ABSTRACT
We report the case of a man affected by cystic fibrosis who developed a severe SARS-CoV-2 related pneumonia in March 2020. In addition to lopinavir/ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine, he was treated with two doses of tocilizumab, displaying a significant clinical improvement. This is the first case described in the literature of an adult patient affected by cystic fibrosis who received tocilizumab for COVID-19, with documented total recovery, also assessed by a spirometry.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized/administration & dosage , COVID-19 Drug Treatment , COVID-19 , Cystic Fibrosis , Hydroxychloroquine/administration & dosage , Lopinavir/administration & dosage , Pneumonia, Viral , Respiratory Tract Infections/microbiology , Ritonavir/administration & dosage , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Adult , Antiviral Agents/administration & dosage , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/physiopathology , Cystic Fibrosis/complications , Cystic Fibrosis/immunology , Cystic Fibrosis/physiopathology , Drug Combinations , Humans , Lung/diagnostic imaging , Lung/physiopathology , Male , Oxygen Inhalation Therapy/methods , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/drug therapy , Pneumonia, Viral/etiology , Receptors, Interleukin-6/antagonists & inhibitors , Respiratory Function Tests/methods , Respiratory Tract Infections/drug therapy , Respiratory Tract Infections/etiology , Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods , Treatment OutcomeSubject(s)
COVID-19/complications , Coinfection/virology , HIV Infections/complications , Adult , Aged , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/therapy , Female , HIV Infections/diagnosis , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
: This study reports on hospital admission and outcomes of 69 HIV-infected individuals who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection between February and May 2020, in a network of Italian centres. Patients' characteristics and median days between symptoms and diagnosis were similar by hospital admission, whereas admitted patients had lower nadir CD4 cells and current lymphocytes count. These values were also correlated to worse COVID-19 outcome. Antiretroviral drugs did not seem to be associated with disease severity.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections/complications , HIV Infections/complications , Hospitalization , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Betacoronavirus , CD4 Lymphocyte Count , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/drug therapy , Coronavirus Infections/physiopathology , Female , HIV Infections/drug therapy , Humans , Hydroxychloroquine/therapeutic use , Italy , Male , Middle Aged , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/drug therapy , Pneumonia, Viral/physiopathology , Risk Factors , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Since the end of February 2020, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak rapidly spread throughout Italy and other European countries, but limited information has been available about its characteristics in HIV-infected patients. METHODS: We have described a case series of patients with HIV infection and COVID-19 diagnosed at the S.Orsola Hospital (Bologna, Italy) during March and April, 2020. RESULTS: We reported a case series of 26 HIV-infected patients with COVID-19. Nineteen subjects were men, the median age was 54 years, 73% of patients had one or more comorbidities. Only 5 patients with interstitial pneumonia were hospitalized, but there were no admissions to intensive care unit and no deaths. CONCLUSIONS: In our experience, COVID-19 associated with HIV infection had a clinical presentation comparable to the general population and was frequently associated with chronic comorbidities.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , HIV Infections/epidemiology , Adult , Aged , CD4 Lymphocyte Count , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/therapy , Comorbidity , Female , HIV-1 , Humans , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
Since the outbreak of Coronavirus disease in December 2019, information specific to pregnancy remains limited and controversial. Based on data from previous reports, it has been noticed that contrary to prior pandemics such as SARS, MERS and H1N1 and although pregnancy is usually considered as a condition of high susceptibility to viral infections, new SARS-CoV2 infection seems to have a more benign clinical course when affecting pregnant women. We speculate that during pregnancy the physiological "silencing" of the Th1 pro-inflammatory response may blunt the cytokines storm which is thought to play a key-role in the pathogenesis of the severe complications of Covid-19.