Severity of COVID-19 among Hospitalized Patients: Omicron Remains a Severe Threat for Immunocompromised Hosts.

The Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the general population in the context of a relatively high immunity gained through the early waves of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), and vaccination campaigns. Despite this context, a significant number of patients were hospitalized, and identifying the risk factors associated with severe disease in the Omicron era is critical for targeting further preventive, and curative interventions. We retrospectively analyzed the individual medical records of 1501 SARS-CoV-2 positive hospitalized patients between 13 December 2021, and 13 February 2022, in Belgium, of which 187 (12.

Asparaginase-induced pseudohyponatremia, a case-driven working strategy in pediatric patients.

Objectives: When using indirect ion-selective electrode (ISE) methods, hypertriglyceridemia leads to pseudohyponatremia due to water displacement artifacts. Multiple strategies exist to minimize this interference. Our objective was to create a patient-friendly one-tube-fits-all testing setup without compromising the method robustness.

Performance of Abbott Alinity hq hematology analyzer for automated cell counting of body fluids.

Introduction: Body fluid cell counting and differentiation provide essential information for diagnosis and monitoring of diverse pathologies. We evaluated the performance of the newly launched Abbott Alinity hq hematology analyzer for automated cell counting in body fluids and compared red blood cell (RBC) and total nucleated cell (TNC) counts with the Cell-Dyn Sapphire automated hematology analyzer. Differential counts were compared with microscopic differentiation on cytocentrifuged preparations.

A biological profile for diagnosis and outcome of COVID-19 patients.

Objectives As severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) pandemic is increasing its victims on a global scale with recurring outbreaks, it remains of outmost importance to rapidly identify people requiring an intensive care unit (ICU) hospitalization. The aim of this study was to identify Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) biomarkers, to investigate their correlation with disease severity and to evaluate their usefulness for follow-up. Methods Fifty patients diagnosed with SARS-Cov-2 were included in March 2020.