Objective To quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of Fangcang shelter hospitals, designated hospitals, and the time interval from illness onset to diagnosis toward the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. Methods We used SEIAR and SEIA-CQFH warehouse models to simulate the two-period epidemic in Wuhan and calculate the time dependent basic reproduction numbers (BRNs) of symptomatic infected individuals, asymptomatic infected individuals, exposed individuals, and community-isolated infected individuals. Scenarios that varied in terms of the maximum numbers of open beds in Fangcang shelter hospitals and designated hospitals, and the time intervals from illness onset to hospitals visit and diagnosis were considered to quantitatively assess the optimal measures. Results The BRN decreased from 4.50 on Jan 22, 2020 to 0.18 on March 18, 2020. Without Fangcang shelter hospitals, the cumulative numbers of cases and deaths would increase by 18.58 and 51.73%, respectively. If the number of beds in the designated hospitals decreased by 1/2 and 1/4, the number of cumulative cases would increase by 178.04 and 92.1%, respectively. If the time interval from illness onset to hospital visit was 4 days, the number of cumulative cases and deaths would increase by 2.79 and 6.19%, respectively. If Fangcang shelter hospitals were not established, the number of beds in designated hospitals reduced 1/4, and the time interval from visiting hospitals to diagnosis became 4 days, the cumulative number of cases would increase by 268.97%. Conclusion The declining BRNs indicate the high effectiveness of the joint measures. The joint measures led by Fangcang shelter hospitals are crucial and need to be rolled out globally, especially when medical resources are limited.

Background Although the incidence of co‐existent pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and lung cancer in China is increasing, risk factors related to its development are still poorly understood. We aimed to investigate which clinical factors were associated with the odds of co‐existent PTB and lung cancer (PTB‐lung cancer) cases in a case‐control study. Method A total of 125 PTB‐lung cancer patients were enrolled by Beijing Chest Hospital as the case group between January 2012 and December 2016. Age‐ and sex‐matched PTB‐only (N = 125) and lung cancer‐only (N = 125) patients were selected as the control groups. Data were collected from the medical records and computed tomography (CT) reports. The case group was further categorized into three sub‐groups according to the diagnosis intervals between previous PTB and lung cancer (<1 year, 1‐10 years, and > 10 years). Result Compared with both controls of PTB‐only and lung cancer‐only patients, the PTB‐lung cancer case group had significantly higher proportions of patients with irritant cough, expectoration, hemoptysis, fever and CT features of irregular mass and pleural thickening. For PTB patients, fibrous calcification (OR, 2.193; 95%CI, 1.168‐4.117) was associated with higher odds of lung cancer (P‐value < .05). Conclusion Distinct clinical symptoms and CT tests may help with the early diagnosis of PTB‐lung cancer cases. PTB patients with fibrous calcification may have a higher risk of lung cancer. Further multicenter prospective studies are required to validate our findings.

Objective To quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of Fangcang shelter hospitals, designated hospitals, and time interval from illness onset to diagnosis in the prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic. Methods We use SEIAR and SEIA-CQFH warehouse models to simulate the two-stage epidemic in Wuhan and calculate the time dependent basic reproduction number (BRN) of symptomatic infected individuals, asymptomatic infected individuals, exposed individuals and community isolated infected individuals. Scenarios that varied in the maximum numbers of open beds in Fangcang shelter hospitals and designated hospitals, the intervals from onset to visit hospitals and diagnosis, are considered to quantitatively assess the optimal measures. Findings: The BRN is decreased from 4.50 on Jan 22 to 0.18 on March 18. Without Fangcang shelter hospitals, the case number of cumulative and death will increase by 18.58% and 51.73%. If the number of beds in the designated hospitals decrease by 1/2 or 1/4, the number of cumulative cases will increase by 178.04% and 92.1%. If the time interval from illness onset to hospital visit is 4 days, the number of cumulative cases and deaths will increase by 2.79% and 6.19%. If Fangcang shelter hospitals are not established, the number of beds in designated hospitals reduce 1/4 and the time interval from visiting hospitals to diagnosis is 4 days, the cumulative number of cases will increase 268.97%.