December 12th 2019 marked the appearance of a new coronavirus (COVID-19). Declared a pandemic by the WHO, COVID-19 has been exposing the weaknesses of health systems and challenging governments globally. Revista de Administração Pública drew up a series of actions to join in on the efforts of public, private, and non-profit actors mobilized in facing the pandemic. … Read More →
Why does reform of scientific communication seem so difficult and slow?
The world faces global problems for which science is needed as part of the solution. Yet the scientific communication system is not nearly as quick and open as necessary for efficient worldwide collaboration. The powers that are in a position to reform the system are too timid. Will crises like COVID-19 shake them awake? … Read More →
COVID-19 and the Heart [Originally published in Arq. Bras. Cardiol.]
We have been living with the new coronavirus pandemic since March 11, 2020. Initially, on January 1, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new coronavirus infection a global emergency and proceeded to name the disease COVID-19. […] Genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis have indicated that it is a betacoronavirus from the same subgenus as SARS and MERS. […] The cardiac complications of this disease have drawn physicians’ attention. … Read More →
Outbreak investigation in cargo ship in times of COVID-19 crisis, Port of Santos, Brazil [Originally published in Rev. Saúde Pública, vol. 54]
In February 2020, a Chinese cargo ship docked at the Port of Santos with reports of crew members with a feverish and respiratory condition. A team was gathered to verify the existence of suspected cases of COVID-19 inside the vessel and define its clearance. […] The investigation resulted from the implementation of the contingency plan to face a public health emergency of international importance and several surveillance entities cooperated. … Read More →
Dentistry vs Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2: How to face this enemy [Originally published in Rev. Gaúch. Odontol., vol. 68]
Since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, numerous restrictive measures have been taken by the governments of different countries. Recently, due to the high possibility of transmission in dental offices, there was a recommendation by the American, European and Brazilian governments to request the closing of the offices. In this commentary, we will give an overview of the reasons and perspectives of this scenario. … Read More →
The surgeons and the COVID-19 pandemic [Originally published in Rev. Col. Bras. Cir., vol. 47]
The current world Covid-19 pandemic has been the most discussed topic in the media and scientific journals. Fear, uncertainty, and lack of knowledge about the disease may be the significant factors that justify such reality. […] The Brazilian College of Surgeons suggests in this document various initiatives that may help surgeons, healthcare providers, and patients who will have to face a surgical event under the pandemic. … Read More →
COVID-19 pneumonia: what is the role of imaging in diagnosis? [Originally published in J. bras. pneumol., vol. 46 no. 2]
The current global COVID-19 pandemic is related to an acute respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which is highly contagious and whose evolution is still little known. Considering the current case definition, based on the diagnosis of pneumonia, more than 100,000 cases of COVID-19 infection have been confirmed worldwide, and the associated mortality rate has fluctuated around 2%1. However, recent changes in the diagnostic criteria of the disease have led to an increase in the rate of new cases and, on a daily basis, increasing numbers and challenges have been the subject of intense debate on the topic by the scientific community. … Read More →
Coronavirus 2020 [Originally published as an editorial in Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem vol. 73 no. 2]
Emerging and reemerging infectious diseases are constant challenges for public health worldwide. Recent cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, China, have led to the discovery of a new type of Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which are enveloped RNA viruses, commonly found in humans, other mammals and birds, capable of causing respiratory, enteric, hepatic, and neurological disease. … Read More →
Immediate Health Surveillance Response to COVID-19 Epidemic [Originally published as an editorial in Epidemiologia e Serviços de Saúde vol. 29 no. 1]
On December 31st 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of the occurrence of a pneumonia outbreak in the city of Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China. The etiological agent was rapidly identified as a novel coronavirus: SARS-COV-2. The outbreak began in a seafood and live animals market and, as at the date of this publication, the animal reservoir is unknown. … Read More →
The value of mitigating epidemic peaks of COVID-19 for more effective public health responses [Originally published as an editorial in Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical vol. 53]
The emergence of SARS-Cov-2 virus in Wuhan, China, in December of 2019 led to a local epidemic that rapidly spread to multiple countries in the world, placing remarkable challenges in surveillance and control. In March 16th, 2020, WHO declared that the infection associated with SARS-Cov-2, named COVID-19, had spread to more than 100 countries, with more than 160,000 confirmed cases and more than 6,000 deaths globally. … Read More →
Unlock ways to share peer review data
Peer review is the intrinsic process of scientific research. However, there are few systematic studies on this procedure, and it is not easy to gain access to management information administered by publishers. The PEERE project, funded by the European Community, would make this data available as a public good. … Read More →
On the possibility of interrupting the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic based on the best available scientific evidence [Originally published in Rev. bras. epidemiol., vol. 23]
Evidence is piling up and there is still a chance to stop this epidemic. We cannot think that this virus will install itself among us and be just another agent responsible for the flu, because it has very high rates of transmission and its case-fatality is not low. China has managed to greatly reduce transmission mostly with three effective measures. … Read More →
The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emergency and the role of timely and effective national health surveillance [Originally published in Cad. Saúde Pública, vol.36 no.3]
In recent years, the emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases like bird flu (influenza A H5N1) in 2003, SARS in 2002/2003, influenza A (H1N1) in 2009, and Zika in 2015 raised numerous questions on the role of epidemiological surveillance. Pandemics have occurred more frequently, and since 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the need for preparation in anticipation of the emergence of novel pathogens, including (under the name “disease X”) unknown diseases with potential for international emergence on the priority list for research and development in the emergency setting. … Read More →
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak highlights serious deficiencies in scholarly communication [Originally published in the LSE Impact blog in March/2020]
As research and government responses to the COVID-19 outbreak escalate in the face of a global public health crisis, Vincent Larivière, Fei Shu and Cassidy R. Sugimoto reflect on efforts to make research on this subject more widely available. Arguing that a narrow focus on research published in high ranking journals predominantly in English has impeded research efforts, they suggest that the renewed emphasis on carrying out open research on the virus presents an opportunity to reassess how research and scholarly communication systems serve the public good. … Read More →
The Road to Preprints (Part 2): SciELO’s Preprint Server [Originally published in the PKP website in March/2020]
Our preprints story continues with a guest post by SciELO. In addition to seed funding to make Open Preprint Systems (OPS) possible, SciELO is working closely with the PKP team to make sure that the software is developed and maintained following state-of-the-art best practices and that its features satisfy the needs of a diverse community. … Read More →
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