COVID-19 in three waves in a tertiary referral hospital in Belgium: a comparison of patient characteristics, management, and outcome.

Purpose: Few studies have compared patient characteristics, clinical management, and outcome of patients with COVID-19 between the different epidemic waves. In this study, we describe patient characteristics, treatment, and outcome of patients admitted for COVID-19 in the Antwerp University Hospital over the first three epidemic waves of 2020-2021.

Methods: Retrospective observational study of COVID-19 patients in a Belgian tertiary referral hospital.

A retrospective comparison of mechanical cardio-pulmonary ventilation and manual bag valve ventilation in non-traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrests: A study from the Belgian cardiac arrest registry.

Background: The optimal ventilation modalities to manage out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) remain debated. A specific pressure mode called cardio-pulmonary ventilation (CPV) may be used instead of manual bag ventilation (MBV). We sought to analyse the association between mechanical CPV and return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in non-traumatic OHCA.

Assessment of hypovolaemia in the critically ill.

Assessment of the intravascular volume status of patients is one of the most challenging tasks for the intensive care clinician. It is also one of the most important skills in intensive care management as both hypervolaemia and hypovolaemia lead to increased morbidity and mortality. The assessment of hypovolaemic patients is aided by several clinical signs, laboratory investigations, and a multitude of haemodynamic monitoring systems.

The black box revelation: monitoring gastrointestinal function.

The gastrointestinal tract comprises diverse functions. Despite recent developments in technology and science, there is no single and universal tool to monitor GI function in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Clinical evaluation is complex and has a low sensitivity to diagnose pathological processes in the abdomen.

Human faecal microbiota display variable patterns of glycerol metabolism.

Significant amounts of glycerol reach the colon microbiota daily through the diet and/or by in situ microbial production or release from desquamated epithelial cells. Some gut microorganisms may anaerobically reduce glycerol to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), with 3-hydroxypropanal as an intermediate. Accumulation of the latter intermediate may result in the formation of reuterin, which is known for its biological activity (e.

Biogenic silver for disinfection of water contaminated with viruses.

The presence of enteric viruses in drinking water is a potential health risk. Growing interest has arisen in nanometals for water disinfection, in particular the use of silver-based nanotechnology. In this study, Lactobacillus fermentum served as a reducing agent and bacterial carrier matrix for zerovalent silver nanoparticles, referred to as biogenic Ag(0).