Can Companion Animals Become Infected With Covid-19?

The Veterinary Record
Volume 186, Issue 12, Pages 388-389

Almendros, Angel

Introduction

The veterinary community has been following the evolution of the global pandemic of Covid-19 to identify risks to animals and possible zoonotic transmission. With some exceptions, most coronavirus (CoV) infections in domestic animals are predominantly associated with gastrointestinal disease. Their genetic diversity and variety of hosts are likely to be connected to their high mutation frequency and their RNA instability. This makes CoVs a public health concern with future outbreaks being predicted.

Keywords

Ethics, social science, economics

Italy in a Time of Emergency and Scarce Resources: The Need for Embedding Ethical Reflection in Social and Clinical Settings

The Journal of Clinical Ethics
Volume 31, 2020, Issue 1, pp 92-94

Nicoli, F., Gasparetto, A.

Abstract

The COVID-19 virus is severely testing the Italian healthcare system, as the requests for intensive treatment are greater than the real capacity of the system to receive patients. Given this emergency situation, it follows that citizens are limited in their freedom of movement in order to limit infection, and that in hospitals a significant number of critical situations must be faced. This brief contribution aims to offer a reflection on the public and clinical role of the bioethicist: a figure able to promote dialogue between the world of medicine and the community, and to face ethical dilemmas even in emergent clinical settings.

Keywords

Epidemiology; Ethics, social science, economics

Mitigating the impact of conference and travel cancellations on researchers' futures

eLife
Volume 9, 2020

Weissgerber, T.; Bediako, Y.; de Winde, C. M.; Ebrahimi, H.; Fernandez-Chiappe, F.; Ilangovan, V.; Mehta, D.; Paz Quezada, C.; Riley, J. L.; Saladi, S. M.; Sarabipour, S.; Tay, A.

Abstract

The need to protect public health during the current COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated conference cancellations on an unprecedented scale. As the scientific community adapts to new working conditions, it is important to recognize that some of our actions may disproportionately affect early-career researchers and scientists from countries with limited research funding. We encourage all conference organizers, funders and institutions who are able to do so to consider how they can mitigate the unintended consequences of conference and travel cancellations and we provide seven recommendations for how this could be achieved. The proposed solutions may also offer long-term benefits for those who normally cannot attend conferences, and thus lead to a more equitable future for generations of researchers.

Keywords

Epidemiology; Ethics, social science, economics

The Impact of COVID-19 on Radiology Trainees

Radiology

Alvin, Matthew D.; George, Elizabeth; Deng, Francis; Warhadpande, Shantanu; Lee, Susanna I.

Introduction

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is evolving rapidly in the United States, widely disrupting personal and professional life, including that of radiology trainees. Reducing the rate at which COVID-19 cases are diagnosed, so-called “flattening the curve,” is a goal both for the public to alleviate strain on the healthcare system, and for healthcare providers to stabilize our workforce. As residents and fellows at multiple institutions throughout the country working in both diagnostic and interventional radiology, the authors of this report provide an overview of major problems that our colleagues and training programs currently face and offer some potential solutions (Figure). We hope this report may serve as a starting point for radiology training programs to proactively assess the impact of the current pandemic on their resident and fellow trainees.

Keywords

Ethics, social science, economics

Responding to COVID-19: How to Navigate a Public Health Emergency Legally and Ethically

Hastings Center Report

Gostin, Lawrence O.; Friedman, Eric A.; Wetter, Sarah A.

Abstract

Few novel or emerging infectious diseases have posed such vital ethical challenges so quickly and dramatically as the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern and recently classified COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic. As of this writing, the epidemic has not yet peaked in the United States, but community transmission is widespread. President Trump declared a national emergency as fifty governors declared state emergencies. In the coming weeks, hospitals ll become overrun, stretched to their capacities. When the health system becomes stretched beyond capacity, how can we ethically allocate scarce health goods and services? How can we ensure that marginalized populations can access the care they need? What ethical duties do we owe to vulnerable people separated from their families and communities? And how do we ethically and legally balance public health with civil liberties?

Keywords

COVID-19; allocation of scarce resources; civil liberties; crisis standards of care; novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; public health emergency; public health ethics

Coronavirus shuts down trials of drugs for multiple other diseases

Nature

Ledford, H.

News

When 2020 began, Neena Nizar and her family were poised to harvest the fruit of a decade of hard work and sacrifice: a clinical trial of an experimental treatment for her two sons’ rare genetic disorder that was slated to start before the year’s end.

Keywords

Ethics, social science, economics