ABSTRACT
The pandemic of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has identified new diagnostic and medical tasks before different doctors. As observations show, children have the flow of infection easier than adults. However, in some cases, COVID-19 in children proceeds extremely difficult, with fever and multisystem inflammation, possibly requiring treatment in the resuscitation department. In domestic practice, the term "Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19" is used to indicate the disease. Among the local symptoms of MIS are inflammations of the skin and mucous membranes, as well as various lymphadenopathy. The article presents the results of our clinic's observation of 205 patients with MIS for the period from May 2020 to May 2021. In some patients, the clinical manifestations of MIS-C required differential diagnosis with parapharyngeal abscesses (PPA). For this purpose, the children were consulted by an otorhinolaryngologist and a CT scan of the neck with contrast enhancement was performed. Despite the striking clinical manifestations similar to PPA, in no case was a pharyngeal abscess revealed. Both of these diseases are potentially fatal if treatment is not started on time, and therefore we believe that the awareness of otorhinolaryngologists about the manifestations of MIS-C will be useful in modern clinical practice.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pharyngeal Diseases , Abscess/diagnosis , Abscess/etiology , Abscess/therapy , Adult , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/diagnosis , Child , Diagnosis, Differential , Humans , Pharyngeal Diseases/diagnosis , SARS-CoV-2 , Systemic Inflammatory Response SyndromeABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led many clinics to move from clinician-collected to self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for the detection of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Before this change, however, self-collection was used primarily for genital and anorectal infections, with only limited studies on the performance of self-collection of oropharyngeal swabs for oropharyngeal STI detection. The Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) changed from clinician-collected to self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for oropharyngeal gonorrhea and chlamydia screening on 16 March 2020 in order to reduce health care worker risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared the proportions of valid and positive samples for gonorrhea and chlamydia among men who have sex with men (MSM) in two time periods; the clinician collection period, between 20 January and 15 March 2020, and the self-collection period, between 16 March and 8 May 2020. A total of 4,097 oropharyngeal swabs were included. The proportion of oropharyngeal swabs with equivocal or invalid results for Neisseria gonorrhoeae was higher in the self-collection period (1.6% [24/1,497]) than in the clinician collection period (0.9% [23/2,600]) (P = 0.038), but the proportions did not differ for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis The positivity rates of oropharyngeal N. gonorrhoeae (adjusted prevalence ratio [PR], 1.07 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.85 to 1.34]) (P = 0.583) and oropharyngeal C. trachomatis (adjusted PR, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.51 to 1.39]) (P = 0.504) specimens did not differ between the two periods. Self-collected oropharyngeal swabs for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae and C. trachomatis have acceptable performance characteristics and, importantly, reduce health care worker exposure to respiratory infections.
Subject(s)
Chlamydia Infections/diagnosis , Gonorrhea/diagnosis , Homosexuality, Male/statistics & numerical data , Pharyngeal Diseases/diagnosis , Specimen Handling , Adult , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections , Humans , Male , Mass Screening/methods , Mass Screening/statistics & numerical data , Oropharynx/microbiology , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Retrospective Studies , SARS-CoV-2 , Self Care , Specimen Handling/methods , Specimen Handling/statistics & numerical data , Young AdultABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2109, and has rapidly spread around the world. Until May 25, 2020, there were 133,521 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7359 deaths in Iran. The role of opportunistic fungal infections in the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 patients remains less defined. Based on our multicenter experiences, we categorized the risks of opportunistic fungal infections in COVID-19 patients in Iran. The COVID-19 patients at high risk included those with acute respiratory distress syndrome, in intensive care units, receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics, immunosuppressants or corticosteroid, and supported by invasive or noninvasive ventilation. The patients were most likely to develop pulmonary aspergillosis, oral candidiasis, or pneumocystis pneumonia. Most diagnoses were probable as the accurate diagnosis of opportunistic fungal infections remains challenging in resource-poor settings. We summarize the clinical signs and laboratory tests needed to confirm candidiasis, aspergillosis, or pneumocystosis in our COVID-19 patients.