Frequency and factors associated with hospital readmission after COVID-19 hospitalization: the importance of post-COVID diarrhea.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and risk factors for hospital readmission and infection during the months after COVID-19 hospital admission. METHODS: This prospective study included adult patients who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and had been discharged from April 2020 to August 2020. All patients had a medical evaluation with a structured questionnaire 6 to 11 months after hospital admission. The authors included only patients with confirmed COVID-19 by RT-PCR. Patients with pregnant/postpartum women, with a proven COVID-19 reinfection or incapable of answering the questionnaire were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 822 patients completed the follow-up assessment, and 68% reported at least one recurrent symptom related to COVID-19. The most frequent symptom was myalgia (42%). Thirty-two percent of patients visited an emergency room after COVID-19 hospitalization, and 80 (10%) patients required re-hospitalization. Risk factors for hospital readmission were orotracheal intubation during COVID-19 hospitalization (p = 0.003, OR = 2.14), Charlson score (p = 0.002, OR = 1.21), congestive heart failure (p = 0.005, OR = 2.34), peripheral artery disease (p = 0.06, OR = 2.06) and persistent diarrhea after COVID-19 hospitalization discharge (p = 0.02, OR = 1.91). The main cause of hospital readmission was an infection, 43 (54%). Pneumonia was the most frequent infection (29%). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of symptoms after six months of COVID-19 diagnosis was frequent, and hospital readmission was relatively high.

Loss of an eye to mucormycosis following corticosteroid therapy for COVID-19

Mucormycosis is a rare, sometimes severe fungal infection that has emerged as a possible complication of COVID-19. We report a case of a non-diabetic, apparently immunocompetent patient diagnosed with rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis shortly after COVID-19 treatment with dexamethasone. The patient received optimized systemic antifungal therapy and extensive surgical treatment. So far, four months after the last hospital discharge, the patient has been in good general condition. This case is a dramatic reminder that beneficial corticosteroid therapy in general inevitably carries a risk of opportunistic infection, and corticosteroid therapy for COVID-19 risks orbital-rhinocerebral mucormycosis that clinicians should watch for with vigilance.

Loss of an eye to mucormycosis following corticosteroid therapy for COVID-19.

Mucormycosis is a rare, sometimes severe fungal infection that has emerged as a possible complication of COVID-19. We report a case of a non-diabetic, apparently immunocompetent patient diagnosed with rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis shortly after COVID-19 treatment with dexamethasone. The patient received optimized systemic antifungal therapy and extensive surgical treatment. So far, four months after the last hospital discharge, the patient has been in good general condition. This case is a dramatic reminder that beneficial corticosteroid therapy in general inevitably carries a risk of opportunistic infection, and corticosteroid therapy for COVID-19 risks orbital-rhinocerebral mucormycosis that clinicians should watch for with vigilance.