[Real-world evidence on pharmacological appropriateness in type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease]. / Evidencia de mundo real sobre adecuación farmacológica en diabetes tipo 2 y enfermedad cardiovascular.

Objective: To estimate the proportion of individuals with established Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) who are receiving pharmacological anti-diabetic treatment with evidence of cardiovascular benefit at a hospital in Argentina. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted at the Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires. A consecutive sample of adult patients affiliated with the institutional prepaid health plan active in March 2020, diagnosed with T2DM and established CVD, was included. Data were collected from the Electronic Health Record. The proportion of pharmacological adequacy (combined use of metformin plus sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors and/or glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists) was reported along with its respective 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: A total of 1539 patients were included, with a mean age of 76.2 years; 65.3% were male, and 81.6% were overweight or obese. Hemoglobin A1c levels were recorded in the past year for 74.9% of patients, with an average value of 6.9% (SD 1.2). The most prescribed drugs were metformin (61.3%), insulin (26.7%), and gliptins (11%). Out of the total included patients, 82 exhibited pharmacotherapeutic adequacy for diabetes treatment, with a prevalence of 5.3% (95% CI 4.2-6.5). Conclusions: The prevalence of prescribing anti-diabetic drugs with evidence of cardiovascular benefit was 5.3% (95% CI 4.2-6.5). This real-world evidence highlights the low frequency of prescribing this type of medication at the time of the study in a high cardiovascular risk population.

Objetivo: Estimar la proporción de personas con Diabetes Mellitus tipo 2 (DM2) y Enfermedad Cardiovascular (ECV) establecida que reciben tratamiento farmacológico anti-diabético con evidencia de beneficio cardiovascular en un hospital en Argentina. Materiales y Métodos: Estudio de corte transversal realizado en el Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires. Se incluyó una muestra consecutiva de pacientes adultos afiliados a prepaga institucional activos a Marzo 2020, con diagnóstico de DM2 y ECV establecida. Los datos se tomaron de la Historia Clínica Electrónica. Se informó la proporción de adecuación farmacológica (uso combinado de metformina más inhibidores del cotransportador de sodio glucosa tipo 2 y/o agonistas del Péptido Similar al Glucagón tipo 1) con su respectivo IC95%. Resultados: Se incluyeron 1539 pacientes, con una media de edad 76,2 años, 65,3% eran de sexo masculino, 81,6% con sobrepeso u obesidad. Un 74,9% de los pacientes tenían registro de hemoglobina glicosilada en el último año, con un valor promedio de 6,9% (DE 1,2). Las drogas más prescritas fueron: metformina (61,3%), insulina (26,7%), y gliptinas (11%). Del total de pacientes incluidos, 82 presentaron adecuación fármaco-terapéutica antidiabética, con una prevalencia de 5,3% (IC95% 4,2-6,5). Conclusiones: La prevalencia de prescripción de drogas antidiabéticas con evidencia de beneficio cardiovascular fue de 5,3% (IC95% 4,2-6,5). Esta información extraída de evidencia del mundo real identifica la baja frecuencia de prescripción de este tipo de fármacos al momento del estudio en una población de alto riesgo cardiovascular.

Omicron Waves in Argentina: Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Lineages BA.1, BA.2 and the Emerging BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5.

The COVID-19 pandemic has lately been driven by Omicron. This work aimed to study the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages during the third and fourth waves of COVID-19 in Argentina. Molecular surveillance was performed on 3431 samples from Argentina, between EW44/2021 and EW31/2022. Sequencing, phylogenetic and phylodynamic analyses were performed. A differential dynamic between the Omicron waves was found. The third wave was associated with lineage BA.1, characterized by a high number of cases, very fast displacement of Delta, doubling times of 3.3 days and a low level of lineage diversity and clustering. In contrast, the fourth wave was longer but associated with a lower number of cases, initially caused by BA.2, and later by BA.4/BA.5, with doubling times of about 10 days. Several BA.2 and BA.4/BA.5 sublineages and introductions were detected, although very few clusters with a constrained geographical distribution were observed, suggesting limited transmission chains. The differential dynamic could be due to waning immunity and an increase in population gatherings in the BA.1 wave, and a boosted population (for vaccination or recent prior immunity for BA.1 infection) in the wave caused by BA2/BA.4/BA.5, which may have limited the establishment of the new lineages.

Assessing the hidden diversity underlying consensus sequences of SARS-CoV-2 using VICOS, a novel bioinformatic pipeline for identification of mixed viral populations.

INTRODUCTION: Coinfection with two SARS-CoV-2 viruses is still a very understudied phenomenon. Although next generation sequencing methods are very sensitive to detect heterogeneous viral populations in a sample, there is no standardized method for their characterization, so their clinical and epidemiological importance is unknown. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We developed VICOS (Viral COinfection Surveillance), a new bioinformatic algorithm for variant calling, filtering and statistical analysis to identify samples suspected of being mixed SARS-CoV-2 populations from a large dataset in the framework of a community genomic surveillance. VICOS was used to detect SARS-CoV-2 coinfections in a dataset of 1,097 complete genomes collected between March 2020 and August 2021 in Argentina. RESULTS: We detected 23 cases (2%) of SARS-CoV-2 coinfections. Detailed study of VICOS's results together with additional phylogenetic analysis revealed 3 cases of coinfections by two viruses of the same lineage, 2 cases by viruses of different genetic lineages, 13 were compatible with both coinfection and intra-host evolution, and 5 cases were likely a product of laboratory contamination. DISCUSSION: Intra-sample viral diversity provides important information to understand the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2. Advanced bioinformatics tools, such as VICOS, are a necessary resource to help unveil the hidden diversity of SARS-CoV-2.