{"title":"Clinical effectiveness of oral antiviral agents for treating non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients with chronic kidney disease.","authors":"Chia-Chen Chen, Chi-Ya Huang, Jheng-Yan Wu, Mei-Yuan Liu, Min-Hsiang Chuang, Ting-Hui Liu, Ya-Wen Tsai, Wan-Hsuan Hsu, Po-Yu Huang, Ming-Hui Chen, Su-Yen Liu, Mei-Chuan Lee, Kuo-Chuan Hung, Chih-Cheng Lai, I-Ning Yang","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2334052","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2334052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study examined the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir (NMV-r) and molnupiravir (MOV) in treating COVID-19 among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective cohort study, using the TriNetX research network, identified stage 3-5 CKD and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients with non-hospitalized COVID-19 between 1 January 2022, and 31 May 2023. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to compare patients on NMV-r or MOV (antiviral group) against those not receiving these treatments (control group). The primary composite outcome was the cumulative hazard ratio (HR) for all-cause hospitalization or death within the 30-day follow-up.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After PSM, two balanced cohorts of 6,275 patients each were established. The antiviral group exhibited a lower incidence of all-cause hospitalization or mortality (5.93% vs. 9.53%; HR: 0.626; 95% CI: 0.550-0.713) than controls. Additionally, antiviral recipients were associated with a lower risk of all-cause hospitalization (HR: 0.679; 95% CI: 0.594-0.777) and mortality (HR: 0.338; 95% CI: 0.227-0.504). The beneficial effects of antiviral agents were consistent across sex, age, vaccination status, antiviral type, and CKD stage.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Oral antiviral agents could be associated with lower rates of all-cause hospitalization or death among non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients with CKD.</p>","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140206558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The emergence of Japanese encephalitis as a public health concern in New South Wales Australia.","authors":"Prakasini Satapathy, Sarvesh Rustagi, Israa Habeeb Naser, Shilpa Gaidhane, Quazi Syed Zahiruddin, Rachana Mehta, Vasso Apostolopoulos, Ranjit Sah","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2381824","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14787210.2024.2381824","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141747851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexandro Bonifaz, Paola Lumbán-Ramírez, María Guadalupe Frías-de-León, Helena Vidaurri de la Cruz
{"title":"Tineas caused by hedgehogs due to <i>Trichophyton erinacei</i> an ascending agent of dermatophytosis.","authors":"Alexandro Bonifaz, Paola Lumbán-Ramírez, María Guadalupe Frías-de-León, Helena Vidaurri de la Cruz","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2378980","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2378980","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141558441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ursodeoxycholic acid and COVID-19 outcomes: a cohort study and data synthesis of state-of-art evidence.","authors":"Yang Yu, Guo-Fu Li, Jian Li, Lu-Yao Han, Zhi-Long Zhang, Tian-Shuo Liu, Shu-Xin Jiao, Yu-Wei Qiao, Na Zhang, De-Chuan Zhan, Shao-Qiu Tang, Guo Yu","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2376153","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2376153","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The potential of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in inhibiting angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 was demonstrated. However, conflicting evidence emerged regarding the association between UDCA and COVID-19 outcomes, prompting the need for a comprehensive investigation.</p><p><strong>Research design and methods: </strong>Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection were retrospectively analyzed and divided into two groups: the UDCA-treated group and the control group. Kaplan-Meier recovery analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the recovery time and hazard ratios. Additionally, study-level pooled analyses for multiple clinical outcomes were performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the 115-patient cohort, UDCA treatment was significantly associated with a reduced recovery time. The subgroup analysis suggests that the 300 mg subgroup had a significant (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.63 [95% CI, 1.01 to 2.60]) benefit with a shorter duration of fever. The results of pooled analyses also show that UDCA treatment can significantly reduce the incidence of severe/critical diseases in COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio: 0.68 [95% CI, 0.50 to 0.94]).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>UDCA treatment notably improves the recovery time following an Omicron strain infection without observed safety concerns. These promising results advocate for UDCA as a viable treatment for COVID-19, paving the way for further large-scale and prospective research to explore the full potential of UDCA.