Episode description

The way humans behave is central to the ways in which SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted. Whether it’s a cough or a sneeze or touching something that’s then handled by someone else, we need to change behaviour (and quickly) to minimize transmission in the absence of pharmaceutical interventions. In Australia, as coronavirus restrictions are relaxed and businesses are being encouraged to prepare for reopening, the risks once again loom for fresh wave/s of infection. So, what does COVID-safe awareness look like? Overarchingly, it’s using scientifically and medically valid information to make choices that minimize harm and in the first place, accessing this information and using it for self-education and then applying it for your own and others' benefit.

This week, I want to focus some attention on 2 interesting papers. Both of them are about non-fever warning signs that the exposed and then infected individual may go on to develop into COVID-19. Think of today’s Livestream as a symptom-checker that relies on 2 recently published papers that I’ll summarise briefly. The first, looks at how the loss of smell is correlated with a positive diagnosis of COVID-19. The second paper reviews an interesting case of discoloured lesions affecting the feet that pre-date fever symptoms and have become known as “COVID Toes”. Whilst there is still much to learn about the transmission and diverse epidemiology seen with this coronavirus, the literature offers us these 2 easy-to-remember considerations that might be useful. With the race to re-open Schools, it might be prudent to be on the lookout for funny feet or a non-smelly fragrance!

The last part of this Livestream will briefly summarise 2 key points from a recent survey into the knowledge and perceptions of direct contact transmission pathways in Australia. We administered this survey to a cohort of Australians, and I’ll give you a very sneak peek since the paper is now at the peer-review stage. I’ll cover the full results in the next few weeks especially as this relates to the creation and maintenance of COVID-safe workplaces.

REFERENCES:

Predictive value of sudden olfactory loss in the diagnosis of COVID-19
Antje Haehner, Julia Draf, Sarah Draeger, Katja de With, Thomas Hummel
medRxiv 2020.04.27.20081356; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.27.20081356
Posted May 03, 2020.

Mazzotta F, Troccoli T. Acute acro-ischemia in the child at the time of COVID-19. International Federation of Podiatrists. Available at: https://www.fip-ifp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/acroischemia-ENG.pdf. Accessed April 27, 2020.

Dietz L, Horve PF, Coil DA, Fretz M, Eisen JA, Van Den Wymelenberg K. 2020. 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: built environment considerations to reduce transmission. mSystems 5:e00245-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00245-20.

Xing YH, Ni W, Wu Q, et al. Prolonged viral shedding in feces of pediatric patients with coronavirus disease 2019 [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 28]. J Microbiol Immunol Infect. 2020;S1684-1182(20)30081-5. doi:10.1016/j.jmii.2020.03.021