ABSTRACT
The available drugs against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVOD-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are limited. This study aimed to identify ginger-derived compounds that might neutralize SARS-CoV-2 and prevent its entry into host cells. Ring compounds of ginger were screened against spike (S) protein of alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2. The S protein FASTA sequence was retrieved from Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) and converted into ".pdb” format using Open Babel tool. A total of 306 compounds were identified from ginger through food and phyto-databases. Out of those, 38 ring compounds were subjected to docking analysis using CB Dock online program which implies AutoDock Vina for docking. The Vina score was recorded, which reflects the affinity between ligands and receptors. Further, the Protein Ligand Interaction Profiler (PLIP) program for detecting the type of interaction between ligand-receptor was used. SwissADME was used to compute druglikeness parameters and pharmacokinetics characteristics. Furthermore, energy minimization was performed by using Swiss PDB Viewer (SPDBV) and energy after minimization was recorded. Molecular dynamic simulation was performed to find the stability of protein-ligand complex and root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) as well as root-mean-square fluctuation (RMSF) were calculated and recorded by using myPresto v5.0. Our study suggested that 17 out of 38 ring compounds of ginger were very likely to bind the S protein of SARS-CoV-2. Seventeen out of 38 ring compounds showed high affinity of binding with S protein of alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants of SARS-CoV-2. The RMSD showed the stability of the complex was parallel to the S protein monomer. These computer-aided predictions give an insight into the possibility of ginger ring compounds as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 worthy of in vitro investigations. © 2023, School of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The Global outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic affected almost all countries and territories worldwide. The outbreak was first identified from Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and was declared a pandemic in March 2020. Virus incubation time is usually 7 days and initial symptoms includes fever, cough, flu, muscle fatigue and difficulty in breathing. Ibuprofen and paracetamol are the two most commonly used over the counter (OTC) drugs to treat fever due to COVID-19. Some researchers discouraged the use of ibuprofen initially due to possible adverse effects related with longevity of infection, increased morbidity, and mortality rate. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of paracetamol and ibuprofen as anti-pyretic drugs to treat fever caused in COVID-19 infection. A systematic review of major databases i.e., PubMed, Cochrane library, Web of Science, Google scholar and ClinicalTrials.gov was performed, to screen the studies conducted on managing fever using paracetamol and ibuprofen. Review of the selected articles based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria was performed by two independent researchers. The titles of selected publications were screened for relevance to the preset criteria followed by review of the s. Finally, the full-length articles were evaluated for the final selection of studies to be included. Outcomes of use of ibuprofen and paracetamol were estimated by analyzing selected case control and cohort studies. Overall, eleven observational studies were selected for the compilation of systematic review, based upon the preset inclusion/exclusion criteria. All studies included adult COVID-19 patients both male and female from different age groups. Paracetamol users were compared with ibuprofen users and no adverse effects of ibuprofen were found related to longevity of infection, complications, increased mortality rate and ventilation support requirement, when treating fever or pain caused by COVID-19. However, further studies and randomized control trials need to be conducted to assess and compare the effectiveness of these drugs to manage fever caused by coronavirus disease. © The Author(s) 2023.
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This review focuses on the characteristics of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) including virus structure, ecoepidemiology and pathophysiology, signs and symptoms in infected people, and data on virus pathogenicity, severity, and survivability in COVID-19 infected patients. The emphasis is on immunological reactions, diagnosis, prophylactic methods, and the zoonotic significance of COVID-19. The authors feel that the review's contents will be valuable to epidemiologists, virologists, public health officials, diagnosticians, laboratory workers, environmentalists, and socioeconomic experts. It has information on the many types of coronavirus variants, the disease situation in Pakistan and the WHO criteria for COVID-19 prevention is given. Moreover, lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic are also outlined.
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Objective: To determine the association of body mass index with the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia in hospitalized patients. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, form May to Jun 2021. Methodology: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia on PCR and chest imaging and admitted to our hospital were included in the study. Body mass index was calculated on the first day of hospital admission, and they were followed up for two weeks during the disease. Increased oxygen demand, duration of admission, CT severity score and use of non-invasive ventilation were compared in patients with normal and increased body mass index. Results: A total of 800 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital were included in the final analysis. The mean age of the study participants was 41.36±4.55 years. Out of 800 patients, 337(42.1%) had normal BMI, 420(52.5%) were classed in the category of overweight and 43(5.4%) were obese. Furthermore, it was seen that increased demand for oxygen, high CT severity score and longer duration of hospital admission had a statistically significant relationship (p-value<0.05) with high body mass index. Conclusion: More than half of the patients admitted after diagnosis of COVID-19 had higher than normal body mass index. A significant association was found between increased demand for oxygen, high CT severity score, longer hospital admission duration, and high body mass index. © 2022, Army Medical College. All rights reserved.