</p>","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141554457","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comparison of effectiveness and safety of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir versus sotrovimab for COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Behnam Amani, Bahman Amani","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2326561","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2326561","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study aims to compare the effectiveness and safety of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) and sotrovimab for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A search was conducted on PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science to explore relevant studies from January 2021 to November 2023. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. Data analysis was conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (version 3.0).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Fifteen retrospective studies involving 13, 306 patients were included. The meta-analysis revealed no significant difference between the nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and sotrovimab groups in terms of mortality rate (odds ratio [OR] = 0.62, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28 to 1.38), hospitalization rate (OR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.48 to 1.22), death or hospitalization rate (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.51 to 1.10), and intensive unit care admission (OR = 1.97, 95% CI: 0.38 to 10.07). In terms of safety, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir was associated with a higher incidence of adverse events (OR = 3.44, 95% CI: 1.29 to 9.17).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The meta-analysis showed that nirmatrelvir/ritonavir and sotrovimab have similar effectiveness in treating COVID-19 patients. However, the certainty of evidence supporting these findings is low. High-quality research is needed to better compare these interventions in COVID-19.</p>","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140059058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nazanin Majidi, Effat Bahadori, Soheila Shekari, Maryam Gholamalizadeh, Shirin Tajadod, Marjan Ajami, Somayeh Gholami, Mahdi Shadnoush, Mina Ahmadzadeh, Anoush Dehnadi Moghadam, Naeemeh Hassanpour Ardekanizadeh, Hanieh Shafaei Kachaei, Fatemeh Shafie, Alireza Moslem, Saeid Doaei, Mark O Goodarzi
{"title":"Effects of supplementation with low-dose group B vitamins on clinical and biochemical parameters in critically ill patients with COVID-19: a randomized clinical trial.","authors":"Nazanin Majidi, Effat Bahadori, Soheila Shekari, Maryam Gholamalizadeh, Shirin Tajadod, Marjan Ajami, Somayeh Gholami, Mahdi Shadnoush, Mina Ahmadzadeh, Anoush Dehnadi Moghadam, Naeemeh Hassanpour Ardekanizadeh, Hanieh Shafaei Kachaei, Fatemeh Shafie, Alireza Moslem, Saeid Doaei, Mark O Goodarzi","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2022.2125867","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14787210.2022.2125867","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>: This study aimed to check the effect of supplementation with low-dose group B vitamins on clinical and biochemical parameters on patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).</p><p><strong>Research design and method: </strong>: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial was carried out on 85 critically ill patients with COVID-19. All patients received high protein prescriptions of 30 kcal/kg/d by enteral nutrition. The intervention group (<i>n</i> = 40) received vitamin B complex, including thiamine (10 mg), riboflavin (4 mg), nicotinamide (40 mg), and dexpanthenol (6 mg). The control group received similar nutritional supports, except for group B vitamins. Assessments were carried out at baseline and after 2 weeks of intervention.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>: Vitamin B supplementation had no effects on the biochemical and pathological parameters including kidney function, arterial blood gas parameters, Glasgow coma scale, cell blood count, and serum electrolytes of the intervention group compared with the control group. The 30-day mortality was insignificantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (83.3% against 96.1%, P = 0.07).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The mortality rate of patients with COVID-19 might be improved by low-dose vitamin B supplementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40360300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine NRICM101 in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.","authors":"Wen-Kuei Chang, Chieh-Jen Wang, Tung-Hu Tsai, Fang-Ju Sun, Chao-Hsien Chen, Kuan-Chih Kuo, Hsin-Pei Chung, Yen-Hsiang Tang, Yen-Ting Chen, Kuo-Lun Wu, Jou-Chun Wu, Chang-Yi Lin, Hai-Bo Zhang","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2313054","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2313054","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of NRICM101 in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.