Respiratory dysfunction three months after severe COVID-19 is associated with gut microbiota alterations.

Background: Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily a respiratory infection, mounting evidence suggests that the gastrointestinal tract is involved in the disease, with gut barrier dysfunction and gut microbiota alterations being related to disease severity. Whether these alterations persist and are related to long-term respiratory dysfunction remains unknown.

Methods: Plasma was collected during hospital admission and after 3 months from the NOR-Solidarity trial (n = 181) and analyzed for markers of gut barrier dysfunction and inflammation.

Persistent pulmonary pathology after COVID-19 is associated with high viral load, weak antibody response, and high levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9.

The association between pulmonary sequelae and markers of disease severity, as well as pro-fibrotic mediators, were studied in 108 patients 3 months after hospital admission for COVID-19. The COPD assessment test (CAT-score), spirometry, diffusion capacity of the lungs (DL), and chest-CT were performed at 23 Norwegian hospitals included in the NOR-SOLIDARITY trial, an open-labelled, randomised clinical trial, investigating the efficacy of remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). Thirty-eight percent had a CAT-score ≥ 10.

Hepatitis C outreach project and cross-sectional epidemiology in high-risk populations in Trondheim, Norway.

Background: Hepatitis C is highly prevalent among people who use drugs (PWUD), and the hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic is less characterised in Norway. The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence and treatment willingness in high-risk populations by reaching out to frequently visited sites for high-risk populations.

Methods: Individuals from high-risk populations were included from September 2015 to March 2017.

Semiquantitative Real-Time PCR to Distinguish Pneumocystis Pneumonia from Colonization in a Heterogeneous Population of HIV-Negative Immunocompromised Patients.

Pneumocystis jirovecii is a threat to iatrogenically immunosuppressed individuals, a heterogeneous population at rapid growth. We assessed the ability of an in-house semiquantitative real-time PCR assay to discriminate Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) from colonization and identified risk factors for infection in these patients. Retrospectively, 242 PCR-positive patients were compared according to PCP status, including strata by immunosuppressive conditions, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection excluded.

Evaluation of the Effects of Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine on Viral Clearance in COVID-19 : A Randomized Trial.

Background: New treatment modalities are urgently needed for patients with COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity trial showed no effect of remdesivir or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) on mortality, but the antiviral effects of these drugs are not known.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of remdesivir and HCQ on all-cause, in-hospital mortality; the degree of respiratory failure and inflammation; and viral clearance in the oropharynx.

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of immunocompromised patients infected with Pneumocystis jirovecii in a twelve-year retrospective study from Norway.

Background: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) severely menaces modern chemotherapy and immunosuppression. Detailed description of the epidemiology of Pneumocystis jirovecii today is needed to identify candidates for PCP-prophylaxis.

Methods: We performed a 12-year retrospective study of patients with P.

Leishmaniasis in Norway.

Background: Leishmaniasis is a rare but potentially severe tropical infectious disease, and Norwegian clinicians are generally unfamiliar with its diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to investigate the number of cases diagnosed, performance of diagnostic methods and treatment of leishmaniasis at five university hospitals in Norway.

Material And Method: The number of cases, diagnosis and treatment of suspected leishmaniasis were registered prospectively in the period March 2014 - September 2017 at the university hospitals of Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim and Tromsø.

The impact of age on risk assessment, therapeutic practice and outcome in candidemia.

Background: In Norway, the epidemiological situation of candidemia is followed closely. We have previously demonstrated the highest incidence of candidemia in elderly >65 years of age. However, knowledge of other aspects of this infection is lacking.

Aortic graft infection and mycotic aneurysm with Streptococcus equi zooepidemicus: two cases with favorable outcome of antibiotic treatment.

Infections with Streptococcus equi zooepidemicus are rare and are associated with contact with animals or animal products. There are very few reports about infected vascular grafts or aneurysms with this etiology. We present two patients.

A large waterborne outbreak of campylobacteriosis in Norway: the need to focus on distribution system safety.

Background: On 7 May 2007 the medical officer in Røros (population 5600) reported 15 patients with gastroenteritis. Three days later he estimated hundreds being ill. Untreated tap water from a groundwater source was suspected as the vehicle and chlorination was started 11 May.