Background: The trans-membrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) is essential for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cell entry and infection. Efficacy and safety of TMPRSS2 inhibitors in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have not been evaluated in randomized trials. Methods: We conducted an investigator-initiated, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter trial in patients hospitalized with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from April 4, to December 31, 2020. Within 48 h of admission, participants were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive the TMPRSS2 inhibitor camostat mesilate 200 mg three times daily for 5 days or placebo. The primary outcome was time to discharge or clinical improvement measured as 2 points improvement on a 7-point ordinal scale. Other outcomes included 30-day mortality, safety and change in oropharyngeal viral load.

BJ-tuberculosis was rare and seen mainly in younger immigrants in Denmark. More than half of cases were spinal tuberculosis, presenting with more severe symptoms and worse outcome, compared with other forms of BJ-tuberculosis.

The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in a cohort of HIV-seropositive males. Blood samples were collected in November and December 2004 and analyzed in the hospital laboratory. The concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was defined as excellent when >75 nmol/l, normal when >50 nmol/l, insufficient when <50 nmol/l, deficient when <25 nmol/l and severely deficient when <12.5 nmol/l. Patient information was extracted from the medical records. A total of 115 males, median age 44 y (range 19-63 y), were included in the study. The median 25(OH)D concentration was 43.0 nmol/l (range 8-163 nmol/l) and the 25(OH)D level was excellent in 13%, normal in 27%, insufficient in 36%, deficient in 20%, and severely deficient in 4% of the cases. Vitamin D level was not associated with age, y with HIV infection, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) or CD4 count. Compared to patients not in treatment, patients on HAART (n = 71) had higher levels of total alkaline phosphatase (median 83.0 vs 75.5 U/l; p = 0.031) and lower, though not significantly, total body mineral density (1.055 vs 1.107 g/cm(2); p = 0.077). This study confirms that the prevalence of hypovitaminosis is high among HIV-infected patients.

To examine the positive predictive value (PPV) of International Classification version 10 (ICD-10) diagnosis codes for long coronavirus disease 2019 (long-COVID) in a Danish Health registry. Patients and Methods: This was a medical record review of all patients with a diagnosis code of long-COVID (DB948A) at all hospitals in the North Denmark Region from February 27, 2020 through June 30, 2021. Confirmed long-COVID was categorized as fulfillment of all three criteria: (1) a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for SARS-CoV-2 on a respiratory sample or a positive serum antibody test, (2) symptoms suggestive of long-COVID with no other diagnosis considered more likely, and (3) symptom duration >6 weeks.Results: A total of 306 patients were assigned a hospital diagnosis code for long-COVID corresponding to 1.4% of all SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals during the study period (n=21,727). Next, 40 patients were excluded due to incomplete diagnostic evaluation at time of record review leaving 266 patients for analysis. The patients had a median age of 51 years (interquartile range 43-60) and 175/ 266 (66%) were females. Long-COVID was confirmed in 249/266 yielding an overall PPV of 94% (95%CI: 90-96) and did not differ substantially according to most age groups, sex, previous hospitalization for COVID-19, or by using 12 weeks of symptom duration as cut-off. The PPV was low for children and adolescents (n=5), the very elderly (n=9), and those included by secondary long-COVID diagnoses (n=10). Conclusion:The overall PPV of diagnosis codes for long-COVID in the North Denmark Region was high and was likely suitable for future registry-based studies of long-COVID. Caution is advised at the extremes of age and secondary diagnosis codes.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a global pandemic since its outbreak in Wuhan, 2019. Virus transmission primarily occurs through close contact, respiratory droplets, and aerosol particles. However, since SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in fecal and rectal samples from infected individuals, the fecal-oral route has been suggested as another potential route of transmission. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and clinical implications of rectal SARS-CoV-2 shedding in Danish COVID-19 patients.Methods: Hospitalized and non-hospitalized adults and children who were recently tested with a pharyngeal COVID-19 test, were included in the study. A rectal swab was collected from all participants. Hospitalized adults and COVID-19 positive children were followed with both pharyngeal and rectal swabs until two consecutive negative results were obtained. RT-qPCR targeting the envelope gene was used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in the samples. Demographic, medical, and biochemical information was obtained through questionnaires and medical records.Results: Twenty-eight of 52 (53.8%) COVID-19 positive adults and children were positive for SARS-CoV-2 in rectal swabs. Seven of the rectal positive participants were followed for more than 6 days. Two of these (28.6%) continued to test positive in their rectal swabs for up to 29 days after the pharyngeal swabs had turned negative. Hospitalized rectal positive and rectal negative adults were comparable regarding demographic, medical, and biochemical information. Furthermore, no difference was observed in the severity of the disease among the two groups.Conclusions: We provided evidence of rectal SARS-CoV-2 shedding in Danish COVID-19 patients. The clinical importance of rectal SARS-CoV-2 shedding appears to be minimal.