Gina Marcela Torres-Zambrano, Rene Antonio Rivero-Jimenez, Carlos Agustin Villegas-Valverde and Yendry Ventura-Carmenate
Introduction: COVID-19 is the defining global crisis of our time. Secondary complications such as urinary tract infections and sepsis worsen the already established health and social problems.
Methods: We characterized the features and outcomes of COVID-19 patients suffering from secondary sepsis and urinary tract infection. An observational and analytical study was conducted within the SENTAD-COVID Study clinical trial framework at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center. COVID-19 patients in group A received a jet-nebulization therapy with autologous stem cells cocktail as an add-on to the standard care. In contrast, group B as controls only received the COVID-19 standard treatment. We analyzed the culture samples, antimicrobial agents, and the therapy's efficacy on patient outcomes.
Results: A significant difference between the groups was found in the urinary infection incidence (p=0.020). Patients in group A showed a lower tendency to sepsis than group B (7% vs. 21%), hazard ratio=0.35 (95% confidence interval: 0.13-0.91), p=0.0175. The number needed to treat=7.3 was calculated and Candida albicans was the most frequent agent causing sepsis and urinary infections. The massive use of broad-spectrum antimicrobials was striking.
Conclusion: We found a protective factor of stem cells against secondary infection in COVID-19 cases in terms of sepsis and urinary infections. The suggested immunomodulatory effect of stem cells offers a therapeutic strategy to manage the disease and avoid several complications. However, antimicrobial agents can lead to increased opportunistic infections, so a rational use of these treatments must be considered.
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