Effectiveness of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia: The Primary Results of a Randomised Clinical Trial.

Mortality in COVID-19 is mainly associated with respiratory failure, cytokine storm, and macrophage activation. Oxygenation and anti-inflammatory effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) suggest that it is a promising adjunct treatment for COVID-19. Repeated sessions of HBO with standard COVID-19 therapy were used to reduce the inflammation and increase oxygenation. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of HBOT in avoiding the replacement ventilation and/or ECMO and its effect on the inflammatory process. Twenty-eight moderate-to-severe COVID-19 patients were randomized into control or HBOT group. HBOT patients participated in 5 hyperbaric sessions (60 min). Before and after each session blood gas levels and vital parameters were monitored. Blood samples were collected for extended biochemical tests, blood morphology and immunological assays. There were 3 deaths in the control, no deaths in the HBOT group. No adverse events leading to discontinuation of HBOT were observed and patients receiving HBOT required lower oxygen delivery. We observed decrease in CRP, ferritin and LDH and increase in CD3 in HBOT group compared to control. This study confirmed the feasibility and safety of HBOT in patients with COVID-19 and indicated HBOT can lead to alleviation of inflammation and partial restoration of T cell responses.

Children were less frequently infected with SARS-CoV-2 than adults during 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in Warsaw, Poland.

Clinical data suggest that during the current COVID-19 pandemic, children are less prone than adults to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our purpose was to determine the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 in children vs. adults during the 2020 pandemic in Warsaw, Poland, and to investigate whether RSV and/or influenza A/B infections were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infections. We present results of RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 performed in Warsaw, Poland. Some of the pediatric subjects were also PCR-tested for RSV, and A and B influenza. We compared the test results from the four groups of symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects: 459 symptomatic pediatric patients (children 0-18 years old), 1774 symptomatic adults, 445 asymptomatic children, and 239 asymptomatic adults. 3.26% (15/459) of symptomatic pediatric patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 in contrast to 5.58% (99/1774) of symptomatic adults (p = 0.0448). There were no SARS-CoV-2 positive cases in the group of asymptomatic children (0/445) and two positive cases in the group of asymptomatic adults (2/239), i.e., 0.83%. In the group of symptomatic pediatric patients, 17.14% (6/35) (p = 0.0002) were positive for RSV, 8.16% (4/49) were positive for influenza A, and 2.04% (1/49), thus 10.20% (5/49) (p = 0.0176) for influenza A/B. Children were less prone to SARS-CoV-2 infection than the adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in Warsaw. Higher percentage of symptomatic children was infected with RSV or influenza A/B than with SARS-CoV-2. This suggests a necessity for the testing for all these viruses for an early identification and isolation of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients for an ensuing 2020 autumn return of COVID-19.