Assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic progression in Ecuador through seroprevalence analysis of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies in blood donors

IntroductionCoronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe respiratory illness caused by the RNA virus SARS-CoV-2. Globally, there have been over 759.4 million cases and 6.74 million deaths, while Ecuador has reported more than 1.06 million cases and 35.9 thousand deaths. To describe the COVID-19 pandemic impact and the vaccinations effectiveness in a low-income country like Ecuador, we aim to assess the seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in a sample from healthy blood donors at the Cruz Roja Ecuatoriana.MethodsThe present seroprevalence study used a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM antibodies in months with the highest confirmed case rates (May 2020; January, April 2021; January, February, June, July 2022) and months with the highest vaccination rates (May, June, July, August, December 2021) in Quito, Ecuador. The IgG and IgM seroprevalence were also assessed based on sex, age range, blood type and RhD antigen type. The sample size was 8,159, and sampling was performed based on the availability of each blood type.ResultsThe results showed an overall IgG and IgM seroprevalence of 47.76% and 3.44%, respectively. There were no differences in IgG and IgM seroprevalences between blood groups and sex, whereas statistical differences were found based on months, age range groups, and RhD antigen type. For instance, the highest IgG seroprevalence was observed in February 2022 and within the 17-26 years age range group, while the highest IgM seroprevalence was in April 2021 and within the 47-56 years age range group. Lastly, only IgG seroprevalence was higher in RhD+ individuals while IgM seroprevalence was similar across RhD types.DiscussionThis project contributes to limited data on IgG and IgM antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in Ecuador. It suggests that herd immunity may have been achieved in the last evaluated months, and highlights a potential link between the RhD antigen type and COVID-19 susceptibility. These findings have implications for public health strategies and vaccine distribution not only in Ecuador but also in regions with similar characteristics

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Presencia de síntomas depresivos en la pandemia por COVID-19 en personas mayores [Presence of depressive symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic in older people]

Presentación sobre los síntomas depresivos durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en personas mayores mexicanas. Fue presentada por José Darío Martínez-Ezquerro en el marco del Simposio: "La salud de las personas mayores durante la pandemia de COVID-19" en el "XXXI Foro Nacional de Investigación en Salud" (Acapulco, Guerrero, México), conferencia del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), 13 de septiembre de 2022 Presentation on depressive symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic in Mexican older people. It was presented by José Darío Martínez-Ezquerro in the context of the Symposium: "The health of older people during the COVID-19 pandemic" at "XXXI National Forum on Health Research" (Acapulco, Guerrero, México), conference of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), September 13, 2022 </p

Daratumumab-based treatment for immunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis