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Rationale: SARS-CoV-2 has been identified as a highly infective and contagious viral infection. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been spread worldwide and affected more than 210 countries. Globally, the fast spread of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants has been mostly attributed to international travel. Patient concerns: We are reporting the genomic evidence of SARS-CoV-2 Eta VOI among two international travelers. Both travelers were males from Nigeria aged 24 and 34 years and both were asymptomatic. Diagnosis: The nasopharyngeal swab samples were in both travelers positive by real-time RT-PCR followed by COVIDSeq-NGS. Interventions: Paracetamol 3 times daily for 5 days. Outcomes: Patient recovered completely within 10 days and discharged after 14 days of quarantine duration. Lessons: This report highlights genomic variation of SARS-CoV-2 among the travelers. For managing the present health crisis, molecular identification of viral variants present in different geographical locations will be very helpful.
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Background: This cross-sectional study being instrumented by a close ended questionnaire was conducted to evaluate society's affirmation for being jabbed with COVID-19 vaccine, their acquisition towards immunization and associated anomalies in vaccinated people. According to the recent update from WHO, the glob is facing 5th wave of pandemic "Omicron". However, the problem is that vaccines were in trials. Majority of people were demonstrating reluctance for being immunization against COVID-19 due prevailing oddities after vaccination. Aim(s): To measure the possible adverse effects caused by the vaccination and society's participation towards immunization. Methodology: In this study we adapted cross sectional study design by means of convenience sampling. Study instrument was a close ended questionnaire. Data was collected from only vaccinated participants by visiting universities, medical personnel, colleges and other society sectors under the supervision of team members. Data transferred to software SPSS to extract the results. Cross tabulation was used for demographic analysis such as age, gender and vaccine type jabbed. Result(s): The most common adverse effects include inflammation at site of injection, fever, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, joint pain and numbness of limbs were highlighted. Mostly jabbed vaccine types include Sinopharm and Sinovac. Majority of respondents showed willingness for immunization however, only a small proportion was afraid for being vaccinated. The significance in our study that we have conducted study for acceptance of vaccine, intention of participants towards immunization and adverse events associated with different types of COVID-19 vaccines in vaccinated population residing in different towns of Lahore, Pakistan. Conclusion(s): In our local population, majority accepted the vaccine and didn't deny to administer the vaccine. Pain, redness, lethargy, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, numbness and arthritis were noted to be the most common side effects of COVID-19 vaccine. Copyright © 2022 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.
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Health organizations are working to reduce the outbreak of infectious diseases with the help of several techniques so that exposure to infectious diseases can be minimized. Mathematics is also an important tool in the study of epidemiology. Mathematical modeling presents mathematical expressions and offers a clear view of how variables and interactions between variables affect the results. The objective of this work is to solve the mathematical model of MERS-CoV with the simplest, easiest and most proficient techniques considering the fractional Caputo derivative. To acquire the approximate solution, we apply the Adomian decomposition technique coupled with the Laplace transformation. Also, a convergence analysis of the method is conducted. For the comparison of the obtained results, we apply another semi-analytic technique called the homotopy perturbation method and compare the results. We also investigate the positivity and boundedness of the selected model. The dynamics and solution of the MERS-CoV compartmental mathematical fractional order model and its transmission between the human populace and the camels are investigated graphically for theta = 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, 1.0. It is seen that the recommended schemes are proficient and powerful for the given model considering the fractional Caputo derivative.
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Background: The general atmosphere of the medical college is frequently seen as being extremely stressful;as a result, medical students' academic results suffer, as well as their physical and psychological health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate medical students' levels of anxiety about their future careers. Objectives: To exploring the level of anxiety among medical students during COVID-19 Pandemic Methods: It was a descriptive quantitative cross-sectional research. After receiving verbal approval from each student at the Fatima Jinnah Medical University in Lahore, the participants enrolled. The data was gathered using a pre-designed questionnaire. A VAS score was employed to assess anxiety levels. SPSS 23 was used to analyze data. To get the desired findings, a statistical test like the chi-square test was used, with a p-value of 0.05 being considered statistically significant. Results: The results showed that the mean age student was 20.33± 1.49 years with range from 19-27 years of 165 female medical students were enrolled. Maximum strength of 3rd professional year as 70(42.42%), students were asked to respond to their own self-perceived level of anxiety by using VAS scale of 0 to 100 (mild, moderate and severe) and 84(50.91%) students' shows severe level of anxiety. The factor contributing anxiety during COVID-19 explored and faced fear about future career 127(76.97%). Students observed that it took great effort to understand online lectures 108(65.45%) and faced the problem of recalling the memorized online 112(67.88%) as insignificant p-value. Conclusion: The COVID-19 epidemic did not seem to enhance the general degree of anxiety among medical students, but instead, they were more concerned about their studies, exams, and especially their future career.
