International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases
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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
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
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.