PM and hospitalizations through the emergency department in people with disabilities: a nationwide case-crossover study in South Korea.

Background: Little is known about the impact of PM on people with disabilities. We aimed to explore the association between PM and hospitalization via the emergency department (ED admission) among people with disabilities, together with the attributable ED admission cases and costs.

Methods: We applied a time-stratified case-crossover design adjusting ozone, holiday, and temperature using seven years (2015-2021) of claim-based data on ED admissions from the Korean National Health Insurance Database.

Adverse cardiovascular and kidney outcomes in people with SARS-CoV-2 treated with SGLT2 inhibitors.

Background: Whether use of SGLT2 inhibitors reduces the risk of cardiovascular and kidney events in people who contracted SARS-CoV-2 infection is not clear.

Methods: We used the healthcare databases of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to build a cohort of 107,776 participants on antihyperglycemic therapy and had SARS-CoV-2 infection between March 01, 2020 and June 10, 2023. Within them, 11,588 used SGLT2 inhibitors and 96,188 used other antihyperglycemics.

Long COVID science, research and policy.

Long COVID represents the constellation of post-acute and long-term health effects caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection; it is a complex, multisystem disorder that can affect nearly every organ system and can be severely disabling. The cumulative global incidence of long COVID is around 400 million individuals, which is estimated to have an annual economic impact of approximately $1 trillion-equivalent to about 1% of the global economy. Several mechanistic pathways are implicated in long COVID, including viral persistence, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, complement dysregulation, endothelial inflammation and microbiome dysbiosis.

Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in the Pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron Eras.

Background: Postacute sequelae of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (PASC) can affect many organ systems. However, temporal changes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, including the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, may have affected the risk and burden of PASC. Whether the risk and burden of PASC have changed over the course of the pandemic is unclear.

Three-year outcomes of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes post-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (PASC) in many organ systems. Risks of these sequelae have been characterized up to 2 years after infection, but longer-term follow-up is limited. Here we built a cohort of 135,161 people with SARS-CoV-2 infection and 5,206,835 controls from the US Department of Veterans Affairs who were followed for 3 years to estimate risks of death and PASC.

Solving the puzzle of Long Covid.

Long Covid provides an opportunity to understand how acute infections cause chronic disease.

Long-term outcomes following hospital admission for COVID-19 versus seasonal influenza: a cohort study.

Background: Previous comparative analyses of people admitted to hospital for COVID-19 versus influenza evaluated the risk of death, hospital readmission, and a narrow set of health outcomes up to 6 months following infection. We aimed to do a comparative evaluation of both acute and long-term risks and burdens of a comprehensive set of health outcomes following hospital admission for COVID-19 or seasonal influenza.

Methods: For this cohort study we used the health-care databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs to analyse data from 81 280 participants admitted to hospital for COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2022, and 10 985 participants admitted to hospital for seasonal influenza between Oct 1, 2015, and Feb 28, 2019.

Fluctuating risk of acute kidney injury-related mortality for four weeks after exposure to air pollution: A multi-country time-series study in 6 countries.

Background: Recent studies have reported that air pollution is related to kidney diseases. However, the global evidence on the risk of death from acute kidney injury (AKI) owing to air pollution is limited. Therefore, we investigated the association between short-term exposure to air pollution-particulate matter ≤ 2.

Postacute sequelae of COVID-19 at 2 years.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection can lead to postacute sequelae in multiple organ systems, but evidence is mostly limited to the first year postinfection. We built a cohort of 138,818 individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection and 5,985,227 noninfected control group from the US Department of Veterans Affairs and followed them for 2 years to estimate the risks of death and 80 prespecified postacute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) according to care setting during the acute phase of infection. The increased risk of death was not significant beyond 6 months after infection among nonhospitalized but remained significantly elevated through the 2 years in hospitalized individuals.

Comparative effectiveness of SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists, DPP-4 inhibitors, and sulfonylureas on risk of major adverse cardiovascular events: emulation of a randomised target trial using electronic health records.

Background: Randomised clinical trials showed that compared with placebo, SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists reduced risk of adverse cardiovascular events. The evidence base for the older antihyperglycaemic drug classes (DPP-4 inhibitors and sulfonylureas) is generally less well developed. Because most randomised trials evaluated one antihyperglycaemic medication versus placebo, a head-to-head comparative effectiveness analysis of the newer drug classes (SGLT2 inhibitors vs GLP-1 receptor agonists) or newer (SGLT2 inhibitors or GLP-1 receptor agonists) versus older (DPP-4 inhibitors or sulfonylureas) drug classes on risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) is not available.

Molnupiravir and risk of post-acute sequelae of covid-19: cohort study.

Objective: To examine whether treatment with the antiviral agent molnupiravir during the first five days of SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with reduced risk of post-acute adverse health outcomes.

Design: Cohort study.

Setting: US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Nirmatrelvir and risk of hospital admission or death in adults with covid-19: emulation of a randomized target trial using electronic health records.

Objective: To estimate the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir, compared with no treatment, in reducing admission to hospital or death at 30 days in people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and at risk of developing severe disease, according to vaccination status and history of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Design: Emulation of a randomized target trial with electronic health records.

Setting: Healthcare databases of the US Department of Veterans Affairs PARTICIPANTS: 256 288 participants with a SARS-CoV-2 positive test result and at least one risk factor for developing severe covid-19 disease, between 3 January and 30 November 2022.

Air Pollution and Acute Kidney Injury in the U.S. Medicare Population: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Background: Recent studies have reported the association between air pollution exposure and reduced kidney function. However, it is unclear whether air pollution is associated with an increased risk of acute kidney injury (AKI).

Objectives: To address this gap in knowledge, we investigated the effect estimates of long-term exposures to fine particulate matter [PM in aerodynamic diameter ()], nitrogen dioxide (), and ozone () on the risk of first hospital admission for AKI using nationwide Medicare data.

Association of Treatment With Nirmatrelvir and the Risk of Post-COVID-19 Condition.

Importance: Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), also known as long COVID, affects many individuals. Prevention of PCC is an urgent public health priority.

Objective: To examine whether treatment with nirmatrelvir in the acute phase of COVID-19 is associated with reduced risk of PCC.