</p><p><strong>Research design and methods: </strong>We conducted a retrospective study from 20 April 2021 to 8 July 2021, and evaluated the safety and outcomes (mortality, hospital stay, mechanical ventilation, oxygen support, diarrhea, serum potassium) in COVID-19 patients. Propensity score matching at a 1:2 ratio was performed to reduce confounding factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 201 patients were analyzed. The experimental group (<i>n</i> = 67) received NRICM101 and standard care, while the control group (<i>n</i> = 134) received standard care alone. No significant differences were observed in mortality (10.4% vs. 14.2%), intubation (13.8% vs. 11%), time to intubation (10 vs. 11 days), mechanical ventilation days (0 vs. 9 days), or oxygen support duration (6 vs. 5 days). However, the experimental group had a shorter length of hospitalization (odds ratio = 0.12, <i>p</i> = 0.043) and fewer mechanical ventilation days (odds ratio = 0.068, <i>p</i> = 0.008) in initially severe cases, along with an increased diarrhea risk (<i>p</i> = 0.035).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>NRICM101 did not reduce in-hospital mortality. However, it shortened the length of hospitalization and reduced mechanical ventilation days in initially severe cases. Further investigation is needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139575322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amanj Kurdi, Najla Al Mutairi, Kirmanj Baker, Karwan M-Amen, Omeed Darweesh, Hardee Karwi, Andrew Seaton, Jacqueline Sneddon, Brian Godman
{"title":"Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the utilization and quality of antibiotic use in the primary care setting in England, March 2019-March 2023: a segmented interrupted time series analysis of over 53 million individuals.","authors":"Amanj Kurdi, Najla Al Mutairi, Kirmanj Baker, Karwan M-Amen, Omeed Darweesh, Hardee Karwi, Andrew Seaton, Jacqueline Sneddon, Brian Godman","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2368816","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14787210.2024.2368816","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we evaluated the short-term impact of COVID-19 on antibiotic use in primary care in England, focusing on both antibiotic quantity (overuse) and quality (misuse) of use.</p><p><strong>Research design and methods: </strong>A population-based segmented interrupted analysis was applied on monthly dispensed antibiotics prescriptions using the Prescription Cost Analysis dataset (March/2019-March/2023). The quantity was assessed using number of items dispensed per 1000 inhabitants (NTI) and defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID), while quality was evaluated using WHO's Access Watch Reserve (AWaRe) classification, the proportion of '4C' antibiotics and the percentage of broad- to narrow-spectrum antibiotics.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Findings indicate 8.6 (17.2%) and 0.4 (2.6%) increase in the NTI and DID, respectively, with a statistically significant uptick in trend noted after the second lockdown (β<sub>5</sub>) for 'total antibiotics' for NTI only (β<sub>5</sub> = 1.6; 95% CI:0.17, 3.1). Quality assessment showed an increase in 'Access' antibiotics from 77% in March/2019 to 86% in March/2023; however, COVID-19 had no significant impact on WHO AWaRe classes.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>COVID-19's impact on antibiotic use quality and quantity appeared to be minimal, though an increase in utilization post-second lockdown coincided with healthcare system recovery. This suggests a nuanced impact of the pandemic, highlighting the importance of continued antimicrobial stewardship.</p>","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141467288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comparing prolonged infusion to intermittent infusion strategies for beta-lactam antibiotics in patients with gram-negative bacterial infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Chih-Chung Lin, Jheng-Yen Wu, Po-Yu Huang, Hui-Lin Sung, Yu-Chun Tung, Chih-Cheng Lai, Yu-Feng Wei, Pin-Kuei Fu","doi":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2324940","DOIUrl":"10.1080/14787210.2024.2324940","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Our objective is to determine whether prolonged infusion (PI) of beta-lactam antibiotics yields superior outcomes compared to intermittent infusion (II) in patients with Gram-Negative Bacterial (GNB) infections.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We systematically searched papers from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and Clinicaltrials.gov, targeting mortality as the primary outcome and looking at the clinical cure rate, hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stay lengths, antibiotic treatment duration, and mechanical ventilation (MV) duration as secondary outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our meta-analysis of 18 studies, including 5 randomized control trials and 13 observational studies, with a total of 3,035 patients-1,510 in the PI group and 1,525 in the II group, revealed significant findings. PI was associated with reduced mortality (RR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.55-0.81; <i>p</i> = 0.001; I<sup>2</sup> = 4.52%) and a shorter MV duration (SMD, -0.76; 95% CI, -1.37 to -0.16; <i>p</i> = 0.01; I<sup>2</sup> = 87.81%) compared to II. However, no differences were found in clinical cure rates, antibiotic treatment duration, length of hospital stay, or length of ICU stay.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The PI approach for administering beta-lactam antibiotics in patients with suspected or confirmed GNB infections may be advantageous in reducing mortality rates and the duration of MV when compared to the II strategy.</p>","PeriodicalId":12213,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140027789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}