InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-25DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02504-0
Franz Weber, Christina Scharf, Linda B S Aulin, Ferdinand Weinelt, Michael Paal, Gerd Mikus, Michael Vogeser, Katharina Habler, Wilhelm Huisinga, Michael Zoller, Robin Michelet, Charlotte Kloft, Uwe Liebchen
{"title":"Model-informed identification of optimised dosing strategies for meropenem in critically ill patients receiving SLEDD: an observational study.","authors":"Franz Weber, Christina Scharf, Linda B S Aulin, Ferdinand Weinelt, Michael Paal, Gerd Mikus, Michael Vogeser, Katharina Habler, Wilhelm Huisinga, Michael Zoller, Robin Michelet, Charlotte Kloft, Uwe Liebchen","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02504-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02504-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>An increasing number of critically ill patients receive slow extended daily dialysis (SLEDD) due to their pathophysiology while suffering from sepsis, necessitating effective and safe antibiotic therapy. Although SLEDD reduces meropenem exposure and increases treatment failure risk, effective and safe dosing regimens are unclear. We aimed to identify optimised meropenem dosing strategies for critically ill SLEDD patients through population pharmacokinetic (PK) modelling and PK/pharmacodynamic (PD)-based probability of target attainment (PTA) analysis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Clinical data from a prospective study involving critically ill SLEDD patients receiving meropenem were monitored through routine therapeutic drug monitoring. A total of 178 blood samples from 13 patients (median 14 samples per patient) were analysed. A PK model was developed and utilised to evaluate 24 clinically relevant dosing regimens during SLEDD therapy (7-h on-SLEDD periods q24h) in PTA analyses. The PK/PD target window of minimum meropenem concentration between 8 mg/L (P. aeruginosa; R-breakpoint) and 44.45 mg/L (toxicity threshold) was used.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A one-compartment PK model with linear elimination and total clearance (CL) split into renal (CL<sub>REN</sub>; 45%) and SLEDD-associated (55%) CL well characterised the SLEDD data. Creatinine clearance (urine-collected; CLCR<sub>urine</sub>) was identified as significant factor on CL<sub>REN</sub>. Continuous infusions, specifically 2 g q24h for CLCR<sub>urine</sub> 0-25 mL/min and 3 g q24h for CLCR<sub>urine</sub> 25-40 mL/min, showed the highest PTA being effective and safe during SLEDD therapy. A comprehensive dosing nomogram was developed.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our easy-to-use dosing nomogram presents a promising tool in optimising meropenem dosing regimens for critically ill SLEDD patients considering their kidney function in clinical practice.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03985605. Registered 14 June 2019. https://classic.</p><p><strong>Clinicaltrials: </strong>gov/ct2/show/study/NCT03985605.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143963483","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}
InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-24DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02523-x
Nienke L Plantinga, Suzanne A V van Asten, Maarten J Schijffelen, Ralph J de Wit, Sandra Witteveen, Angela de Haan, Fabian Landman, Nashwan Al Naiemi, Daan W Notermans, Antoni P A Hendrickx
{"title":"Healthcare professionals challenged by 14 distinct carbapenemase-producing micro-organisms in a war-injured Ukrainian patient.","authors":"Nienke L Plantinga, Suzanne A V van Asten, Maarten J Schijffelen, Ralph J de Wit, Sandra Witteveen, Angela de Haan, Fabian Landman, Nashwan Al Naiemi, Daan W Notermans, Antoni P A Hendrickx","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02523-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02523-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Russia-Ukraine war lead to evacuation of patients across Europe. We present an unprecedented case of a severely injured Ukrainian soldier carrying 11 carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales, two carbapenemase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa and one carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, together harboring six different carbapenemase genes and with evidence for in-patient transfer of resistance plasmids.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144010637","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}
InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-24DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02543-7
Aiman Gamal Abdelrahim, Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch, Michael Ramharter, Stefan Schmiedel
{"title":"Acral necrosis in a 62-year-old female after travelling to Equatorial Guinea.","authors":"Aiman Gamal Abdelrahim, Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch, Michael Ramharter, Stefan Schmiedel","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02543-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02543-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A previously healthy 62-year-old woman presented to our clinic after a two-day stay in Equatorial Guinea. Her symptoms included fevers, fatigue and headache. Diagnostics revealed a complicated falciparum malaria. During the course of her antimalaria treatment she developed acral necrosis on all of her extremities, likely because of impaired microcirculation. It is a rare complication of a severe malaria infection captured in these images.