Key PointsQuestionDoes fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and σ-1 receptor agonist, prevent clinical deterioration in outpatients with acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)?FindingsIn this randomized trial that included 152 adult outpatients with confirmed COVID-19 and symptom onset within 7 days, clinical deterioration occurred in 0 patients treated with fluvoxamine vs 6 (8.3%) patients treated with placebo over 15 days, a difference that was statistically significant.MeaningIn this preliminary study, adult outpatients with symptomatic COVID-19 treated with fluvoxamine, compared with placebo, had a lower likelihood of clinical deterioration over 15 days; however, determination of clinical efficacy would require larger randomized trials with more definitive outcome measures.
(Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2020;222:521–531)
Caring for vulnerable populations is a critical component of pandemic management. Pregnant women are susceptible to respiratory illness with an increased infectious morbidity and mortality. While clinical information is limited on the effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on the pregnant population, both the SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV outbreaks of the last 2 decades resulted in approximately one third of infected pregnant women dying from the illness. The purpose of this paper was to summarize the clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pregnant women, and present a pragmatic and integrated framework for handling complex intricacies involved in disease management.
ASPs in inpatient settings in the Asia Pacific region appear to be safe and effective to reduce antimicrobial consumption and improve outcomes. However, given the significant variations in assessing the efficacy of ASPs, high-quality studies using standardized surveillance methodology for antimicrobial consumption and similar metrics for outcome measurement are needed to further promote antimicrobial stewardship in this region.
Background
The symptoms of COVID-19 appear to be heterogenous, and the typical course of these symptoms is unknown. Our objectives were to characterize the common trajectories of COVID-19 symptoms and assess how symptom course predicts other symptom changes as well as clinical deterioration.
Methods
162 participants with acute COVID-19 responded to surveys up to 31 times for up to 17 days. Several statistical methods were used to characterize the temporal dynamics of these symptoms. Because nine participants showed clinical deterioration, we explored whether these participants showed any differences in symptom profiles.
Results
Trajectories varied greatly between individuals, with many having persistently severe symptoms or developing new symptoms several days after being diagnosed. A typical trajectory was for a symptom to improve at a decremental rate, with most symptoms still persisting to some degree at the end of the reporting period. The pattern of symptoms over time suggested a fluctuating course for many patients. Participants who showed clinical deterioration were more likely to present with higher reports of severity of cough and diarrhea.
Conclusion
The course of symptoms during the initial weeks of COVID-19 is highly heterogeneous and is neither predictable nor easily characterized using typical survey methods. This has implications for clinical care and early-treatment clinical trials. Additional research is needed to determine whether the decelerating improvement pattern seen in our data is related to the phenomenon of patients reporting long-term symptoms, and whether higher symptoms of diarrhea in early illness presages deterioration.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.