Individuals With SARS-CoV-2 Infection During the First and Second Waves in Catalonia, Spain: Retrospective Observational Study Using Daily Updated Data.

Background: A description of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection comparing the first and second waves could help adapt health services to manage this highly transmissible infection.

Objective: We aimed to describe the epidemiology of individuals with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the characteristics of patients with a positive test comparing the first and second waves in Catalonia, Spain.

Methods: This study had 2 stages.

Challenges for asthma units in response to COVID-19: a qualitative group dynamics analysis.

Objective: To develop a set of recommendations for the management of severe asthma during COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Eleven pneumologists and allergologists who were staff members of officially accredited asthma units in Catalonia (Spain) participated in a cross-section study based on three 2-hour virtual workshops (first: brainstorming, second: identification of impacts and challenges summarized in 10 topics, third: establishment of final recommendations by consensus).

Results: Impacts and challenges identified were improvement of referral protocols between different levels of care; assessment of the minimum number of function tests to be performed and promote the performance of spirometry in primary care; implementation of videoconferencing, mobile apps, telephone calls, or integral virtual platforms for the follow-up of patients, and definition of the model of care (face-to-face, telematics, mixed) according to the patient's individual needs; self-administration of biologics for domiciliary treatment; and empowerment of the role of nursing and hospital pharmacy in particular for follow-up and self-administration of biologics.

[The future of inhaled antibiotic therapy. New products].

Inhaled antibiotics have been used for more than 30 years to treat bronchial colonization or infection, especially in patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic bronchial infection with Pseudomonas. However, major progress in this field has only been made in the last 10 years: the beneficial effects in this indication have been confirmed by scientific evidence, the number of clinical trials has considerably increased, inhaled antibiotic formulations have appeared, administration systems have improved and their use has been broadened to include other infections. The speed of research indicates that major advances will be made in the indications and arsenal of inhaled antibiotics, as well as in the effectiveness of administration systems in the next 10 years.

[Pleural effusion and pulmonary hypertension in a patient with Parkinson disease treated with cabergoline].

Cabergoline is a synthetic dopamine agonist used to treat Parkinson disease. The drug occasionally induces pleuropulmonary adverse effects, which manifest as pleural thickening or effusion, interstitial pneumonitis, pulmonary infiltrates, or fibrosis. We report a rare case of pleural effusion and severe pulmonary hypertension in a 79-year-old man with Parkinson disease who had been treated with cabergoline for 1 year.

[Influence of the method used to obtain pleural fluid on the determination of the Acid-base balance].

Objective: To analyze the methods used in our hospital for obtaining pleural fluid to determine the acid-base balance and to evaluate the clinical repercussions of each method.

Methods: Initially we studied the methods used by physicians in our hospital to collect pleural fluid for determination of the acid-base balance. In a second phase, we performed a prospective, descriptive, comparative study with the participation of 71 patients with pleural effusions in order to compare the acid-base balance according to the technique used to obtain the fluid.