COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II

A special issue of Diseases (ISSN 2079-9721). This special issue belongs to the section "Comorbidity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 16377

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

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 the 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 finding on COVID-19. In particular, we want discuss the recent novelty on 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
Prof. Dr. Ivan Gentile
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 monthly 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 1800 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.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • virus
  • disease
  • pandemic
  • inflammation
  • therapy
  • immunity
  • vaccine
  • antiviral
  • public health
  • prophylaxis

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

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2 pages, 195 KiB  
Editorial
COVID-19: Where We Are and Where We Are Going
by Ludovico Abenavoli and Ivan Gentile
Diseases 2023, 11(1), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases11010040 - 01 Mar 2023
Viewed by 992
Abstract
The impact of COVID-19 on global health has been colossal [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II)

Research

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13 pages, 293 KiB  
Article
Association of Alleles of Human Leukocyte Antigen Class II Genes and Severity of COVID-19 in Patients of the ‘Red Zone’ of the Endocrinology Research Center, Moscow, Russia
by Ekaterina Troshina, Marina Yukina, Nurana Nuralieva, Evgeny Vasilyev, Olga Rebrova, Ravida Akhmatova, Anna Ikonnikova, Elena Savvateeva, Dmitry Gryadunov, Galina Melnichenko and Natalia Mokrysheva
Diseases 2022, 10(4), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases10040099 - 02 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1753
Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the correlations of clinical features of patients with moderate and severe courses of COVID-19, comorbidity (endocrine, autoimmune, cardiovascular, oncological, and pulmonary diseases), and alleles of the HLA class II system genes. One hundred COVID-19 patients [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to assess the correlations of clinical features of patients with moderate and severe courses of COVID-19, comorbidity (endocrine, autoimmune, cardiovascular, oncological, and pulmonary diseases), and alleles of the HLA class II system genes. One hundred COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the Endocrinology Research Centre, Moscow, Russia, were analyzed for age, gender, smoking, comorbidity, and invasive mechanical ventilation. Computer tomography was used to assess the severity of the disease. HLA-DRB1, HLA-DQA1, and HLA-DQB1 alleles were identified in samples from 100 patients and samples from 327 randomly selected individuals collected in the prepandemic period (control group). There was no association of gender, age, weight, body mass index, smoking, and comorbidity with the severity of COVID-19. Allele DQB1*06:02-8 was more common in patients (p < 0.00005), and DQB1*06:01 and DQB1*05:03 were more common in the control group (p < 0.00005, and p = 0.0011, respectively). DQB1*06:02-8 can probably be considered as predisposing to moderate and severe COVID-19, and DQB1*06:01 can be considered as protective. No association of these alleles with comorbidity was found. Our results suggest that carriers of predisposing alleles, with cardiovascular and non-autoimmune endocrine diseases, should take more stringent preventive measures, and if infected, a more aggressive COVID-19 treatment strategy should be used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II)
11 pages, 573 KiB  
Article
Determinants of Post-COVID-19 Conditions among SARS-CoV-2-Infected Patients in Saudi Arabia: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study
by Mohammed Samannodi, Hassan Alwafi, Abdallah Y. Naser, Abdullah A. Al Qurashi, Jumanah T. Qedair, Emad Salawati, Mohammed A. Almatrafi, Rakan Ekram, Rahaf I. Bukhari, Maryam Dahlawi, Bayan Hafiz, Roaa Mandora, Ranin K. Alsindi, Sarah Tayeb and Faisal Minshawi
Diseases 2022, 10(3), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases10030055 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2729
Abstract
Background: Large numbers of people infected with COVID-19 developed acute symptoms. Post-COVID-19 conditions have been reported after recovery or discharge from the hospital. However, little is known about the prevalence and possible risk factors of post-COVID-19 conditions in the Saudi community. Here, we [...] Read more.
Background: Large numbers of people infected with COVID-19 developed acute symptoms. Post-COVID-19 conditions have been reported after recovery or discharge from the hospital. However, little is known about the prevalence and possible risk factors of post-COVID-19 conditions in the Saudi community. Here, we describe the incidence of post-COVID-19 conditions among the general population of Saudi Arabia. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, nationwide study using an online survey in Saudi Arabia from 1 September 2021 to 28 February 2022. The survey was distributed using social media platforms, such as Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook. Patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in the questionnaire adapted from published studies. Result: The study enrolled 7520 individuals who were previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. Most patients in our study were symptomatic and their acute symptoms may persist for more than six days. On the other hand, long-term complications may develop and continue for an extended period (post-COVID-19 conditions). Most of these complications are respiratory, neurological, psychological, or skin related. The proportion of long-term complications reported in this study is 36% among SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals. In addition, being female, old age, number of chronic complications, long-term medication, length of stay in hospital and intensive care unit, and duration of acute symptoms may be significant predictors of post-COVID-19 symptoms. Conclusion: In conclusion, the incidence of post-COVID-19 conditions among the Saudi population was high, which urges further investigation into the risk factors associated with post-COVID-19 symptoms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II)
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11 pages, 3093 KiB  
Article
Predicting the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Italian Regions: The Calabria Case Study, February 2020–March 2022
by Francesco Branda, Ludovico Abenavoli, Massimo Pierini and Sandra Mazzoli
Diseases 2022, 10(3), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases10030038 - 30 Jun 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2527
Abstract
Despite the stunning speed with which highly effective and safe vaccines have been developed, the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 causes high rates of (re)infection, a major impact on health care services, and a slowdown to the socio-economic system. For COVID-19, accurate [...] Read more.
Despite the stunning speed with which highly effective and safe vaccines have been developed, the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 causes high rates of (re)infection, a major impact on health care services, and a slowdown to the socio-economic system. For COVID-19, accurate and timely forecasts are therefore essential to provide the opportunity to rapidly identify risk areas affected by the pandemic, reallocate the use of health resources, design countermeasures, and increase public awareness. This paper presents the design and implementation of an approach based on autoregressive models to reliably forecast the spread of COVID-19 in Italian regions. Starting from the database of the Italian Civil Protection Department (DPC), the experimental evaluation was performed on real-world data collected from February 2020 to March 2022, focusing on Calabria, a region of Southern Italy. This evaluation shows that the proposed approach achieves a good predictive power for out-of-sample predictions within one week (R-squared > 0.9 at 1 day, R-squared > 0.7 at 7 days), although it decreases with increasing forecasted days (R-squared > 0.5 at 14 days). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II)
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Review

