Update on COVID-19 in the Asia-Pacific - 29 April 2020
Questions for panelists and their responses

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response(s)
  1. Current situation of Clinical management for COVID-19.
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Early start of antiviral treatment is effective to reduce ICU need.

  2. How will COVID 19 end eventually?
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    The outbreak may have several peaks until development of vaccine.

  3. Management of severe covid
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Adequate MV support and ARDS treatment

  4. May i ask for current sharing state of pulmonary rehabilitation during pandemic for covid patient in APSR country member?
    Response

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    We are beginning to prescribe physiotherapy sessions within ICU itself and post discharge to the ward as some patients can remain symptomatic and have presence of exertional desaturation.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    pulmonary rehab is significant particularly in patients with severe pneumonia to avoid pulmonary fibrosis

  5. Role of small airway in atypical ARDS in COVID 19?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    probably minimal as dynamic hyperinflation is not a common feature in the respiratory failure phenotype of COVID-19. It adds to the complexity of ventilatory strategy among COPD patients with sticken with COVID-19.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    preexisting small airway obstruction worsens in COVID

  6. Time required for vaccine to hit Asian market in current scenario?
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Not sooner than a year

  7. Status of concept of Herd immunity considering the fact that COVID cured are getting reinfected?
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    It would take years for a high population country to get herd immunity

  8. Whats now the exact mortality rate (is it still 3%) after China corrected its data?
    Response

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    This will likely vary around the world depending on the country's resources.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Chineese colleauges would reply this

  9. what clinical trials are being conducted in Asia in Stage 1 COVID-19 when patients are just in home isolation
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    so far in Turkey cohort studies between the isolated and nonisolated group will start soon

  10. What's the best practices in addressing respiratory failure among Covid patients?
    Response

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    I don't think there are any "best" practices. We just advise for early proning even before intubation. Once intubated, to follow as per ARDS protocol.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Q is not clear

  11. When can I expect COVID-19 vaccine?
    Response
    This point was discussed during the webinar.

    Please see YouTube youtu.be/7PEfxLxFGVc.

  12. What clinical trials are being undertaken in Asia for patients with stage 1 COVID-19 disease ie. in home isolation
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    No idea

  13. Covid19 virus looks like combination beetween virus Corona and HIV, is it true?
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    not that similar

  14. Virus mutation
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    several mutations is repoted

  15. Need information about pulmonary rehabilitation in covid management. Sharing expertise in the APSR country member
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    pulmonary rehab is important after hospitalization

  16. How to treatment COVID19 patient
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    early start of HCQ, faviparvir, remdesivir, anticoagulant treatment,high flow oksigen and prone position seems significant factors of treatment outcome

  17. How do you think about the movement of econmy ignoring present situation of the coronavirus pandemic?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    After the lockdown has reduced the number of infected cases, going back to work with mitigation measures like social distancing, use of mask in public places, compulsive hand washing and test-contact trace-isolate should be done to revive the economy.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Very difficult to ignore

    1. How should health care workers protect themselves at work against Corona virus infection?
    2. How should asymptomatic patients with COVID-19 be handled? should there be at home (self isolation) or quarantined in a health facility?
    3. How should health care workers who have come in contact with a patient with COVID-19 be handled?
    Response

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    In Singapore, we isolate all positive patients and we treat all health care workers similar to all patients. Contact tracing will occur after that.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Healt careworkers should wear adequate PPE

  18. What is characteritics fo clinical data about asymptomatic cases?
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Not so much is known

  19. I'd like to know coagulopathy of Covid-19.
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    satartin anticoagulant treatment is very important to reducearterial and venous thrombosis

  20. How do you find out the infection rate in asymptomatic carriers?
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    not a lot known I guess

  21. What about reinfection????
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Immunity after covıd would be protective sor some time

  22. if patient is asymptomatic, for those asymptomatic patient, will you offer treatment for them or just to obseve?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    just observe

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    I would offer and see weather they become negative

  23. prof Roa- what may be the indicators that we are beginning to turn the pandemic around?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    When the global number of cases no longer overwhelms the county's health capacity and when there is consistent down trending of the test positivity rate (% of the total tested), case fatality rate and the reproductive number of the infection trnsmision is R0 < 1, then the pandemic is deemed to have turned around. The disease however, may still show localized outbreaks but there are much less in number and more mangeable. The infection can go on for years as a "seasonal" disease for decades until it is finally decimated either by herd immunity, widespread vacination or the occurence of another organism (like H2N2 in 1957) that can become the next dominant infection of the very host of the circulating residual H1N1 of Spanish flu (this is how H1N1 totally disappeared).

  24. medicatiins are all "experimental" at this point. What do you think worked among survivors? were we just buying time for their immune system to just recover and clear the virus?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    yes

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    I agree

  25. Does any one have experience of Isothermal amplification testing for antigen detection and does it have any false negativity (RT PCR ...25% false negativity)
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    We have no experience about that

  26. Do we should give medicine for asymptomatic patients?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    no

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    I would start end see the result

  27. I get to know trace measures to infected patients by using mobile device in Korea. What kind of problem about private data is there? Is there concern about using private data to another purpuse?
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    I have no idea

  28. When you use hfnc does the patient need to be in a negative pressure room?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    ideally

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    In Singapore, we isolate all positive patients and we treat all health care workers similar to all patients. Contact tracing will occur after that.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    It is recommended

  29. Dear Dr. Young Jae Cho, how about pulmonary rehabilitation for covid in korea?
    (No reponse yet)

    (No reponse yet)

  30. What's the Experience of treatment with convalescent serum? Is there any cut off values of neutralising antibodies??
    Response

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    So far in Turkey cit is not promising.

  31. When caluculating motality rate, apropriate denominater should be used. I think the denominator of total infections cases before 14 day adapt to death cases. How about this?
    Response

    Dr Camilo C‎ Roa (Philippines) responds:

    yes, case fatality rate

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    Definitely right. Cases should include definite and possible ones who received treatment.

  32. do you perform angioscan to seek for pulmonary embolism
    Response

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    We have performed a few pulmonary angiograms for patients with persistent or profound hypoxemia. We think there is a role.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    when suspected yes

  33. Does anyone have experience of using NIV with HELMET interface?
    Response

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    Not for us. None of our patients received NIV.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    No

  34. Why you do not use methylprednisolon for ARDS patients?
    Response

    Dr Ser Hon Puah (Singapore) responds:

    Currently due to the lack of convincing evidence.

    Dr Fusun Oner Eyuboglu (Turkey) responds:

    ICU specialists would answer this Q