atients with COVID-19 exhibit a broad spectrum of disease progression, with 81% showing mild, moderate or no symptoms; 14% showing severe symptoms; and 5% experiencing critical disease with high mortality risk 1 . The risk of developing severe or critical disease has been associated with advanced age 1,2 , comorbidities 1,2 , hyperactivation of the immune system 3,4 , sex 1,2 and other factors. However, an understanding of these risk factors at the molecular and cellular levels is in its infancy.In this study, we investigated the immune response in patients with COVID-19 by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of nasopharyngeal and bronchial samples to identify molecular correlates of disease severity. Two recent studies applied scRNA-seq to bronchioalveolar lavage fluid samples from patients with COVID-19 and provide an extensive characterization of the inflammatory immune phenotype in the lower respiratory tract 5,6 . However, SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses infect and replicate in both COVID-19 severity correlates with airway epithelium-immune cell interactions identified by single-cell analysis

We established an international consortium to review and discuss relevant clinical evidence in order to develop expert consensus statements related to cancer management during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-related disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The steering committee prepared 10 working packages addressing significant clinical questions from diagnosis to surgery. During a virtual consensus meeting of 62 global experts and one patient advocate, led by the European Society for Medical Oncology, statements were discussed, amended and voted upon. When consensus could not be reached, the panel revised statements until a consensus was reached. Overall, the expert panel agreed on 28 consensus statements that can be used to overcome many of the clinical and technical areas of uncertainty ranging from diagnosis to therapeutic planning and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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BackgroundThe existing seroepidemiological data on viral hepatitis in Ethiopia showed a wide variation in prevalence pattern and the clinical and public health burden have been underestimated. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to provide a clear and comprehensive estimation of viral hepatitis epidemiology and the potential clinical burdens in Ethiopia.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was carried out from five decades (1968–2015) published studies from biomedical databases; PubMed, Google scholar, Medline and Web of Science.ResultsThe overall pooled prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) was 7.4% (95%CI: 6.5–8.4). The pooled prevalence among subgroups showed 5.2% (95%CI: 3.7–7.4) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals, 8.0% (95%CI: 5.9–10.7) in community based studies, 8.4% (95%CI: 5.4–12.7) in blood donors, 11.0% (95%CI: 7.5–15.9) in immigrants and 6.9% (95%CI: 5.6–8.5) in other groups. Among study parameters considered during meta-regression analysis, only study years were associated with a decreasing HBV prevalence rate over time. The overall pooled prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) was 3.1% (95%CI: 2.2–4.4). Unlike HBV, the anti-HCV prevalence in HIV infected individuals was higher (5.5%, 95%CI: 3.8–7.8%, p = 0.01) than the prevalence observed in the other subgroup of study population. Although relatively few data were available, hepatitis virus A (HAV), D (HDV) and E (HEV) were also circulated in Ethiopia.ConclusionsThis review indicates that all types of viral hepatitis origins are endemic in Ethiopia. Adapting a recommended diagnostic and treatment algorithm of viral hepatitis in the routine healthcare systems and implementing prevention and control policies in the general population needs an urgent attention.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-016-2090-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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