Agreement between commercially available ELISA and in-house Luminex SARS-CoV-2 antibody immunoassays

Serological diagnostic of the severe respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a valuable tool for the determination of immunity and surveillance of exposure to the virus. In the context of an ongoing pandemic, it is essential to externally validate widely used tests to assure correct diagnostics and epidemiological estimations. We evaluated the performance of the COVID-19 ELISA IgG and the COVID-19 ELISA IgM/A (Vircell, S.L.) against a highly specific and sensitive in-house Luminex immunoassay in a set of samples from pregnant women and cord blood. The agreement between both assays was moderate to high for IgG but low for IgM/A. Considering seropositivity by either IgG and/or IgM/A, the technical performance of the ELISA was highly imbalanced, with 96% sensitivity at the expense of 22% specificity. As for the clinical performance, the negative predictive value reached 87% while the positive predictive value was 51%. Our results stress the need for highly specific and sensitive assays and external validation of diagnostic tests with different sets of samples to avoid the clinical, epidemiological and personal disturbances derived from serological misdiagnosis.

Low PEEP Mechanical Ventilation and PaO2/FiO2 Ratio Evolution in COVID-19 Patients

Invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) is the standard treatment in critically ill COVID-19 patients with acute severe respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). When IMV setting is extremely aggressive, especially through the application of high positive-end-expiratory respiration (PEEP) values, lung damage can occur. Until today, in COVID-19 patients, two types of ARDS were identified (L- and H-type); for the L-type, a lower PEEP strategy was supposed to be preferred, but data are still missing. The aim of this study was to evaluate if a clinical management with lower PEEP values in critically ill L-type COVID-19 patients was safe and efficient in comparison to usual standard of care. A retrospective analysis was conducted on consecutive patients with COVID-19 ARDS admitted to the ICU and treated with IMV. Patients were treated with a lower PEEP strategy adapted to BMI: PEEP 10 cmH2O if BMI < 30 kg m−2, PEEP 12 cmH2O if BMI 30–50 kg m−2, PEEP 15 cmH2O if BMI > 50 kg m−2. Primary endpoint was the PaO2/FiO2 ratio evolution during the first 3 IMV days; secondary endpoints were to analyze ICU length of stay (LOS) and IMV length. From March 2 to January 15, 2021, 79 patients underwent IMV. Average applied PEEP was 11 ± 2.9 cmH2O for BMI < 30 kg m−2 and 16 ± 3.18 cmH2O for BMI > 30 kg m−2. During the first 24 h of IMV, patients’ PaO2/FiO2 ratio presented an improvement (p<0.001; CI 99%) that continued daily up to 72 h (p<0.001; CI 99%). Median ICU LOS was 15 days (10–28); median duration of IMV was 12 days (8–26). The ICU mortality rate was 31.6%. Lower PEEP strategy treatment in L-type COVID-19 ARDS resulted in a PaO2/FiO2 ratio persistent daily improvement during the first 72 h of IMV. A lower PEEP strategy could be beneficial in the first phase of ARDS in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in the complex therapy for septic shock in a patient with severe lung damage caused by COVID-19

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used for more than 20 years in the treatment of severe respiratory distress syndrome. However, ECMO in some categories of patients is not sufficiently covered in the literature, due to a small number of registered cases. This group includes pregnant women and women in labor. During the intensive care of such patients, the entire available range of therapeutic manipulations and measures that can favorably affect the outcome of the disease should be used. We have describe a clinical case of successful ECMO in a patient with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and obstetric sepsis developed in the early postpartum period.

Prognosis of Anosmia in Patients of COVID-19

Background: The novel Corona virus (SARS COV-2) causes respiratory tract infection that has been labeled as Covid-19. It was declared a pandemic by WHO on 30th of January 2020. So far, COVID-19 has involved 218 countries and territories with 135,338,376 total cases and 2,929,315 total deaths. This virus causes severe respiratory distress syndrome and usually present with dry cough, fever, respiratory distress, and myalgia. Interestingly, patients have shown various nonspecific presentations and Anosmia is also a prominent nonspecific feature. Aim: To find out the overall progress, duration and recovery of Covid-19 related loss of smell (anosmia). Methods: This is a retrospective online study in which 45 patients were included. Data was collected by using ‘Google survey form’. Only those patients, who were confirmed cases of Covid-19 (diagnosed by PCR) and who lost their smell at least 3 month earlier, were included in this study. The Statistical analysis of collected data was then carried out by using SPSS software. Results: Out of 45 patients 17(37.8%) were male and 28(62.2%) were female (male to female ratio of 1:1.6). 71.2% of the respondents were up to 40years of age. 12(26.7%) patients were between 41 to 50 years, while only one patient (2.2%) was between 51 to 60 years. In 43 patients (95.6%) the anosmia was reversible. In two of our respondents (4.4%), the smell sensation didn’t return even after 3 months. Conclusion: The anosmia in Covid-19 is mostly reversible and in most of the patients its duration is less than 2 weeks. Keywords: Anosmia, Covid-19, SARS COV-2

