Background Lymphocyte count ( LYM) of peripheral blood and some indices of general biochemical analysis had diagnostic and prognostic value for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), and the value of other remaining indices is rare. Methods A total of 94 patients with COVID‐19 were enrolled at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University. According to the severity of COVID‐19, the patients were divided into three groups (moderate 49, severe 35, and critical 10), and 40 healthy cases were enrolled in the same period as healthy controls. The diagnostic and prognostic value of indices in peripheral blood cell count and general biochemical analysis was analyzed. Results Compared with healthy cases, the value differences in peripheral blood analysis in patients with COVID‐19 were statistically significant ( p < 0.01), the differences in LYM, neutrophil count (Neu), platelet count (PLT), and white blood cell count (WBC) were statistically significant among different severity of COVID‐19 ( p < 0.05). Compared with healthy cases, the differences in general biochemical results in patients with COVID‐19 were statistically significant ( p < 0.01), the value differences in direct bilirubin (DBIL), low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐Ch), and nitrogen (urea) were statistically significant among different severity of COVID‐19 ( p < 0.05). Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) had higher sensitivity and specificity for COVID‐19 diagnosis. Conclusions Some indices of peripheral blood cell count and general biochemical analysis were valuable in discriminating COVID‐19 and predicting severity and adverse outcome of patients with COVID‐19. For clinician, it is better to use more economical and easy‐to‐get indices to diagnose and predict the prognosis of COVID‐19.

In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the phenomenon that the elderly have higher morbidity and mortality is of great concern. Existing evidence suggests that senescence and viral infection interact with each other. Viral infection can lead to the aggravation of senescence through multiple pathways, while virus-induced senescence combined with existing senescence in the elderly aggravates the severity of viral infections and promotes excessive age-related inflammation and multiple organ damage or dysfunction, ultimately resulting in higher mortality. The underlying mechanisms may involve mitochondrial dysfunction, abnormal activation of the cGAS-STING pathway and NLRP3 inflammasome, the role of pre-activated macrophages and over-recruited immune cells, and accumulation of immune cells with trained immunity. Thus, senescence-targeted drugs were shown to have positive effects on the treatment of viral infectious diseases in the elderly, which has received great attention and extensive research. Therefore, this review focused on the relationship between senescence and viral infection, as well as the significance of senotherapeutics for the treatment of viral infectious diseases.

A new threat to global health re-emerged with monkeypox’s advent in early 2022. As of November 10, 2022, nearly 80,000 confirmed cases had been reported worldwide, with most of them coming from places where the disease is not common. There were 53 fatalities, with 40 occurring in areas that had never before recorded monkeypox and the remaining 13 appearing in the regions that had previously reported the disease. Preliminary genetic data suggest that the 2022 monkeypox virus is part of the West African clade; the virus can be transmitted from person to person through direct interaction with lesions during sexual activity. It is still unknown if monkeypox can be transmitted via sexual contact or, more particularly, through infected body fluids. This most recent epidemic’s reservoir host, or principal carrier, is still a mystery. Rodents found in Africa can be the possible intermediate host. Instead, the CDC has confirmed that there are currently no particular treatments for monkeypox virus infection in 2022; however, antivirals already in the market that are successful against smallpox may mitigate the spread of monkeypox. To protect against the disease, the JYNNEOS (Imvamune or Imvanex) smallpox vaccine can be given. The spread of monkeypox can be slowed through measures such as post-exposure immunization, contact tracing, and improved case diagnosis and isolation. Final Thoughts: The latest monkeypox epidemic is a new hazard during the COVID-19 epidemic. The prevailing condition of the monkeypox epidemic along with coinfection with COVID-19 could pose a serious condition for clinicians that could lead to the global epidemic community in the form of coinfection.

Objective To investigate the epidemiological features in children after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods This study collected throat swabs and serum samples from hospitalized pediatric patients of Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei province, China before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Respiratory infected pathogens [adenovirus (ADV), influenza virus A/B (Flu A/B), parainfluenza virus 1/2/3 (PIV1/2/3), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), and Chlamydia pneumoniae (CP)] were detected. The pathogens, age, and gender were used to analyze the epidemiological features in children after the COVID-19 pandemic. Results The pathogen detection rate was significantly higher in females than in males ( P <0.05), and the infection of PIV1 and MP was mainly manifested. After the COVID-19 pandemic, PIV1, PIV3, RSV, and MP had statistically different detection rates among the age groups ( P <0.05), and was mainly detected in patients aged 0–6 years, 0–3 years, 0–3 years, and 1–6 years, respectively. When comparing before the COVID-19 pandemic, the total detection rate of common respiratory pathogens was lower ( P <0.05). Except for the increase in the detection rate of PIV1 and CP, the infection rate of other pathogens had almost decreased. Conclusion The prevention and control measures for the COVID-19 pandemic effectively changed the epidemiological features of common respiratory tract infectious diseases in pediatric children.

Objectives: The longitudinal characterization and risk of poor outcomes related to cytokine overproduction in critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with hyperinflammation in bronchoalveolar lavage requires further investigation.Methods: We enrolled two critically ill patients with comorbidities diagnosed with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detected by RT-PCR during hospitalization. Clinical characteristics, longitudinal immunological, and biochemical parameters of each critical COVID-19 case were collected.Main Results: The clinical characteristics and laboratory results of each case demonstrated critical symptoms of COVID-19 with poor outcomes. Both nasopharyngeal swabs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Two patients received targeted treatments against pathogen infection and inflammation in addition to interventional therapies, except for Patient 2, who received an additional artificial liver system treatment. Hyperinflammation with a dominantly high level of IL-6 was observed in BALF samples from both critical cases with decreased T cell populations. High levels of cytokines and pathological parameters were successively maintained in Patient 1, but rapidly reduced at the late treatment stage in Patient 2. The outcome of Patient 1 is death, whereas the outcome of Patient 2 is recovery.Conclusions: This case report suggests that a high risk of poor outcomes was related to a heavily hyperinflammatory milieu in both the blood and lungs of critical COVID-19 patients. The artificial liver intervention on cytokines overproduction might be beneficial for the recovery of critical COVID-19 patients as a reliable therapy that can be coordinated with targeted treatments, which ought to be further tested in adequately designed and powered clinical trials.