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Modern society faces a variety of respiratory-related threats from the increased use of chemicals and periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases. This study investigates the connection between chemically-induced lung damage and SARS-CoV-2 infection, addressing a critical research gap. To investigate this connection, we conducted a study using a mouse model to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection symptoms in lungs injured by polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate (PHMG-p). Our research revealed that PHMG-p-Induced Lung Injury (PILI) mice exhibited severe inflammatory responses and lung damage following infection. Cytokine storm-related factors were significantly elevated in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluids of infected PILI mice, indicating severe infection. RNA-seq analysis showed upregulated genes in infected PILI mice associated with respiratory tract diseases and increased inflammatory and immune responses. Downregulated genes were primarily involved in lipid metabolism processes. We also identified alterations in four _genes linked to asthma development in infected PILI mice, correlating with clinical observations in patients. Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection in chemically damaged lungs may exacerbate symptoms and potentially lead to new-onset asthma. This study highlights the increased risk of infection severity in chemically damaged lungs and emphasizes the need for heightened awareness of respiratory health in individuals exposed to chemicals, especially during infectious disease outbreaks.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138430 | DOI Listing |
J Relig Health
September 2025
Center for Climate Action and Social Transformations (4CAST) Institute of Psychology, SWPS University, Warsaw, Poland.
The present study examined responses to COVID-19 at the beginning of the pandemic, April 2020, among a representative sample of 880 Poles. Participants described their religious beliefs, their emotional reactions to the pandemic, the changes they had made in their behavior since the onset of the pandemic, and their political orientation (left-right). Roman Catholics felt more threatened by the pandemic than non-believers, and Catholics reacted more strongly to the pandemic than non-believers in terms of feeling scared, paralyzed by fear, panicked, fearful, sad, woebegone, and lost, whereas there were no such differences on other emotional reactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Ethn Subst Abuse
September 2025
Department of Psychology and Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addiction (CASAA), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Background: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities experienced a disproportionate increase in opioid-related fatal and non-fatal poisonings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to treatment, such as medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), became even more critical, although research among this population is limited. We completed qualitative interviews with substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Hand Surg Am
September 2025
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY.
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate how major US health care policy changes have influenced long-term Medicare reimbursement trends for upper-extremity flap and microvascular procedures from 2002 to 2023.
Methods: Reimbursement data for 28 common flap and microvascular procedures were extracted from the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule database using Current Procedural Terminology codes. Adjustments for inflation were made using the Consumer Price Index.
Public Health Rep
September 2025
Office of the Director, National Center for Zoonotic and Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Objectives: Increases in absenteeism among schoolchildren may precede increases in incidence of community-level respiratory diseases. This study assessed the correlations and predictive values between all-cause absenteeism among kindergarten through grade 12 students and community-level increases in influenza and COVID-19.
Methods: We used absenteeism data from 4 school districts (1 each in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Wisconsin) between fall 2018 (starting approximately late August) and spring 2022 (typically ending in May) to calculate correlations between school absenteeism and community-level cases of influenza, percentage of influenza-like illness, and COVID-19.
Health Soc Care Deliv Res
September 2025
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Background: Remote services (in which the patient and staff member are not physically colocated) and digital services (in which a patient encounter is digitally mediated in some way) were introduced extensively when the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. We undertook a longitudinal qualitative study of the introduction, embedding, evolution and abandonment of remote and digital innovations in United Kingdom general practice. This synoptic paper summarises study design, methods, key findings, outputs and impacts to date.
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