International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 2021
Presenting Symptoms and Predictors of Poor Outcomes Among 2,184 Patients with COVID-19 in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Lagos state remains the epicentre of COVID-19 in Nigeria. We describe the symptoms and signs of the first 2,184 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted at COVID-19 treatment centers in Lagos State. We also assessed the relationship between patients' presenting symptoms, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and COVID-19 deaths.. ⋯ Primary care physicians and COVID-19 frontline workers should maintain a high index of suspicion and prioritize the care of patients presenting with these symptoms. Community members should be educated on such predictors and ensure that patients with these symptoms seek care early to reduce the risk of deaths associated with COVID-19.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 2021
Therapeutic plasma exchange followed by convalescent plasma transfusion in critical COVID-19-An exploratory study.
The pathophysiology of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily a host immune interplay to virus invasion. The therapeutic options have been explored either against hyperinflammation from dysregulated adaptive immunity or direct virus neutralization using antibodies from convalescent plasma (CP) of a recovered patient. The therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for removal of excessive inflammatory cytokines has been tried with success in COVID-19. ⋯ The median duration ICU and hospital LOS were 12 (5-42) days and 18 (12-47) days respectively. No patient developed transfusion-associated complications, but three patients developed secondary bacterial sepsis within 14 days of therapy, and one died. This case series demonstrated the sequential use of TPE followed by CP transfusion as a therapeutic option in critical COVID-19.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 2021
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among health care workers in a New York City hospital: A cross-sectional analysis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York City (NYC) has endured the greatest burden of COVID-19 infections in the US. Health inequities in South Bronx predisposed this community to a large number of infectious cases, hospitalizations, and mortality. Health care workers (HCWs) are at a high risk of exposure to the infection. This study aims to assess seroprevalence and the associated characteristics of consenting HCWs from an NYC public hospital. ⋯ Seroprevalence among HCWs was high compared to the community at the epicenter of the pandemic. Further studies to evaluate sustained adaptive immunity in this high-risk group will guide our response to a future surge.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Jan 2021
What factors drive the satisfaction of citizens with governments' responses to COVID-19?
This research scrutinizes the important factors influencing the satisfaction of citizens concerning their governments' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic based on an open-sourced survey of 14 countries. ⋯ The results herein offer some suggestions to governments when initiating policies to balance public health, livelihoods, and economic support.
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Tocilizumab (TCZ) is an interleukin-6 receptor antagonist, which has been used for the treatment of severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia (SSP), which aims to ameliorate the cytokine release syndrome (CRS) induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, there are no consistent data about who might benefit most from it. ⋯ TCZ is well tolerated in patients with SSP, but it has a limited effect on the evolution of cases with high oxygen support needs.