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144021567","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":"Clinical impact of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid metagenomic next-generation sequencing in immunocompromised patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia in ICU: a multicenter retrospective study.","authors":"Junjie Zhao, Runxi Zhuge, Bangchuan Hu, Yesong Wang, Xingxing Wang, Yi Zhang, Lingmin Yuan, Canhu Qiu, Youqin Yan, Xiaojing Zhang, Zhidan Hua, Jing Tang, Kai Guo, Yong Sun, Kaiyu Wang, Liyan Qiu, Jian Luo, Weiwen Zhang, Jiancheng Zhuge, Honglong Fang","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02520-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02520-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>An increasing number of critically ill patients are immunocompromised. These patients are at high risk of intensive care unit (ICU) admission because of numerous complications. Acute respiratory failure due to severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) is one of the leading causes of admission. Early targeted antibiotic therapy is crucial for improving the prognosis of these patients. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) has shown significant value in pathogen detection in recent years. However, there are few studies on summarizing pathogen profiles of SCAP in immunocompromised patients.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed a multicenter retrospective analysis of patients with SCAP in the ICU diagnosed between May 2021 to October 2024. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), blood, and sputum samples were collected and subjected to mNGS and conventional microbiological tests (CMTs). The pathogen profiles detected by the two methods were compared.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In our study, compared to CMTs, mNGS increased the detection rates of mixed infections in the immunocompromised group (58.82% vs 17.96%, P < 0.05) and immunocompetent group (44.58% vs 18.72%, P < 0.05), while also reducing the rate of no pathogen detected (4.90% vs 38.73%, P < 0.05; 8.37% vs 32.76%, P < 0.05). In both groups, the proportion of positive clinical impacts (diagnosis) resulting from mNGS results exceeded 90% (96.57% vs 93.84%), and the treatment effectiveness rate in the immunocompromised group was higher than in the immunocompetent group (65.69% vs 56.40%, P < 0.05). Further analysis showed that when mNGS-guided treatment was effective, the 28-day mortality rate significantly improved in both the immunocompromised group (31.34% vs 74.29%, P < 0.05) and the immunocompetent group (42.36% vs 40.68%, P < 0.05) compared to when the treatment was ineffective.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study indicates that ICU patients with SCAP, particularly those who are immunocompromised, are more likely to have polymicrobial infections. mNGS in BALF provides rapid and comprehensive pathogen profiling of pulmonary infections, thereby having a positive impact on both the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of immunocompromised patients with SCAP.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144003188","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}
InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-22DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02540-w
Jacob Gerstenberg, Christoph Lübbert, Marek Widera, Benjamin T Schleenvoigt
{"title":"The need of preexposure prophylaxis against COVID-19 in immunocompromised patients- an assessment from Germany.","authors":"Jacob Gerstenberg, Christoph Lübbert, Marek Widera, Benjamin T Schleenvoigt","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02540-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02540-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143965307","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}
InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-22DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02533-9
Ahmed Adel Abdelaziz, Ahmed S Doghish, Akram N Salah, Reda M Mansour, Yasser M Moustafa, Sherif S Abdel Mageed, Hebatallah Ahmed Mohamed Moustafa, Walaa A El-Dakroury, Sama A Doghish, Osama A Mohammed, Mustafa Ahmed Abdel-Reheim, Shaimaa O Abbass, Sara O Abbass, Mariam O Abbass, Amira Mohamed Samy, Mahmoud A Elrebehy, Youssef A Doghish
{"title":"When oral health affects overall health: biofilms, dental infections, and emerging antimicrobial strategies.","authors":"Ahmed Adel Abdelaziz, Ahmed S Doghish, Akram N Salah, Reda M Mansour, Yasser M Moustafa, Sherif S Abdel Mageed, Hebatallah Ahmed Mohamed Moustafa, Walaa A El-Dakroury, Sama A Doghish, Osama A Mohammed, Mustafa Ahmed Abdel-Reheim, Shaimaa O Abbass, Sara O Abbass, Mariam O Abbass, Amira Mohamed Samy, Mahmoud A Elrebehy, Youssef A Doghish","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02533-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02533-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dental health is a crucial component of overall health, yet it is frequently overlooked in discussions about well-being. This article explores the multifaceted aspects of dental infections, primarily focusing on biofilms formed by pathogenic bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis. These biofilms contribute to dental caries and periodontal disease, conditions that affect oral health and have systemic consequences. Recent advancements in understanding biofilm formation and interactions have led to novel strategies for prevention and treatment, including using nanoparticles and smart hydrogels designed to disrupt biofilm integrity while promoting biocompatibility with human tissues. Furthermore, the article highlights the potential of natural remedies, including herbal extracts, as adjuncts in maintaining oral hygiene and combating microbial infections. A comprehensive overview of biofilm dynamics, including adhesion, maturation, and dispersion, is presented, alongside discussions on innovative therapeutic approaches addressing the limitations of conventional treatments. Ultimately, this article emphasizes the importance of maintaining dental health in preventing a wide spectrum of health issues, reinforcing that the mouth is a gateway to the body.