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17 pages, 1407 KiB  
Review
Efficacy and Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines—An Update
by Eshani Sharma, Sraddha Revinipati, Saisha Bhandari, Sejal Thakur, Shubham Goyal, Aruni Ghose, Sukrit Bajpai, Waleed Muhammad and Stergios Boussios
Diseases 2022, 10(4), 112; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases10040112 - 23 Nov 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3097
Abstract
A few centuries ago, the first vaccine vial was formulated, and since then, they have resulted in an eminent reduction in infectious diseases associated morbidity and mortality. The discovery of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease and its steady progression to [...] Read more.
A few centuries ago, the first vaccine vial was formulated, and since then, they have resulted in an eminent reduction in infectious diseases associated morbidity and mortality. The discovery of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease and its steady progression to a global pandemic with 603,711,760 confirmed cases and 6,484,136 reported deaths according to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 7 September 2022 was exceedingly catastrophic. This brought about an unexpected need for preventative and cost-effective measures to curb the devastating impact of the virus, followed by accelerated competition within the pharma giants to manufacture and dispense vaccines at an exponential rate. Non-pharmaceutical medications such as mandated face mask policies, the imposition of travel limitations and generalized disinfectant use were somewhat successful in mitigating the catastrophic effect, but the onus fell upon vaccination strategies and other medical interventions to counteract and subdue this international health threat. The need to ensure current and future pandemic preparedness, however, presents multiple hurdles, among which are equitable vaccine access and the rising trend of vaccine hesitancy at an individual and international level, which are beyond the scope of this discussion. With this review article, we seek to draw perspective on current COVID-19 virus variants, in-hand vaccine types with their mechanism of action along with their effectiveness and safety profile. We also aim to discuss substantial side effects while adding a segment on the booster dose controversy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II)
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13 pages, 1045 KiB  
Review
Acute Kidney Injury in COVID-19 Patients: Pathogenesis, Clinical Characteristics, Therapy, and Mortality
by Venice Chávez-Valencia, Citlalli Orizaga-de-la-Cruz and Francisco Alejandro Lagunas-Rangel
Diseases 2022, 10(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases10030053 - 19 Aug 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2765
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and has represented one of the greatest challenges humanity has faced in recent years. The virus can infect a large number of organs, including the lungs and upper respiratory [...] Read more.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease caused by infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and has represented one of the greatest challenges humanity has faced in recent years. The virus can infect a large number of organs, including the lungs and upper respiratory tract, brain, liver, kidneys, and intestines, among many others. Although the greatest damage occurs in the lungs, the kidneys are not exempt, and acute kidney injury (AKI) can occur in patients with COVID-19. Indeed, AKI is one of the most frequent and serious organic complications of COVID-19. The incidence of COVID-19 AKI varies widely, and the exact mechanisms of how the virus damages the kidney are still unknown. For this reason, the purpose of this review was to assess current findings on the pathogenesis, clinical features, therapy, and mortality of COVID-19 AKI. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II)
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Other

8 pages, 1155 KiB  
Case Report
A Multimodal Approach in the Treatment of Persistent Post-COVID
by Tobias Romeyke
Diseases 2022, 10(4), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases10040097 - 01 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1589
Abstract
Background: Many patients suffer from the consequences of a COVID infection. The so-called long or post-COVID syndrome affects the quality of life of patients and can lead to severe physical impairments. There are currently no suitable therapies for the treatment of long/post-COVID. Case [...] Read more.
Background: Many patients suffer from the consequences of a COVID infection. The so-called long or post-COVID syndrome affects the quality of life of patients and can lead to severe physical impairments. There are currently no suitable therapies for the treatment of long/post-COVID. Case presentation: A 49-year-old patient with post-COVID was admitted to a specialized clinic to carry out a multimodal therapy approach in the event of a therapy-resistant course. In addition to pronounced fatigue, sleep disorders, inner restlessness, and depression were seen in the patients’ high levels of suffering. A naturopathic complex therapy including systemic whole-body hyperthermia was carried out. Well-being and physical well-being were recorded using the visual analog scale, and depression was recorded using the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression (PHQ-D). There was close monitoring of the vital parameters, and an evaluation of the therapy result was performed. Discussion and Conclusion: The implementation of a naturopathic complex therapy including systemic whole-body hyperthermia was able to significantly improve the mental state, physical well-being, and mood of the patient. Since there are still no evidence-based therapy recommendations for the treatment of long/post-COVID, clinical research is called upon to intensively deal with this topic and to examine treatment concepts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID-19 and Global Chronic Disease II)
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