Internal medicine
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Case Reports
Plasma Exchange did not Reduce Viral Load in a Recovered Case of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome.
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne infectious disease caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV). There is no specific treatment for SFTS, although several reports have indicated that plasma exchange (PE) can be an effective therapy for severe SFTS. ⋯ While the patient recovered, there was no significant difference in the SFTSV viral load after PE. Our results confirmed that PE itself does not reduce the SFTSV viral load.
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Patients with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) colonization should be managed in an isolation room with contact precautions. We herein report a patient whose colorectal carriage of VRE was successfully decolonized using concomitant bowel irrigation with polyethylene glycol, probiotics, and oral antimicrobials, linezolid and orally-administered daptomycin, for release from isolation and contact precautions. We therefore would like to suggest a potential strategy for managing patients with VRE colonization.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients have been increasingly reported to develop various neurological manifestations. We herein present a rare case of bilateral facial nerve palsy in a patient that occurred 5 weeks after the onset of COVID-19. The patient had no motor or sensory deficits in his extremities, and there were no other diseases that may have resulted in bilateral facial palsy. Based on these findings, we concluded that the facial palsy in this case may have been triggered by COVID-19.
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We herein report a case of acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (AE-IPF) triggered by COVID-19. An 87-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19 on a polymerase chain reaction test, and computed tomography revealed ground-glass opacity (GGO) superimposed on a background pattern consistent with usual interstitial pneumonia. Considering these data, we diagnosed her with AE-IPF. ⋯ After the treatment, the pulmonary infiltrates improved. She was discharged from our hospital without severe disability. High-dose steroids can be a viable treatment option for AE-IPF triggered by COVID-19.