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144021281","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":"A simple clinical tool for effective screening of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in dengue.","authors":"Jeco Jacob Kuttykandathil, Arfath Ahmed, Gauri Malavalli Girish, Chyavan Trisule Reddy Tummaluru, Vivek Kothandaraman Koushik, Tapendu Patoary, Chakrapani Mahabala","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02542-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02542-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare, life-threatening disorder. Dengue fever is a common trigger for HLH in the tropics. We aimed to develop a simplified clinical tool to detect HLH in dengue patients.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional observational study was carried out at Kasturba Medical College Mangalore. Patients between 18 and 60 years of age, with dengue fever for more than five days with suspected HLH symptoms were selected. Hepatosplenomegaly, temperature, haemoglobin levels, total leucocyte count, platelet count, ferritin, triglyceride, and liver function tests were assessed. HLH-2004 criteria were used to confirm the diagnosis. A simple clinical tool was developed via decision tree analysis using clinical and laboratory parameters.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Patients with HLH had marked leucopenia, thrombocytopenia, hyperferritinaemia and elevated aspartate aminotransferase levels, and a greater incidence of hepatosplenomegaly than those without HLH. Decision tree analysis was used to generate a clinical diagnostic tool, which demonstrated an accuracy of 94%, at a confidence interval of 95% (90-98%). The model's ability to predict HLH was 79%, while its specificity was 96%. It had a positive predictive value of 68% and a negative predictive value of 97%. The kappa value of the predicted model was 0.70, indicating an agreement with the diagnosis using HLH-2004 criteria, with a significant p-value (< 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Splenomegaly can be used as a screening method to diagnose HLH in patients with dengue. By using an algorithmic approach, combining splenomegaly with leucopenia and thrombocytopenia, this clinical tool accurately detects HLH in patients with dengue.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144010634","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}
InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-21DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02529-5
Muzamil Ahmad Rather, Amreena Hassan, Muttahir Aman, Irfan Gul, Ashaq Hussain Mir, Varsha Potdar, Parvaiz A Koul, Syed Mudasir Ahmad, Nazir Ahmad Ganai, Riaz Ahmad Shah, Naveed Anjum Chikan, Mohamed Faizal Abdul-Careem, Nadeem Shabir
{"title":"Molecular and ecological determinants of mammalian adaptability in avian influenza virus.","authors":"Muzamil Ahmad Rather, Amreena Hassan, Muttahir Aman, Irfan Gul, Ashaq Hussain Mir, Varsha Potdar, Parvaiz A Koul, Syed Mudasir Ahmad, Nazir Ahmad Ganai, Riaz Ahmad Shah, Naveed Anjum Chikan, Mohamed Faizal Abdul-Careem, Nadeem Shabir","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02529-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02529-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The avian influenza virus (AIV) primarily affects birds and poses an increasing concern due to its growing adaptability to other hosts, heightening zoonotic risks. The adaptability is a key factor in AIV to infect multiple non-avian species, including humans, companion animals, aquatic mammals, carnivores, and other mammals. The virus is evolving through genetic mutations and reassortments, leading to the emergence of AIV strains with enhanced virulence and adaptability in mammals. This highlights the critical need to understand the genetic factors of AIV, including mutations in polymerase proteins, surface antigens, and other regulatory proteins, as well as the dynamics of AIV-host interactions and environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, water salinity, and pH that govern the cross-species adaptability of the virus. This review provides comprehensive insights into the molecular/genetic changes AIV undergoes to adapt in mammalian hosts including bovines, swine, equines, canines, and felines. The adaptive mutations in viral polymerase proteins, such as PB2-E627K, and receptor specificity shift facilitate the virus adaptability in mammals. Since AIVs interact with specific receptors on host cells, therefore the type and distribution of receptors are crucial in determining the host range of the virus and its adaptability by facilitating attachment and entry of the virus. This review examines sialic acid receptor distribution and binding patterns in various mammalian hosts, emphasizing how the presence and structure of specific receptors influence viral interaction, adaptation, and transmission. The review concludes that the differential distribution and expression of SA receptors are vital in the mammalian adaptability and tissue tropism of viral strains. Notably, during the adaptation to mammals, AIVs show a shift in preference from α-2,3 to α-2,6 receptors. This review further emphasizes the role of ecological determinants in the adaptation of viruses to mammalian hosts. Low temperatures, high humidity, and neutral to slightly acidic pH levels enhance virus stability, facilitating its persistence in the environment and spread among susceptible hosts. Overall, AIV remains a global health threat, necessitating coordinated efforts in research, surveillance, and public health strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143962687","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}
InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-16DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02496-x
Thomas Sahlström Månsson, Alice Askemyr, Torgny Sunnerhagen, Johan Tham, Kristian Riesbeck, Lisa Mellhammar
{"title":"Piperacillin/tazobactam versus carbapenems for 30-day mortality in patients with ESBL-producing Enterobacterales bloodstream infections: a retrospective, multicenter, non-inferiority, cohort study.","authors":"Thomas Sahlström Månsson, Alice Askemyr, Torgny Sunnerhagen, Johan Tham, Kristian Riesbeck, Lisa Mellhammar","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02496-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02496-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Antimicrobial resistance increases with the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Studies evaluating antibiotic stewardship are in high demand. Is piperacillin/tazobactam non-inferior to carbapenems regarding 30-day mortality among patients with bloodstream infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales?</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective, multicenter, non-inferiority, cohort study assessed adult patients with bloodstream infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales in southern Sweden from 2013 to 2022. Patients were categorized according to the first therapy they received two consecutive doses of (piperacillin/tazobactam or a carbapenem). The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality, measured from when the positive blood cultures were taken. The absolute risk difference for this outcome was calculated for all patients, and two propensity score matched cohorts (empirical and effective), with two different delta limits (5% and 2%). Secondary outcomes included intensive care unit admission, early clinical response, superinfections, relapsed infection and one-year mortality.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 644 patients were included. In the piperacillin/tazobactam group, 26/309 patients met the primary outcome, compared to 27/335 patients in the carbapenem group. The absolute risk difference (-0.4%) was statistically significant in the propensity score matched empirical cohort [1-sided 97.5% confidence interval]: -∞ to 4.0, p = 0.008). Piperacillin/tazobactam was non-inferior to carbapenems for all the secondary outcomes in the same cohort, except for the early clinical response.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our findings indicate that piperacillin/tazobactam is non-inferior to carbapenems for treating extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacterales bloodstream infections, with an acceptable 5% increase in 30-day mortality. We suggest that piperacillin/tazobactam should be used more frequently to decrease antimicrobial resistance.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144013464","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}
InfectionPub Date : 2025-04-15DOI: 10.1007/s15010-025-02506-y
Júlia Sellarès-Nadal, Juan Espinosa-Pereiro, Joaquín Burgos, Vicenç Falcó, Alfredo Guillén-Del-Castillo, Salvador Augustin, Juan Bañares-Sánchez, Alba Prio-Ruatg, Ferran Martínez-Valle, Cristina Kirkegaard-Biosca, Adrián Sánchez-Montalvá
{"title":"Efficacy of tocilizumab for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and high IL-6 levels: A randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Júlia Sellarès-Nadal, Juan Espinosa-Pereiro, Joaquín Burgos, Vicenç Falcó, Alfredo Guillén-Del-Castillo, Salvador Augustin, Juan Bañares-Sánchez, Alba Prio-Ruatg, Ferran Martínez-Valle, Cristina Kirkegaard-Biosca, Adrián Sánchez-Montalvá","doi":"10.1007/s15010-025-02506-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-025-02506-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The objective of this clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IL-6 driven personalized treatment strategy with tocilizumab in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia.</p><p><strong>Trial design: </strong>Randomized, controlled, open-label, single-center trial of a tocilizumab treatment strategy in adult patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and IL-6 serum levels > 40 pg/mL.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive standard of care (SOC) or SOC plus one dose of tocilizumab. The primary outcome was death or need for invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) within 28 days after randomization. Secondary outcomes included ICU admission, days on IMV and hospital stay. A meta-analysis of clinical trials to evaluate the effect of tocilizumab on mortality and need of IMV in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia was performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Sixty-two patients were included: 30 in the SOC arm and 32 in the standard-treatment plus tocilizumab arm. The primary outcome occurred in 12.9% in the tocilizumab arm and 32.3% in the SOC arm(p = 0.068). There was a trend towards fewer days on IMV (7.5 vs 19.5 days, p = 0.073) and a shorter hospital stay (4 vs 8 days, p = 0.134) in the tocilizumab group. No serious adverse events were reported. The meta-analysis revealed a RR for death or IMV of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.77-0.89) in patients receiving tocilizumab, compared to patients receiving SOC.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Tocilizumab could be effective to prevent death or IMV in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia and high IL-6 serum levels. Safety profile of tocilizumab does not arise major concern in patients with severe COVID19.</p>","PeriodicalId":13600,"journal":{"name":"Infection","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143984883","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}