The correlation between non-O blood group type and recurrent catheter-associated urinary tract infections in critically ill patients: A retrospective study

Objective

To investigate the correlation between the ABO blood group and the risk of recurrent catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTI) and multi-drug resistant (MDR) organism reinfection in the critically ill.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study enrolled adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with confirmed CA-UTI to investigate the correlation between ABO type and the susceptibility to recurrent, reinfection and MDR reinfection. Patients were classified into two groups based on ABO type (O blood group versus non-O blood group).

Results

A total of 81 patients were included in the study: 37 in the O blood group and 44 in the non-O blood group. Patients in the O blood group were associated with significantly lower odds of recurrent CA-UTI (adjusted odds ratio 0.28; 95% confidence interval 0.08, 0.95), a shorter ICU length of stay (LOS) (estimate [SE] –0.24 [0.05]), hospital LOS (estimate [SE] –0.15 [0.03]) and mechanical ventilation duration (estimate [SE] –0.41 [0.07]) compared with the non-O blood group type.

Conclusion

Non-O blood group type might be a risk factor for recurrent CA-UTI and infection with MDR organism.

Evaluation of thiamine as adjunctive therapy in COVID-19 critically ill patients: a two-center propensity score matched study

Background

Thiamine is a precursor of the essential coenzyme thiamine pyrophosphate required for glucose metabolism; it improves the immune system function and has shown to reduce the risk of several diseases. The role of thiamine in critically ill septic patient has been addressed in multiple studies; however, it’s role in COVID-19 patients is still unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of thiamine as an adjunctive therapy on mortality in COVID-19 critically ill patients.

Methods

This is a two-center, non-interventional, retrospective cohort study for critically ill patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID19. All patients aged 18 years or older admitted to ICUs between March 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020, with positive PCR COVID-19 were eligible for inclusion. We investigated thiamine use as an adjunctive therapy on the clinical outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients after propensity score matching.

Results

A total of 738 critically ill patients with COVID-19 who had been admitted to ICUs were included in the study. Among 166 patients matched using the propensity score method, 83 had received thiamine as adjunctive therapy. There was significant association between thiamine use with in-hospital mortality (OR = 0.39; 95% CI 0.19–0.78; P value = 0.008) as well as the 30-day mortality (OR = 0.37; 95% CI 0.18–0.78; P value = 0.009). Moreover, patients who received thiamine as an adjunctive therapy were less likely to have thrombosis during ICU stay [OR (95% CI) 0.19 (0.04–0.88), P value = 0.03].

Conclusion

Thiamine use as adjunctive therapy may have potential survival benefits in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Additionally, it was associated with a lower incidence of thrombosis. Further interventional studies are required to confirm these findings.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13054-021-03648-9.