Analysis of the scientific literature in the first 30 Days of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

DAVIDE GORI; Erik Boetto; Maria Pia Fantini

The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03. 25.20043315 doi: medRxiv preprint Topics and content of the papers published "Generic discussion" papers were the most frequent ones (29.5% of the total), and consisted mostly of editorials and commentaries, with no original data. The second most frequent topic was "Preparedness" (23.1%): 83.3% of these papers consisted of commentaries, and only 1 paper was a primary study. The "Epidemiology" topic was addressed in 15.4% of the papers, and only 2 (5.6%) were primary studies. The lack of primary studies could be observed also for the "Virology" topic (14.1%) and the "Transmission" topic (12.8%), with only 12 (36.4%) and 6 (20%) papers reporting original data, respectively. On the other hand, the "Pathology and clinical characteristics" topic (12.8%) consisted mostly of primary studies (22, 73.3%). "Therapy" topic was addressed in 12% of the papers, with 9 papers (33.3%) being primary studies. The least addressed topic was "Diagnosis" (9.4%), with 12 papers (54.5%) reporting original data. Finally, 3% of the papers were classified in the "Other" topic category. Table 1 , ID: 218] assessed the required expertise and capacity for molecular detection in specialised laboratories into the European Union/European Economic Area countries. This paper emphasized the need for countries to put in place strong measures in order to detect and laboratory-confirm cases early. It was also highlighted the need to perform molecular testing (RT-PCR, as also indicated by the WHO [19] ) on different specimens including: nasopharyngeal swabs, bronchoalveolar lavage, oropharyngeal swab, nasopharyngeal aspirate, sputum, (endo) tracheal aspirate and nasal wash. The communication report also underlined the need for a clinical validation of the test specificity and sensitivity. If nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs are the recommended types of specimen for diagnostic testing an interesting brief report published by Chinese authors [20] [Supplementary materials 165, 167, 197, 222] were published in the second half of the time frame selected, mostly by authors with a Chinese affiliation. These papers addressed several aspects of COVID-19 treatment, such as interferon inhalation, use of and efficacy of antiviral drugs, potential repurposing treatments with angiotensin receptor blockers, use of antibiotics for bacterial co-infections, and respiratory support therapy (e.g. oxygen saturation, CPAP, invasive mechanical ventilation). Interestingly, one paper published on 4 February 2020 [21] [Supplementary materials, Table 1 , ID: 91] investigated the possibility that the receptor that SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect lung cells might be ACE2, a cell-surface protein on lung AT2 alveolar epithelial cells; one of the known regulators of endocytosis for the AT2 cells is the AP2associated protein kinase 1 (AAK1). The authors suggested the possibility to use high-affinity AAK1-binding drugs to inhibit endocytosis of AT2 cells, such as baricitinib (an oral, targeted All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.