Public health effects of travel-related policies on the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods systematic review

Objectives: To map travel policies implemented due to COVID-19 during 2020, and conduct a mixed methods systematic review of health effects of such policies, and related contextual factors. Design: Policy mapping and systematic review. Data sources and Eligibility Criteria: for the policy mapping, we searched websites of relevant government bodies and used data from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker for a convenient sample of 31 countries across different regions. For the systematic review, we searched Medline (Ovid), PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and COVID-19 specific databases. We included randomized controlled trial, non-randomized studies, modeling studies, and qualitative studies. Two independent reviewers selected studies, abstracted data and assessed risk of bias. Results: Most countries adopted a total border closure at the start of the pandemic. For the remainder of the year, partial border closure banning arrivals from some countries or regions was the most widely adopted measure, followed by mandatory quarantine and screening of travelers. The systematic search identified 69 eligible studies, including 50 modeling studies. Both observational and modeling evidence suggest that border closure may reduce the number of COVID-19 cases, disease spread across countries and between regions, and slow the progression of the outbreak. These effects are likely to be enhanced when implemented early, and when combined with measures reducing transmission rates in the community. Quarantine of travelers may decrease the number of COVID-19 cases but its effectiveness depends on compliance and enforcement and is more effective if followed by testing, especially when less than 14 day-quarantine is considered. Screening at departure and/or arrival is unlikely to detect a large proportion of cases or to delay an outbreak. Effectiveness of screening may be improved with increased sensitivity of screening tests, awareness of travelers, asymptomatic screening, and exit screening at country source. While four studies on contextual evidence found that the majority of the public is supportive of travel restrictions, they uncovered concerns about the unintended harms of those policies.Peer Reviewe

Prospective Audit of Colonoscopy Practice in a Lebanese University Hospital

Background Colonoscopy has a great impact on diagnosis and management of the diseases of the colon. In general it's a safe and accurate procedure. No evaluation has been done of any endoscopic practices in a country where the practice of medicine is totally private. Objectives Prospective audit of technical success and complication rates of both therapeutic and diagnostic colonoscopy. Setting One endoscopy unit of a Lebanese university hospital. Patients and design 407 consecutive colonoscopies were evaluated over a 6-month period. Data were recorded for age and sex of the patients, indication of the colonoscopy, presence of comorbidities, patients risk stratification, administrated dose of anesthetic drugs. Data concerning the procedure itself were also monitored. Intervention Completion rate as well as complications reported during or post colonoscopy. All patients were called back by phone 48 hours and 1 month later to identify any related post-procedural complication. Results 407 patients underwent colonoscopy. All patients were sedated with midazolam, propofol and fentanyl. The overall caecal intubation rate was 99.99%. 70 snare polypectomies and 29 cold forceps excision were performed as well as 5 coagulations with Argon Plasma Coagulation. The most important post-procedural complication was chemical colitis in 2 cases. Limitations Patients and endoscopists satisfaction was not evaluated. It's an audit of a single tertiary French affiliated hospital. It does not necessarily reflect what's really happening on a national level. Conclusion This audit enabled us to change some of our practices; i.e. rinsing method of endoscopes. It stimulated the team to keep a high performance level without neglecting the risk of potential complications