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Histiocytoses are rare diseases characterised by infiltration of affected organs by myeloid cells with a monocyte or dendritic cell phenotype. Symptoms can range from self-resolving localised forms to multisystemic lesions requiring specific treatment. To demonstrate extremely rare cases of CD68-negative cardiac histiocytosis with
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Histiocytoses are rare diseases characterised by infiltration of affected organs by myeloid cells with a monocyte or dendritic cell phenotype. Symptoms can range from self-resolving localised forms to multisystemic lesions requiring specific treatment. To demonstrate extremely rare cases of CD68-negative cardiac histiocytosis with expression of SARS-CoV-2 antigen in infiltrate cells. We demonstrated a case of Erdheim–Chester disease in a 67-year-old man with pericardial involvement and positive dynamics with vemurafenib treatment, an autopsy case of xanthogranulomatous myopericarditis in a 63-year-old man, surgical material of xanthogranulomatous constrictive pericarditis in a 57-year-old man, and an autopsy case of xanthogranulomatosis in a 1-month-old girl. In all cases, xanthogranuloma cells expressed CD163, many of them spike protein SARS-CoV-2, while CD68 expression was detected only in single cells. In this article, we demonstrated four cases of extremely rare CD68-negative cardiac xanthogranulomatosis in three adults and one child with expression of the spike protein SARS-CoV-2 in M2 macrophages. This potential indirect association between COVID-19 and the development of histiocytosis in these patients warrants further investigation. To substantiate this hypothesis, more extensive research is needed.
Full article
Background: Attendance to neonatal follow-up programs presents a significant factor associated with positive long-term outcomes of high-risk infants. Strategies to maximize participation benefit not only future interventions’ effectiveness but also healthcare systems and society. While a number of studies have focused on attrition
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Background: Attendance to neonatal follow-up programs presents a significant factor associated with positive long-term outcomes of high-risk infants. Strategies to maximize participation benefit not only future interventions’ effectiveness but also healthcare systems and society. While a number of studies have focused on attrition or loss to follow-up, no studies have focused on the contributive risk factors to abstaining from neonatal follow-up programs specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to reveal the main factors linked to non-compliance in a neonatal follow-up program of a tertiary hospital. Methods: In this ambidirectional observational study, data from 1137 high-risk neonates who participated in a hospital follow-up program were collected (573 before and 564 after the COVID-19 pandemic). The study sample was grouped to three groups: G1 (N = 831), who maintained participation in the program; G2 (N = 196), who discontinued; and G3 (N = 110), who never visited the outpatient clinics. Data were obtained from the hospital’s Systems Applications and Products (SAP) Software and a structured questionnaire, answered by parents of newborns either discontinuing (G2) or not attending (G3) the follow-up program through a telephone contact. Results: The most frequently reported reason for discontinuance before the pandemic onset was the parents’ perception of no necessity to maintain participation (44.12%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, provider-related barriers to maintaining hospital access, inability to provide high-quality services (37.14%), and feelings of fear and insecurity (18.5%) emerged as factors for non-attendance. Citizenship and morbidity (respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, necrotic enterocolitis, jaundice) acted as incentives to join the follow-up program during both study periods. Multiple regression analysis showed that multiple-gestation infants had higher odds of maintaining participation during the COVID-19 period (OR, 4.04; CI, 1.09–14.9). Conclusion: Understanding the potential impact of COVID-19 and the transformative changes in neonatal follow-up clinics is crucial for applying compliance strategies. Removing barriers to maintain family participation can lead to increased attendance rates.
Full article
Infectious diseases manifesting in the form of epidemics or pandemics do not only cause devastating impacts on public health systems but also disrupt the functioning of the socio-economic structure. Further, risks associated with pandemics and epidemics become exacerbated with coincident compound hazards. This
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Infectious diseases manifesting in the form of epidemics or pandemics do not only cause devastating impacts on public health systems but also disrupt the functioning of the socio-economic structure. Further, risks associated with pandemics and epidemics become exacerbated with coincident compound hazards. This study aims to develop a framework that captures key elements and components of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response systems, focusing on a multi-hazard context. A systematic literature review was used to collect data through peer-reviewed journal articles using three electronic databases, and 17 experts were involved in the validation. Epidemiological surveillance and early detection, risk and vulnerability assessments, preparedness, prediction and decision making, alerts and early warning, preventive strategies, control and mitigation, response, and elimination were identified as key elements associated with epidemic and pandemic preparedness and response systems in a multi-hazard context. All elements appear integrated within three interventional phases: upstream, interface, and downstream. A holistic approach focusing on all interventional phases is required for preparedness and response to pandemics and epidemics to counter their cascading and systemic effects. Further, a paradigm shift in the preparedness for multi-hazards during an epidemic or pandemic is essential due to the multiple challenges posed by concurrent hazards.
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by
Edward Wylęgała, Aleksandra Prus-Ludwig, Patrycja Mocek, Tomasz Tomczyk, Bogdan Dugiełło, Andrzej Madej, Bogusława Orzechowska-Wylęgała and Adam Wylęgała
Objective: This study aimed to assess changes in the morphology of the retina and cornea in patients treated and hospitalized during the acute active phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: A total of 24 patients with symptomatic early COVID-19 disease and 38 healthy participants
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Objective: This study aimed to assess changes in the morphology of the retina and cornea in patients treated and hospitalized during the acute active phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: A total of 24 patients with symptomatic early COVID-19 disease and 38 healthy participants from a control group were enrolled in our study. Among them, 20 received oxygen therapy at flow rates ranging from 1–10 L, while four received high-flow intranasal oxygen therapy (HFNOT). Some patients were treated with other types of therapy, such as Remdesivir, COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy, or Tocilizumab. In the study, we focused on the analysis of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of the cornea and retina including corneal thickness, central retinal thickness, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), and optic disc parameters. The measurements were acquired using Spectral-domain OCT REVO FC 130. Results: The analysis did not show significant changes between the examined ophthalmological parameters before and after therapy. Furthermore, there were no detected significant differences between the tested parameters of the retina and cornea in COVID-19-positive patients compared to the control group. Conclusions: No ophthalmological manifestations of COVID-19 disease were observed during the study. Taking into account the results of other publications, the lack of an unambiguous position on this topic requires further research.
