Comparing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic Waves in Hospitalized Patients: A Retrospective, Multicenter, Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 was first diagnosed in Israel at the end of February 2020. By the end of June 2021, there were 842 536 confirmed cases and 6428 deaths. Our aim in this multicenter, retrospective, cohort study is to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of hospitalized patients and compare the pandemic waves before immunization. METHODS: Of 22 302 patients hospitalized in general medical centers, we randomly selected 6329 for the study. Of these, 3582 and 1106 were eligible for the study in the first period (first and second waves) and in the second period (third wave), respectively. RESULTS: Thirty-day mortality was higher in the second period than in the first period, 25.20% vs 13.68% (P < .001). Invasive mechanical ventilation supported 9.19% and 14.21% of patients in the first period and second period, respectively. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was used more than twice as often in the second period. CONCLUSIONS: Invasive ventilation, use of ECMO, and mortality rate were 1.5 to 2 times higher in the second period than in the first period. In the second period, patients had a more severe presentation and higher mortality than those in the first period.

Efficacy of urine alkalinization by oral administration of sodium bicarbonate: a prospective open-label trial.

BACKGROUND: Urine alkalinization is indicated for various medical conditions. Alkalinization is usually achieved by intravenous administration of alkali substances titrated by repeated urinalyses. Some situations such as mass casualty events might require urine alkalinization by the oral route. We evaluated the efficacy of oral sodium bicarbonate administration for urine alkalinization. METHODS: In a prospective open-label trial, 4 g of sodium bicarbonate was administered orally 3 times daily to 9 healthy volunteers for 24 hours. Serial blood and urine samples were collected, and urine pH was evaluated. Plasma electrolytes and pH were also measured for safety purposes. RESULTS: All participants had a urine pH of at least 7 after 10 hours. At 20 hours, all participants had a urine pH of at least 8. No adverse effects or abnormal blood results were documented during the 24-hour follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Oral administration of a standard dose of sodium bicarbonate tablets resulted in effective urine alkalinization. Further research is needed to investigate the natural course of urine pH after cessation of our protocol and the efficacy of longer periods of treatment.

[Cholinesterase inhibitor poisoning: a complicated medical challenge].

Exposure to insecticides, mainly cholinesterase inhibitors, is a global problem with substantial morbidity and mortality. Risk of intoxication is increased in rural areas where there is high availability and proximity of insecticides to families and children. Neglected storage and inadequate practice lead to dangerous exposure. Strict regulations and appropriate safety measures are needed for the prevention of exposure to insecticides. Broad toxicological knowledge is necessary in order to treat organophosphate and carbamate poisoned patients. Diagnosis is not trivial, since the identity of the poison is not always apparent. Multiple exposures including organic solvents are possible. The clinical presenting can be confusing. Measurement of cholinesterase activity is mandatory in establishing the diagnosis. Prompt treatment with proper antidotes and respiratory support is indicated. Early administration of anticonvulsants may mitigate central neurologic complications. Monitoring neurologic and cardiac function is advised for rapid identification of complications and prognosis evaluation. Meticulous preparedness of health care providers for insecticide poisoning is needed from the pre-hospital phase to emergency departments and the different hospital wards.

Pediatric ventilation in a disaster: clinical and ethical decision making.

INTRODUCTION: Medical resources may be overwhelmed in a mass disaster situation. Intensive care resources may be limited even further. When the demand for a certain resource, like ventilators, exceeds its availability, caregivers are faced with the task of deciding how to distribute this resource.Ethical dilemmas arise when a practical decision necessitates ranking the importance of several ethical principles. In a disaster area, the greatest good for the greatest number principle and the goal of equal distribution of resources may take priority over the needs of the individual. Nonetheless, regardless of the interventions available, it is a prime goal to keep the patients' comfort and dignity as much as possible. BACKGROUND: In the mass disaster of the Haiti earthquake of January 2010, The Israeli Defense Forces Medical Corps field hospital was one of the first to respond to the call for help of the Haitian people with surgical and intensive care capabilities. It was the only facility able to ventilate children and neonates in the first week after the earthquake, although this ability was relatively limited. SPECIAL ARTICLE: Five case scenarios that we confronted at the pediatric ward of the field hospital are presented: two children with respiratory compromise due to pulmonary infection, one premature baby with respiratory distress syndrome, an asphyxiated neonate, and a baby with severe sepsis of a probable abdominal origin. In normal circumstances all of them would have been ventilated but with limited resources we raised in each case the question of ventilating or not.To help in the evaluation of each case we used a decision-support tool that was previously developed for ventilator allocation during an influenza pandemic. This tool takes into account several factors, including the illness severity, prognosis, and the expected duration of ventilation. CONCLUSIONS: Applying ethical priorities to analyze the decision-making problems leads to the understanding that an individualized approach with an ongoing assessment of the patient condition and the availability of resources, rather than a strict predefined decision rule, will give patients a better chance of survival, and will assist in allocating scarce resources.

Haiti earthquake 2010: a field hospital pediatric perspective.

