogenetic and SSN analysis, that depicted divergence of Coronaviridae MPro in five clusters specific to viral hosts. This clustering was also corroborated with the comparison of MPro structures. Furthermore, it has been observed that backbone and binding site conformations are conserved despite variation in some of the residues. This conservation can be exploited to repurpose available viral protease inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 MPro. In agreement with this, we performed screening of ~7100 molecules including active ingredients present in the Ayurvedic anti-tussive medicines, anti-viral phytochemicals and synthetic anti-virals against SARS-CoV-2 MPro as the primary target. We identified several natural molecules like -Viniferin, Myricitrin, Taiwanhomoflavone A, Lactucopicrin 15-oxalate, Nympholide A, Biorobin and Phyllaemblicin B that strongly binds to SARS-CoV-2 MPro among. Most of the predicted lead molecules are from Vitis vinifera, also reported for anti-tussive and/or antiviral activities. These molecules also showed strong binding with other main targets RdRp and hACE-2. We anticipate that our approach for identification of multi-target-directed ligand will provide new avenues for drug discovery against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The COVID-19 outbreak is a global pandemic with rapid community spread. Patients with multi-morbidities are particularly vulnerable during this time. The number of cases soared in early February 2020, and Singapore declared escalation of the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level to Orange. Multiple measures have been taken to combat the spread of this highly contagious infection. Despite our medical manpower being diverted to the wards, our hospital aims to maintain nearly full operations at the clinic, balancing against concern about the spread of the virus and exposing healthcare workers to potential risks. We describe the measures taken in a tertiary hospital in Singapore to mitigate the risk of infection in the outpatient setting while ensuring that continuing clinical care of patients with chronic diseases is not compromised.

Objective: To explore the prognostic factors of different prognosis SARS-COV-2 patients, including early cure (less than 3 weeks), severe death, severe survival (duration of disease over 30 days, stable condition). Methods: The general situation and laboratory tests and other relevant indicators of 50 early cured patients, 50 severe survivors and 50 severe deaths were studied. Results: Through a retrospective cohort study, there were significant differences in age, gender, respiratory distress symptoms, oxygen saturation of fingertip, state of consciousness between cured mild patients and dead patients. Diabetes and cerebrovascular disease were the main influencing factors of previous medical history. Most of the laboratory test indicators, such as the positive rate of nucleic acid test, blood routine test, myocardial infarction marker, DIC, liver and kidney function, inflammatory cytokines, are different between cured patients and dead patients. Further compared the cases of severe survival and dead patents, there were significant differences in gender, breath shortness symptoms, oxygen saturation of fingertip, consciousness, cerebrovascular disease. The laboratory tests showed that the blood routine test, MH, CK-MB, pro BNP,BUN, Cr, albumin, DIC, inflammatory factors and electrolyte disorders were great significance to the prognosis. Further study showed that CTnI, Cr and DIC and shortness of breath were independent prognostic factors of death. Conclusion: Our data may suggest that the main influencing factor of death was the degree of respiratory symptoms. The difference of prognosis was more related to whether there were multiple organ diseases, especially the heart, kidney and immune system dysfunction.

Starting from December 2019 the novel SARS-Cov-2 has spread all over the world, being recognized as the causing agent of COVID-19. Since nowadays no specific drug therapies neither vaccines are available for the treatment of COVID-19, drug repositioning may offer a strategy to efficiently control the clinical course of the disease and the spread of the outbreak. In this paper we aim to describe the main pharmacological properties, including data on mechanism of action, safety concerns and drug-drug interactions, of drugs currently administered in patients with COVID-19, focusing on antivirals and drugs with immune-modulatory and/or anti-inflammatory properties. Where available, data from clinical trials involving patients with COVID-19 were reported. A large number of clinical studies have been registered worldwide and several drugs were repurposed to face the new health emergency of COVID-19. For many of these drugs, including lopinavir/ritonavir, remdesivir, favipiravir, chloroquine and tocilizumab, clinical evidence from literature and real life settings support their favorable efficacy and safety profile in improving patients’ clinical conditions. Even though drug repurposing is necessary, it requires caution. Indeed, too many drugs that are currently tested in patients with COVID-19 have peculiar safety profiles. While waiting for the results of clinical studies demonstrating the efficacy of drugs able to reduce symptoms and complications of COVID-19, the best therapeutic path to pursue is the development of an effective vaccine able to prevent this infection.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the first to occur in an age of hyperconnectivity. This paper presents results from an online anonymous survey conducted in Malay, English, and Chinese, during the first week of the Movement Control Order in Malaysia (n=1075), which aimed to examine public knowledge, perception and communication behavior in the Malaysian society in the face of a sudden outbreak and social distancing measures. Although the level of public knowledge, risk perception and positive communication behavior surrounding COVID-19 was high, a majority of respondents reported receiving a lot of questionable information. Multinomial logistic regression further identified that responses to different items varied significantly across respondent survey language, gender, age, education level and employment status.