none269siBACKGROUND Systemic immunoglobulin light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is characterized by deposition of amyloid fibrils of light chains produced by clonal CD38+ plasma cells. Daratumumab, a human CD38-targeting antibody, may improve outcomes for this disease. METHODS We randomly assigned patients with newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis to receive six cycles of bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone either alone (control group) or with subcutaneous daratumumab followed by single-agent daratumumab every 4 weeks for up to 24 cycles (daratumumab group). The primary end point was a hematologic complete response. RESULTS A total of 388 patients underwent randomization. The median follow-up was 11.4 months. The percentage of patients who had a hematologic complete response was significantly higher in the daratumumab group than in the control group (53.3% vs. 18.1%) (relative risk ratio, 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1 to 4.1; P&lt;0.001). Survival free from major organ deterioration or hematologic progression favored the daratumumab group (hazard ratio for major organ deterioration, hematologic progression, or death, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.93; P=0.02). At 6 months, more cardiac and renal responses occurred in the daratumumab group than in the control group (41.5% vs. 22.2% and 53.0% vs. 23.9%, respectively). The four most common grade 3 or 4 adverse events were lymphopenia (13.0% in the daratumumab group and 10.1% in the control group), pneumonia (7.8% and 4.3%, respectively), cardiac failure (6.2% and 4.8%), and diarrhea (5.7% and 3.7%). Systemic administration-related reactions to daratumumab occurred in 7.3% of the patients. A total of 56 patients died (27 in the daratumumab group and 29 in the control group), most due to amyloidosis-related cardiomyopathy. CONCLUSIONS Among patients with newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis, the addition of daratumumab to bortezomib, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone was associated with higher frequencies of hematologic complete response and survival free from major organ deterioration or hematologic progression.noneKastritis E.; Palladini G.; Minnema M.C.; Wechalekar A.D.; Jaccard A.; Lee H.C.; Sanchorawala V.; Gibbs S.; Mollee P.; Venner C.P.; Lu J.; Schonland S.; Gatt M.E.; Suzuki K.; Kim K.; Cibeira M.T.; Beksac M.; Libby E.; Valent J.; Hungria V.; Wong S.W.; Rosenzweig M.; Bumma N.; Huart A.; Dimopoulos M.A.; Bhutani D.; Waxman A.J.; Goodman S.A.; Zonder J.A.; Lam S.; Song K.; Hansen T.; Manier S.; Roeloffzen W.; Jamroziak K.; Kwok F.; Shimazaki C.; Kim J.-S.; Crusoe E.; Ahmadi T.; Tran N.; Qin X.; Vasey S.Y.; Tromp B.; Schecter J.M.; Weiss B.M.; Zhuang S.H.; Vermeulen J.; Merlini G.; Comenzo R.L., Bradley Augustson, Fiona Kwok, Peter Mollee, Simon Gibbs, Chantal Doyen, Greet Bries, Isabelle Vande Broek, Ka Lung Wu, Koen Theunissen, Koen Van Eygen, Michel Delforge, Nathalie Meuleman, Philip Vlummens, Angelo Maiolino, Breno Moreno de Gusmão, Carlos Eduardo Miguel, Edvan Crusoe, Fernanda Moura, Fernanda Seguro, Jandey Bigonha, Juliane Musacchio, Karla Zanella, Laura Garcia, Marcelo Eduardo Zanella Capra, Reijane Alves de Assis, Rosane Bittencourt, Vania Hungria, Walter Braga, Wolney Barreto, Christopher Venner, Donna Reece, Emilie Lemieux-Blanchard, Kevin Song, Michael Sebag, Selay Lam, Victor Zepeda, Haitao Zhang, Jianda Hu, Jin Lu, Juan Li, Songfu Jiang, Ting Niu, Wenming Chen, Xiaonong Chen, Zhen Cai, Zhou Fude, Maja Oelholm Vase, Morten Salomo, Niels Abildgaard, Alain Fuzibet, Anne-Marie Stoppa, Arnaud