Short Report - Medical nutrition therapy for critically ill patients with COVID-19.
Lorenzo Romano, Federico Bilotta, Mario Dauri, Sebastiano Macheda, Arturo Pujia, Gemma Lou De Santis, Maria Grazia Tarsitano, Giuseppe Merra, Laura Di Renzo, Emanuele Esposito, Antonino De Lorenzo
Abstract
We read with great interest the paper from Kaiying and Hanping on nutrition patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in which the authors report evidence issued by the Chinese Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (CSPEN) of the Chinese Medical Association. The COVID-19 is new β-coronavirus, that can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory failure, multiple organ failure and death (~10%) and represents a global health challenge2,3. Medical nutritional therapy is among the mainstay of therapeutic principles and one of the core contents of comprehensive treatment measures for patients with COVID-19. Based on available clinical observations, it is evident that despite people of all ages can become infected, malnourished elderly people, with low immunity and patients with chronic diseases have a worse prognosis and have a higher mortality rates4. This phenomenon highlights the importance of nutritional status and the relevance of nutritional therapy that should be regarded as first-line treatment and implemented into standard of practice. Good nutrition not only provides the body with immunity to diseases, including COVID-19, but is also the primary guarantee for promoting disease recovery4 .