International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2020
Meta AnalysisComorbidities and the risk of severe or fatal outcomes associated with coronavirus disease 2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Existing findings regarding the relationship between comorbidities and the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are inconsistent and insufficient. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between different comorbidities and the severity of COVID-19. ⋯ Chronic comorbidities, including obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease, and malignancy are clinical risk factors for a severe or fatal outcome associated with COVID-19, with obesity being the most prevalent and respiratory disease being the most strongly predictive. Knowledge of these risk factors could help clinicians better identify and manage the high-risk populations.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2020
Diagnostic serial interval as a novel indicator for contact tracing effectiveness exemplified with the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea.
The clinical onset serial interval is often used as a proxy for the transmission interval of an infectious disease. For SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, data on clinical onset serial intervals is limited, since symptom onset dates are not routinely recorded and do not exist in asymptomatic carriers. ⋯ The relatively short diagnostic serial intervals of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 in South Korea are likely due to the country's extensive efforts towards contact tracing. We propose the mean diagnostic serial interval as a new indicator for the effectiveness of a country's contact tracing as part of the epidemic surveillance.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2020
Early identification of COVID-19 cytokine storm and treatment with anakinra or tocilizumab.
To examine outcomes among patients who were treated with the targeted anti-cytokine agents, anakinra or tocilizumab, for COVID-19 -related cytokine storm (COVID19-CS). ⋯ Prompt identification and treatment of COVID19-CS before intubation may be more important than the specific type of anti-inflammatory treatment. Randomized controlled trials of targeted anti-cytokine treatments and corticosteroids should report the duration of cytokine storm in addition to clinical severity at randomization.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2020
Silent hypoxia in patients with SARS CoV-2 infection before hospital discharge.
To assess the degree of hypoxia and subjective dyspnea elicited by a 6-minute walking test (6MWT) in COVID-19 patients prior to discharge. ⋯ The 6MWT is a potential tool in the diagnosis of asymptomatic exercise-induced hypoxia in hospitalized COVID-19 patients prior to discharge. Due to important methodological limitations, further studies are needed to confirm our findings and to investigate their clinical consequences.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2020
Impact of tocilizumab on mortality and/or invasive mechanical ventilation requirement in a cohort of 206 COVID-19 patients.
No therapy has proven to be effective yet to reduce mortality and/or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) requirement in COVID-19. Tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with severe COVID-19 could be an effective treatment. ⋯ Despite the small sample size in the TCZ group, this result suggests that TCZ reduces mortality and/or IMV requirement in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. This notion needs to be confirmed and spread in the medical community.