Jaccard, Bertrand Arnulf, Bruno Moulin, Bruno Royer, David Ghez, Denis Caillot, Dominique Chauveau, Franck Bridoux, Lauriane Clement-Filliatre, Lionel Karlin, Lotfi Benboubker, Mamoun Dib, Margaret Macro, Mohamad Mohty, Olivier Decaux, Olivier Hermine, Olivier Tournilhac, Philippe Moreau, Salomon Manier, Sylvain Choquet, Véronique Dorvaux, Alexander Carpinteiro, Axel Nogai, Britta Besemer, Christoph Roellig, Roland Fenk, Stefan Knop, Stefan Schönland, Timon Hansen, Argiris Symeonidis, Efstathios Kastritis, Gabor Mikala, Tamás Masszi, Zsolt Nagy, Celia Suriu, Hila Magen, Iuliana Vaxman, Lev Shvidel, Meir Preis, Moshe Gatt, Noa Lavi, Osnat Jarchowsky, Tamar Tadmor, Yael Cohen, Angelo Vacca, Giovanni Palladini, Mario Boccadoro, Maurizio Martelli, Maurizio Musso, Michele Cavo, Chihiro Shimazaki, Hiroyuki Takamatsu, Kazutaka Sunami, Kenshi Suzuki, Nagaaki Katoh, Shinsuke Iida, Takayuki Ikezoe, Tomoaki Fujisaki, Yuta Katayama, Chang Ki Min, Ho-Jin Shin, Jin Seok Kim, Jung Yong Hong, Ki Hyun Kim, Sung-Soo Yoon, Aline Ramirez, Alvaro Cabrera, Christian Ramos, David Gomez Almaguer, Deborah Martinez, Guillermo Ruiz, Helen Dayani Caballero, Juan Antonio Flores Jimenez, Annemiek Broijl, Laurens Nieuwenhuizen, Monique Minnema, Paula Ypma, Wilfried Roeloffzen, Dominik Dytfeld, Grzegorz Charlinski, Grzegorz Helbig, Krzysztof Jamroziak, Sebastian Grosicki, Wieslaw Jedrzejczak, Albert Oriol Rocafiguera, Elham Askari, Fernando Escalante Barrigon, Isabel Krsnik Castello, Javier De la Rubia Comos, Jesus Martin Sanchez, Joaquin Martinez Lopez, Jose Angel Hernandez Rivas, Luis Felipe Casado Montero, Maria Jesus Blanchard Rodriguez, Maria Teresa Cibeira Lopez, Maria Victoria Mateos Manteca, Marta Sonia Gonzalez Perez, Mercedes Gironella Mesa, Rafael Rios Tamayo, Ramon Lecumberri Villamediana, Ricarda Garcia Sanchez, Sunil Lakhwani, Yolanda Gonzalez, Hareth Nahi, Kristina Carlsson, Markus Hansson, Ulf-Henrik Mellqvist, Ali Unal, Burhan Ferhanoglu, Hayri Ozsan, Levent Undar, Mehmet Turgut, Mehmet Yilmaz, Meral Beksac, Muhlis Cem Ar, Muzaffer Demir, Sevgi Besisik, Ashutosh Wechalekar, Jamie Cavenagh, Jim Cavet, Mark Cook, Rachel Hall, Adam Waxman, Anuj Mahindra, Cesar Rodriguez Valdes, Christine Ye, Craig Reeder, Daphne Friedman, David Siegel, Divaya Bhutani, Edward Libby, Eva Medvedova, Frank Passero, Giada Bianchi, Giampaolo Talamo, Guido Tricot, Hans Lee, Heather Landau, Jan Moreb, Jason Valent, Jeffrey Matous, Jeffrey A Zonder, Jesus Berdeja, Jonathan Kaufman, Keith Stockerl-Goldstein, Keren Osman, Ketan Doshi, Kevin Barton, Larry Anderson, Manisha Bhutani, Mehmet Kocoglu, Michael Rosenzweig, Michael Schuster, Michaela Liedtke, Morie Gertz, Naresh Bumma, Natalie Callander, Raymond Comenzo, Robert Vescio, Roger Pearse, Sandy W Wong, Stacey A Goodman, Stefano Tarantolo, Taimur Sher, Tibor Kovacsovics, Tomer Mark, Vaishali Sanchorawala, William BensingerKastritis E.; Palladini G.; Minnema M.C.; Wechalekar A.D.; Jaccard A.; Lee H.C.; Sanchorawala V.; Gibbs S.; Mollee P.; Venner C.P.; Lu J.; Schonland S.; Gatt M.E.; Suzuki K.; Kim K.; Cibeira M.T.; Beksac M.; Libby E.; Valent J.; Hungria V.; Wong S.W.; Rosenzweig M.; Bumma N.; Huart A.; Dimopoulos M.A.; Bhutani D.; Waxman A.J.; Goodman S.A.; Zonder J.A.; Lam S.; Song K.; Hansen T.; Manier S.; Roeloffzen W.; Jamroziak K.; Kwok F.; Shimazaki C.; Kim J.