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Background: Colistin is a common antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by gramnegative bacteria. In recent years, due to the increasing resistance, consumption of colistin alone could lead to treatment failures. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of colistin alone with colistin and meropenem to treat patients with urinary tract infections. Materials and Methods: In this randomized, open-label, parallel groups controlled trial, hospitalized patients with urinary tract infections were included. Patients were randomly allocated to the control group (n=35) that received colistin (1 mIU every 12 hours) and the intervention group (n=35) that received colistin (1 mIU every 12 hours) with meropenem (1gr every 8 hours). An infectious disease specialist evaluated the therapeutic responses 48-72 hours after admission. Cessation of fever, improvement of symptoms and signs, and negative urine culture within 48 hours were considered successful therapeutic responses. Results: The mean length of hospitalization was longer in the control group (4.74±0.78 days) compared with the intervention group (4.26±0.56 days) (P=0.004). The prevalence of fever cessation had no significant difference between the two groups at any time (P>0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between the two groups at any time, considering vital signs, irritative urinary symptoms, nausea and vomiting, and flank pain (P>0.05). Conclusion: The administration of colistin and meropenem to treat UTIs was associated with a shorter length of hospital stay. However, regarding response to treatment, it did not matter if they were treated with colistin alone or with combination therapy (colistin and meropenem). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The present study seeks to provide insight into managing patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) infected with COVID-19. Methods: Patients with COVID-19 with CKD were included in the study. The eligible patients were divided into four groups: 1) patients who were not on dialysis, 2) patients on maintenance dialysis, 3) patients who underwent dialysis following COVID-19, 4) patients with a history of a kidney transplant. After reviewing clinical charts, nursing records, laboratory findings, radiological reports, and other medical records of CKD patients with COVID-19 confirmed infection, clinical presentation, laboratory data, radiology findings, and results were extracted from documented medical records. The epidemiological, clinical, laboratory and outcome characteristics of the subgroups were evaluated and compared. Results: Seventy-eight patients were included into the study. Hypertension (50 cases, 72.5%), diabetes (44 cases, 63.8%), and Cardiovascular disease (26 cases, 38.2%) were the most common risk factors in the studied patients. Among all participants, 40 (52.6%) patients died. The most common symptom was dyspnea (56.6%), followed by dry cough (38.7%). Comparison of blood, inflammatory, biochemical, and clinical indices among the patients' groups show that LDH (P=0.022), AST (P=0.038), and ALT (P= 0.004) indices were significantly different between groups of patients. According to the results in Table 3, Unilateral ground-glass opacity (GGO) in the radiological findings of the Nondialysis CKD group was significantly (P=0.50) higher than the other groups. Conclusion: It can be concluded that CKD is one of the critical factors that can cause poor prognosis in COVID-19 patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Infection, has caused recurrent outbreaks worldwide. It is associated with severe morbidity and mortality, and is not treatable with the currently available antiviral therapies. We present a case of a 43 year-old male healthcare provider, who admitted with productive cough, dyspnea, myalgia, pleuritic chest pain and fever. Computed tomography (CT) showed bilateral ground glass opacities and consolidation. Sputum polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for MERS-coronavirus was positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]