Browsing by Autor "Christian Reyes"

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COVID-19 Mortality Is Attenuated at High Tropical and Subtropical Altitude: An Observational Study of a Database Covering Five Latin American Countries
(European Society of Medicine, 2023) Natalia Zubieta DeUrioste; Christian Reyes; Lida Sanchez; Nestor Subieta; Alfredo Merino‐Luna; Iván Solarte; Raffo Escalante-Kanashiro; José Suazo; E Poma; R.D. Aguilar
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus, has had devastating consequences worldwide. Remarkably, the incidence, virus transmission capacity, and severity of COVID-19 have been reported to be significantly decreased in high-altitude human populations. The clinical significance of these findings is enormous, as they suggest that permanent inhabitants of high altitudes have developed adaptive protective changes against certain pathologies. However, these observations have been overshadowed by contradictory reports on the COVID-19 mortality rate at high altitude, ascribed to low population densities. These interpretations, however, fail to consider that the environmental conditions of high-altitude regions of the temperate and tropical geographical zones are radically different from each other. Contrary to common thought, the conditions of high-altitude areas of countries within the tropical zone are so benign that they have favored the growth and development of densely populated cities. In this work, we use data from a COVID-19 database covering five Latin American countries in the tropical and subtropical geographic zone that corresponded to the period between the start of the pandemic and the end of 2020, when no vaccine was yet available. Our results reveal that residing above 1,000 m in tropical countries was a protective factor against COVID-19 mortality. Interestingly, this protective effect was independent of population size. The findings presented here, and those from other similar studies, substantiate the need for more research to reveal the secrets of the physiology of permanent high-altitude residents. In conclusion, our findings clearly demonstrate that the high-altitude environment in tropical and subtropical geographic zones significantly contributes to the decreased mortality impact of the SARS-COV-2 virus in high-altitude-exposed populations.
Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Lym-phocyte/CRP ratio (LCR) are Reliable Pre-dictors of Adverse Out-comes in High-Altitude COVID-19 Patients
(European Society of Medicine, 2023) Rosalinda Aguilar; Alfredo Merino‐Luna; Christian Reyes; M Mata; W. Tenorio Gutiérrez; Martín Martínez; Enrique Duenas; Antonio Escudero Soto; Daniel Franco; Gustavo Calleja
The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the lymphocyte/C-reactive protein ratio (LCR) are prognostic factors in inflammatory, cardiovascular, and oncological diseases. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been recently shown that NLR and LCR are also useful for the prognosis of disease severity in patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus at sea level. However, there are no studies demonstrating the reliability of NLR and LCR in high-altitude human populations (above 2,500 m). This is relevant because both the incidence and mortality from COVID-19 are decreased in high altitude. A possible explanation of this effect is a lower impact of this virus on the exaggerated inflammatory response induced by the viral infection. The aim of this study is to determine whether the NLR and LCR indices can be used as reliable predictive markers of COVID-19 severity in high-altitude permanent resident patients. Routine blood biochemistry and complete blood count were performed on 368 patients positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Huaraz, Peru (3,050 m). Patients’ follow up was carried out until home discharge or fatal outcome. The results show that: 1) NLR values are higher in deceased patients admitted to the intensive care unit due to COVID-19; 2) NLR and LCR are reliable predictors of death in patients with COVID-19; and 3) NLR and LCR are reliable predictors of intensive care unit requirement in COVID-19 patients. We conclude that NLR and LCR are reliable biomarkers and prognostic factors of COVID-19 severity and can be used in high-altitude permanent resident patients.