Articles: sars-cov-2.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) placed additional strain on an already struggling health care system. In response, novel solutions such as telehealth have been explored, however, there is significant room for innovation in health care delivery. ⋯ Drive-through medical systems can accurately triage patients presenting with potential COVID-19 and effectively treat lower-risk patients, thereby reducing ED utilization.
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Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, several treatment options have been proposed (e.g. steroids, heparin, antivirals and monoclonal antibodies). Remdesivir was the first antiviral approved for the treatment of COVID-19, even though controversial evidence exists concerning the efficacy. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a study to evaluate whether the use of remdesivir was associated with lower mortality in patients with COVID-19. ⋯ Our study showed lower mortality in people with SARS-CoV-2 infection treated with remdesivir.
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It is unclear whether unintentional ingestion of povidone-iodine following its application to the oropharyngeal space could affect thyroid function. ⋯ Data from this study support the overall safety of povidone-iodine use in the oropharyngeal space for SARS-CoV-2 prophylaxis among individuals with normal thyroid function and subclinical thyroid disease.
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Observational Study
Baseline plasma SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection predicts an adverse COVID-19 evolution in moderate to severe hospitalized patients.
SARS-CoV-2 is a single-stranded RNA virus, known to be the causative agent of COVID-19. As the resulting disease shows a very heterogeneous range of clinical manifestations, the identification of early biomarkers allowing patients stratification according to the expected disease severity is still an unmet clinical need. ⋯ Our data thus suggest that plasma viral RNA load at the time of hospital admission could represent a useful independent biomarker allowing early patients' stratification according to the expected disease evolution, and driving clinical decisions tailored on the specific needs of the individual patient.
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Observational Study
A Retrospective Review of the Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients through an Integrated Palliative Care Model during the First Wave of the SARS-COV-2 Pandemic.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic created surges of rapidly deteriorating patients straining health care necessitating the evaluation of novel models of palliative care (PC) integration to reduce patient suffering and hospital strain. Objective: To evaluate an integrated PC model's effect on code status change. Design: This is an observational retrospective study. ⋯ An ordinal logistic model determined that consultation location (odds ratio [OR] 3.35, p = 0.017) and patient age (OR 1.09, p < 0.001) were predictive of code status change to DNR/DNI. Conclusion: Within an integrated PC model, PC consultation was associated with code status change. The effect of an integrated PC model warrants further study in comparison with a traditional PC model in a similar patient cohort.