This paper provides information and links to resources that address the Transportation Infrastructure impacts of Covid-19.

Background: The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) is spread through aerosol and fine droplets, and poses many challenges to medical practitioners. Otolaryngologists are at an exceptionally high-risk, due to common aerosol-generating procedures such as tracheostomy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical guidelines for tracheostomy in reference to SARS-CoV-2 and provide a collective summary of recommendations.Methods: Literature review was performed. Articles reporting clinical practice guidelines for tracheostomy in the context of SARS-CoV-2 were included.Results: Tracheostomies are a common surgical procedure performed by otolaryngologists. There may be expanding indications in the COVID-19 patient population. Ventilation using a tracheostomy has many potential benefits and a summary of recommendations for tracheostomy (elective or emergent) and tracheostomy management in COVID-19 positive patients are detailed within this article. Conclusions: In patients testing positive for COVID-19, this summary of recommendations serves as a guideline along with institutional protocols.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has put healthcare workers at risk when exposed to aerosolized viral particles during upper airway mucosal surgery. The objective of this review was to discuss topical preparations that could be utilized preoperatively to help to decrease viral load and potentially reduce the risks of viral transmission. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE database review of articles studying topical preparations with virucidal activity against coronaviruses. Results: Povidone – Iodine (PVP-I) solutions ranging from 0.23% to 7% have been found to demonstrate highly effective virucidal activity against a broad range of viruses including several coronaviruses responsible for recent epidemics: SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has become a health concern worldwide. Chinese government has taken rapid response including quarantining and gathering cancellation, and people under quarantine are expected to be negatively affected [1-3]. In order to assess the psychological impact on those pregnant women residing in an unspecified area, we did a cross-sectional e-survey of anxiety and depression, emotional response to COVID-19, and attitude to media emission among pregnant women in Shanghai during February 24th to March 11th, 2020.The outbreak of COVID-19 was begun around January 22nd 2020, when the diagnosed case in China was 571 and nine cases in Shanghai. According to the Chinese national report, during this survey period from February 24th to March 11th, national diagnosed case number were 77658 to 80793, and that number in Shanghai were 335 to 344. Primary outcome was anxiety and depression self-evaluation by Generalized anxiety disorder screener (GAD-7) [4] and Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS) [5], respectively. The Institutional Review Board of Obstetrics and Gynecological Hospital of Fudan University approved the project, and signed informed consent was obtained.Among 688 pregnant women completing the survey, 80% women were of younger than 35 years old, and of university degree or above (P<0.05). A total of 136 (19.8%) and 174 (25.3%) women were of anxious (Generalized anxiety disorder screener, GAD-7 scale ≥4) [4] and depressive (Edinburgh postnatal depression scale, EPDS scale ≥9) [5] mode, respectively. Anxiety and depression among pregnant women were associated with heavy work hours, having higher income, worries about infection and being influenced by media information and preferring more media information access (P<0.05) (Table 1). In logistic regression analysis, those women impacting less by media reports were at a lower risk of anxiety (P=0.001, 95%CI: 0.222-0.659), and those preferring more media access were at higher risk of depression (P=0.007, 95%CI: 1.181-2.800).This psychological survey among pregnant women in unspecified COVID-19 epidemic areas in China indicated that, proper media information is beneficial for relieving anxious and depressive mode. In unspecified areas such as Shanghai, anxiety and depression among pregnant women did not undergo a rise. More importantly, those women most influenced by media reporting were more likely being anxious, and therefore, timely media support is called for reliving anxiety and depression caused by concerns about COVID-19 among pregnant women.

Full author listEric Adjei Boakye, PhD, MA1,2, Wiley Jenkins, PhD, MPH1,2, Arun Sharma, MD, MS2,31Department of Population Science and Policy, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois2Simmons Cancer Institute at SIU, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois3Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois

BackgroundIn the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer care has had to adapt rapidly given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College of Surgeons (ACS) issuing recommendations to postpone non-urgent surgeries. MethodsAn institutional multidisciplinary group of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, Surgical Endocrinology, and Medical Endocrinology devised Surgical Triaging Guidelines for Endocrine Surgery during COVID-19, aligned with phases of care published by the ACS.ResultsPhases of care with examples of corresponding endocrine cases are outlined. Most cases can be safely postponed with active surveillance, including most differentiated and medullary thyroid cancers.  During the most acute phase, all endocrine surgeries are deferred except thyroid tumors requiring acute airway management.ConclusionsThese guidelines provide context for endocrine surgery within the spectrum of surgical oncology, with the goal of optimal individualized multidisciplinary patient care, and the expectation of significant resource diversion to care for COVID-19 patients.

