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Introduction. Information on healthcare-associated C.difficile infection (HA-CDI) in COVID-19 patients is limited. We aimed to assess the characteristics of HA-CDI acquired during and before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 infection can affect any organ, including both the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS). The aim of this study was to explore the outcome and risk factors associated with the involvement of either CNS or PNS in a cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational cohort study of hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19, between May 2020 and December 2022, presenting with new onset neurological disabilities any time after admission. Results: We included 115 patients, 72 with CNS manifestations and 43 with PNS involvement. The CNS manifestations were COVID-19-associated encephalopathy, headache, neurovascular events, and seizures in 80.5, 43, 31.9, and 11.1% of patients, respectively. The neurovascular events were ischemic stroke in 17 (23.6%) patients, hemorrhagic stroke in 6 (8.3%) patients, venous thrombosis in 1 (1.4%) patient, and subarachnoid hemorrhage in 1 (1.4%) patient. Cranial nerve involvement was the most frequent PNS manifestation in 34 (79%) cases, followed by mononeuritis in 5 (11.6%) patients and polyneuropathy in 4 (9.3%) patients. The affected cranial nerves were the vestibulocochlear nerve in 26 (60.5%) patients, the olfactory nerve in 24 (55.8%) patients, the oculomotor nerves in 5 (11.6%) patients, and the facial nerve in 1 (2.3%) patient. Two patients (9.3%) presented with polyneuritis cranialis. Older age (HR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.003-1.037, p = 0.01), COVID severity (HR = 2.53, 95% CI: 1.42-4.5, p = 0.002), ischemic cardiac disease (HR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.05-5.6, p = 0.03), and increased D-dimers (HR = 1.00, 95% CI: 1.00-1.00, p = 0.02) were independently associated with the development of CNS manifestations. The factors associated with in-hospital mortality were age (HR = 1.059, 95% CI: 1.024-1.096, p = 0.001), C-reactive protein (HR = 1.006, 95% CI: 1.00-1.011, p = 0.03), CNS involvement (HR = 9.155, 95% CI: 1.185-70.74, p = 0.03), and leucocyte number (HR = 1.053, 95% CI: 1.026-1.081, p < 0.001). Conclusion: COVID-19-associated encephalopathy was the most common CNS manifestation in our study, but neurovascular events are also important considering the overlap between inflammatory and prothrombotic pathways, especially in severe cases. CNS involvement was associated with in-hospital allcause mortality. PNS findings were various, involving mostly the cranial nerves, especially the vestibulocochlear nerve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are small icosahedral DNA viruses, without an envelope, adapted to human beings from the very beginning, from the apparition of the first humanoids. They are part of the large papillomaviruses’ group, which co-evolved with the first reptile species, approximatively 350 million years ago. These viruses persist for years/decades/along the life of their animal or human hosts, in epithelial cells and/ or mucosae, being considered rather commensals or producing chronic inapparent ‘infections’ in most cases. There are described more than 150 HPV species, included in alpha, beta, gamma, and some in mu and nu genera. The mucosal-associated HPV lesions – condyloma acuminatum and focal epithelial hyperplasia – are benign lesions provoked by mucosal HPV. But other are malignant, such as cervical cancer, other anogenital cancers (of vulva, vagina, penis and anus) and head and neck cancers. The HPV species associated with cancers are included mostly in alpha-HPV genus. Cutaneous-associated HPV lesions – common warts, plantar warts, flat warts, filiform warts, pigmented warts, epidermoid cysts – are benign lesions associated with cutaneous HPVs, but Bowen disease is a skin cancer associated with beta-HPVs. There are also suggestions that some of non-melanoma skin cancers could be associated with some beta-HPVs. The mechanisms of co-evolution between the human host and HPV are complex and imply the immune tolerance of the host (with unknown ‘advantages’ from HPV, in order to be tolerated) and HPV replication, with the promotion of host epithelial cell ‘persistence’, which in the case of HPV species with malignant risk could provoke an ‘immortality’ of the host-cell and consequently a malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]