COVID-19 pandemic: guidance for nuclear medicine departments

Coronaviruses are non-segmented, enveloped positive-sense acid viruses from the Coronaviridae family. There six types of the coronavirus known to infect humans. Four them cause mild respiratory symptoms, while two of them, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), have epidemics with high mortality rates. December 2019, a new type of coronavirus 2019-nCoV/ -CoV-2, causing COVID-19 disease, was extracted and from the lower respiratory tract samples of several in Wuhan, China. These patients presented with of severe pneumonia, including fever, fatigue, dry , and respiratory distress. coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable and pathogenic viral infection. It is believed to be via respiratory droplets and fomites during close contact between an infector and an infectee. The mainly infect epithelial cells in the lung, but -CoV-2 has been detected in respiratory, fecal, and specimens of patients infected with the virus. February 3, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern, and March 11, declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The total of confirmed cases, deaths associated with COVID19, and affected countries and territories continues to grow; statistics can be found at the WHO–Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic site or the John Hopkins Resource Centre. care providers around the world are facing challenging decisions. They are rapidly adjusting their standard operating procedures (SOPs) to cope with the pandemic cases and their services. This is done in line with local guidance, available, and the advice of the World Health (WHO) Minimum Requirements for infection and control (IPC) programmes. publication was prepared based on the systematic review of available literature on the subject and the contribution a panel of international experts during the webinar entitled “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: Challenges for Nuclear Medicine Departments,” organized by the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and broadcasted on Wednesday 25 March 2020. objective of this guide is not to override any guidance or national practice guidelines or rules, does it provide comprehensive advice on all aspects nuclear medicine practice. It is solely intended as for nuclear medicine facilities during this time adjustment and adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic. We present suggested recommendations for nuclear departments to follow, based on a typical patient’s “journey” through the department.