HIV patients need to know about HIV & COVID 19 on world's AIDS day.

UNCOMMON MANIFESTATIONS of COVID-19 Recent findings suggest that a significant number of people with COVID-19 may experience digestive symptoms. New research data says that out of all the patients who approached for medical care half of them have come up with the symptoms of the digestive system, such as loss of appetite and diarrhea. As the world races to find the best ways to cope with the new coronavirus, researchers continue to contribute to our understanding of COVID-19, the disease that the virus causes. The exact symptoms are the main point of interest. As with many other viral infections, SARS-CoV-2 infections cause different symptoms in different people. But WHICH SYMPTOMS ARE THE MOST COMMON? According to information from the World Health Organization (WHO), three of the most common symptoms are fever, coughing, and some difficulty breathing. However, people with COVID-19 have reported many other symptoms, including digestive ones. While the WHO still consider digestive symptoms to be uncommon, a new study from the Wuhan Medical Treatment Expert Group for COVID-19 suggests that such symptoms may be more widespread than specialists had thought. Digestive symptoms in 50.5% of patients were observed. The expert group behind this new study — the findings of which appear in The American Journal of Gastroenterology — analyzed data from 204 people who received medical care for COVID-19 between January 18 and February 28, 2020. The patients had an average age of 52.9 years, and of the total, 107 were male and 97 female. When they presented to a hospital, 103 of the 204 people — or 50.5% — were experiencing digestive symptoms. The main symptom reported was diarrhea, and other symptoms included vomiting, in four individuals, and abdominal pain, in two. Moreover, the digestive symptoms among the larger group grew more severe as the severity of COVID-19 increased the researchers' report.

Know a patient who is a COVID survivor. He was in the ICU for a month, requiring mechanical ventilation for almost four weeks. That’s much longer than a typical patient with bacterial pneumonia. This patient required a lengthy infusion of the neuromuscular blockade which, along with shock, contributed to the profound weakness. This complication is also called critical illness polyneuropathy. *What can we do during these 4 weeks when the patient is paralyzed to minimize the myopathy and neuropathy that may develop? *Are there treatments or therapies? *Are you familiar with the concept of Disease tolerance and Adaptogens? I’d love to hear others’ reflections on this and if you have any tips for preparation

A 60-year-old male presented with cough and dyspnea. He is a known Sarcoidosis patient. He is on cortisol treatment for 6 months. New Chest CT shows multiple mediastinal lymph nodes, interstitial sarcoidosis findings, and Pleural thickening. Newly presented Chest CT is almost same. Additionally bilateral ground-glass densities. The question: Is it alveolar Sarcoidosis or COVID 19?

A 75-year old man with a history of hypertension, hemorrhagic cerebral infarction one year before, right-sided hemiparesis, and atrial fibrillation was brought to my hospital because of suspicious COVID-19 infection. He was seen in the ER because of a few days of dyspnea which became progressed and bad clinical condition. 7 days before the current presentation patient fell from its bed, and after that, he started to feel pain in his right part of the chest. He also noticed purple discoloration of his feet and left hand, which was painful and progressed further during the next days. He started to have DYSPNOEA, which also progressed. CBC: showed leukocytosis (26,9) and chest X-ray was described as bilateral pneumonia. On exam, the patient was alert, disoriented in time, immobile on the bed, with an obvious right hemiparesis, afebrile, tachypneic (R: 24/min), and bradycardic (P: 55/min), hypoxic (SpO2: 80%), with normal blood pressure. PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: showed dusky purple discoloration of both feet and fingers of the left hand. The patient's right feet showed some darker areas, which could be hematomas. CHEST EXAMINATION: showed the painful right side & we spotted the fracture of the 7th rib. Auscultation of lungs revealed bilateral inspiratory crackles, predominantly on the right side. The heart rhythm was regularly-regular. The rest of the examination was unremarkable. LAB ANALYSIS: revealed elevated urea (11,1) and creatinine (371), hypoalbuminemia (22), elevated LDH (705), and slightly elevated CK (201). The CRP was elevated (272,5), and coagulation panel was highly abnormal - aPTT 85,1s, PT 15%, INR >6,0, fibrinogen 2,4, and D-dimer 162 (normal <0,5). My (differential) diagnosis list for this patient was: - Fat embolism - Warfarin overdose - Bilateral pneumonia - Sepsis He didn't have any criteria for COVID-19, and also, its clinical presentation and disease course was not consistent with COVID-19 infection. The patient was transferred to ICU for further treatment. What do you say on this? I am mostly inclined to fat embolism in the first place, which was complicated, but I do not have experience with this diagnosis. What is your opinion on this case, what would be your further diagnostics and treatment?

Post such a question from discussion posting page. Try now and let me know your feedback.