Visceral leishmaniasis complicated by hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis: A case report from a nonendemic area.

Key Clinical Message: Visceral leishmaniasis and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis share many features in common and may coincide in the same patient. Timely diagnosis and management of visceral leishmaniasis could save patients from unnecessary toxic treatment. Abstract: Visceral leishmaniasis and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis share many clinical features in common and may coexist in the same patient. Visceral leishmaniasis should be promptly ruled out in patients coming from endemic areas before starting immunosuppressive therapy for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. The mainstay treatment, in this case, is anti-leishmania medications preferably liposomal amphotericin-B.

Pulmonary actinomycosis as a cause of chronic productive cough in a heavy smoker male with poor dental hygiene: A case report.

Pulmonary actinomycosis is a rare chronic granulomatous bacterial disease caused by Actinomyces species. Given its nonspecific clinical and radiological manifestations, the diagnosis might be delayed or even missed. Pulmonary actinomycosis mimics tuberculosis, aspergillosis, or malignancy both clinically and radiographically, and it should be considered in patients with chronic lung diseases.

Favipiravir for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia; a propensity score-matched cohort study.

We retrospectively investigated the clinical outcomes of favipiravir in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Patients who between 23 May 2020 and 18 July 2020 received ≥ 24 h of favipiravir were assigned to the favipiravir group, while those who did not formed the non-favipiravir group. The primary outcome was 28-day clinical improvement, defined as two-category improvement from baseline on an 8-point ordinal scale. Propensity scores (PS) for favipiravir therapy were used for 1:1 matching. The unmatched cohort included 1493 patients, of which 51.7% were in the favipiravir group, and 48.3% were not receiving supplemental oxygen at baseline. Significant baseline differences between the two unmatched groups existed, but not between the PS-matched groups (N = 774). After PS-matching, there were no significant differences between the two groups in the proportion with 28-day clinical improvement (93.3% versus 92.8%, P 0.780), or 28-day all-cause mortality (2.1% versus 3.1%, P 0.360). Favipiravir was associated with more viral clearance by day 28 (79.8% versus 64.1%, P < 0.001). Adverse events were common in both groups, but the 93.9% were Grades 1-3. Favipiravir therapy for COVID-19 pneumonia is well tolerated but is not associated with an increased likelihood of clinical improvement or reduced all-cause mortality by 28 days.