A national survey of Intensive Care Medicine Services in Portugal: where we are and the road ahead.

Objective: The goal of this study was to assess the Portuguese Intensive Care Referral Network, namely the mission and organization of the Portuguese National Health Service Intensive Care Medicine Services and patient flows between them.

Methods: The study was based on the responses to a semi-structured questionnaire by the directors of the forty-one Intensive Care Medicine Services, characterizing four domains: a) number, type, and management of beds; b) human resources and their consumption; c) outreach, including activities in the resuscitation room, intra-hospital emergency team and follow-up clinics; and d) referral network.

Results: The number of active Intensive Care Medicine Services beds in Portugal markedly increased in the last 12 years, but the beds/habitant ratio is still below the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average.

Remdesivir and corticosteroids in the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic infection caused by the newly discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Remdesivir (RDV) and corticosteroids are used mainly in COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure. The main objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of remdesivir with and without corticosteroids in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

A prospective, observational study to evaluate adverse drug reactions in patients with COVID-19 treated with remdesivir or hydroxychloroquine: a preliminary report.

Objectives: Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the pressure to minimise its impact on public health has led to the implementation of different therapeutic strategies, the efficacy of which for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was unknown at the time. Remdesivir (REM) was granted its first conditional marketing authorisation in the EU in June 2020. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and local health authorities all across the EU have since strongly recommended the implementation of pharmacovigilance activities aimed at further evaluating the safety of this new drug.