Vaping Exacerbates Coronavirus-Related Pulmonary Infection in a Murine Model

Though the current preponderance of evidence indicates the toxicity associated with the smoking of tobacco products through conventional means, less is known about the role of “vaping” in respiratory disease. “Vaping” is described as the use of electronic cigarettes (E-Cigarettes or E-Cigs), which has only more recently been available to the public (∼10 years) but has quickly emerged as a popular means of tobacco consumption worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a global pandemic in March 2020. SARS-CoV-2 can easily be transmitted between people in close proximity through direct contact or respiratory droplets to develop coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19). Symptoms of COVID-19 range from a mild flu-like illness with high fever to severe respiratory distress syndrome and death. The risk factors for increased disease severity remain unclear. Herein, we utilize a murine-tropic coronavirus (beta coronavirus) MHV-A59 along with a mouse model and measures of pathology (lung weight/dry ratios and histopathology) and inflammation (ELISAs and cytokine array panels) to examine whether vaping may exacerbate the pulmonary disease severity of coronavirus disease. While vaping alone did result in some noted pathology, mice exposed with intranasal vaped e-liquid suffered more severe mortality due to pulmonary inflammation than controls when exposed to coronavirus infection. Our data suggest a role for vaping in increased coronavirus pulmonary disease in a mouse model. Furthermore, our data indicate that disease exacerbation may involve calcium (Ca2+) dysregulation, identifying a potential therapeutic intervention.

822 Lessons Learnt During the COVID-19 Pandemic on Emergency Surgical Admissions in A District General Hospital

Introduction Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an acute severe respiratory distress syndrome which resulted in an unprecedented impact on NHS service provision. We aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on general surgical services in a district general hospital. Method Electronic health care record data was retrospectively collected from 6th of April to 6th of May for both 2019 and 2020. Results Despite fewer referrals and admissions in 2020 (133 vs 177 admissions in 2019), there were more failed discharges (29 vs 17 in 2019) and higher associated costs. Higher numbers of biliary related pathologies and pancreatitis (50 in 2020 vs 25 in 2019), and fewer complaints of non-specific abdominal pain (10 in 2020 vs 22 in 2019) were observed. The use of outpatient investigations decreased by approximately 40% in 2020; however, utilisation of inpatient investigations was comparable. Conclusions Better utilisation of outpatient investigations and virtual clinic services may surmount pressures from further peaks of COVID-19. The increase in biliary related cases and pancreatitis may be consequent upon lifestyle changes during lockdown. This merits further investigation and if appropriate, public health intervention. In the absence of an efficacious vaccine, further research would be essential to streamline general surgical services based on clinical risk stratification.

Agreement between commercially available ELISA and in-house Luminex SARS-CoV-2 antibody immunoassays

Serological diagnostic of the severe respiratory distress syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a valuable tool for the determination of immunity and surveillance of exposure to the virus. In the context of an ongoing pandemic, it is essential to externally validate widely used tests to assure correct diagnostics and epidemiological estimations. We evaluated the performance of the COVID-19 ELISA IgG and IgM/A (Vircell, S.L.) against a highly specific and sensitive in-house Luminex immunoassay in a set of samples from pregnant women and cord blood. The agreement between both assays was moderate to high for IgG but low for IgM/A. Considering seropositivity by either IgG and/or IgM/A, the technical performance of the ELISA was highly imbalanced, with 96% sensitivity at the expense of 22% specificity. As for the clinical performance, the negative predictive value reached 87% while the positive predictive value was 51%. Our results stress the need for highly specific and sensitive assays and external validation of diagnostic tests with different sets of samples to avoid the clinical, epidemiological and personal disturbances derived from serological misdiagnosis.

Drug Repurposing in the COVID-19 Era: Insights from Case Studies Showing Pharmaceutical Peculiarities

COVID-19 may lead to severe respiratory distress syndrome and high risk of death in some patients. So far (January 2021), only the antiviral remdesivir has been approved, although no significant benefits in terms of mortality and clinical improvement were recently reported. In a setting where effective and safe treatments for COVID-19 are urgently needed, drug repurposing may take advantage of the fact that the safety profile of an agent is already well known and allows rapid investigation of the efficacy of potential treatments, at lower costs and with reduced risk of failure. Furthermore, novel pharmaceutical formulations of older agents (e.g., aerosolized administration of chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, heparin, pirfenidone) have been tested in order to increase pulmonary delivery and/or antiviral effects of potentially active drugs, thus overcoming pharmacokinetic issues. In our review, we will highlight the importance of the drug repurposing strategy in the context of COVID-19, including regulatory and ethical aspects, with a specific focus on novel pharmaceutical formulations and routes of administration.

Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and its impact on assisted reproductive technologies

Coronavirus diease-2019 (COVID-19), a global pandemic, has imposed a lot of challenges and potential risk to women who are planning a pregnancy and women who are pregnant in the COVID era. After the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19, a global pandemic, pregnancies achieved through medically assisted reproduction/Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) services experienced a major hit as couples became even more anxious to embark on pregnancy, the obvious reasons being the vertical transmission to the fetus, and use of critical health-care support system if required. Although the effects of coronavirus in terms of pregnancies conceived through the above measures are not known, retrospective studies will be needed to assess the outcomes of pregnancies conceived either naturally or any of the above mentioned procedures. As a precautionary measure, many professional societies worldwide recommended a ban on fertility treatments 1 week after WHO declared this as a pandemic. All reproductive medicine societies had published guidelines regarding stopping of infertility services except for poor responders and oocyte/sperm cryopreservation procedures in cancer patients – undergoing chemotherapy/radiation as there could be a reduction in gamete numbers. The possible reasons being to avoid complications of ART, like virus-induced complications of pregnancy and vertical transmission to fetus in severe respiratory distress syndrome COVID-positive mothers. The measures required to be taken are physical social distancing and critical health-care accessibility services. It has caused a major blow with respect to economic and social framework of our societies.