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Objective: To share the experience of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-COVID-19 at a tertiary care hospital in Quetta, Baluchistan. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pathology, Combined Military Hospital Quetta, from Mar to Dec 2020. Methodology: This study included 14,741 study participants presenting to CMH Quetta with signs and symptoms of Corona-virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) and others undergoing COVID-19 PCR for screening purpose. Nasopharyngeal swab collected from these study participants were tested for COVID-19 viral RNA by real-time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Results: Out of these 14,741 study participants, 1886 (12.7%) were found to be SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive. Among 1886 study participants, 1503 (80%) were males while 383 (20%) were females. Mean age of the study participants was 36 ± 14 years. Most frequent clinical presentations were body aches (96.5%), fever (94.1%), cough (66.8%) and loss of appetite (68.2%). Around 67 (3.5%) positive study participants were asymptomatic. Conclusion: In this study, we observed male predominance but severity of signs and symptoms among female study participants. SARS-COVID-19 caused disease with wide range of clinical spectrum and disease can be fatal as well. © 2021, Army Medical College. All rights reserved.
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Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of peripheral nervous system disorders among COVID-19 survivors. Study Design: Cross-sectional Survey Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Department of Rehabilitation and Allied Health Sciences, Riphah International University Lahore Campus from December, 2020 to June, 2021 for a period of 06 months. Materials and Methods: 144 patients recovered from Covid-19 through non probability convenience sampling were recruited for study. Patients were assessed for pain, smell, taste, balance and two-point discrimination and the ability to identify familiar objects. The data was collected according to the responses after patients approved to provide information. Data was coded in SPSS data sheet which was later analyzed for statistical frequencies and percentages. Results: Mean age of patients was reported to be 34.5 ± 6.9 years. The mean score patients marked on the VAS scale for their pain was reported to be 4.96 with a standard deviation of 1.77. 42.4% of the 144 patients had complaints of symptoms associated to peripheral nerve involvements thus making a prevalence of 42.4%. Out of 144 patients in total, 39 i.e. 27.1% reported to have a total loss of smell i.e. Anosmia, 42 patients i.e. 29.2% sensed the smell accurately, 45 i.e. 31.3% had a reduced sense of smell whereas 18 patients i.e. 12.5% had an increased sensitivity to the different smells they were asked to sense. 47 patients i.e. 32.6% had ageusia i.e. a total loss of taste they were offered. 36 i.e. 25% had normal taste and accurately comprehended the different flavors they were offered, 41 i.e. 28.5% had reduced taste sense i.e. hypoeusia and responded that they could taste but the intensity was lesser than normal. Conclusion: Majority of the patients had peripheral nerve symptoms, a loss of smell, taste and impaired balance after recovery. © 2021 Medical Forum Monthly. All rights reserved.
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Aim: COVID had an unprecedented effect on the NHS elective surgical care. To overcome the deficit created due to the pandemic, the concept of a 'COVID protected zone' gave birth to the 'hospital within the hospital'. This included 9 elective theatres, 28 ring fenced elective beds, a surgical enhanced care unit, a canteen and a separated entrance. Of the fundamentals of the model were enhanced infection control and PPE guidance for staff. The aim of our study was to evaluate the recovery of elective activity brought about by this elective centre. Methods: Theatre activity data was collected weekly (7/20 to 1/21) through the business informatics system. This was used to compare the activity achieved during the recovery phase from COVID after the first and subsequent wave. Results: Pre COVID-19, 11 theatres were operating. These managed an average of 263 cases were per week. In the first week of operation of elective centre, 31% of theatre capacity was achieved. By week 7, 106% of pre COVID was recorded and 130% by week 11. During the 2nd wave the capacity was reduced to 42% as opposed to 0% during the first wave. This was only possible due to our model elective centre. Conclusion: This model elective centre has enabled elective care to return to above normal levels, with increased efficiencies. This has not only shortened patient waiting times and cleared the back-log but also delivered training to surgical trainees without compromising safety.
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Background: Corona virus disease 19 is an acute respiratory disease, the causative organism being SARS-COV-2, a novel coronavirus from china alarmed whole world. (1) and later became a pandemic. As pregnant women were equally susceptible to this infection there was a need to follow these cases closely so that guidelines can be made based on these observations. Aim: To report the clinical experience regarding course of disease in pregnant women and fetal outcome in those who delivered during the study. Methods: The clinical course of 47 pregnant women admitted in COVID isolation ward of Sir Gangaram Hospital from 8th April to 7th July were closely followed. Data regarding their demographic characteristics, clinical findings, laboratory tests, imaging studies, treatment given and neonatal and maternal outcome in patients who delivered during this period, was collected. All the data was entered on SPSS version 23 and analyzed. Results: Mean age of women was 28.4 years, ranging between 19–39 years. Mean duration of gestation was 32weeks ranging between 10 to 40 weeks. 82.9% women were multigravidas.72.3%women were educated. 78.8% patients got infected via unknown source rest from the family.42.5% infected women were asymptomatic. Out of 57%symptomatic women 6% had severe disease.76.5%pts had raised TLC while in 8.5%. Conclusion: COVID 19 is a new disease and herd immunity will take time to develop .pregnant women are equally susceptible to this infection although current study points it to be a less fatal disease in pregnant women as compared to other corona viruses but care must be taken to protect pregnant women as evidence on long term fetomaternal follow up is not available to date. © 2021 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.