JOSE MANUEL RAMOS RINCON

Tinea nigra is an infrequent, superficial fungal infection, mainly caused by Hortaea werneckii, which is still underreported in Ethiopia. An asymptomatic 62-year-old male patient sought a rural hospital of Ethiopia, showing dark plaques on the palms of both hands. A superficial mycosis was suspected and a direct light microscopic mycological examination from skin scrapings revealed short brownish hyphae. To our knowledge, this is the first case of tinea nigra from the Ethiopian highlands. This may be due to the actual rarity of the condition or to underreporting.

Background. Chagas disease (CD) is associated with excess mortality in infected people in endemic countries, but little information is available in non-endemic countries. The aim of the study was to analyze mortality in patients admitted to the hospital with CD in Spain. Methods. A retrospective, observational study using the Spanish National Hospital Discharge Database. We used the CD diagnostic codes of the 9th and 10th International Classification of Diseases to retrieve CD cases from the national public registry from 1997 to 2018. Results. Of the 5022 hospital admissions in people with CD, there were 56 deaths (case fatality rate (CFR) 1.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.8%, 1.4%), 20 (35.7%) of which were considered directly related to CD. The median age was higher in those who died (54.5 vs. 38 years; p < 0.001). The CFR increased with age, peaking in the 70–79-year (7.9%, odds ratio (OR) 6.27, 95% CI 1.27, 30.90) and 80–89-year (16.7%, OR 14.7, 95% CI 2.70, 79.90) age gro...

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 is a highly contagious virus, and despite professionals’ best efforts, nosocomial COVID-19 (NC) infections have been reported. This work aimed to describe differences in symptoms and outcomes between patients with NC and community-acquired COVID-19 (CAC) and to identify risk factors for severe outcomes among NC patients. Methods: This is a nationwide, retrospective, multicenter, observational study that analyzed patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 in 150 Spanish hospitals (SEMI-COVID-19 Registry) from March 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021. NC was defined as patients admitted for non-COVID-19 diseases with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test on the fifth day of hospitalization or later. The primary outcome was 30-day in-hospital mortality (IHM). The secondary outcome was other COVID-19-related complications. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed. Results: Of the 23,219 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 1,104 (4.8%) were NC. Compared to CAC...

Background Old age is one of the most important risk factors for severe COVID-19. Few studies have analyzed changes in the clinical characteristics and prognosis of COVID-19 among older adults before the availability of vaccines. This work analyzes differences in clinical features and mortality in unvaccinated very old adults during the first and successive COVID-19 waves in Spain. Methods This nationwide, multicenter, retrospective cohort study analyzes unvaccinated patients ≥ 80 years hospitalized for COVID-19 in 150 Spanish hospitals (SEMI-COVID-19 Registry). Patients were classified according to whether they were admitted in the first wave (March 1-June 30, 2020) or successive waves (July 1-December 31, 2020). The endpoint was all-cause in-hospital mortality, expressed as the case fatality rate (CFR). Results Of the 21,461 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 5,953 (27.7%) were ≥ 80 years (mean age [IQR]: 85.6 [82.3–89.2] years). Of them, 4,545 (76.3%) were admitted during the f...

Background Advanced age is a well-known risk factor for poor prognosis in COVID-19. However, few studies have specifically focused on very old inpatients with COVID-19. This study aims to describe the clinical characteristics of very old inpatients with COVID-19 and identify risk factors for in-hospital mortality at admission. Methods We conducted a nationwide, multicenter, retrospective, observational study in patients ≥ 80 years hospitalized with COVID-19 in 150 Spanish hospitals (SEMI-COVID-19) Registry (March 1–May 29, 2020). The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. A uni- and multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess predictors of mortality at admission. Results A total of 2772 consecutive patients (49.4% men, median age 86.3 years) were analyzed. Rates of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, dementia, and Barthel Index < 60 were 30.8%, 25.6%, 30.5%, and 21.0%, respectively. The overall case-fatality rate was 46.9% (n: 1301) and inc...

BackgroundIdentification of patients on admission to hospital with Coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia who can develop poor outcomes have not yet ben comprehensively assessed.ObjectiveTo compare severity scores used for community acquired pneumonia to identify high-risk patients.DesignPSI, CURB-65, qSOFA and MuLBSTA, a new score for viral pneumonia, were calculated on admission to hospital to identify high-risk patients for in-hospital mortality. Area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC), sensitivity and specificity for each score were determined and AUROC were compared among them.ParticipantsPatients with COVID-19 pneumonia included in the SEMI-COVID-19 Network.Key resultsWe examined 10,238 patients with COVID-19. Mean age of patients was 66.6 years and 57.9% were males. The most common comorbidities were: hypertension (49.2%), diabetes (18.8%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (12.8%). Acute respiratory distress syndrome (34.7%) and a...

Additional file 1: Supplementary Figure 1. Hospitalization annual trends in people > 85 years old in Spain per 100 global discharges by age group, from 2000 to 2015. Supplementary Figure 2. Annual trends in people > 85 years of the proportion of deaths per age group, from 2000 to 2015. Supplementary Figure 3. Annual trends in people > 85 years of mean length of stay per age group, from 2000 to 2015

Background The aging population is an increasing concern in Western hospital systems. The aim of this study was to describe the main characteristics and hospitalization patterns in inpatients aged 85 years or more in Spain from 2000 to 2015. Methods Retrospective observational study analyzing data from the minimum basic data set, an administrative registry recording each hospital discharge in Spain since 1997. We collected administrative, economic and clinical data for all discharges between 2000 and 2015 in patients aged 85 years and older, reporting results in three age groups and four time periods to assess differences and compare trends. Results There were 4,387,326 discharges in very elderly patients in Spain from 2000 to 2015, representing 5.32% of total discharges in 2000–2003 and 10.42% in 2012–2015. The pace of growth was faster in older age groups, with an annual percentage increase of 6% in patients aged 85–89 years, 7.79% in those aged 90–94 years, and 8.06% in those age...

Basis The identification of the methodological limitations of diagnostic research on laboratory tests is the basis in order to guide its enhancement and facilitate the application of the results to the clinical decisions. Methods Seventeen articles published in Revista Clínica Española and Medicina Clínica from 1997 to 2000 were analyzed, in which the sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic laboratory test were determined. Some standardized criteria of methodological quality were independently applied by three investigators. Results A high frequency in the fulfillment of some key methodological aspects was observed: adequate description of the standard of reference (88%), of the test investigated (88%), of the clinical sample evaluated (71%), and of the prevention of the sequence bias (82%). The assessment of indeterminate results (12%), the test reproducibility (12%), or the description of the origin of the evaluated population (6%) were infrequent. Conclusion The methodologica...