[The Importance of Differential Diagnosis During Pandemic: A Case Report with Coexistence of COVID-19, Brucellosis and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever]. / Pandemi Döneminde Ayirici Taninin Önemi: COVID-19, Bruselloz ve Kirim-Kongo Kanamali Atesi Birlikteligi Olan Bir Olgu Sunumu.

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which affects millions of people around the world, has been affecting our country since March 2020. The fact that the symptoms such as fever, myalgia, headache, joint pain which are common in COVID-19 patients are quite similar to the symptoms of diseases such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and Brucellosis. This may cause a diagnostic confusion in regions where these diseases are seen as endemic. In this report, a patient hospitalized with a pre-diagnosis of COVID-19 and diagnosed with acute Brucellosis, CCHF and COVID-19 during followup was presented. A 31-year-old female patient living in a rural area admitted to the emergency service with complaints of fever, weakness, headache, and body/joint pain. Physical examination revealed a temperature of 38.3°C, a pulse rate of 102/minute, and a peripheral capillary oxygen saturation of 97% in room air. The system examination was normal. In the laboratory findings, an increase in liver enzymes and acute phase reactants was observed and the platelet count was at the lower limit of the normal range. In terms of COVID-19, no involvement compatible with COVID-19 was detected in the thorax computed tomography (CT) of the patient whose nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal mixed swab samples were taken.The patient was transferred to our infectious diseases service with a pre-diagnosis of COVID-19 and CCHF. Serum samples were sent to the Public Health Agency Microbiology Reference Laboratory Department (PHA-MRLD) for CCHF diagnostic tests and supportive treatment was started. Brucella Rose Bengal and Coombs' immuncapture (1/1280 titer) tests were found as positive in the patient, who was examined for brucellosis because of living in a rural area and having a history of consuming fresh dairy products. In the tests performed at PHA-MRLD, CCHF-specific IgM positivity and the presence of viral RNA were detected. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test was negative. For Brucellosis, doxycycline and rifampicin were added to the treatment of the patient whom was given supportive therapy for CCHF. In the followup, the patient's fever was persisting and loss of taste and smell complaint developed. In this context, COVID-19 test was repeated and resulted as positive. Upon this, hydroxychloroquine sulfate treatment was started due to the recommendation of the current Ministry of Health Scientific Committee Guide. No new infiltration was detected in the chest radiography of the patient. The patient's fever subsided during follow-up and laboratory findings improved. The treatment of brucellosis was completed to eight weeks at the outpatient clinic. No problems were detected in the follow-up. This report was prepared because of a case with simultaneous brucellosis, CCHF and COVID-19 infections which could not be encountered in the literature review. As a result; in regions such as our country where both brucellosis and CCHF are seen as endemic, it is very important to keep these diseases in mind in the differential diagnosis of COVID-19 infection.

Assessment of the optic nerve, macular, and retinal vascular effects of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the optic nerve, macula, and retinal vascular structures. METHODS: This study included 129 participants recovering from COVID-19 and 130 healthy control subjects aged 18 to 55 years. The study was designed as observational and cross-sectional and was conducted between June 2020 and February 2021. The average thicknesses of the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL), ganglion cell complex (GCC), and macula also were measured using a spectral domain optical coherence tomography analysis. The vessel densities of the superficial and deep capillary plexuses of the macula, foveal avascular zone, and radial peripapillary capillary plexus of the optic disc were quantified by optical coherence tomography angiography. RESULTS: In all quadrants, the RNFL and GCC were thinner in patients with neurologic symptoms of COVID-19 (p < 0.05). None of the measurements of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study regions significantly differed between patients with and without COVID-19 symptoms (p > 0.05). The foveal avascular zone area, perimeter, circularity index, and vessel densities (%) of the global and inner and outer circles of superficial capillary plexuses and deep capillary plexus and global and superior and inferior halves of the radial peripapillary capillary plexus measurements were found to significantly differ between the symptomatic COVID-19 group and the asymptomatic COVID-19 and control groups (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: RNFL and GCC thickness evaluation with optical coherence tomography and vessel density evaluation with optical coherence tomography angiography can be considered remarkable diagnostic methods for retinal neurovascular abnormalities and a biomarker for microvascular abnormalities after infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Is taste and smell impairment irreversible in COVID-19 patients?

OBJECTIVE: It is known that the COVID-19 disease, which has affected the whole world, causes symptoms, such as cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle pain, fatigue, diarrhea, headache and sore throat, in addition to various clinical findings, such as loss of smell and taste. In this study, we aimed to reveal the loss of sense of taste and smell in COVID-19 patients and to investigate whether these sensory losses are permanent in the healing process of the disease. METHOD: This prospective study included 94 COVID-19 patients. Smell and taste tests were applied to all patients. Ten days after the first test, a second test was applied to the patients with an impaired sense of smell to compare the results. RESULTS: Of the 94 patients, 55.3% were male, and the mean age was 53 ± 19.6 (21-90) years. There were 67 patients with smell and taste impairment, of whom 34 (50.7%) had smell impairment only, 3 (4.4%) had taste impairment only, and 30 (44.7%) had both smell and taste impairment. It was found that the smell scores of 55 patients with smell and taste impairment in the first evaluation were significantly higher at the second measurement; and their tasting period was significantly shortened compared to the first measurement (p˂0.001). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 patients may present to medical centers with a broad variety signs and symptoms. This study shows that impairment in the senses of smell and taste is common in this disease and strongly associated with COVID-19 infection. However, smell and taste impairment is mostly temporary and improves during the recovery period.