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A systematic review by a group of PhD's in Brazil aimed to analyze the safety of processing N95 or higher filtration masks for professional use by looking at the outcomes of integrity, filtration, and microbiological safety. 40 Studies that evaluated the decontamination and/or sterilization of Filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) were included in the review. Due to the diversity of the tested methods and products, the results did not enable generalization but the analysis showed complex relationship between the raw materials of the FFRs and the cycle conditions of the decontamination methods (Table 1).

A randomized-control study animal study conducted by researchers in Sari, Iran included 84 male BALB/c mice randomly divided into 12 groups of 7 mice with injection of intraperitoneal dexamethasone, propranolol, or saline for 10 days and evaluated efficacy of each in preventing death in three models of hypoxia; asphyctic, circulatory, and hemic (Figure 1). It was discovered that dexamethasone played a significant role in prolonging the latency for death in the asphyxia and hemic models (summary), however no statistically significant changes were observed in the circulatory model. Additionally, the propranolol control provided the best protection against hypoxia. These findings suggest protective effect for 10 days of dexamethasone treatment as well as propanolol against hypoxia and potential for treatment of COVID-19 patients with hypoxemia.

A systematic review and meta-analysis conducted using PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases by researchers in Brazil sought to quantify risk factors for developing thromboembolic events in the setting of COVID-19. They found that D-dimer levels > 3.17 3.17 µg/mL, age over 60, and comorbid diabetes or hypertension were risk factors for thromboembolism whereas no statistically significant associations were seen with levels of platelets, neutrophils, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, or ferritin.

A retrospective systematic study conducted May 2020 by university researchers from Italy, UAE, Germany, The Netherlands, and Croatia found that in general health care workers (HCWs) had lower rates of occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) when compared to other occupations such as bakers, beauticians, cooks, and butchers, that females had higher rates than males, and that nurses has higher rates than medical doctors. The discuss a need for more accurate data collection on OCD in HCWs.