Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Case Reports
Pulmonary cryptococcosis after recovery from COVID-19 in an immunocompetent patient: A rare case report.
Cryptococcus neoformans (C neoformans) infection typically occurs in immunocompromised patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or those taking immunosuppressive drugs, corticosteroids, or chemotherapy. Recently, there have been an increasing number of reports of cryptococcosis as opportunistic infections in COVID-19 patients, all of which have been related to immunocompromising conditions, underlying medical diseases, immune suppression drugs, or corticosteroids. Here, we report the first case of pulmonary cryptococcosis in an immunocompetent patient with a history of COVID-19 who had no history of underlying diseases or immune modulation drugs. ⋯ This case may illustrate the risk of pulmonary cryptococcosis after SARS-CoV-2 infection in an immunocompetent patient. Opportunistic infections can occur even after recovery from COVID-19 for several reasons. First, SARS-CoV-2 infection causes immune dysregulation including lymphocytopenia. Second, T lymphocytes play a principal role against Cryptococcus. Third, these changes in the immune system due to COVID-19 may last for several weeks. Thus, we suggest careful consideration of lung lesions in patients with a history of COVID-19.
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Observational Study
Epidemiologic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, other regions of China, and globally based on data gathered from January 2020 to February 2021.
This observation study examines coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) data from outbreak and other sites in China and worldwide in order to examine the epidemiological pattern of COVID-19 before the acquisition of immunity through widespread vaccination and infection. COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality data for January 2020 to February 2021 were obtained from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. The number of cases was logarithmically transformed for comparison of the rate of increase or decrease with time across areas. ⋯ After the early stage, similar increase in the incidence rate with time was observed globally, although the total number of cases differed between regions. The outbreak severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 strain in Wuhan had low epidemic intensity and high virulence, but the epidemiological characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 may not be associated with race, geography, or economic status. Importantly, more effective prevention and control measures and vaccines should be applied for controlling the variants.
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The burden of post-coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 symptoms has been increasing and is of great concern in patients with pre-existing chronic medical conditions.This study aimed to delineate the post-COVID-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms among migraine patients compared to the non-migraine control group. ⋯ The study highlighted the importance of follow-up migraine patients upon recovery from COVID-19 infection, being more vulnerable to post-COVID-19 symptoms.
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Respiratory viruses are part of the normal microbiota of the respiratory tract, which sometimes cause infection with/without respiratory insufficiency and the need for hospital or ICU admission. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of respiratory viruses in nontransplanted postoperative septic patients as well as lymphocyte count influence in their presence and its relationship to mortality. 223 nontransplanted postsurgical septic patients were recruited on the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid prior to the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. Patients were split into 2 groups according to the presence/absence of respiratory viruses. ⋯ Logistic regression analysis revealed that lymphocyte count ≤ 928/µl is independently associated with a positive PCR result [OR 3.76, 95% CI (1.71-8.26), P = .001] adjusted by platelet count over 128,500/µL [OR 4.27, 95% CI (1.92-9.50) P < .001] and the presence of hypertension [OR 2.69, 95% CI (1.13-6.36) P = .025] as confounding variables. Respiratory viruses' detection by using PCR in respiratory samples of nontransplanted postoperative septic patients is frequent. These preliminary results revealed that the presence of lymphopenia on sepsis diagnosis is independently associated to a positive virus result, which is not related to a higher 28-day mortality.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the health care system, resulting in decreased health care utilization. During the pandemic, some patients chose to postpone clinic visits or avoid them altogether while health care providers concurrently scaled back their services. As a result, health care has shifted to a greater reliance on telehealth and virtual care. ⋯ Most importantly, this study expands the literature concerning links between fear of COVID-19 and altered care-seeking behaviors, which is the first study to do so focusing on these concerns in the participants' own words. Finally, while telehealth is promising in preserving continuity of care during pandemics, long-term integration into the health care system is not without challenges, and this study provides insights into how patients experienced telehealth during COVID-19 in their own words. Data collection, survey design, and research priorities for this study were based on input from ongoing community partnerships.