Cerebellar syndrome as a complication of COVID-19 disease

COVID-19 disease is caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The disease first appeared in China in 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world. It primarily affects the respiratory tract, manifested by fever, cough and the devel-opment of dyspnoea, but the symptoms and complications can affect any organ system. Neurological symptoms include headaches, muscle and joint pain, taste and smell disorders. Complications include inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system, ataxia, peripheral nerve and muscle diseases, worsening of extra-pyramidal diseases, and neuropsychiatric disorders. This paper presents a case report of a 62-year-old man with cere bellar syndrome, ataxia, intentional tremor and hypermetria when dealing with COVID-19 disease.Copyright © 2021 Neuroendocrinology Letters.

Clinical and laboratory characteristics of the COVID-19 disease in adult patients

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, appeared in Wuhan, China. This virus is the cause of the COVID-19 disease. This infection later spread to the whole world. The goal of this article is to present the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with COVID-19 treated in the Faculty Hospital Pilsen. METHOD(S): In this monocentric, retrospective study, clinical and biochemical data of 89 adult patients with COVID-19 was analyzed. These patients were in the care of the Faculty Hospital Pilsen between March 14 and April 7. RESULT(S): In this cohort, made up of 89 patients, 63 were treated as outpatients and 26 were hospitalized. 10 patients required intensive care. The most common symptoms among patients were cough and fever. Dyspnea was present in 29 patients. A CT scan showed bilateral pneumonia in 23 of the admitted patients. Fever and bilateral pneumonia were significantly more common in patients >= 60 years old (p=0.047, and p=0.001, respectively). Of lab results, the patients in intensive care had significantly higher values of C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, lactate dehydrogenase, interleukin 6, myoglobin and ferritin. CONCLUSION(S): The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever and cough. These two symptoms are simultaneously present in more than half the cases. Approximately 1/10th of patients requires intensive care. Higher values of lactate dehydrogenase, myoglobin and ferritin on patient admission appear to be a strong predictive factor of the patient's status progressing into requiring ICU attention.Copyright © 2020 Neuroendocrinology Letters

Covid-19 as an occupational disease – interim report from the czech national registry of occupational diseases as of march 31, 2021

The article provides an interim analysis of cases of COVID-19 reported as an occupational disease to the National Registry of Occupational Diseases in 2020 and in the 1st quarter of 2021. There were 370 cases, of which 285 are women representing 77% and 85 men representing 23%. The age range was from 18 to 70 years. The average age was 43 years. All the diseases occurred in 2020, mostly in the first wave of the epidemic. Because the average time between illness and the case reporting was 170 days, it can be expected that many cases are still under assessment. Most cases come from the Moravian-Silesian, Olomouc and Hradec Králové regions. Virtually all of these patients were infected during various health care or social work activities. They were mostly nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. It is just tip of the iceberg. According to the Czech Medical Chamber, over 55 000 health professionals have contracted COVID-19 since the beginning of the epidemic until January 10, 2021. It is therefore essential that the first contact physicians thought about the possibility of the occupational origin of COVID-19, sufficiently informed their patients and referred them to the relevant occupational disease centers. Physicians should also initiate compensation for the families of workers who died of COVID-19. © 2021, University of Defence, Faculty of Military Health Sciences. All rights reserved.

A novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and COVID-19

By the end of 2019 the first cases of severe pneumonia of unknown origin were reported in Wuhan, China. The causative agent was identified as a novel b-coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease was named COVID-19. Since the beginning of 2020, the infection has spread worldwide, which led the WHO to declare COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern and to characterize the current situation as a pandemic. The transmission occurs mainly via respiratory droplets and the incubation period ranges from 2 to 14 days. Most cases are mild, but some patients develop severe pneumonia with acute respiratory distress, septic shock and multi-organ failure. The most common symptoms include fever, dry cough, myalgia and shortness of breath. Characteristic laboratory findings are normal white blood cell count or mild leukopenia, marked lymphopenia, in severe cases elevated CRP, procalcitonin, LDH, and D-dimer are commonly found. Typical imaging findings include multifocal peripherally distributed ground-glass opacities or consolidations, interlobular septal thickening, crazy paving appearance and cystic changes. The overall case fatality rate is estimated to range from 1 to 3 %, however, it is dependent on age and underlying medical comorbidities. Current potential treatment options include hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir and convalescent plasma.