Atherosclerosis

Care for Critically Ill Patients With COVID-19 Initial reports suggest that COVID-19 is associated with severe disease that requires intensive care in approximately 5% of proven infections. Given how common the disease is becoming, as in prior major severe acute respiratory infection outbreaks—SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), avian influenza A(H7N9), and influenza A(H1N1)pdm09—critical care will be an integral component of the global response to this emerging infection. Management of severe COVID-19 is not different from management of most viral pneumonia causing respiratory failure. The principal feature of patients with severe disease is the development of ARDS: a syndrome characterized by acute onset of hypoxemic respiratory failure with bilateral infiltrates. Evidence-based treatment guidelines for ARDS should be followed, including conservative fluid strategies for patients without shock following initial resuscitation, empirical early antibiotics for suspected bacterial co-infection until a specific diagnosis is made, lung-protective ventilation, prone positioning, and consideration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for refractory hypoxemia. To read complete article- https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2762996 Source- JAMA Authors- Srinivas Murthy, MD, CM, MHSc; Charles D. Gomersall, MBBS; Robert A. Fowler, MD, CM, MSc

Nothing to discuss...I have a few enemies in the circle of doctors...I also have a few friends...This is an original song written by me...Happy friendship day...

Dr Anuja Vasudev Surveillance Officer South District Delhi Mob 7827981376 Any Suspected Case - Refer to RML Hospital which is designated hospital for Screening and Blood Testing *Please share your areas helpline no*

Hi Curofians! I'm Dr. Nasir, a Family Medicine practitioner working in Singapore. This post is regarding the zone arrangements for the patients during and after the circuit breaker in running the OPD. In patient clinic, you should have 3 zones. 1. Red zone - For Suspected cases with travel or contact history with fever, should be straight asked to go to the hospital for a swab. 2. Orange zone - URTI symptoms without fever. 3. Green zone - No fever, no URTI symptoms. -In all these 3 zones patients shouldn't mix up with each other. - Full PPE in the orange and red zone is recommended. - Partial PPE in the green zone is recommended. - You should have additional staff in PPE to segregate patients in 3 zones, another staff to make sure these 3 zones patients should not mix up with different waiting areas. - The doctor going to see the patient will know in advance what type of patient he or she going to see. I hope it helps.

Hello everyone, Here are some important facts about COVID-19. From Clinical presentations to treatment. Please check it out and feel free to add more points. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: In a study describing 1099 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia in Wuhan, the most common clinical features at the onset of illness were: •Fever in 88% •Fatigue in 38% •Dry cough in 67% •Myalgias in 14.9% •Dyspnea in 18.7% Pneumonia appears to be the most common and severe manifestation of infection. In this group of patients breathing difficulty developed after a median of five days of illness. Acute respiratory distress syndrome developed in 3.4% of patients. Other symptoms •Headache •Sore throat •Rhinorrhea •Gastrointestinal symptoms About 80% of confirmed COVID-19 cases suffer from only mild to moderate disease and nearly 13% have the severe disease (dyspnea, respiratory frequency ≥30/minute, blood oxygen saturation≤93%, PaO2/FiO2 ratio <300, and/or lung infiltrates >50% of the lung field within 24-48 hours). Critical illness (respiratory failure septic shock, and/or multiple organ dysfunction/failure) is noted in only in less than 6% of cases. INCUBATION PERIOD: The exact incubation period is not known. It is presumed to be between 2 to 14 days after exposure, with most cases occurring within 5 days after exposure. THE SPECTRUM OF ILLNESS SEVERITY: Most infections are self-limiting. COVID-19 tends to cause more severe illness in the elderly population or in patients with underlying medical problems. As per the report from the Chinese center for disease control and prevention that included approximately 44,500 confirmed Infections with an estimation of disease severity. • Mild illness was reported in 81% of patients. • Severe illness (Hypoxemia, >50% lung involvement on imaging within 24 to 48 hours) in 14%. • Critical Disease (Respiratory failure, shock, multi-organ dysfunction syndrome) was reported in 5 percent. • Overall case fatality rate was between 2.3 to 5%. AGE AFFECTED: • Mostly middle-aged (>30 years) and elderly. • Symptomatic infection in children appears to be uncommon, and when it occurs, it is usually mild. **The 4th version of Belgian guidance for COVID 19 is published on19th March 2020. It is one of the most precise guidelines published yet. Some points from that: 1. Chloroquine is found to have good efficacy in vitro and it reduces the duration of viral shedding. But the drug has a narrow therapeutic window and cardiac toxicity is the most limiting side effect. 2. Hydroxychloroquine is more potent and is superior to chloroquine according to the very recent Gautret’ study. 3. Azithromycin may have a viral suppressive effect, but this needs to be proved as it was noticed accidentally in 6 patients of Gautret’ study. But I think it is a good choice for coverage of bacterial pneumonia. 4. Lopinavir/Ritonavir recently shown not to provide clinical benefit in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. It may reduce ICU stay if given within 10 days of infection but not beyond. 5. Remdesivir is promising but the studies are ongoing. Also, availability is a key issue. 6. Corticosteroids are not recommended as a systemic adjunctive treatment. 7. Paracetamol is the first-line analgesic and antipyretic over NSAIDs which are used with caution. 8. No need to stop ACEIs/ARBs in non-hospitalized patients. CONSIDER changing ACEIs/ARBs to another equivalent antihypertensive in hospitalized patients. 9. Antiviral therapy is not indicated in all patients with suspected/confirmed COVID19.