Outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage 20I/501Y.V1 in a Nursing Home Underlines the Crucial Role of Vaccination in Both Residents and Staff.

Elderly residents in nursing homes are at very high risk of life-threatening COVID-19-related outcomes. In this report, an epidemiological and serological investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in an Italian nursing home is described. Among the residents, all but one (19/20) were regularly vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. In mid-February 2021, a non-vaccinated staff member of the nursing home was diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Following the outbreak investigation, a total of 70% (14/20) of residents aged 77-100 years were found positive. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the outbreak was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/01 (the so-called "UK variant"). However, all but one positive subjects (13/14) were fully asymptomatic. The only symptomatic patient was a vaccinated 86-year-old female with a highly compromised health background and deceased approximately two weeks later. The subsequent serological investigation showed that the deceased patient was the only vaccinated subject that did not develop the anti-spike protein antibody response, therefore being likely a vaccine non-responder. Although the available mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was not able to prevent several asymptomatic infections, it was able to avert most symptomatic disease cases caused by the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern 202012/01 in nursing home residents.

Effects of different doses of erythropoietin in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes: A propensity score-matched analysis.

BACKGROUND: Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents effectively improve the hemoglobin levels in a fraction of anemic patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Higher doses (HD) of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) have been proposed to overcome suboptimal response rates observed in MDS patients treated with lower "standard doses" (SD) of rhEPO. However, a direct comparison between the different doses of rhEPO is lacking. METHODS: A cohort of 104 MDS patients treated with HD was retrospectively compared to 208 patients treated with SD in a propensity score-matched analysis to evaluate hematological improvement-erythroid (HI-E) rate induced by the different doses of rhEPO. The impact of rhEPO doses on survival and progression to leukemia was also investigated. RESULTS: Overall HI-E rate was 52.6%. No difference was observed between different rhEPO doses (P = .28) in matched cohorts; in a subgroup analysis, transfusion-dependent patients and patients with higher IPSS-R score obtained a higher HI-E rate with HD, although without significant impact on overall survival (OS). Achievement of HI-E resulted in superior OS. At univariate analysis, a higher HI-E rate was observed in transfusion-independent patients (P < .001), with a lower IPSS-R score (P < .001) and lower serum EPO levels (P = .027). Multivariate analysis confirmed that rhEPO doses were not significantly related to HI-E (P = .26). There was no significant difference in OS or progression to leukemia in patients treated with HD vs SD. CONCLUSION: SD are substantially equally effective to HD to improve anemia and influencing survival in MDS patients stratified according to similar propensity to be exposed to rhEPO treatment.

Predictors of noninvasive ventilation failure in critically ill obese patients: a brief narrative review.

 Non-invasive ventilation ( NIV ) has been used successfully for the management of acute respiratory failure (ARF) more often in the last two decades than previously. Unfortunately, NIV can have failure rates ranging from 5% to 50% and patient selection is the key to success. There are particular groups of patients that are more likely to benefit from NIV. For patients with hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) this treatment can be beneficial. This review seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of NIV in acute ARF and determine predictors of NIV failure in morbidly obese patients. Only a few studies have investigated NIV success or failure in these patients. NIV was most often effective when patients were carefully selected. Obese patients who exhibited early NIV failure had a high severity score at admission. In contrast, more than half of hypercapnic patients with decompensated OHS exhibited a delayed but successful response to NIV. Patients with decompensation of OHS had better prognosis and response to NIV than other hypercapnic patients. They required more aggressive NIV settings, a longer time to reduce paCO2 levels , and more frequently a delayed but successful response to NIV which should encourage the use of NIV rather than early intubation. Since clear predictors of NIV failure have not been identified, a strict and prolonged monitoring is mandatory.