Twice-Daily Oral Zinc in the Treatment of Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Zinc supplementation has been considered a potential therapy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to examine zinc efficacy in adult patients with COVID-19 infection. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial. Patients who were tested positive for COVID-19 without end-organ failure were randomized to oral zinc (n = 231) or matching placebo (n = 239) for 15 days. The primary combined outcome was death due to COVID-19 or intensive care unit (ICU) admission ≤30 days after randomization. Secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay for inpatients and duration of COVID-19 symptoms with COVID-19-related hospitalization for outpatients. RESULTS: 190 patients (40.4%) were ambulatory and 280 patients (59.6%) were hospitalized. Mortality at 30 days was 6.5% in the zinc group and 9.2% in the placebo group (OR: .68; 95% CI .34-1.35); ICU admission rates were, respectively, 5.2% and 11.3% (OR: .43; 95% CI .21-.87). Combined outcome was lower in the zinc group versus the placebo group (OR: .58; 95% CI .33-.99). Consistent results were observed in prespecified subgroups of patients aged <65 years, those with comorbidity, and those who needed oxygen therapy at baseline. Length of hospital stay was shorter in the zinc group versus the placebo group (difference: 3.5 days; 95% CI 2.76-4.23) in the inpatient group; duration of COVID-19 symptoms decreased with zinc treatment versus placebo in outpatients (difference: 1.9 days; 95% CI .62-2.6). No severe adverse events were observed during the study. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that, in COVID-19 patients, oral zinc can decrease 30-day death, ICU admission rate and can shorten symptom duration. Clinical Trials Registration. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05212480.

Risk factors of COVID-19 severity among Tunisian patients in the Emergency Department of Sousse, Tunisia.

INTRODUCTION: Despite the spread of COVID-19 in Tunisia and its impact on people, health and economy, few studies have investigated the profile of COVID-19 Tunisian patients. AIM: Determine the epidemiological, clinical, para-clinical and therapeutic characteristics patients and identify the associated factors of severity. METHODS: This is a retrospective study, conducted among confirmed COVID-19 patients consulting the hospital emergency department. We collected Data using from the patients' computerized files. We performed Data entry and analysis using SPSS 22. RESULTS: We included 375 patients. The average age was 66.7±11.43 years with a sex ratio of 1.6. The most frequent comorbidities were diabetes (100%), hypertension (64.5%), and chronic heart disease (25.9%). The most frequent clinical signs were dyspnea (75.2%), asthenia (66.9%), cough (66.7%) and fever (60.3%). The most frequent biological abnormalities were biological inflammatory syndrome (96%) and elevation of troponin (69.3%). CT scans revealed lung damage in 34.1% of patients. As for treatments, 91.7% received antibiotics, 89% received corticosteroids, 89.3% received anticoagulants, and 85.1% received ventilation (42.6% non-invasive ventilation and 1.9% were intubated). Risk factors of severity were age, chronic heart disease and hypertension. CONCLUSION: Knowing the particularities of Tunisian patients will help to install recommendations to improve the process of care and prevention.

Effect of an 8-Week Individualized Training Program on Blood Biomarkers, Adipokines and Endothelial Function in Obese Young Adolescents with and without Metabolic Syndrome.

Obesity is a chronic condition whose incidence is growing due to lack of exercise and frequent nutrition disorders. Childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. One of the best treatment methods is physical training. However, conflicting results have been reported regarding its clinical effectiveness. These contrasting findings may be due to the type and intensity of the adopted physical training program. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of an 8-week individualized physical training program on endothelial function, blood biomarkers and adipokine levels in obese children with and without metabolic syndrome (MS). One-hundred-and-twenty-two obese adolescents (71 obese without MS and 51 obese with MS) aged 14 ± 2 years were included in this study. The 8-week individualized training program decreased glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and leptin in obese subjects with and without MS. However, adiponectin and endothelial-dependent vasodilatation increased in the follow-up study in both groups. Taken together, the findings suggest that individualized training program is an effective means for the treatment of obesity and MS in pediatric populations.