Epidemiological characteristics of patients with Covid-19 suspicion applying to a university hospital: The first eighty days in a pandemic

Aim: The first COVID-19 case in Turkey was detected on March 11, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic process. Epidemiological studies are needed to be prepared for other outbreaks and to be effective in the disease management process. Based on this reason, in this study it was aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of Covid 19 possible and definite cases who applied to the university hospital during the pandemic process. Materials and Methods: This retrospective epidemiological study was carried out by analyzing the data of Covid 19 possible and definite cases, who applied to the university hospital operating as a pandemic hospital between 11 March / 01 June 2020. The data were summarized with descriptive statistics, tables and graphs. Results: Of the 1,383 patients, who applied with the suspicion of COVID-19, 55.5% were men and 84.5% were adults. The median age of children is 4.0 (1.5-10) years old;adults were 52.0 (36.0-67.0) years old. The median time between the outset of complaints and the date of admission to the hospital was 2 (1-3) days. 87.4% of adults and 87.9% of children had symptoms that supported COVID-19 infection. Among cases 7.8% were health care workers. The median age of the fatal cases was 71 (64-82) years old, 79.5% were male, 77.7% were retired. The most common comorbide diseases in these cases were hypertension (28.2%) and malignancy (28.2%). The case fatality rate was found as 2.8% in all patients and 48.4% in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit. Conclusions: As a result, Covid-19 affects all age groups. Hypertension and malignancy were the most common additional diseases in fatal cases. The risk of illness is higher in healthcare workers who have direct contact with the patients. According to our observations, preventive measures, rapid diagnosis and supportive treatment are valuable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Annals of Medical of Research is the property of Annals of Medical Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Convalescent plasma therapy in patients with COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: Passive antibody therapy has been used to immunize vulnerable people against infectious agents. In this study, we aim to investigate the efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) in the treatment of severe and critically ill patients diagnosed with COVID-19. METHOD: The data of severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients who received anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody-containing CP along with the antiviral treatment (n = 888) and an age-gender, comorbidity, and other COVID-19 treatments matched severe or critically ill COVID-19 patients at 1:1 ratio (n = 888) were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Duration in the intensive care unit (ICU), the rate of mechanical ventilation (MV) support and vasopressor support were lower in CP group compared with the control group (p = 0.001, p = 0.02, p = 0.001, respectively). The case fatality rate (CFR) was 24.7 % in the CP group, and it was 27.7 % in the control group. Administration of CP 20 days after the COVID-19 diagnosis or COVID-19 related symptoms were associated with a higher rate of MV support compared with the first 3 interval groups (≤5 days, 6-10 days, 11-15 days) (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: CP therapy seems to be effective for a better course of COVID-19 in severe and critically ill patients.

Part of the Covid19 puzzle: Acute parkinsonism.

Parkinsonism developed owing to viruses is one of the important causes of secondary parkinsonism. After the Spanish flu pandemic, the increase in the number of parkinsonian cases in the long term has drawn attention on the relationship between viruses and parkinsonism. For this reason, the relationship between influenza and parkinsonism has been studied most. Nowadays in which we are experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists, based on the experiences gained from the Spanish flu pandemic, have drawn attention to the fact that the third wave of the pandemic might be parkinsonism. However, as we have reviewed in the literature, acute parkinsonism due to COVID-19 was not reported during this pandemic. Here, we present a case in which signs of acute parkinsonism developed on the 3rd day of the illness and neurological symptoms regressed with convalescent plasma treatment.