Background: Nosocomial infections (NIs) have increasingly resulted in death and patients have to bear high treatment costs. Healthcare personnel could play a prominent role in prevention and control of NIs. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate NIs in patients admitted to a teaching hospital in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran, during 2013. Patients and Methods:The present study was a cross-sectional study conducted in Razi Hospital, Ahvaz during 12 months from March 2013 to March 2014. All patients hospitalized with no signs and symptoms of infection within 48 hours of admission and presenting signs and symptoms of infection after 48 hours of hospitalization were included in the study. Data about patients' age, sex, site of infection, ward of hospitalization and type of NIs were collected. Bacterial strains were isolated from various clinical samples of patients and identified by conventional methods. Results: The incidence of NIs was low (i.e. < 2%). Among 16936 admitted patients in this hospital, 174 patients (79 males and 95 females) with a mean age of 51.7 ± 24.6 years (range, 5 to 90 years) were diagnosed with an NI. Incidence density of NIs were 3.18% in infectious diseases ward, 2.17% in intensive care unit (ICU), 2% in orthopedic ward, 0.68% in obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) ward and 0.278% in general surgery. Regarding the etiology of infection, coagulase-negative staphylococci in 23.69%, Bacillus in 21.05%, Escherichia coli was found in 18.42%, and coagulase-positive staphylococci in 13.16% of the cases. The results indicated that coagulase-negative staphylococci was the most frequent pathogen. Conclusions:The frequency of NIs in this hospital was lower in comparison with other worldwide studies. However, low incidence of health care-associated infections in our study may be due to under diagnosis and underreporting of such infections by health care staff.

This study shows that remdesivir and dexamethasone combination therapy can be considered as a suitable treatment choice for pregnant women infected with COVID‐19. It is worth mentioning that more studies are required to evaluate the efficacy and side effects of remdesivir monotherapy and its combination with dexamethasone during pregnancy.

Background: Nosocomial infections have increasingly resulted in death and the patients should bear high treatment costs. Members of the medical team could play an important role in prevention and control of nosocomial infections. Objectives: The purpose of this research was the evaluation of nosocomial infections in patients admitted to Naft grand hospital in Ahvaz, Iran, during 2013. Patients and Methods: This was a descriptive study, conducted prospectively during 12 months from March 2013 to March 2014 in Naft grand hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. All the patients who were hospitalized with no signs and symptoms of infection before the first 48 hours of hospitalization and presenting signs and symptoms of infection after 48 hours of hospitalization were included in this study. The patients' age, gender, site of infection, ward of hospitalization and type of nosocomial infection were collected. The results were analyzed by Excel and SPSS 16.0. Results:The results of the present study showed that the incidence of nosocomial infections was low (i.e., < 2%). The incidence rates of nosocomial infections were 36.78% in the intensive care unit (ICU), 46.55% in the internal medicine ward, 14.94% in the surgical medicine ward and 1.72% in the coronary care unit (CCU). Regarding the etiology of infection, Escherichia coli was found in 43.10%, coagulase-positive Staphylococci in 17.24%, coagulase-negative Staphylococci in 14.95% and Klebsiella in 10.34% of the cases. In our hospital, E. coli was the most frequent pathogen. Conclusions: In this study, nosocomial infections had a lower frequency in comparison with the national rates. According to researches, hospitals have been able to reduce nosocomial infections by establishing strategies and getting the risks under control.

This study shows that complicated appendicitis and acute pancreatitis could occur during a COVID-19 infection, since the same gastrointestinal manifestations are notable in all aforementioned diseases. Sinus bradycardia is a side effect of remdesivir. Both COVID-19 infection and remdesivir therapy can elevate liver transaminases.