Neurological Manifestations of hospitalized patients with mild to moderate infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in Shanghai, China.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating studies demonstrated that patients with coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) could develop a variety of neurological manifestations and long-term neurological sequelae, which may be different from the strains. At the peak of the Omicron variant outbreak in Shanghai, China, no relevant epidemiological data about neurological manifestations associated with this strain was reported. OBJECTIVE: To investigate neurological manifestations and related clinical features in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 patients with Omicron variant. METHODS: A self-designed clinical information registration form was used to gather the neurological manifestations of mild to moderate COVID-19 patients admitted to a designated hospital in Shanghai from April 18, 2022 to June 1, 2022. Demographics, clinical presentations, laboratory findings, treatments and clinical outcomes were compared between patients with and without neurological manifestations. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-nine(48.1 %) of 351 patients diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 exhibited neurological manifestations, the most common of which were fatigue/weakness(25.1 %) and myalgia(20.7 %), whereas acute cerebrovascular disease(0.9 %), impaired consciousness(0.6 %) and seizure(0.6 %) were rare. Younger age(p = 0.001), female gender(p = 0.026) and without anticoagulant medication(p = 0.042) were associated with increasing proportions of neurological manifestations as revealed by multivariate logistic regressions. Patients with neurological manifestations had lower creatine kinase and myoglobin levels, as well as higher proportion of patchy shadowing on chest scan. Vaccination status, clinical classification of COVID-19 and clinical outcomes were similar between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half of the involved patients have neurological manifestations which were relatively subjective and closely associated with younger age, female gender and without anticoagulation. Patients with neurologic manifestations may be accompanied by increased lung patchy shadowing.

Impact of Preventive Measures on Subjective Symptoms and Antigen Sensitization against Japanese Cedar, Cypress Pollen and House Dust Mites in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis: A Retrospective Analysis in the COVID‐19 Era

For >2 years, Japan’s government has been urging the populace to take countermeasures to prevent COVID‐19, including mask wearing. We examined whether these preventive behaviors have affected the rate and degree of sensitization against pollen and house dust antigens in patients with allergic rhinitis. We retrospectively surveyed 2565 patients who had undergone allergy blood testing during the period 2015–2021. We subdivided this period into eras based on the COVID‐19 pandemic: the pre‐COVID (2015–2019, n = 1879) and COVID (2020–2021, n = 686) eras. The positive rates for Japanese cedar and cypress in the 40–59‐year‐olds and those for house dust in the 20–39‐ year‐olds were significantly reduced in the COVID era versus those in the pre‐COVID era. Each group’s mean antigen‐specific CAP scores decreased significantly from the 1st to 2nd era: from 1.98 to 1.57 for cedar (p < 0.01), 1.42 to 0.95 for cypress (p < 0.05), and 2.86 to 2.07 for house dust (p < 0.01). Our survey of the patients’ clinical records indicates that 47.5% of the pollinosis patients reported improvement in nasal symptoms after the three seasons of pollen dispersion in the COVID era. Japan’s quarantine policies designed to combat the spread of COVID‐19 thus coincide with pivotal measures to alleviate allergic reactions. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.