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The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system plays a pivotal role in the immune response to viral infections, mediating the presentation of viral peptides to T cells and influencing both the strength and specificity of the host immune response. Variations in HLA genotypes across
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The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system plays a pivotal role in the immune response to viral infections, mediating the presentation of viral peptides to T cells and influencing both the strength and specificity of the host immune response. Variations in HLA genotypes across individuals lead to differences in susceptibility to viral infection and severity of illness. This study uses observations from the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to explore how specific HLA class I molecules affect clinical responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection. By analyzing paired high-resolution HLA types and viral genomic sequences from 60 patients, we assess the relationship between predicted HLA class I peptide binding repertoires and infection severity as measured by the sequential organ failure assessment score. This approach leverages functional convergence across HLA-C alleles to identify relationships that may otherwise be inaccessible due to allelic diversity and limitations in sample size. Surprisingly, our findings show that severely symptomatic infection in this cohort is associated with disproportionately abundant binding of SARS-CoV-2 structural and non-structural protein epitopes by patient HLA-C molecules. In addition, the extent of overlap between a given patient’s predicted HLA-C and HLA-A peptide binding repertoires correlates with worse prognoses in this cohort. The findings highlight immunologic mechanisms linking HLA-C molecules with the human response to viral pathogens that warrant further investigation.
Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Epidemiology)
Background/Objectives: Long COVID covers many cardio-pulmonary symptoms, worsening individuals’ health status. Health resort treatment applies balneological factors, physical medicine modalities, climate actions, and exercises that may be beneficial for COVID-19 survivors. This study aimed to assess the severity of the cardiopulmonary symptoms
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Background/Objectives: Long COVID covers many cardio-pulmonary symptoms, worsening individuals’ health status. Health resort treatment applies balneological factors, physical medicine modalities, climate actions, and exercises that may be beneficial for COVID-19 survivors. This study aimed to assess the severity of the cardiopulmonary symptoms in people qualified for health resort treatment and its efficacy in this group of patients. Methods: Medical records of 239 people attending health resort treatment were analysed. A total of 122 people (71 women and 51 men) with a mean age of 64.35 years ± 8.66 years were enrolled in the analysis. The cardiopulmonary symptoms of long COVID were assessed twice: before and after health resort treatment. Results: Persisting COVID-19 symptoms do not differentiate between women and men. Health resort treatment reduces symptoms severity in both sexes. Age does not mediate the efficacy of health resort treatment. Conclusions: The persistent symptoms of COVID-19 are of low intensity in people qualified for health resort treatment and are independent of gender. Health resort treatment effectively mitigates dyspnoea, tightness of chest, and sputum in long COVID patients, so it should be implemented into the standard treatment course for COVID-19 survivors as a continuation of therapy.
Full article
The first webinar in the series, held on 17 April 2020, saw both Prof. Dr. Antoine Flahault, Director of the Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Switzerland, and Prof. Dr. Evelyne Bischof, Associate Professor, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China and Research physician, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland speak on this topic.
The second webinar in the series, entitled “Coronaviruses: history, replication, innate immune antagonism”, saw Prof. Dr. Susan R. Weiss, Professor of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania speak on this topic.
WEBINAR 3: Could the COVID-19 Crisis be the Opportunity to Make Cities Carbon Neutral, Liveable and Healthy
The third webinar in this series was presented by Prof. Dr. Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, a world leading expert in environmental exposure assessment, epidemiology, and health risk/impact assessment with a strong focus and interest on healthy urban living.
WEBINAR 4: COVID-19 - Global Supply Chains and the SDGs
For the fourth webinar of this series, Prof. Dr. Max Bergman, Dr. Dorothea Schostok and Prof. Dr. Patrick Paul Walsh gave a presentation on Global Supply Chains and the SDGs.
WEBINAR 5: The New Role of Family Physicians in Times of COVID-19
The fifth webinar of the COVID-19 Series saw Prof. Dr. Christos Lionis discuss the new role of family physicians that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WEBINAR 6: Survey on Symptoms/Signs, Protective Measures, Level of Awareness and Perception Regarding COVID-19 Outbreak among Dentists
In the sixth webinar of this series, Prof. Dr. Guglielmo Campus and Prof. Dr. Maria Grazia present and discuss the risk and the preventions that can and should be taken by dentists during this pandemic.
WEBINAR 7: Living with COVID-19: An Early Intervention Therapeutic Strategy to Control the Pandemic
The seventh webinar of the COVID-19 series, Dr. Hamid Merchant discussed the different therapeutic strategies that can be adopted in the early stages of the infection.
WEBINAR 8: Impact of COVID-19 on Routine Immunization, Reproduction and Pregnancy Outcome
For the eighth COVID-19 webinar, Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland discussed the effect that COVID-19 seems to have on pregnant women; whereas Prof. Dr. Giovanni Gabutti discussed the role of routine immunization as a way of fighting COVID-19.
