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Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a Coronavirus in humans, namely SARS-CoV-2, which has quickly become a global pandemic. The infection is responsible for a severe form of pneumonia, which may lead to lung failure and death. Among the therapeutic strategies, the antiviral agent remdesivir has become one of the most used drugs. The current literature reports a causal correlation between remdesivir administration and the incidence of cardiovascular effects. We aimed to further investigate this relationship, by exploring the association between the use of remdesivir and the onset of bradyarrhythmic disorders., Methods: We reviewed medical records, blood exams and chest imaging of 85 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia (M/F: 57/28, age: 61±12 years) admitted between September 2020 and May 2021 to the Division of Respiratory Diseases in Palermo, Italy., Results: We found a significant correlation between treatment with remdesivir and the occurrence of bradycardia, lasting for at least 3 days, which returned to normal values after the discontinuation of the drug. A significant reduction in heart rate (HR) was observed in the days following remdesivir administration (L. ratio 47.4, P<0.0001) in 24 patients (HR on the first day of observation: 75±14 bpm; at discharge: 72±14 bpm). Cardiac events occurred more frequently in subjects with extensive pulmonary involvement (greater than 50% of the total parenchyma, as assessed by chest CT)., Conclusions: We suggest to carefully monitor the administration of the drug in patients with risk factors for arrhythmic or cardiovascular events.

Background: We sought to evaluate the trends of HPV vaccination between 03/2019-09/2021 and whether the impact of the COVID pandemic on HPV vaccination varied by race/ethnicity and neighborhood deprivation index (NDI)., Methods: Electronic medical records at Kaiser Permanente Southern California were used to assess monthly volume of HPV vaccine doses administered among children aged 9-12.9yrs, and up-to-date coverage (% vaccinated) by age 13 between 03/2019-09/2021. Modified Poisson models were used to evaluate the interactions between race/ethnicity, NDI and the pandemic periods on HPV vaccine coverage., Results: HPV vaccine doses administered in 2020/2021 have returned to the 2019 level after the initial drop. The average up-to-date coverage in 05/2021-09/2021 (54.8%) remained lower than the pre-pandemic level (58.5%). The associations between race/ethnicity, NDI and HPV vaccine coverage did not vary due to the pandemic., Conclusion: HPV vaccine promotion efforts are needed to address COVID-19 pandemic's lasting impact on HPV vaccination coverage., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Chao CR received research funding from Merck for an unrelated project., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)