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Helicobacter pylori remains a major health problem worldwide, causing considerable morbidity and mortality due to peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer. These guidelines constitute an update of the previous "Recommendations on the diagnosis and management of Helicobacter pylori infection" issued in 2014. They have been developed by a Task Force organized by the Governing Board of the Polish Society of Gastroenterology. They discuss, with particular emphasis on new scientific data covering papers published since 2014: the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic principles and criteria for the diagnosis, and recommendations for the treatment of H. pylori infection. The guidelines in particular determine which patients need to be tested and treated for infection. The Task Force also discussed recommended treatment algorithms. Accordingly, a combination of available evidence and consensus-based expert opinion were used to develop these best practice advice statements. It is worth noting that guidelines are not mandatory to implement but they offer advice for pragmatic, relevant and achievable diagnostic and treatment pathways based on established key treatment principles and using local knowledge and available resources to guide regional practice.
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Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) one year after contracting COVID-19. Material and methods: The study included 38 patients - 34 men and 4 women - suffering from COVID-19 between March 15 and May 26, 2020. The median age in the group was 31 years, ranging from 22 to 67 years. The levels of neutralizing antibodies were measured at three time-points - baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. The primary endpoint was a post-infection positive result for NAbs (> 15 AU/ml; Liaison SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG quantitative test) 12 months after infection. Results: The median level of NAbs after 12 months was 26.5 AU/ml. At the end of observation (12 months), 21 of the 38 patients had a NAb level of >15 AU/ml (positive). The median antibody half-life was 5.8 months. Conclusions: A high percentage of the patients maintained positive levels of antibodies 6 and 12 months after COVID-19 infection. The dynamics of the antibody level decline suggests the need for booster vaccination at least once a year.
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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma (CP) transfusion in a group of high-risk COVID-19 patients. METHODS: This prospective study included 204 patients from a single tertiary-care hospital, hospitalized with COVID-19, of whom 102 were treated with CP administration and standard care (PG) and 102 others who received standard care only (CG). The CG was selected from 336 hospitalized patients using the propensity-score matching (PSM) technique using age, MEWS score, and comorbidities. The primary outcome was mortality rate; secondary outcomes were the requirement of a ventilator, length of ventilator need, length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, and length of overall hospital confinement. Additionally, parameters predicting death in COVID-19 patients were identified. RESULTS: Findings confirmed a significantly lower mortality rate in the PG versus the CG (13.7% vs. 34.3 %, p = 0.001) and a significant difference in the cumulative incidence of death between the two groups (p < 0.001). CP treatment was associated with lower risk of death (OR = 0.25 CI95 [0.06; 0.91], p = 0.041). There were no significant differences in ICU stay, ventilator time, and hospitalization time between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: A significantly lower mortality rate was observed in the group of patients treated with CP. Age, presence of cardiac insufficiency, active cancer, a ventilator requirement, and length of hospitalization significantly increased the risk of death in both groups. Our study shows that CP affords better outcomes when administrated in the earlier stage of high-risk COVID-19 disease.