ABSTRACT
Delirium is an acute confusional state, often associated with long‑term hospitalization, oxygen supplementation, the male sex and an older age. Since the start of the corona‑ virus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic, there was an abrupt increase in intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and hospitalization in general, as well as in the need for oxygen therapy and enforced isolation due to the contagion risk. This caused a sudden increase in the episodes of delirium. The diagnosis of delirium, however, remains a difficult task, as it can often be misdiagnosed or confused with underlying dementia, particularly among the elderly. The present study describes present eight cases of patients admitted to hospital due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, who manifested delirium. Notably, only one of the patients had psychiatric comorbidities prior to hospitalization. The most prevalent sex was the male (7:1) one, the mean age of the patients was 81.7±4 years, and the mean duration of hospitalization was 23.6±6 days. In total, 3 patients had a virological recovery and were discharged, 3 had a clinical recovery and were transferred to a lower intensity COVID‑19 facility and 2 patients did not survive. In the eight cases described herein, the mortality rate was 25%. Delirium was found to be commonly associated with a higher mortality rate and a longer hospitalization period. Therefore, it is imperative to develop protocols and tools with which to rapidly assess delirium and treat it accordingly. In addition, it is fundamental to improve the quality of life of hospitalized patients, supporting behavioral therapy and the environmental factors that can affect patients, to prevent delirium as well. © 2023 Spandidos Publications. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The pandemic emergency deriving from the SARSCoV-2 infection has made it necessary to find effective strategies to preserve highrisk populations with severe comorbidities like haemodialysis patients. Adequate vaccination coverage is of vital importance, representing the main weapon to counter the spread of the virus. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the antibody response of our dialysis patients vaccinated with the Comirnaty-BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine in comparison with those with previous infection. METHOD: We retrospectively analysed 52 patients referried to the Dialysis Unit of University Hospital G. Martino, Messina, from 2020 to 2021. Of these, 41 patients had never contracted SARS-CoV-2 (group A), while 11 patients had contracted the infection (group B). Serum samples were taken before vaccine administration, 3 months and 6 months after administration. A linear mixed model was performed on the measurements to analyse the difference in antibody response, comparing the values of neutralizing IgG and anti-COVID-19 antibodies during time (Fig. 1). RESULTS: The results showed a statistically significant higher titre of anti-spike antibodies in patients with a previous infection (P = 0.003), with a stronger association at 6 months after infection. The linear mixed model showed a significant association over time between infection and antispike (ln U/L) in the univariate model, which was confirmed in the multivariate model {adjSlope: 2.9, [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.3-4.6];P =.001}. No other variables were related to antispike. CONCLUSION: These findings can raise novel questions on the role of natural immunity and antibody titre in the haemodialysis population.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: We analysed 900 samples of fresh (250) and processed (650) fish products collected in Sicily (Southern Italy) in 2020 during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic (hereafter: COVID-19). Materials and methods: The samples were divided temporally based on four phases relating to the various restrictions imposed by the Italian government in this period. The validated method of ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography combined with a diode array detector was then employed for the analysis. Results: The samples collected during the Phase I lockdown period and after it had ended (Phase II) revealed significant increases in the mean histamine levels: (41.89±87.58) mg/kg and (24.91±76.76) mg/kg, respectively. The 11 (1.3% of the total) fresh fish samples that were identified as being non-compliant with Regulation (EC) No.2073/2005 were only found during these two periods. All the processed samples were always compliant. The histamine values decreased as the restrictions eased, achieving a mean value of (11.16±9.3) mg/kg (Phase III). Conclusions: There was an increase in the incidence of fish samples that were non-compliant with Regulation (EC) No.2073/2005 compared to previous surveillance data. These results provide a first report on the effect of lockdown measures on food safety and the cold chain. Our findings must cause food safety operators to intensify their controls over fresh fish products in such periods to safeguard consumer health. Further studies are required to evaluate whether the same trend would be observed with other food contaminants. © 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Zhejiang University Press.