Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic was noted for the high degree of contagion and the large number of cases, as well as for the various clinical forms, from asymptomatic towards rapid evolution to death. The hospitals limited care capacity imposed the need to identify some markers of unfavorable evolution. The purpose of our study is to identify the parameters correlated with COVID-19 unfavorable evolution and to draw the profile of the patient at risk of unfavorable evolution. This set of parameters will help the doctor in deciding whether to hospitalize a patient and in choosing the treatment. Patients and Methods We performed a prospective, observational, actively controlled study on 849 patients with COVID-19, hospitalized in the Second Clinic of “Sf. Cuv. Parascheva” Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital Galati, Romania, between 1.03.2020–30.11.2020. Results The parameters statistically significant modified at the admission of the patients with COVID-19 unfavorable evolution were age, oxygen saturation, D-dimers, creatine kinase (CK), troponin, erythrocytes sedimentation rate (ESR), leukocytes, lymphocytes, neutrophils, platelets, hemoglobin (Hb), aspartate transaminase (AST), total and direct bilirubin (TBIL, DBIL), urea, creatinine, serum glucose. Strong correlations were observed between the unfavorable evolution and the admission values of D-dimers, AST, TBIL and between D-dimers and AST, which suggests that D-dimers levels can be considered predictive for the alteration of liver function and for the negative prognosis of the patient. Conclusion Coagulation disorders and acute respiratory failure are the prevailing causes of death from COVID-19. Together with other parameters that constitute the risk profile for severe COVID-19 evolution, the D-dimers dosing at admission proved to be extremely useful in the management of COVID-19.
The article is an incursion in the history of the doctor – patient relationship, which experienced an interesting evolution from the moment when medicine has gained the status of science and most of all because of the technical progress from the last century. In this context, the technicization of medicine, the medicalization and over-medicalization of individual and social life, as well as the elusion of the basic principles of the doctor – patient relationship, have a negative impact on this relation. Is there any way, in the contemporary society, to regain what it was the nobleness of the profession and its divine and human devotion? A possible answer might be found reconsidering what over the years has given social value to the medical act. Because only here can be once more found the necessary binder for harmonizing human devotement and professional responsibility.
(1) Background: The pandemic wave produced by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron was characterized by milder clinical forms and high contagiousness. The vaccination rate against COVID-19 in Romania was approximately 42%. (2) Objectives: Comparison of the clinical severity in vaccinated patients compared to unvaccinated ones. (3) Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on a group of 699 adult patients confirmed with COVID-19 who presented in the “Sf. Cuvioasa Parascheva” Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital of Galati, Romania, between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2022. The study compared the need for hospitalization, reinfections, demographic and comorbidity data, clinical and paraclinical parameters from the initial evaluation, and the ratio of unfavorable developments on subgroups chosen according to the vaccination status. (4) Results and Conclusions: Our study reveals that unvaccinated patients required hospitalization in 54.68% of cases, while fully vaccinated patients had a hospitalization rate of 40.72%, which was significantly lower than that of the unvaccinated group (p = 0.01); patients who received a booster dose had a hospitalization rate of 27.84% (p < 0.01, significantly lower than unvaccinated individuals; p = 0.01, significantly lower than fully vaccinated individuals); and among the four patients who received four doses, none required hospitalization. From the analysis of the two subgroups of hospitalized patients, we observed a significantly higher prevalence of radiological lesions, such as pulmonary opacities in the group of unvaccinated patients and a higher average duration of hospitalization, and serum values of D-dimers and blood-sugar at admission were significantly higher in unvaccinated patients. The higher presence of these parameters, which are indicators of severe progression in clinical studies, in the group of unvaccinated patients suggests the need to include them in the initial evaluation of the unvaccinated patients with COVID-19.The cumulative share of deaths and transfers in the ICU was higher in the group of unvaccinated patients, but the difference between the groups had no statistical significance. This study draws attention to the possibility of severe clinical forms among both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, especially in the elderly and in patients with multiple comorbidities.
During the coronavirus pandemic, it was clearly seen how vulnerable society is with its entire health and sanitary security system, how vulnerable medicine is to a biological attack (whether it was natural or manufactured in a laboratory) and how chaotically society reacts as a whole, when faced with an unknown danger. It was quickly seen that medical science and technology have its limits and risks, that they do not always serve the cause of the suffering man, that biotechnology and genetic manipulation pose a major danger to humanity and that, for the simple reason that it is the product of human reason, always doubtful and hesitant. It has gone so far as to the principles of medical ethics were breached, whether we are talking about non-maleficence or beneficence, decision-making autonomy or nondiscriminatory attitude toward access to resources, with serious damage to the individual - medical system relationship.
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