The Use of Antiviral Agents against SARS-CoV-2: Ineffective or Time and Age Dependent Result? A Retrospective, Observational Study among COVID-19 Older Adults

Background: Our aim was to investigate the impact of therapeutics with antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on mortality of older adults affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), taking into consideration the time interval from symptoms onset to drugs administration. Methods: Data from 143 COVID-19 patients over 65 years of age admitted to the Humanitas Clinical and Research Center Emergency Department (Milan, Italy) and treated with Lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) or Darunavir/cobicistat (DVR/c) associated to Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) were retrospectively analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed by using a logistic regression model and survival analysis to assess the role of different predictors of in-hospital mortality, including an early (<6 days from symptoms onset) vs. late treatment onset, signs and symptoms at COVID-19 presentation, type of antiviral treatment (LPV/r or DVR/c) and patients’ age (65–80 vs. >80 years old). Results: Multivariate analysis showed that an older age (OR: 2.54) and dyspnea as presenting symptom (OR: 2.01) were associated with higher mortality rate, whereas cough as presenting symptom (OR: 0.53) and a timely drug administration (OR: 0.44) were associated with lower mortality. Survival analysis demonstrated that the timing of drug administration had an impact on mortality in 65–80 years-old patients (p = 0.02), whereas no difference was seen in those >80 years-old. This impact was more evident in patients with dyspnea as primary symptom of COVID-19, in whom mortality decreased from 57.1% to 38.3% due to timely drug administration (OR: 0.5; p = 0.04). Conclusions: There was a significant association between the use of a combined antiviral regimen and HCQ and lower mortality, when timely-administered, in COVID-19 patients aged 65–80 years. Our findings support timely treatment onset as a key component in the treatment of COVID-19

Incidence and Microbiology of Hospital-Acquired Infections in COVID-19 Patients between the First and the Second Outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Retrospective, Observational Study

With almost 638 million cases and over 6 million deaths worldwide, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represents an unprecedented healthcare challenge. Although the management and natural history of COVID-19 patients have changed after the introduction of active therapies and vaccination, the development of secondary infections complicates hospital stay. This is a single-center, retrospective, observational study that explores the incidence and microbiology of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in two subsequent populations of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Demographic, pre-hospitalization baseline characteristics, therapeutic options and microbiology data about secondary infections were collected for a total of 1153 cases. The second population appeared to have a higher median age (73 vs. 63 years, respectively), comorbidities (median Charlson Comorbidity Index Score was 4 vs. 1, respectively) and incidence of secondary infections (23.5% vs. 8.2%) with respect to the first. A higher incidence of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs), including difficult-to-treat resistant (DTR) Pseudomonas, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), was also observed. Both patients’ characteristics and poor adherence to standard hygiene and infection control protocols may have contributed to the higher incidence of these events and may have impacted on the natural history of the disease. In-hospital mortality rates were similar, despite the introduction of active therapies against COVID-19 (24.7% vs. 23.5%, respectively). The incidence of HAIs may have contributed to the unchanged mortality and prompts for more effective antimicrobial stewardship and infection control procedures in COVID-19

The Feature of metabolic syndrome in HIV naive patients is not the same of those treated: results from a prospective study

Metabolic Syndrome (MS) is a common disorder combining obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance. Its prevalence among HIV-infected people is still debated. Besides, how antiretroviral therapy and HIV infection per se are related to MS is still unclear. All treatment-naïve patients attending scheduled visits at CISAI group hospitals between January and December 2007 were eligible for the study. Patients without MS at enrolment were followed-up for 3 years or until they developed MS, diagnosed according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) definition. The main objective was to assess the 3-years incidence of MS. MS was evaluated for 188 subjects. Out of them, 62 (33.0%) had started HAART at enrolment, whereas 67 (35.6%) more started during the observation. 59 (31.4%) were still treatment-naive at the study end. MS was newly diagnosed in 14 patients. The incidence was 2.60 cases/100 person-years (95% CI 1.47–4.51), 2.75 (1.11–5.72) among HAART-naïve patients and 2.65 (1.23–5.03) in subjects on HAART. Blood pressure did not change in the study period, whereas in naive patients the HDL level significantly lowered (median –6.0 vs. 4.0, P < 0.0001) compared to HAART-treated patients. Triglicerides increased significantly in HAART subjects (median 12.0 vs. 1.0, P = 0.02), as well as blood glucose (median 6.0 vs. 1.0, P = 0.01). In our population, the overall MS incidence was low and largely similar in patients who started HAART or remained naive. However, the feature of MS was different in the two groups, suggesting that in untreated and treated patients MS developed through different metabolic pathways