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Special Issue "COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease 2023"

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Dear Colleagues,

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the condition caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Since 2020, the pandemic has influenced our lives in nearly every corner of the world, causing more than 500 million cases and over 6.2 million deaths globally. The rapid spread of the disease and several waves and peaks have imposed strong pressure on the health systems worldwide. This global scenario also changes the ways to perform research. In fact, for the first time, the scholars working on COVID-19-related issues have been consulted ahead of political decisions to manage the impact of the pandemic on society and to deliver in a few months medical solutions, such as vaccines and new therapies. Furthermore, the COVID-19 crisis emphasizes the connections between research, clinical practice and health policies. However, despite these extraordinary results in human history, some points on COVID-19 need to be clarified.

Aim and Scope:

This Special Issue, titled “COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II”, aims to report the state of the art and the new findings on COVID-19. In particular, we want to discuss the recent novel therapies, vaccines and public health policies related to this pandemic. In this way, we invite eminent scholars and emerging researchers to submit high scientific level articles, as indicated in the keywords below.

Prof. Dr. Ludovico Abenavoli
Dr. Christian Zanza
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diseases is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Research

Open AccessArticle

Tixagevimab/Cilgavimab as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis against COVID-19 for Multiple Myeloma Patients: A Prospective Study in the Omicron Era

Ioannis Ntanasis-Stathopoulos

Charalampos Filippatos

Maria Gavriatopoulou

Panagiotis Malandrakis

Evangelos Eleutherakis-Papaiakovou

Vassiliki Spiliopoulou

Rodanthi-Eleni Syrigou

Foteini Theodorakakou

Meletios Athanasios Dimopoulos

and

Evangelos Terpos

Diseases 2023, 11(3), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases11030123 - 18 Sep 2023

Viewed by 335

Abstract

Background: tixagevimab/cilgavimab, distributed under the name “Evusheld”, was the first available pre-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 other than vaccination. It received an EUA from the FDA after sufficient trial data showed efficacy in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections and subsequent severe disease. Its potential benefits for high-risk immunocompromised patients generated a lot of interest. Individuals with multiple myeloma fall into this category, as they are characterized by attenuated immune responses and, in some cases, vaccines have limited efficacy. Methods: this single-center, prospective study included consecutive patients with multiple myeloma. All individuals were considered high-risk for COVID-19 due to their underlying disease. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as data regarding COVID-19 infection and antibodies, were collected. Patients were administered two intramuscular 150 mg doses of Evusheld and were monitored during the follow-up period. Results: one hundred and eleven multiple myeloma patients were included in this analysis, with a median age of 64 years (range 58–69) and fifty-three were females (47.7%). Fourteen patients (12.6%) had a prior history of COVID-19 and all patients were vaccinated with either three or four doses of mRNA-based vaccines. An increase was observed in the median neutralizing-antibody levels before and after tixagevimab/cilgavimab administration, from 92.6% to 97.3%. The high levels were sustainable, with a median neutralizing-antibody level of 95.4% at 3 months post Evusheld administration. Overall, nine patients (8.1%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the follow-up period, at a median of 31 days. There were no SARS-CoV-2- infection-related hospitalizations or deaths. The monoclonal antibody combination was well tolerated, with no infusion-related reactions or major adverse events, and pain at the injection site only was reported by 33 patients (30%). Conclusions: tixagevimab/cilgavimab (Evusheld) seemed beneficial for patients with multiple myeloma, who presented high neutralizing-antibody levels and a low incidence of COVID-19 during the initial Omicron wave. No new safety concerns emerged. However, novel combinations of monoclonal antibodies against the new circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 are deemed necessary in view of the emergence of immune tolerance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease 2023)

Open AccessArticle

Radiological and Functional Pulmonary Evolution in Post-COVID-19 Patients: An Observational Study

Virgínia Maria Cavallari Strozze Catharin

Tereza Laís Menegucci Zutin

Elen Landgraf Guiguer

Adriano Cressoni Araújo

Lucas Fornari Laurindo

Eduardo F. Baisi Chagas

Cássia Fernanda Gasparotti Zorzetto

Patrícia C. dos Santos Bueno

Manoela dos Santos Bueno

Yandra Cervelim Nunes

Vitor Cavallari Strozze Catharin

Heron Fernando Gonzaga

and

Sandra Maria Barbalho

Diseases 2023, 11(3), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases11030113 - 30 Aug 2023

Viewed by 312

Abstract

COVID-19 has generated a scenario for global health with multiple systemic impairments. This retrospective study evaluated the clinical, radiological, and pulmonary functional evolution in 302 post-COVID-19 patients. Regarding post-COVID-19 pulmonary symptoms, dry cough, dyspnea, and chest pain were the most frequent. Of the associated comorbidities, asthma was more frequent (23.5%). Chest tomography (CT) initially showed a mean pulmonary involvement of 69.7%, and evaluation in the subsequent months showed improvement in the evolutionary image. With less than six months post-pathology, there was a commitment of 37.7% from six to twelve months it was 20%, and after 12 months it was 9.9%. As for most of the sample, 50.3% of the patients presented CT normalization less than six months after infection, 23% were normalized between six and twelve months, and 5.2% presented with normalized images after twelve months, with one remaining. A percentage of 17.3% maintained post-COVID-19 pulmonary residual sequelae. Regarding spirometry, less than six months after pathology, 59.3% of the patients presented regular exam results, 12.3% had their function normalized within six to twelve months, and 6.3% had normal exam results twelve months after their post-pathology evaluation. Only 3.6% of the patients still showed some alteration during this period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease 2023)

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