ABSTRACT
PURPOSE@#The COVID-19 pandemic has caused 1.4 million deaths globally and is associated with a 3-4 times increase in 30-day mortality after a fragility hip fracture with concurrent COVID-19 infection. Typically, death from COVID-19 infection occurs between 15 and 22 days after the onset of symptoms, but this period can extend up to 8 weeks. This study aimed to assess the impact of concurrent COVID-19 infection on 120-day mortality after a fragility hip fracture.@*METHODS@#A multi-centre prospective study across 10 hospitals treating 8% of the annual burden of hip fractures in England between 1st March and 30th April, 2020 was performed. Patients whose surgical treatment was payable through the National Health Service Best Practice Tariff mechanism for "fragility hip fractures" were included in the study. Patients' 120-day mortality was assessed relative to their peri-operative COVID-19 status. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 27.@*RESULTS@#A total of 746 patients were included in this study, of which 87 (11.7%) were COVID-19 positive. Mortality rates at 30- and 120-day were significantly higher for COVID-19 positive patients relative to COVID-19 negative patients (p < 0.001). However, mortality rates between 31 and 120-day were not significantly different (p = 0.107), 16.1% and 9.4% respectively for COVID-19 positive and negative patients, odds ratio 1.855 (95% CI 0.865-3.978).@*CONCLUSION@#Hip fracture patients with concurrent COVID-19 infection, provided that they are alive at day-31 after injury, have no significant difference in 120-day mortality. Despite the growing awareness and concern of "long-COVID" and its widespread prevalence, this does not appear to increase medium-term mortality rates after a hip fracture.
Subject(s)
Humans , COVID-19 , Hip Fractures/surgery , Pandemics , Prospective Studies , Retrospective Studies , State Medicine , United Kingdom/epidemiologyABSTRACT
The global effort to vaccinate people against SARS-CoV-2 in the midst of an ongoing pandemic has raised questions about the nature of vaccine breakthrough infections and the potential for vaccinated individuals to transmit the virus. These questions have become even more urgent as new variants of concern with enhanced transmissibility, such as Delta, continue to emerge. To shed light on how vaccine breakthrough infections compare with infections in immunologically naive individuals, we examined viral dynamics and infectious virus shedding through daily longitudinal sampling in a small cohort of adults infected with SARS-CoV-2 at varying stages of vaccination. The durations of both infectious virus shedding and symptoms were significantly reduced in vaccinated individuals compared with unvaccinated individuals. We also observed that breakthrough infections are associated with strong tissue compartmentalization and are only detectable in saliva in some cases. These data indicate that vaccination shortens the duration of time of high transmission potential, minimizes symptom duration, and may restrict tissue dissemination.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Maintenance peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the dialysis modality of choice for infants and young children. However, there are limited outcome data for those who undergo PD catheter insertion and initiate maintenance PD within the first year of life. METHODS: Using data from the Children's Hospital Association's Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Collaborative (SCOPE), we examined peritonitis rates and patient survival in 156 infants from 29 North American pediatric dialysis centers who had a chronic PD catheter placed prior to their first birthday. RESULTS: In-hospital and overall annualized rates of peritonitis were 1.73 and 0.76 episodes per patient-year, respectively. Polycystic kidney disease was the most frequent renal diagnosis and pulmonary hypoplasia the most common co-morbidity in infants with peritonitis. Multivariable regression models demonstrated that nephrectomy at or prior to PD catheter placement and G-tube insertion after catheter placement were associated with a nearly sixfold and nearly threefold increased risk of peritonitis, respectively. Infants with peritonitis had longer initial hospital stays and lower overall survival (86.3 vs. 95.6%, respectively; P < 0.02) than those without an episode of peritonitis. CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort of infants with ESRD, the frequency of peritonitis was high and several risk factors associated with the development of peritonitis were identified. Given that peritonitis was associated with a longer duration of initial hospitalization and increased mortality, increased attention to the potentially modifiable risk factors for infection is needed.
