COVID-19 Associated Pulmonary Aspergillosis: A Case Series.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a worldwide pandemic with several problems, one of which is the lack of definitive treatment. COVID-19-associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA), the presence of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in COVID-19 patients, is one of the concerning secondary infections associated with higher mortality and worse clinical outcomes. Diagnosing CAPA may be challenging due to the possible absence of classic host factors and clinical symptoms or obscured radiological findings. We described two CAPA cases, which were suspected due to persistent respiratory failure despite standard treatment of COVID-19 with additional therapies and antimicrobial agents for secondary infections, eventually diagnosed with serum galactomannan testing. Clinical conditions of both patients improved significantly after the administration of voriconazole. This case series emphasizes the importance of being aware of clinical suspicions indicating CAPA followed by galactomannan testing as a relatively fast, noninvasive test for its diagnosis, which leads to appropriate antifungal treatment.

Confirmed Delta Variant COVID-19 Infection at A Single Centre Tertiary Hospital: A Case Series.

SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate with the emergence of new variants. Variant B.1.617.2 (Delta) is a variant of concern with evidence of increased transmission, more severe disease, decreased effectiveness of treatment or vaccines, or failure of diagnostic detection. In this article, we report on the clinical and biological picture of the first confirmed delta variant COVID-19 infection in Indonesia. From May 31 to June 17, we identified ten cases with confirmed delta variant COVID-19 infection admitted to a tertiary academic hospital in Jakarta. All subjects that have been vaccinated presented with mild-moderate disease. Most patients present with initial respiratory complaints, without radiological abnormalities on chest x-ray examination, and an increase in C-reactive protein. Seven out of ten patients have been vaccinated; the three patients who had not been vaccinated experienced severe COVID-19 symptoms, two of whom died. Due to the increased transmission of this variant, we recommend vaccination, wearing a mask, and social distancing to reduce the impact of infection with delta variant B.1,617.2.

The COVID-19 surge in Indonesia: what we learned and what to expect.

Through the implementation of a test and trace system, disciplined public health measures, the acceleration of vaccinations, and a genome surveillance programme, LMICs such as Indonesia can prevent future outbreaks and survive the COVID-19 pandemic. https://bit.ly/3JBBSie.

Diagnosing COVID-19: Did We Miss Anything?

In late 2019, a mass of patients showing symptoms of a pneumonia-like disease of unknown origin emerged in Wuhan, China. Little did the world know it was the prelude of what would be a devastating pandemic. Samples were collected from these patients and the use of unbiased sequencing, and subsequent isolation of the pathogen using human airway epithelial cells led to the discovery of a novel coronavirus, named 2019-nCoV by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The disease caused by this virus is officially called the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The Importance of Chest CT Scan in COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly transmissible acute respiratory disease that is caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a beta coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. COVID-19 has been spreading swiftly globally, and as of March 2020, has been officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). One of the challenges in managing COVID-19 is the identification of a swift, accessible, and reliable diagnostic modality that could serve as an alternative to a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). As of the writing of this paper, RT-PCR is still the recommended tool in diagnosing COVID-19, but the notion of a more prompt and accurate diagnostic tool is a possibility worth looking into. The objective of this case study is to investigate the importance and utility of chest computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of COVID-19, as increasing pieces of evidence suggest that chest CT could prove useful in the clinical pathway in diagnosing COVID-19.