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Respirology
The addition of molnupiravir to usual care does not reduce hospitalization or death in vaccinated, community-dwelling individuals at high risk of serious outcomes of COVID-19, results of the UK-based PANORAMIC trial showed. However, it may provide other benefits such as reducing time to recovery.
Full vaccination with the SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 vaccine reduced infection and hospitalization due to the delta and omicron variants of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, with an added benefit against the omicron variant in individuals who received a booster dose, according to a national study of Singaporean adolescents.
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.
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.
A large retrospective study from the US, presented at IDWeek 2021, has shown that the Abbott ID NOW rapid molecular COVID-19 assay is highly sensitive and specific at detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in a paediatric population.
A smoking cessation intervention, introduced as part of lung health screening, may encourage quitting in about 30 percent of smokers, results of the UK-based YESS* trial showed.
Adding nivolumab to paclitaxel-carboplatin chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting boosted progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with resectable stage IIIA–B non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results of the phase II NADIM II trial from Spain.
The first interim analysis of the phase III IMpower010 trial suggests an overall survival (OS) benefit with atezolizumab compared with best supportive care (BSC) in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with PD-L1* tumour cell expression ≥1 percent.
Bronchodilators, used in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), did not appear to benefit individuals with a history of smoking and respiratory symptoms who did not have airflow obstruction, results of the US-based RETHINC* study showed.
Results of the STOP-COVID trial, presented at ERS 2022, showed no clinical outcome benefit with the dipeptidyl peptidase-1 (DPP-1) inhibitor brensocatib compared with placebo in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the UK.
