Favipiravir for treating COVID-19.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to challenge the health workforce and societies worldwide. Favipiravir was suggested by some experts to be effective and safe to use in COVID-19. Although this drug has been evaluated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), it is still unclear if it has a definite role in the treatment of COVID-19.

Establishing an effective antimicrobial stewardship program at four secondary-care hospitals in India using a hub-and-spoke model.

Background: The high burden of antimicrobial resistance in India necessitates the urgent implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) in all healthcare settings in India. Most ASPs are based at tertiary-care centers, with sparse data available regarding the effectiveness of an ASP in a low-resource primary/secondary-care setting.

Methods: We adopted a hub-and-spoke model to implement ASPs in 4 low-resource, secondary-care healthcare settings.

Evaluation of Remdesivir to the outcomes of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection in a tertiary-care hospital in southern India.

Introduction: Remdesivir was the only antiviral used in the treatment of COVID-19 in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, following the adaptive COVID-19 treatment trial-1 interim analysis report. However, its use in moderate to critical hospitalized COVID-19 patients continues to be controversial.

Methodology: In a cohort of 1,531 moderate to critical COVID-19 patients, we retrospectively performed a nested case-control study where 515 patients on Remdesivir were compared to 411 patients with no Remdesivir.

High Rates of Bacterial Pulmonary Co-Infections and Superinfections Identified by Multiplex PCR among Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients.

Background: The role of bacterial co-infection and superinfection among critically ill COVID-19 patients remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the rates and characteristics of pulmonary infections, and associated outcomes of ventilated patients in our facility.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of ventilated COVID-19 patients between March 2020 and March 2021 that underwent BioFire, FilmArray Pneumonia Panel, testing.

High rate of bacterial respiratory tract co-infections upon admission amongst moderate to severe COVID-19 patients.

Background: The role of bacterial and viral co-infection in the current COVID-19 pandemic remains elusive. The aim of this study was to describe the rates and features of co-infection on admission of COVID-19 patients, based on molecular and routine laboratory methods.

Methods: A retrospective study of COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients undergoing Biofire, FilmArray Pneumonia Panel, bioMérieux, and routine cultures during the first 3 days from admission, between June 2019 and March 2021.

Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory features of acute Q fever in a cohort of hospitalized patients in a regional hospital, Israel, 2012-2018.

Introduction: Acute Q fever is endemic in Israel, yet the clinical and laboratory picture is poorly defined.

Methods: A retrospective study reviewing the medical records of acute Q fever patients, conducted in a single hospital in the Sharon district, Israel. Serum samples from suspected cases were preliminary tested by a qualitative enzyme immunoassay (EIA).

Rare case of atypical crescentic glomerulonephritis and interstitial lung disease with negative anti-GBM antibody and positive anti-MPO antibody.

A 70-year-old man presented with 1 month of haematuria and mild right-sided flank pain with no other symptoms. Diagnostic workup included serum studies which showed the presence of antimyeloperoxidase antibodies, a kidney biopsy which demonstrated necrotising crescentic glomerulonephritis with linear immunofluorescence of the basement membrane, and electron microscopy which exhibited thickening of the glomerular basement membrane. Incidentally, the patient was discovered to have a latent hepatitis B infection, which complicated immunosuppressive therapy.

Impact of an antimicrobial stewardship intervention in India: Evaluation of post-prescription review and feedback as a method of promoting optimal antimicrobial use in the intensive care units of a tertiary-care hospital.

Objective: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are effective in developed countries. In this study, we assessed the effectiveness of an infectious disease (ID) physician-driven post-prescription review and feedback as an ASP strategy in India, a low middle-income country (LMIC).

Design And Setting: This prospective cohort study was carried out for 18 months in 2 intensive care units of a tertiary-care hospital, consisting of 3 phases: baseline, intervention, and follow up.

Upper arm and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

We analyzed quantitative maps of and relaxation times and muscle fat fraction measurements in magnetic resonance imaging of the upper arm skeletal muscles and heart in ambulatory boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and age-range-matched healthy volunteer boys. The cardiac-optimized sequences detected fatty infiltration and edema in the upper arm skeletal muscles but not the myocardium in these Duchenne muscular dystrophy boys who had normal ejection fraction. Imaging the heart and skeletal muscle using the same magnetic resonance imaging methods during a single scan may be useful in assessing relative disease status and therapeutic response in clinical trials of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Patterns of Adverse Drug Reaction in the Medical Wards of a Teaching Hospital: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study.

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, an Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) is a response to a drug that is noxious and unintended and occurs at doses normally used in humans for the prophylaxis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. The risk factors of ADR are multi-factorial and include poly-pharmacy, age, gender, race, genetics and inter-current disease.

Patients And Methods: This was a hospital based, prospective, observational cohort study undertaken in a tertiary care hospital in south India to assess the different patterns of adverse drug reaction in medical wards over 6 months.

Quantifying the distribution of nanodiamonds in pre-Younger Dryas to recent age deposits along Bull Creek, Oklahoma panhandle, USA.

High levels of nanodiamonds (nds) have been used to support the transformative hypothesis that an extraterrestrial (ET) event (comet explosion) triggered Younger Dryas changes in temperature, flora and fauna assemblages, and human adaptations [Firestone RB, et al. (2007) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(41):16016-16021]. We evaluate this hypothesis by establishing the distribution of nds within the Bull Creek drainage of the Beaver River basin in the Oklahoma panhandle.