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Introduction: During COVID-19 outbreaks, disproportionate use of antibiotics, high Intensive Care Units burden and longer in-hospital stays may have aggravated the emergency posed by carbapenem-resistant isolates. Therefore, we set out to determine whether the incidence of carbapenem-resistant isolates rose in a tertiary care center in Santa Fe, Argentina during the period with active cases of COVID-19. Material and methods: In this retrospectively designed analytic epidemiologic study, two periods were defined: Period 1 (without active cases of COVID-19) from September 2019 to August 2020 and Period 2 (starting at the onset of the first wave of COVID-19 in this Institution) from September 2020 to June 2021. All clinically relevant microbiological samples taken during these periods in the Internal Medicine, Surgical and Intensive Care Unit wards were included. The primary analysis of interest was the differential incidence between the two periods, overall and in the Intensive Care Units wards in particular. Results: 9,135 hospitalizations, 50,145 patient-days of analysis. 7,285 clinical samples were taken, with an overall positivity for carbapenem-resistant isolates of 12.1% (n=883). Overall carbapenem-resistant isolates incidence during Period 2 was 2.5 times higher than in Period 1 (2.52 vs 0.955/100 patient-days, p

Introduction: The pressure over health systems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic brought about the need to develop tools that would allow for the identification of those patients that require immediate attention. Our objective was to identify clinical and biochemical predictors of poor outcomes (PO) in a cohort of patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 in an Argentinean public hospital. Methods: Prospective cohort study conducted from March 3rd, 2020 to February 16th, 2021 in a tertiary care center in Santa Fe, Argentina. Clinical and biochemical characteristics of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted consecutively were analyzed in order to identify predictors of a composite of poor outcomes (PO) -all-cause mortality and/or need for invasive mechanical ventilation. Results: 421 patients were included. The mean age was 56.13 ± 15.05 years. 57.0% were males. 79.7% presented at least one comorbidity. 27.7% (n=116) presented PO. In the multivariate analysis, a higher 4C-score and a higher LDH, as well as a lower SatO2/FiO2, were associated with a higher risk of PO. No variable reached an AUC of 0.800 in the ROC analysis. 4C-score presented a numerically higher AUC (0.766 IC 95% 0.715-0.817). Conclusions: Each point that the 4C-score increases, the risk of PO rises by 28%. Also, for every 100-units increase in LDH or 50-units decrease in SatO2/FiO2 at admission, there is a 20% increased risk of PO.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the limited therapeutic arsenal available strain daily clinical practice. Guidelines have recently recommended routine anticoagulation of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. However, apart from the expert panels’ experience, the provenance of this recommendation is not clear, due to the scarce published evidence. We provide a narrative review with the objective of unraveling the rationale for this practice. First, we analyze the biochemical, histopathological and clinical evidence for a pro-thrombotic profile in COVID-19 patients. Then, we present the clinical data from previous studies and discuss to what extent they aid in clinical decision-making. We conclude that, in the absence of randomized controlled trials, which are of utmost importance, prophylactic-dose anticoagulation should be offered to critically ill patients hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia, particularly those with high d-dimer levels, since they are the population most likely to benefit from it.