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
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.
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This study aimed to describe the effectiveness and optimum use of tocilizumab (TCZ) treatment by the support of clinical, laboratory and radiologic observations. ⋯ Earlier use of TCZ in COVID-19 infection was beneficial for survival, length of hospitalization and duration of oxygen support. The recommendation for administration of TCZ was based on an increase in requirement of oxygen support, progression in thoracic CT, and elevation of inflammation markers, including IL-6, CRP, ferritin, and d-dimer, and decrease in % lymphocytes.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2020
Asymptomatic infection by SARS-CoV-2 in healthcare workers: A study in a large teaching hospital in Wuhan, China.
To investigate the proportion and characteristics of asymptomatic infection among healthcare workers (HCWs). ⋯ The findings demonstrated that a high rate of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers existed among healthcare worker close contacts during the outbreak of COVID-19.
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Oct 2020
Evaluation of a novel antigen-based rapid detection test for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory samples.
In the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the development and validation of rapid and easy-to-perform diagnostic methods are of high priority. This study was performed to evaluate a novel rapid antigen detection test (RDT) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in respiratory samples. ⋯ The RDT evaluated in this study showed a high sensitivity and specificity in samples mainly obtained during the first week of symptoms and with high viral loads, despite the use of a non-validated sample material. The assay has the potential to become an important tool for early diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, particularly in situations with limited access to molecular methods.