Remdesivir or Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir Therapy for Omicron SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Hematological Patients and Cell Therapy Recipients.

BACKGROUND: Scarce data exist that analyze the outcomes of hematological patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the Omicron variant period who received treatment with remdesivir or nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. METHODS: This study aims to address this issue by using a retrospective observational registry, created by the Spanish Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapy Group, spanning from 27 December 2021 to 30 April 2023. RESULTS: This study included 466 patients, 243 (52%) who were treated with remdesivir and 223 (48%) with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir. Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir was primarily used for mild cases, resulting in a lower COVID-19-related mortality rate (1.3%), while remdesivir was preferred for moderate to severe cases (40%), exhibiting a higher mortality rate (9%). A multivariate analysis in the remdesivir cohort showed that male gender (odds ratio (OR) 0.35, p = 0.042) correlated with a lower mortality risk, while corticosteroid use (OR 9.4, p < 0.001) and co-infection (OR 2.8, p = 0.047) were linked to a higher mortality risk. Prolonged virus shedding was common, with 52% of patients shedding the virus for more than 25 days. In patients treated with remdesivir, factors associated with prolonged shedding included B-cell malignancy as well as underlying disease, severe disease, a later onset of and shorter duration of remdesivir treatment and a higher baseline viral load. Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir demonstrated a comparable safety profile to remdesivir, despite a higher risk of drug interactions. CONCLUSIONS: Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir proved to be a safe and effective option for treating mild cases in the outpatient setting, while remdesivir was preferred for severe cases, where corticosteroids and co-infection significantly predicted worse outcomes. Despite antiviral therapy, prolonged shedding remains a matter of concern.

Imaginarios sociales, violencia física y medios de comunicación audiovisual / Social Imaginaries, Physical Violence, and Audiovisual Mass Media

Resumen Las noticias son el género de realidad más visto en Colombia y la televisión tiene una penetración del 99% en el país. Esta realidad hace necesaria la investigación sobre estos contenidos y su papel en la comprensión de la realidad que tienen los televidentes. En este artículo se presentarán tres categorías que permitirán comprender los imaginarios sociales sobre violencia física en los televidentes. Se considera que este tipo de violencia es uno de los fenómenos más presentes en las emisiones de noticias y que reviste una especial importancia en el contexto colombiano.

Abstract News is the most watched reality genre in Colombia and television has a 99% penetration in the country. This reality makes it necessary to investigate these contents and their role in the viewers' understanding of reality. This article will present three categories, which will allow us to understand the social imaginaries of physical violence in television viewers. It is considered that this type of violence is one of the most present phenomena in news broadcasts and which is of special importance in the Colombian context.

Antiretroviral drug resistance and phylogenetic diversity of HIV-1 in Chile.

This study reports the analysis of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease (PR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) coding sequences from 136 HIV-1-infected subjects from Chile, 66 (49%) of them under antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. The prevalence of mutations conferring high or intermediate resistance levels to ARVs was 77% among treated patients and 2.5% among drug-naïve subjects. The distribution of resistance prevalence in treated patients by drug class was 61% to nucleoside RT inhibitors, 84% to nonnucleoside RT inhibitors, and 46% to PR inhibitors. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 115 (85%) subjects were infected with subtype B viruses, 1 with a subtype F1 virus, and 20 (15%) carried BF intersubtype recombinants. Most BF recombinants grouped into two clusters, one related to CRF12_BF, while the other could represent a new circulating recombinant form (CRF). In conclusion, this is the first report analysing the prevalence of ARV resistance which includes patients under HAART from Chile. Additionally, phylogenetic analysis of the PR-RT coding sequences reveals the presence of BF intersubtype recombinants.

Pneumocystis is not a direct cause of sudden infant death syndrome.

We compared the frequency of Pneumocystis in 126 sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases with a control group of 24 infants from the San Diego SIDS/SUDC Research Project who died of accidental or inflicted injuries. Cysts were identified in 33% of SIDS cases and 29% of controls. We conclude that Pneumocystis is not a direct cause of SIDS.