COVID-19: Is There Evidence for the Use of Herbal Medicines as Adjuvant Symptomatic Therapy?

Background: Current recommendations for the self-management of SARS-Cov-2 disease (COVID-19) include self-isolation, rest, hydration, and the use of NSAID in case of high fever only. It is expected that many patients will add other symptomatic/adjuvant treatments, such as herbal medicines. Aims: To provide a benefits/risks assessment of selected herbal medicines traditionally indicated for “respiratory diseases” within the current frame of the COVID-19 pandemic as an adjuvant treatment. Method: The plant selection was primarily based on species listed by the WHO and EMA, but some other herbal remedies were considered due to their widespread use in respiratory conditions. Preclinical and clinical data on their efficacy and safety were collected from authoritative sources. The target population were adults with early and mild flu symptoms without underlying conditions. These were evaluated according to a modified PrOACT-URL method with paracetamol, ibuprofen, and codeine as reference drugs. The benefits/risks balance of the treatments was classified as positive, promising, negative, and unknown. Results: A total of 39 herbal medicines were identified as very likely to appeal to the COVID-19 patient. According to our method, the benefits/risks assessment of the herbal medicines was found to be positive in 5 cases (Althaea officinalis, Commiphora molmol, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Hedera helix, and Sambucus nigra), promising in 12 cases (Allium sativum, Andrographis paniculata, Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea purpurea, Eucalyptus globulus essential oil, Justicia pectoralis, Magnolia officinalis, Mikania glomerata, Pelargonium sidoides, Pimpinella anisum, Salix sp, Zingiber officinale), and unknown for the rest. On the same grounds, only ibuprofen resulted promising, but we could not find compelling evidence to endorse the use of paracetamol and/or codeine. Conclusions: Our work suggests that several herbal medicines have safety margins superior to those of reference drugs and enough levels of evidence to start a clinical discussion about their potential use as adjuvants in the treatment of early/mild common flu in otherwise healthy adults within the context of COVID-19. While these herbal medicines will not cure or prevent the flu, they may both improve general patient well-being and offer them an opportunity to personalize the therapeutic approaches

An Outbreak of Human Systemic Anthrax, including One Case of Anthrax Meningitis, Occurred in Calabria Region (Italy): A Description of a Successful One Health Approach

In this report, three cases of human cutaneous anthrax are described, one complicated by meningitis, and all were linked to a single infected bullock. A 41-year-old male truck driver, along with two male slaughterhouse workers, 45 and 42, were hospitalized for necrotic lesions of the arm associated with edema of the limb and high fever. All three patients were involved in transporting a bullock to the slaughterhouse. Microbiological examination on the prescapular lymph node and a piece of muscle from the bullock carcass showed the presence of Bacillus anthracis. The three patients underwent a biopsy of the affected tissues, and all samples tested positive for B. anthracis DNA using PCR. Furthermore, the truck driver also complained of an intense headache, and a CSF sampling was performed, showing him positive for B. anthracis by PCR, confirming the presumptive diagnosis of meningitis. Fast diagnosis and appropriate treatment are crucial for the management of human anthrax. Cooperation between human and veterinary medicine proved successful in diagnosing and resolving three human anthrax cases, confirming the reliability of the One Health approach for the surveillance of zoonoses

ENERGETIC CONSUMPTION PREDICTION ON CONSTRUCTION SITE

The paper presents some ongoing results of a research still carried on by the authors concerning the design and management of a ‘green’ construction site. The study is born from the exigency that every design discipline has to deal with the importance of making the building process more sustainable. So, it’s necessary not only to proceed with an Integrated Design, but also to achieve sustainability by a focused construction site design. Starting from the well‐known definition of sustainability ‐ sustainable development for future generations ‐ the research has identified three basic issues in order to save the necessary resources: (i) the energetic consumption of construction site, (ii) the wastes production, (iii) the environmental impact on the around human activities. Some results of the analysis of the first basic issue are presented here. The method used follows two different approaches. The first concerns the collection and setting of data about ended construction sites. In particular these data regard the urban parameters of the building construction, the significant works realized, the electrical consumption of the construction process and its costs. These data have been collected thanks to the involvement of a number of building firms, that were interested in understanding the impact of the electricity charges on their business. The second analysis concerns yard equipments. Data about their electrical consumptions have been collected and organized into critical schedules. In different sections are contained information about the equipment typology, the kind of supply and the start up power. Equipments data have been collected using existing publication, technical sheets and interviewing manufacturers. The final aim of the research will be the definition of innovative construction site design in order to optimize its sustainability, by orienting its designers choices

Yard energy data collection

The aim of the research is to develop methods and tools to predict, during the design phase, the construction site need of energy, so to orient technological and operating choices in order to reduce, at the same time, energy consumptions and construction costs. In recent years, following the expectations and deadlines set by the European and International Community, the attention of the construction industry to a more sustainable use of resources has been directed mainly towards the energetic optimization and energy savings during the life cycle of a building, involving every design discipline. However, to date, sustainability isn’t a permanent requirement of the construction site discipline. The current situation of the building sector, by contrast, may act as a fruitful phase in the development of new construction equipment that combine both the goal of energy savings and of energetic self-sufficiency of a yard using semi-industrial systems for the production of renewable energy. The first phase of the research consisted in the data collection of the main European energy distributor (TERNA), of the users (construction companies) and of the producers of construction site equipment. The collection has allowed the identification of a series of building descriptors useful to correlate the operational design with the possibility to save energy during construction. In order to validate the method, the data collection is now going on in the field, by direct observation of consumptions associated with specific works. At the same time the group of research is studying some new construction site equipment sustainability oriented

Candidemia Subsequent to Severe Infection Due to Clostridium difficile: Is There a Link?

[No abstract available