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Infectious Diseases
A population-based, multicentre study finds female gender, transportation-, logistics- or discipline-related occupation, living with domestic workers, smoking, poor or very poor self-perceived health status, ≥3 chronic diseases, chronic medication use, and critical severity of COVID-19 to be associated with severe long COVID, while prior receipt of ≥2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines serves as a protective factor.
Though most countries have eased pandemic restrictions, there is no room for complacency in managing COVID-19, which continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality.
At a recent symposium, esteemed experts Dr Roger Paredes, Head of Department of Infectious Diseases at the Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, and Dr Nicola Petrosillo, Head of the Infection Prevention and Control and Infectious Disease Service at University Hospital Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy, gave global perspectives on the continuing unmet needs in the COVID-19 outpatient landscape and discussed the role of antiviral treatment options in patients at risk of progressing to severe COVID-19. Dr Petrick Periyasamy, Head of Infectious Diseases Unit, Medical Department, UKM Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, chaired the session.
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At a recent webinar, experts discussed the paradigm shift in respiratory illnesses and treatment practices as the COVID-19 pandemic transitions to an endemic phase. The late Dr Mohan Ravuru, Physician Researcher and former Asia Pacific Medical Director, Abbott, Dr Johnny Sinon, Senior Emergency Physician from Makati Medical Center, Philippines, and Associate Professor Nuntra Suwantarat, Infectious Disease Specialist, from Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University, Thailand, delivered informative presentations and engaged the audience through a stimulating panel discussion.
Among the topics covered were the ‘immunity debt’ phenomenon leading to potential epidemics, challenges in the differential diagnosis of COVID-19 and influenza, and the importance of point-of-care, multipathogen testing as a part of the Test-Target-Treat strategy in respiratory diseases.
Despite widespread uptake of vaccinations, COVID-19 remains a serious health issue for high-risk patients, owing to the emergence of new variants of concern (VOCs), waning immunity, and breakthrough infections.
At a recent symposium in Singapore, esteemed experts Dr Asok Kurup, Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore, and Dr Alex Soriano, Head of Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and Assistant Professor, University of Barcelona, Spain, gave insights on the evolution of global trends since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed key challenges in managing high-risk patients with COVID-19 in the ICU. They also highlighted early treatment strategies to minimize the burden of COVID-19 on healthcare systems.
