Highlights High fatigue and nutritional risk at discharge improved over one year in cancer survivors. Psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder, remained prevalent for one year. 66% of patients had lasting symptoms or impairments after 12 months of follow-up. Nutritional risk was resolved in the following year. ABSTRACT Objective: Post-COVID symptoms are frequent and can be debilitating, particularly in individuals with cancer. However, their impact on this population remains unclear. This study aimed to prospectively assess […]

Highlights ■ SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to mild-to-moderate disease in children with cystic fibrosis. ■ No worsening of cystic fibrosis was observed months after infection. ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis. Methods: This was a case-control analysis of clinical variables and pulmonary function test results in 43 children with cystic fibrosis, 17 (39.5%) of whom tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Results: The infected children exhibited a higher frequency of […]

Highlights ■ Public intensive care unit COVID-19 patients presented with more comorbidities and higher severity at admission. ■ Public intensive care units required more invasive organ support (e.g., mechanical ventilation, vasopressors, and renal replacement therapy) but less non-invasive ventilation and high-flow nasal cannula than private intensive care units. ■ In-hospital mortality was higher in public intensive care units, with an increased risk of death even after adjusting for patient characteristics and illness severity at intensive care unit admission. ABSTRACT Objective: […]

Highlights ■ The COVID-19 pandemic has increased adherence to hand hygiene in intensive care units. ■ Private hospitals recorded higher consumption of alcoholbased hand sanitizer. ■ Interventions are needed to help keep rates up. ABSTRACT Objective: Compare alcohol-based hand sanitizer use in intensive care units in a municipality in São Paulo state, before and during the coronavirus pandemic. Methods: Analytical retrospective study using indirect documentation, with data obtained from a notification spreadsheet for epidemiological indicators of healthcare-associated infection in the […]

Highlights Healthcare-associated infections are responsible for higher morbidity and mortality rates. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a scenario of enormous demand for healthcare. Knowledge of risk factors is important for preventive measures. COVID-19 and the length of hospital stay were the most important risk factors for healthcare-associated infections. ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the risk factors for healthcare-related infections during the COVID-19 pandemic in intensive care units, to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on Central Line- Associated Bloodstream Infection, Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract […]

Highlights Long-term catheter flushing for >90 days has preserved function. Ports cleaned after 90 days have the same colonization rate as those flushed early. Long-term catheters may be colonized in asymptomatic patients. The longer port cleaning interval reduces costs. ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the incidence of malfunction and colonization rates of fully implantable long-term catheters left unflushed during the COVID-19 pandemic; and to evaluate the average cost of transporting each patient to the hospital for flushing. Methods: During the COVID-19 […]

Highlights Tofacitinib use did not result in meaningful changes in hematological parameters. Tofacitinib use did not lead to clinically meaningful changes in liver enzymes. ABSTRACT Objective: Tofacitinib, an oral Janus kinase inhibitor, has been tested against a placebo in 289 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. We analyzed the data from the tofacitinib- and placebotreated patient cohorts to evaluate the laboratory profiles between baseline and day 7. Methods: We performed post hoc analyses on the following laboratory tests over time during the […]

ABSTRACT Highlights Renal involvement was frequent in patients with COVID-19 and related to worse outcomes. Diuretic use, mechanical ventilation, proteinuria, hematuria, age, and creatine phosphokinase and D-dimer levels were risk factors for acute kidney injury. Acute kidney injury, mechanical ventilation, elevated SOFA Score, and elevated ATN-ISS were associated with mortality. The second wave was associated with greater severity; however, the mortality rates were similar between the two periods. This may reflect the effectiveness of vaccines and the constant learning that […]

Highlights Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a severe presentation of COVID-19 without effective treatment despite intensive research. Inhaled nitric oxide is a vasodilator that has been studied in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome COVID-19 yielding contradictory results. The use of inhaled nitric oxide rescue therapy in critically ill patients with COVID-19 experiencing moderate-to-severe acute respiratory distress syndrome was significantly associated with an improvement in oxygenation parameters with no difference in mortality. ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the responsiveness of COVID-19 […]

Highlights Previous influenza vaccination was associated with a reduced need for hospitalization after COVID-19 diagnosis. In 60 days of outpatient setting, four deaths occurred (three in the hospitalized and one in the non-hospitalized group). The persistence of more than two symptoms in 60 days was observed in 31.9% of patients. ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate deaths, hospitalizations, and persistence of symptoms in patients with COVID-19 after infection in an outpatient setting during the first COVID-19 wave in Brazil. Methods: This prospective […]