-S.; Crusoe E.; Ahmadi T.; Tran N.; Qin X.; Vasey S.Y.; Tromp B.; Schecter J.M.; Weiss B.M.; Zhuang S.H.; Vermeulen J.; Merlini G.; Comenzo R.L., Bradley Augustson, Fiona Kwok, Peter Mollee, Simon Gibbs, Chantal Doyen, Greet Bries, Isabelle Vande Broek, Ka Lung Wu, Koen Theunissen, Koen Van Eygen, Michel Delforge, Nathalie Meuleman, Philip Vlummens, Angelo Maiolino, Breno Moreno de Gusmão, Carlos Eduardo Miguel, Edvan Crusoe, Fernanda Moura, Fernanda Seguro, Jandey Bigonha, Juliane Musacchio, Karla Zanella, Laura Garcia, Marcelo Eduardo Zanella Capra, Reijane Alves de Assis, Rosane Bittencourt, Vania Hungria, Walter Braga, Wolney Barreto, Christopher Venner, Donna Reece, Emilie Lemieux-Blanchard, Kevin Song, Michael Sebag, Selay Lam, Victor Zepeda, Haitao Zhang, Jianda Hu, Jin Lu, Juan Li, Songfu Jiang, Ting Niu, Wenming Chen, Xiaonong Chen, Zhen Cai, Zhou Fude, Maja Oelholm Vase, Morten Salomo, Niels Abildgaard, Alain Fuzibet, Anne-Marie Stoppa, Arnaud Jaccard, Bertrand Arnulf, Bruno Moulin, Bruno Royer, David Ghez, Denis Caillot, Dominique Chauveau, Franck Bridoux, Lauriane Clement-Filliatre, Lionel Karlin, Lotfi Benboubker, Mamoun Dib, Margaret Macro, Mohamad Mohty, Olivier Decaux, Olivier Hermine, Olivier Tournilhac, Philippe Moreau, Salomon Manier, Sylvain Choquet, Véronique Dorvaux, Alexander Carpinteiro, Axel Nogai, Britta Besemer, Christoph Roellig, Roland Fenk, Stefan Knop, Stefan Schönland, Timon Hansen, Argiris Symeonidis, Efstathios Kastritis, Gabor Mikala, Tamás Masszi, Zsolt Nagy, Celia Suriu, Hila Magen, Iuliana Vaxman, Lev Shvidel, Meir Preis, Moshe Gatt, Noa Lavi, Osnat Jarchowsky, Tamar Tadmor, Yael Cohen, Angelo Vacca, Giovanni Palladini, Mario Boccadoro, Maurizio Martelli, Maurizio Musso, Michele Cavo, Chihiro Shimazaki, Hiroyuki Takamatsu, Kazutaka Sunami, Kenshi Suzuki, Nagaaki Katoh, Shinsuke Iida, Takayuki Ikezoe, Tomoaki Fujisaki, Yuta Katayama, Chang Ki Min, Ho-Jin Shin, Jin Seok Kim, Jung Yong Hong, Ki Hyun Kim, Sung-Soo Yoon, Aline Ramirez, Alvaro Cabrera, Christian Ramos, David Gomez Almaguer, Deborah Martinez, Guillermo Ruiz, Helen Dayani Caballero, Juan Antonio Flores Jimenez, Annemiek Broijl, Laurens Nieuwenhuizen, Monique Minnema, Paula Ypma, Wilfried Roeloffzen, Dominik Dytfeld, Grzegorz Charlinski, Grzegorz Helbig, Krzysztof Jamroziak, Sebastian Grosicki, Wieslaw Jedrzejczak, Albert Oriol Rocafiguera, Elham Askari, Fernando Escalante Barrigon, Isabel Krsnik Castello, Javier De la Rubia Comos, Jesus Martin Sanchez, Joaquin Martinez Lopez, Jose Angel Hernandez Rivas, Luis Felipe Casado Montero, Maria Jesus Blanchard Rodriguez, Maria Teresa Cibeira Lopez, Maria Victoria Mateos Manteca, Marta Sonia Gonzalez Perez, Mercedes Gironella Mesa, Rafael Rios Tamayo, Ramon Lecumberri Villamediana, Ricarda Garcia Sanchez, Sunil Lakhwani, Yolanda Gonzalez, Hareth Nahi, Kristina Carlsson, Markus Hansson, Ulf-Henrik Mellqvist, Ali Unal, Burhan Ferhanoglu, Hayri Ozsan, Levent Undar, Mehmet Turgut, Mehmet Yilmaz, Meral Beksac, Muhlis Cem Ar, Muzaffer Demir, Sevgi Besisik, Ashutosh Wechalekar, Jamie Cavenagh, Jim Cavet, Mark Cook, Rachel Hall, Adam Waxman, Anuj Mahindra, Cesar Rodriguez Valdes, Christine Ye, Craig Reeder, Daphne Friedman, David Siegel, Divaya Bhutani, Edward Libby, Eva Medvedova, Frank Passero, Giada Bianchi, Giampaolo Talamo, Guido Tricot, Hans Lee, Heather Landau, Jan Moreb, Jason Valent, Jeffrey Matous, Jeffrey A Zonder, Jesus Berdeja, Jonathan Kaufman, Keith Stockerl-Goldstein, Keren Osman, Ketan Doshi, Kevin Barton, Larry Anderson, Manisha Bhutani, Mehmet Kocoglu, Michael Rosenzweig, Michael Schuster, Michaela Liedtke, Morie Gertz, Naresh Bumma, Natalie Callander, Raymond Comenzo, Robert Vescio, Roger Pearse, Sandy W Wong, Stacey A Goodman, Stefano Tarantolo, Taimur Sher, Tibor Kovacsovics, Tomer Mark, Vaishali Sanchorawala, William Bensinge

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN