Pneumonia Characteristics in an Intensive Care Unit Setting during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic-A Single-Center Prospective Study.

Background: During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a suspicion of varying rates of respiratory tract infections (RTIs), particularly pneumonia (PN). Methods: This research evaluated epidemiological indicators of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) in the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic period, including pathogens, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), selected risk factors, and PN mortality. Results: At 1740 patients, throughout the 22,774 patient-days (Pt-D) and 18,039 ventilation days (Vt-D), there were 681 PN cases (39.14%): CAP 336 (19.31%) and HAP 345 (19.83%). CAP caused by SARS-CoV-2 was diagnosed in 257/336 (76.49%) patients. The clinical manifestations of PNs were CAP with 336/681 (49.34%), VAP with 232/681 (34.07%), and non-ventilator HAP (NV-HAP) with 113/681 cases (16.59%). The incidence rate of CAP/1000 Pt-D has been over 3 times higher in the pandemic period of 2020-2021 (20.25) than in the post-pandemic period of 2022 (5.86), p = 0.000. Similarly, higher incidence rates of VAP/1000 Pt-D were found in the pandemic period (p = 0.050). For NV-HAP, this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.585). VAP occurred more frequently in the group of patients with PN in the course of COVID-19 compared to patients without COVID-19 (52/234 [22.2%] vs. 180/1506 [11.95%]); (p = 0.000). The most common CAP pathogen (during the pandemic) was SARS CoV-2 234/291 (80.4%), followed by MSSA/MRSA 8/291 (2.75%), whereas the most common VAP/NV-HAP pathogen was Acinetobacter baumannii XDR/MDR. The highest PN mortality was found in the patients with CAP caused by SARS-CoV-2 159/257 (61.87%). Conclusions: Pneumonias were diagnosed in nearly 40% of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients. Surveillance of pneumonias during the specific observation period was beneficial in the epidemiological and microbiological analysis of the ICU patients.

Sexual satisfaction and self-esteem in women with acne.

BACKGROUND: A significant number of problems related to mental and social functioning is a common occurrence in patients with acne. AIMS: The aim of our study was to determine how acne affects self-esteem and sexual satisfaction in the affected women. PATIENTS/METHODS: The study was conducted among 90 women, aged 18-51 years (mean 30.29 ± 7.10), diagnosed with acne. Demographic data, medical history and information concerning their sexual life were obtained from all study participants. After dermatological assessment of lesion location and severity, all subjects completed the following questionnaires: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Sexual Self-Esteem Inventory, Body Attitudes Questionnaire, and Whitley Sexual Satisfaction Inventory. RESULTS: Two factors-lesion severity and self-assessment of the body-proved to shape the sexual satisfaction of women, but the influence turned out to be mediated through self-esteem. CONCLUSION: Acne proves to play an important negative role in female sexuality and satisfaction.