Background: Many people recovering from COVID-19 suffer from long-term sequelae. The objective of this study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in COVID-19 patients several months after discharge. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional case–control study on COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients admitted to Shamir Medical Center, Israel (03– 07/2020). In the months following discharge, patients were invited to participate in a survey and fill the RAND-36 questionnaire. Patients’ characteristics and comorbidities were extracted from electronic charts. Results: Among 66 COVID-19 participants, the median age was 58.5 (IQR 49.8– 68.3), 56.1% were female, and 36.4% were obese. The median length of stay was 7 days (IQR 4– 10). Patient-reported outcome measures were reported at a median follow-up of 9-months (IQR 6– 9). Pain, general health, vitality, and health change had the lowest scores (67.5, 60, 57.5, and 25, respectively). Matching to patients hospitalized with pneumonia due to other pathogens was performed on 42 of the COVID-19 patients. Non-COVID-19 patients were more frequently current or past smokers (50% vs 11.9%, p < 0.01) and suffered more often from chronic lung disease (38.1% vs 9.5%, p = 0.01). The score for health change was significantly lower in the COVID-19 group (25 vs 50, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Post COVID-19 patients continue to suffer from an assortment of symptoms and perceive a deterioration in their health many months after hospitalization. This emphasizes the importance of prolonged medical follow-up in this population, and the need for additional research to better understand this novel disease’s long-term effects.

(1) Background: The “obesity paradox” refers to a protective effect of higher body mass index (BMI) on mortality in acute infectious disease patients. However, the long-term impact of this paradox remains uncertain. (2) Methods: A retrospective study of patients diagnosed with community-acquired acute infectious diseases at Shamir Medical Center, Israel (2010–2020) was conducted. Patients were grouped by BMI: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity classes I–III. Short- and long-term mortality rates were compared across these groups. (3) Results: Of the 25,226 patients, diverse demographics and comorbidities were observed across BMI categories. Short-term (90-day) and long-term (one-year) mortality rates were notably higher in underweight and normal-weight groups compared to others. Specifically, 90-day mortality was 22% and 13.2% for underweight and normal weight respectively, versus 7–9% for others (p < 0.001). Multivariate time series analysis revealed underweight individuals had a significantly higher 5-year mortality risk (HR 1.41 (95% CI 1.27–1.58, p < 0.001)), while overweight and obese categories had a reduced risk (overweight—HR 0.76 (95% CI 0.72–0.80, p < 0.001), obesity class I—HR 0.71 (95% CI 0.66–0.76, p < 0.001), obesity class II—HR 0.77 (95% CI 0.70–0.85, p < 0.001), and obesity class III—HR 0.79 (95% CI 0.67–0.92, p = 0.003)). (4) Conclusions: In this comprehensive study, obesity was independently associated with decreased short- and long-term mortality. These unexpected results prompt further exploration of this counterintuitive phenomenon.

Background: OIT‐induced gastrointestinal eosinophilic reactions (OITIGER) is comprised of abdominal pain/vomiting unrelated to the timing of dose administration, typically associated with increased absolute eosinophil counts (AEC). Previously described risk factors during milk OIT included higher baseline AEC, higher OIT starting dose (SD) and faster dose increase. The effect of a revised milk OIT protocol (lower SD and slower dose escalations), on the rate and severity of OITIGER, was examined. Methods: Milk OIT patients treated with a revised protocol between 2017 and 2021 ( n = 269) were compared to a milk cohort from 2010 to 2015 ( n = 604) who were treated with the previous protocol. OITIGER rate, severity, and treatment outcomes were compared. Results: Patients in the revised protocol were slightly older ( p < 0.001), but other demographics and baseline AEC were similar. The rates for OITIGER were comparable (8.2% vs. 9.1%). However, there was a significant reduction in the rate of severe presentation, defined by vomiting ≥ 3 times/month (45.5% vs. 72.7%, p = 0.023) among OITIGER patients undergoing the revised protocol. Upon multivariate logistic regression, baseline AEC > 600/μL was a risk factor [OR 2.16 (CI 1.30–3.60), p = 0.003] for OITIGER, while the revised protocol was protective for severe OITIGER [OR 0.30 (CI 0.10–0.89), p = 0.031]. Older age was associated with less OITIGER [OR 0.92 (CI 0.85–0.99), p = 0.018] and borderline less severe OITIGER [OR 0.85 (CI 0.72–1.00), p = 0.050]. A lower fold increase in AEC was observed in OITIGER patients in the revised protocol (2.25 [1.63–3.45] vs. 1.79 [1.34–2.11], p = 0.009). Conclusions: A revised protocol was associated with reduced AEC increase, and ameliorated the severity of OITIGER during OIT.

Background: Many people recovering from COVID-19 suffer from long-term sequelae. The objective of this study was to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in COVID-19 patients a few months after discharge. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional case-control study on COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 pneumonia patients admitted to Shamir Medical Center, Israel (03-07/2020). In the months following discharge, patients were invited to participate in a survey and fill the RAND-36 questionnaire. Patient's characteristics and comorbidities were extracted from electronic charts. Results: Among 66 COVID-19 participants, the median age was 58.5 (IQR 49.8-68.3), 56.1% were female, and more than a third were obese (36.4%). The median length of stay was 7 days (IQR 4-10). Patient-reported outcome measures were reported at a median follow-up of 9-months (IQR 6-9). Pain, general health, vitality, and health change had the lowest scores (67.5, 60, 57.5, and 25 respectively). Matching to patients hospitalized with pneumonia due to other pathogens was performed on 42 of the COVID-19 patients. Non-COVID-19 patients were more frequently current or past smokers (50% vs 11.9%, p<0.01) and suffered more often from chronic lung disease (38.1% vs 9.5%, p=0.01). The score for health change was significantly lower in the COVID-19 group (25 vs 50, p<0.01). Conclusions: Post COVID-19 patients continue to suffer from an assortment of symptoms and perceive a deterioration in their health many months after hospitalization. This emphasizes the importance of prolonged medical follow-up in this population, and the need for additional research to better understand this novel's disease long-term effects.