ABSTRACT
Many bacterial, viral, and fungal co-infections have been reported with COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Invasive Aspergillosis has been described with COVID-19 ARDS. However, it continues to evade diagnosis in critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The difficulty is discerning an actual infection from colonization. Unfortunately, a timely diagnosis is crucial since COVID-19-associated pulmonary Aspergillus (CAPA) has high morbidity and mortality. We present three ICU cases of CAPA to illustrate the difficulty in diagnosing and treating the disease. We hope to bring awareness and improve patient outcomes of CAPA.
ABSTRACT
Covering the period from 1980 through 2020, with an emphasis on COVID-19, this paper analyzes how trade policy uncertainty and sustainable development policies affected investment in medical innovation. In a twofold difference-in-differences (DiD) approach, using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), the paper takes account of exogenous and heterogeneous exposure to trade policy uncertainty and trade policy adjustment in developing nations, which limited tariff increases on imported products. Both long- and short-term effects have been analyzed. Beyond patent applications, margin responses, and exports, the study indicates that eliminating tariff uncertainty boosts innovation. Developing countries have had little effect on the long-term ramifications of sectoral innovation patterns, political shifts, and imported technology. A negative response to the innovation shock and a positive response by R&D corroborate bidirectional and unidirectional causality, respectively. They demonstrate a long-term link between medical innovation, trade policy uncertainty, and R&D spending. As regards sustainable development, GDP growth and HDI have positive, and GINI index and CO2 emissions, have negative long-run relations with medical innovation. This study contributes to the literature on innovation and policy uncertainty together with sustainable development factors in developed countries, and especially on innovation trends in the medical sector, where there is a current policy ambiguity regarding the influx of foreign technology and its significance.
ABSTRACT
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are being increasingly administered worldwide, subsequent side effects, such as myocarditis, pericarditis, and myopericarditis, are becoming increasingly more common. Our case describes a 64-year-old male who developed chest pain and shortness of breath one week after receiving the Moderna (Cambridge, Massachusetts) COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. He was found to have a large, left-sided pleural effusion and a small pericardial effusion. The patient underwent thoracentesis and video-assisted thoracoscopic procedure with chest tube placement, which drained bloody pleural and pericardial fluid. He was treated with a course of colchicine. Subsequent imaging revealed the resolution of pericardial and pleural effusions, along with the resolution of symptoms.
ABSTRACT
Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first described in Wuhan, China in December 2019, has rapidly spread across the world and become a global public health emergency. Literature on the neurological manifestations of COVID-19 is limited. We report a 24-year-old male, who presented with vertigo, dysarthria, and bradyphrenia 3 weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19 on nasopharyngeal reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The patient was diagnosed with acute cerebellitis based on magnetic resonance imaging features and showed improvement posttreatment with intravenous methylprednisone for 5 days. The scope of this article is to highlight the importance of early identification of neurological symptoms and timely management as the outcomes may be catastrophic.