Vincentkring8134

Bergamo province was one of the hardest hit regions by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 30,000 people have died as a result of the infection. Although many hypotheses have been formulated to explain the rapid outbreak of COVID-19 in Lombardy, none have yet considered the specific conditions that characterized the Bergamo hinterland. In this letter, we try to identify and investigate which elements could have helped the rapid spreading of the virus.Previous studies demonstrated a higher COVID-19 fatality rate in men. The aim of this study was to compare age and comorbidities between women and men who died from COVID-19. We retrospectively analyzed data of COVID-19 patients hospitalized to a large academic hospital system in New York City between March 1 and May 9, 2020. We used a multivariable logistic regression model to identify independently significant variables associated with gender in patients who died from COVID-19. The model was adjusted for age and comorbidities known to be associated with COVID-19 mortality. We identified 6760 patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Of these patients, 3018/6760 (44.6%) were women. The mortality rate was higher for men (women 18.2% vs. men 20.6%, p = 0.039). Of the patients who died, women were on average 5 years older than men (woman 77.4 ± 12.7 vs. men 72.4 ± 13.0, p less then  0.001). In the multivariable model, cardiovascular comorbidities were not significantly different between women and men. Chronic kidney disease (aOR for women 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9) and smoking (aOR for women 0.7, 95% CI 0.5-0.9) were more common in men. Age decile (aOR for women 1.4, 95% CI 1.3-1.6) and obesity (aOR for women 2.3, 95% CI 1.8-3.0) were higher in women. This study demonstrates that women who died of COVID-19 showed a similar cardiovascular disease profile as men. Yet, they are 5 years older than men. Investigating the gender impacts of COVID-19 is an important part of understanding the disease behavior.Healthcare-associated ventriculitis and meningitis is a common complication in patients who suffer from head trauma or have undergone a neurosurgery. Healthcare-associated ventriculitis and meningitis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Complications of healthcare-associated ventriculitis and meningitis include persistent vegetative state, moderate and severe disability, and death. Acinetobacter baumannii is the causative pathogen in 3.6-11.2% of cases of healthcare-associated ventriculitis and meningitis. Cases of difficult-to-treat healthcare-associated A. baumannii ventriculitis and meningitis are being reported more frequently. However, in most of these cases, a combination of intravenous (IV) and intraventricular (IVT)/intrathecal colistin achieves good therapeutic outcome. This report describes a clinical case of difficult-to-treat healthcare-associated A. baumannii ventriculitis. The A. SMIP34 datasheet baumannii strain was sensitive to colistin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, intermediate to tigecycline, and resistant to other antibiotics. While colistin was the drug of choice in our case, the patient developed anaphylactoid reaction during the IV administration of the loading dose of colistin, which mandated us to discontinue colistin and complicated the treatment of our patient. The patient did not respond to a combination of IV antibiotics that included meropenem, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and tigecycline. However, when IVT tigecycline was added as a last-resort therapeutic option, the patient's ventriculitis dramatically improved, and the patient was discharged from the hospital. Physicians who treat patients with healthcare-associated A. baumannii ventriculitis might resort to IVT tigecycline when they run out of therapeutic options.Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) may result in serious complications involving several organ systems, including myocardial tissue. An exaggerated host inflammatory response, described as a cytokine storm, has been linked to play a major role in these complications. Colchicine and other pharmaceutical agents have been proposed to counter the cytokine storm and improve outcomes. In this exploratory review, we utilized a PubMed and Cochrane Database search aiming to identify the biochemical characteristics of the cytokine storm as well as to identify the potential effect of colchicine on these inflammatory biomarkers. The research yielded 30 reports describing the characteristics of the cytokine storm and 44 reports describing the effect of colchicine on various inflammatory biomarkers. According to our research, colchicine may be an agent of interest in the treatment of COVID-19 via its anti-inflammatory properties. However, there are potential drug interactions with cytochrome P450 3A4 inhibitors resulting in acute colchicine toxicities. Additionally, there is scarce evidence regarding the efficacy of colchicine in the acute phase of disease, since most trials evaluated its effect in chronic conditions. In this direction, our team proposes three different hypotheses for evaluating the place of colchicine in the treatment of COVID-19.The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of rectal ozone (O3) in COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia admitted at Hospital Universitario Santa Cristina, Madrid. In a before-and-after study, four patients admitted with severe bilateral pneumonia due to COVID-19 were treated with rectal ozone and confirmed with (+) RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 and evaluated afterwards. The analyzed outcome variables were as follows (a) clinical improvement (O2 saturation and O2 supply); (b) biochemical improvement (fibrinogen, D-dimer, urea, ferritin, LDH, IL-6, and CRP); (c) radiological improvement. The treatment protocol consisted of 5 sessions (1 session/day) of intra-rectal ozone, applied in a volume of 100 mL and a concentration of 35 μg/mL. The Protocol was previously approved by the Hospital's Health Care Ethics Committee (CEAS) (Report 15/4/2020) for compassionate use in the face of this exceptional pandemic situation, and prior informed consent was obtained from the patient/legal representative. The patients improved oxygen saturation, as observed by the lower number of desaturations and the lower supply of O2.