Background and Methods: There is an added level of complexity in the management of head and neck cancer patients with underlying immunosuppressive disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Head and neck oncologists are tasked with balancing the dual risks of cancer progression in the setting of impaired tumor immunity and increased susceptibility to life-threatening complications from exposure to viral infection for patients and providers. Through two cases of immunocompromised patients with newly diagnosed head and neck malignancies, we aim to provide guidance to clinicians struggling with how to best counsel and manage this unique subset of patients under these difficult circumstances. Results: After careful consideration of the options, we took different approaches in the care of these two patients. Conclusions: Ultimately, there is no uniform set of rules to apply to this heterogeneous group of immune-compromised patients. We provide some general principles to help guide patient management during the current pandemic.

The Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has rapidly spread across the world, placing unprecedented strain on the healthcare system. Healthcare resources including hospital beds, ICUs, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) are becoming increasingly rationed and scare commodities. In this environment, the laryngectomee (patient having previously undergone a total laryngectomy) continues to represent a unique patient with unique needs. Given their surgically altered airway, they pose a challenge to manage for the otolaryngologist within the current COVID-19 pandemic. In this brief report, we present special considerations and best practice recommendations in the management of total laryngectomy patients. We also discuss recommendations for laryngectomy patients and minimizing community exposures.

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly advancing across the globe despite drastic public and personal health measures. Antivirals and nutritional supplements have been proposed as potentially useful against SARS-CoV-2 (virus that causes COVID-19), but few have been clinically established. Lactoferrin (Lf) is a naturally occurring and non-toxic glycoprotein that is orally available as a nutritional supplement and has established in vitro anti-viral efficacy against a wide range of virus including SARS-CoV, a closely related corona virus to SARS-CoV-2 (virus that causes COVID-19). Furthermore, Lf possesses unique immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects that may be especially relevant to the pathophysiology of severe COVID-19 cases. We review the underlying biological mechanisms of Lf as antiviral and immune regulator, and propose its unique potential as a preventative and adjunct treatment for COVID-19. We hope that further research and development of Lf nutritional supplementation would establish its role for COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a remarkably challenging health issue that provoked all the health-care providers to contemplate some measures about the situation. All the health-care workers frontline (esp. emergency service, pulmonologists, infection disease specialist and anesthesiologist) have produced recommendations on prevention and taking care of COVID-19 patient (1,2). Whereas, at the second line another important issue is the ongoing healthcare for the continual disease situations.There are two main critical issues on cardiovascular surgery in this pandemic. Firstly, to delay the elective surgeries is essential to sustain the health-care service. Elective case triage is trickier for cardiovascular procedures which are relatively progressive conditions. Definitive decision to defer a procedure should be made regarding firstly to the capacity of health-care system, and then availability of surgical/anesthesia staff, intensive care unit beds, need for isolation beds, ventilators, cardiopulmonary bypass machine, extracorporeal membrane oxygenator, supplies such as sutures, grafts, valves and blood and blood product availability. The patient status should be taken into account to defer or to perform the procedure, as well. Therefore, we developed “Level of Priority” (LoP) statement for cardiovascular procedures (3). Elective cases are defined as LoP I that may be postponed as much as possible. LoP II to IV cases should be reconsidered by individual basis by “Heart Team”. The situations that can be managed by percutaneous coronary intervention, endovascular procedures and etc. may be handled by non-operative manners.The second one is the personal protection equipment and infection measures while dealing with a suspected / confirmed COVID-19 patient. It is obvious that a suspected / confirmed COVID-19 patient ought to be assessed with specific measures for any medical or surgical intervention. Personal protection equipment (PPE) is the most crucial measure during the pandemic. It is recognized that many centers are facing PPE shortages and there are recommendations to re-sterile the masks to be effective for reuse.(4) More measures should be taken into consideration for sterile environment such as surgical procedures. Some added measures such as face shield may be recommended for surgical procedures. The surgical team who scrubbed in, must wear extra equipment such as surgical coat and double gloves. It may be recommended to fix the long-sleeve gloves to the surgical coat by adhesive drapes (3). It is obvious that this kind of working environment with all this equipment is challenging, sometimes irritating and disquieting. One other big problem is the fraught feeling of health-care providers to be diseased or to be contagious for their family. Therefore, health-care providers may need enormous support for burnouts during the pandemic.The other measures such as preparation of the operating room (OR), anesthesiologic management, transportation of patients and disinfection of OR were discussed in the referring article (3).In conclusion, it is important to assess the “Level of Priority” for surgical procedures to support the service of health-care facility. More than that, whole surgical team should be protected by adequate PPE and should take the time to get full protected.