Paucity of cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 among inpatients at a referral hospital in India.

Background: Varied cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 have been described, but most studies are based on photographic or application-based observations, without a direct observed-based evaluation by dermatologists. Objective: To study the types of cutaneous manifestations of COVID-19 among confirmed inpatients admitted to COVID-19 wards and intensive care units (ICUs). Methods: This cross-sectional analysis was conducted at a referral hospital in Delhi, India. Four hundred forty consecutive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed cases diagnosed with moderate or severe COVID-19 and admitted to COVID-19 wards or ICUs, respectively, were included. A cutaneous finding was considered to be associated with COVID-19 if it had been described earlier as a consequence of COVID-19 and was observed at the time of or within the first 48 hours of admission (after excluding drugs and comorbidities as causes). Results: Two hundred seventy patients with moderate COVID-19 were admitted to COVID-19 wards, whereas 170 with severe disease were admitted to ICUs. Only 7 of the 270 ward patients (2.59%) and 3 of the 170 ICU patients (1.76%) had cutaneous findings associated with COVID-19. Conclusion: Cutaneous findings attributable to COVID-19 are infrequent, and we believe that these might have been overestimated or overemphasized in earlier studies. Although coagulopathic findings may be associated with severe COVID-19, causation cannot be established in this cross-sectional study.

Unilateral deep vein thrombosis with gangrene involving the ascending aorta with sepsis and pulmonary thromboembolism-a pertinent cutaneous marker of severity of COVID-19.

While myriad skin manifestations have been reported with COVID, they are insignificant as compared to the number of cases and do not indicate specificity as the studies that report them have either been based on telephonic consultation or have not been compared with case-control analysis from a normal skin OPD or IPD referral population. The most feared complication of COVID-19 is the combination of coagulopathy and thromboembolism, which is consequent to thrombo-inflammation and a heightened prothrombotic state. It is exaggerated in severe COVID associated with sepsis and skin manifestations that correlate with severity are more useful to clinicians. We had a case of COVID-positive 65-year-old man with features of thromboembolism followed by general symptoms of cough and fever. D-dimer test was positive, and the Ultrasound Doppler showed thrombosis in the right lower limb arteries and deep vein thrombosis in right lower limb veins.

Comparative evaluation of acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with and without H1N1 infection at a tertiary care referral center.

H1N1 subtype of influenza A virus has clinical presentation ranging from mild flu like illness to severe lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The aim of our study was to compare the demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, and mortality of critically ill patients with (H1N1+) and without H1N1 infection (H1N1-). We retrospectively analyzed medical charts of patients admitted in "Swine Flu ICU" with ARDS from August 2009 to May 2010. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was used for detection of H1N1 virus in the respiratory specimens. Clinical data from 106 (H1N1, 45; H1N1+, 61) patients was collected and compared. Mean delay in presentation to our hospital was 5.7 ± 3.1 days and co-morbidities were present in two-fifth of the total admissions. Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score of patients with and without H1N1 infection was comparable; 7.8 ± 3.5 and 6.6 ± 3.1 on day 1 and 7.2 ± 4.5 and 6.5 ± 3.1 on day 3, respectively. H1N1+ patients were relatively younger in age (34.2 ± 12.9 years vs. 42.8 ± 18.1, P = 0.005) but presented with significantly lower PaO(2):FiO(2) ratio (87.3 ± 48.7 vs. 114 ± 51.7) in comparison to those who subsequently tested as H1N1. The total leucocyte counts were significantly lower in H1N1+ patients during the first four days of illness but incidence of renal failure (P = 0.02) was higher in H1N1+ patients. The mortality in both the groups was high (H1N1+, 77%; H1N1, 68%) but comparable. There was a mean delay of 5.7 ± 3.1 days in initiation of antivirals. Patients with H1N1 infection were relatively younger in age and with a significantly higher incidence of refractory hypoxia and acute renal failure. Mortality from ARDS reported in our study in both the groups was high but comparable.

Flucytosine for treatment of Candida albicans in H1N1-positive patient.

A 17-year-old H1N1-positive patient was successfully extubated after 25 days of ventilatory support for treatment of viral pneumonia which was complicated by empyema thoracis due to Candida albicans. Hematogenous spread was suspected as simultaneous culture of ascitic fluid identified Candida species sensitive to flucytosine but resistant to amphotericin B and azole group of antifungals. Monotherapy with flucytosine led to clinical and radiological improvement.