Management of orofacial lesions with antimicrobial photodynamic therapy and photobiomodulation protocols in patients with COVID-19: A multicenter case series.

Several oral lesions related to COVID-19 have been described in the scientific literature. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighs importance of supportive protocols, which can reduce the inflammation and aid in tissue repair in severe cases. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) alone or in combination with antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) can be used to manage orofacial lesions in confirmed cases of COVID-19. Here, we sought to describe the clinical presentation and specificities of three cases in which aPDT and PBMT were used to manage orofacial lesions in patients with COVID-19. The laser protocols were effective with improvement of the orofacial lesions within a few days.

Emergence of Two Distinct SARS-CoV-2 Gamma Variants and the Rapid Spread of P.1-like-II SARS-CoV-2 during the Second Wave of COVID-19 in Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil.

The western mesoregion of the state of Santa Catarina (SC), Southern Brazil, was heavily affected as a whole by the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2021. This study aimed to evaluate the dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spreading patterns in the SC state from March 2020 to April 2021 using genomic surveillance. During this period, there were 23 distinct variants, including Beta and Gamma, among which the Gamma and related lineages were predominant in the second pandemic wave within SC. A regionalization of P.1-like-II in the Western SC region was observed, concomitant to the increase in cases, mortality, and the case fatality rate (CFR) index. This is the first evidence of the regionalization of the SARS-CoV-2 transmission in SC and it highlights the importance of tracking the variants, dispersion, and impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the public health systems.