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OBJECTIVE: As the pandemic continues, different vaccine protocols have been implemented to maintain the protection of vaccines and to provide protection against new variants. The aim of this study was to assess hospitalized patients' vaccination status and document the efficacy of boosters. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The patients that were hospitalized due to COVID-19 were enrolled from 28 hospitals in Turkey for five months from September 2021. 5,331 confirmed COVID-19 patients from collaborating centers were randomly enrolled to understand/estimate the distribution of vaccination status in hospitalized patients and to compare the efficacy of vaccination/booster protocols. RESULTS: 2,779 men and 2,552 women of which 2,408 (45.2%) were admitted to Intensive Care Units participated in this study. It was found that the highest risk reduction for all age groups was found in groups that received 4 doses. Four doses of vaccination for every 3.7 people under 50 years of age, for every 5.7 people in the 50-64 age group, and for every 4.3 people over 65 years of age will prevent 1 patient from being admitted to intensive care. Regardless of the type of vaccine, it was found that the risk of ICU hospitalization decreased in those who were vaccinated compared to those who were not vaccinated. Regardless of the type of vaccine, the ICU risk was found to decrease 1.25-fold in those who received 1 or 2 doses of vaccine, 1.18-fold in those who received 3 doses, and 3.26-fold in those who received 4 doses. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that the addition of a fourth dose is more effective in preventing intensive unit care even in disadvantaged groups.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Male , Humans , Female , Aged , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Hospitalization , Intensive Care Units , Hospitals , Critical CareABSTRACT
Objective: To determine post-discharge mortality and associated factors of the first-wave multicenter Turkish Thoracic Society (TTD)-TURCOVID study.
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Objective: To evaluate long-term effects of COVID-19, and to determine the risk factors in long-COVID in a cohort of the Turkish Thoracic Society (TTS)-TURCOVID multicenter registry. Method(s): Thirteen centers participated with 831 patients;504 patients were enrolled after exclusions. The study was designed in three-steps: (1) Phone questionnaire;(2) retrospective evaluation of the medical records;(3) face-to-face visit. Result(s): In the first step, 93.5% of the patients were hospitalized;61.7% had a history of pneumonia at the time of diagnosis. A total of 27.1% reported clinical symptoms at the end of the first year. Dyspnea (17.00%), fatigue (6.30%), and weakness (5.00%) were the most prevalent long-term symptoms. The incidence of long-term symptoms was increased by 2.91 fold (95% CI 1.04-8.13, P=0.041) in the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and by 1.84 fold (95% CI 1.10-3.10, P=0.021) in the presence of pneumonia at initial diagnosis, 3.92 fold (95% Cl 2.29-6.72, P=0.001) of dyspnea and 1.69 fold (95% Cl 1.02-2.80, P=0.040) fatigue persists in the early-post-treatment period and 2.88 fold (95% Cl 1.52-5.46, P=0.001) in the presence of emergency service admission in the post COVID period. In step 2, retrospective analysis of 231 patients revealed that 1.4% of the chest X-rays had not significantly improved at the end of the first year, while computed tomography (CT) scan detected fibrosis in 3.4%. In step 3, 138 (27.4%) patients admitted to face-to-face visit at the end of first year;at least one symptom persisted in 49.27% patients. The most common symptoms were dyspnea (27.60%), psychiatric symptoms (18.10%), and fatigue (17.40%). Thorax CT revealed fibrosis in 2.4% patients. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 symptoms can last for extended lengths of time, and severity of the disease as well as the presence of comorbidities might contribute to increased risk. Long-term clinical issues should be regularly evaluated after COVID-19. Copyright © 2022 Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine Produced by Wolters Kluwer Medknow.
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Early diagnosis in COVID-19 is essential in terms of treatment and prevention of contagiousness. In this study, we aimed to find an alternative diagnosis method by using fewer laboratory parameters in the early diagnosis of COVID-19 disease by creating a fast, easily accessible, costeffective index and has a diagnostic accuracy rate of over 90%. All patients over the age of 18 who applied to Hitit University Erol Olcok Training and Research Hospital Emergency COVID Outpatient Clinic with a pre-diagnosis of COVID-19 between March and April 2020 were evaluated retrospectively. Patients were divided into two groups as COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative. It was aimed to create a HITIT-19 index by evaluating the cases according to the clinical and laboratory results. Between March and April 2020 (in the first peak of the pandemic), 1586 patients were applied to the Emergency COVID-19 outpatient clinic with a pre-diagnosis of COVID-19. According to COVID- 19 RT-PCR, card test, and CT involvement, 285 (13%) patients were diagnosed with COVID-19. PCR was positive in 285 (18%) of 1586 patients, and PCR was negative in 1301 (82%). While 153 (53.7%) of the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were male and the median age was 45 (28-62.75), 883 (55.7%) of the patients not diagnosed with COVID-19 were male, and the median age was 43 (31-65). Hypertension (HT) was the most common underlying disease in 10.5% of patients applied to the emergency room with a diagnosis of COVID-19, while 38.9% dyspnea and 35.1% fever were the most common symptoms. While 76% of Plaquenil and 58% azithromycin were the most frequently started treatments, 31.4% (28.4% of them were hospitalized in the service, 3% in the intensive care unit) of them hospitalized. It was to create a HITIT-19 index that is fast, easily accessible, cost-effective, and has a diagnostic accuracy rate of over 90% by using laboratory tests. However, we could not achieve this goal due to the low accuracy of the diagnostic tests and the lack of significant change in the laboratory levels of the patients at admission. Considering that the pandemic is continuing rapidly, there is still a need to develop practical diagnostic methods that are easier and cheaper in diagnosis. In this sense, we believe that our study will be a guiding study for other studies that will be designed for diagnostic index studies.
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Objective: COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is a severe acute respiratory syndrome declared by the World Health Organization as an internationally important public health emergency. Healthcare workers at the forefront and at greater risk are more affected by the epidemic The purpose of this study is to reveal the psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on healthcare professionals working in laboratories, which is one of the important service units of hospitals. This study carries the distinction of being the first study investigating the effect on employees of the laboratory COVID-19 outbreak in Turkey. Material and Methods: The research sample consists of health personnel working in laboratories (n=82). IBM SPSS 20.0 software package and IBM SPSS AMOS 26 software package were used for statistical analysis. While evaluating the data, descriptive statistical methods, factor analysis (AFA, DFA), reliability analysis, correlation analysis were used. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA test were used to test the COVID-19 psychological effect of demographic variables and the perception of COVID-19 control. Results: The overall average of the COVID-19 Psychological Impact Questionnaire was found to be 3.294 ± 0.517. The general average of the “COVID-19 Perception of Control Scale” was found to be 2.413 ± 0.675. According to these results, it was determined that the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on laboratory workers was high, and the perception of control was low. It was determined that the Psychological Effect of COVID-19 and “COVID-19 Perception of Control Scale differed statistically from demographic variables with gender (P < .05). Conclusion: The psychological impact of COVID-19 is felt most by female employees. COVID-19 Macro control perception is higher in male employees. No significant difference was found with other sociodemographic variables (P > .05). As the psychological impact of COVID-19 on laboratory staff increases, their perception of controlling the outbreak is declining.As the level of anxiety and stress of laboratory personnel increases, their demands for stopping the epidemic and increasing protection also increase. © 2022 Archives of Health Science and Research. All rights reserved.