Polymorbidity in seniors hospitalized for COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: The health of seniors is usually characterized by polymorbidity. With regard to quoad vitam prognosis, COVID-19 is extremely risky for seniors. The data on polymorbidity in seniors with COVID-19 are scarce. OBJECTIVE: To investigate comorbidity in seniors diagnosed with COVID-19 and requiring hospitalization. METHODS: In a retrospective observational study, we analyzed patients aged 65 years or older and hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 from November 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021 (n=155; mean age 82 years). We monitored the presence of 48 diseases accompanying COVID-19. RESULTS: The mean (minimal - maximal) number of acute, chronic and all comorbidities were 1.8 (0‒5), 11.3 (2‒20) and 13.1 (4‒22), respectively. Excessive comorbidity (>10 diseases) was present in 72.3 %. Comorbid arterial hypertension was diagnosed in 86 %, chronic kidney disease in 86 %, hepatopathy in 82 %, coronary artery disease in 79 %, dehydration in 46 %, and urinary infections in 30 %. Twenty-six chronic comorbidities had a prevalence of >10 %. Residents of social care facilities (SCF) had significantly higher polymorbidity than home-living seniors (on average by 3.5 more diseases, their OR for excessive polymorbidity was 11.8). The prevalence of overall, chronic and excess polymorbidity increased up to the age of 84 years. Nine out of ten seniors aged 80 years or older had 11 or more comorbidities. CONCLUSION: The burden of accompanying diseases in seniors with severe COVID-19 is very high. Seniors living in SCF are particularly at risk (Tab. 5, Fig. 8, Ref. 58).

Comparative diversity of vascular plants in black alder floodplain and swamp forests of Central European biogeographical regions.

Plant species diversity of black alder-dominated forests was studied in three biogeographical regions (Alpine, Continental and Pannonian) of Central Europe. They were represented by regions of the Polish Plain (Continental), the High Western Carpathians and Matricum of the Western Carpathians (Alpine) and the Pannonian lowland (Pannonian). We analysed 35 plots per region in order to identify: i) local alpha (α) diversity defined as the counted number of plant taxa occurring in a single sampling plot, ii) amongst-site beta (ß) diversity, iii) regional (γ) diversity defined as the total species richness of all sampling plots and iv) zeta diversity (ζ) as a generalisation of beta diversity. We recorded a total of 432 vascular plant taxa in all bioregions; more than 13% were alien plants. Statistically significant differences in species richness (α) of both native and alien plants were found between assemblages of the regions. The High Western Carpathians showed the highest native and the lowest alien plant species richness. Total ß-diversity was high in all regions, but significantly differed amongst regions only for alien plant species. Cumulative native and alien species richness (γ) was the highest and lowest in the High Western Carpathians and Matricum of Western Carpathians, respectively. Our results identified the High Western Carpathians as a hotspot for diversity of native plants in Central European black alder-dominated forests.

Effect of planting alien Robinia pseudoacacia trees on homogenization of Central European forest vegetation.

Biological homogenization is a process of biodiversity loss driven by the introduction and invasion of widespread species and the extinction of specialized, endemic species. This process has accelerated in recent years due to intensive human activities. We focused our study on large areas of forest vegetation that have not yet been intensively studied. Forest management, especially the planting of alien trees, could play a key role in the homogenization process because alien trees can act as habitat 'transformers' influencing vegetation through creating different environmental conditions. Several types of native forests (hardwood floodplain forests, oak forests, and oak-hornbeam forests) have in many regions been replaced by Robinia pseudoacacia plantations. The huge diversity of native broadleaved deciduous forests in the Pannonian and Carpathian regions, with many local differences and considerable geographical variability, could be exposed to the homogenization process due to the planting of Robinia pseudoacacia. We used 282 paired plots of Robinia pseudoacacia-dominated forests and native forests with a distance of 50-250 m among them under the same environmental conditions to avoid the influence of the variability of local environmental conditions on the forest undergrowth. We found out that the replacement of native forests by plantations of Robinia pseudoacacia plays a crucial role in the homogenization process in forest vegetation by unifying microenvironmental conditions of stands and removing the geographically specified variability of plant communities from previous four classes to single one. The replacement reduced total species pool from 422 to 372 species and supported the occurrence of widespread, generalist plant species in the undergrowth.