On January 12 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. The region had suffered an estimated 316,000 fatalities with approximately 300,000 injured and more than 1 million people who lost their houses. Following the quake, the Israeli Defense Force Medical Corps dispatched a field hospital unit to the capital city, Port au Prince. The hospital had a pediatric division which included pediatric emergency department, pediatric ward and neonatal unit. We elaborate on the various aspects of pediatric treatment that was provided by our hospital. A total of 363 pediatric patients (younger than 18 years) were admitted to our facility during its 10 days of operation. Out of this total, 272 pediatric patients were treated by the pediatric division, 79 (29%) were hospitalized and 57 (21%) required surgery. The pediatric team included seven pediatricians, one pediatric surgeon and six registered nurses. An electronic record and a hard copy file were created for each patient. Fifty-seven percent of the children presented with direct earthquake related injuries. Twelve patients required resuscitation and stabilization and three patients had died. The majority of injuries were orthopedic while infectious diseases accounted for most of the general pediatric diagnoses. In conclusion, operating a field hospital for a population affected by natural disaster is a complex mission. However, pediatric care has its own unique, challenging characteristics.

Early disaster response in Haiti: the Israeli field hospital experience.

The earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 caused an estimated 230,000 deaths and injured approximately 250,000 people. The Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps Field Hospital was fully operational on site only 89 hours after the earthquake struck and was capable of providing sophisticated medical care. During the 10 days the hospital was operational, its staff treated 1111 patients, hospitalized 737 patients, and performed 244 operations on 203 patients. The field hospital also served as a referral center for medical teams from other countries that were deployed in the surrounding areas. The key factor that enabled rapid response during the early phase of the disaster from a distance of 6000 miles was a well-prepared and trained medical unit maintained on continuous alert. The prompt deployment of advanced-capability field hospitals is essential in disaster relief, especially in countries with minimal medical infrastructure. The changing medical requirements of people in an earthquake zone dictate that field hospitals be designed to operate with maximum flexibility and versatility regarding triage, staff positioning, treatment priorities, and hospitalization policies. Early coordination with local administrative bodies is indispensable.

Controlled Low-Pressure Blast-Wave Exposure Causes Distinct Behavioral and Morphological Responses Modelling Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Comorbid Mild Traumatic Brain Injury-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The intense focus in the clinical literature on the mental and neurocognitive sequelae of explosive blast-wave exposure, especially when comorbid with post-traumatic stress-related disorders (PTSD) is justified, and warrants the design of translationally valid animal studies to provide valid complementary basic data. We employed a controlled experimental blast-wave paradigm in which unanesthetized animals were exposed to visual, auditory, olfactory, and tactile effects of an explosive blast-wave produced by exploding a thin copper wire. By combining cognitive-behavioral paradigms and ex vivo brain MRI to assess mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) phenotype with a validated behavioral model for PTSD, complemented by morphological assessments, this study sought to examine our ability to evaluate the biobehavioral effects of low-intensity blast overpressure on rats, in a translationally valid manner. There were no significant differences between blast- and sham-exposed rats on motor coordination and strength, or sensory function. Whereas most male rats exposed to the blast-wave displayed normal behavioral and cognitive responses, 23.6% of the rats displayed a significant retardation of spatial learning acquisition, fulfilling criteria for mTBI-like responses. In addition, 5.4% of the blast-exposed animals displayed an extreme response in the behavioral tasks used to define PTSD-like criteria, whereas 10.9% of the rats developed both long-lasting and progressively worsening behavioral and cognitive "symptoms," suggesting comorbid PTSD-mTBI-like behavioral and cognitive response patterns. Neither group displayed changes on MRI. Exposure to experimental blast-wave elicited distinct behavioral and morphological responses modelling mTBI-like, PTSD-like, and comorbid mTBI-PTSD-like responses. This experimental animal model can be a useful tool for elucidating neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of blast-wave-induced mTBI and PTSD and comorbid mTBI-PTSD.

Role 1 Pediatric Trauma Care on the Israeli-Syrian Border-First Year of the Humanitarian Effort.

BACKGROUND: This article summarizes the experience with Role 1 care for 135 Syrian children who received medical care during the year 2013 as part of an ongoing humanitarian effort. METHODS: The database included demographic information, point-of-injury assessment and outcome, and was analyzed using SPSS. RESULTS: Trauma casualties were the majority of the group (84 cases), and mostly male. Almost one-third of casualties arrived more than 6 hours after injury, and time of injury was unknown in another third. The most common mechanism of injury was shrapnel (51.2%), followed by gunshot wounds (22.6%). Gunshot wound victims were significantly older than shrapnel and artillery victims (p < 0.01, < 0.05, respectively). Only 14 cases (14.28%) underwent previous interventions in Syria. Most of the casualties (44 cases, 52.4%) underwent at least one procedure during Role 1 treatment with a high overall success rate (93.18%) that was not correlated to Advanced Life Support provider type (physician [MD], emergency medical technician-paramedic, or both). Mortality was low (3 cases). CONCLUSION: The study cohort exhibits several unique features, including a delay in arrival to medical care, paucity of prior care and information, and the specific mechanisms of injury. Our study suggests that Advanced Life Support providers do not differ significantly in Role 1 treatment choices and procedure success.

[Smallpox--past, present and future].

Smallpox has played a notorious role in human history. It has been the cause of millions of deaths throughout the centuries, yet, it was the first infectious disease that was ever eradicated thanks to a worldwide program. Smallpox vaccine, manufactured from the vaccinia virus, was the first vaccine ever produced. Recent bioterrorism events in the USA have brought smallpox back into the limelight, both medically and politically, because of the fear of the return of this horrific disease through the unscrupulous actions of terrorists who might spread variola virus. This article presents the history of smallpox, emphasizing its clinical variants. We also review the treatment of the disease, especially the vaccine--its efficacy and its disadvantages, and the public health measures that must be taken in order to control the disease. In conclusion, we will discuss the possibility of the resurgence of smallpox and global preparedness for such an outbreak.