Protective Measures Practices Among Hospitals' Professionals Working in a Fragile Health System.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the protective measures among health-care workers (HCWs) in a war-torn area during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: An online cross-sectional questionnaire was administrated to HCWs in Syria between April 1 and May 21, 2020. The questions aimed to assess the HCWs' application of safety, hygiene, and necessary protection considerations while attending to suspected or proven COVID-19 cases. Unpaired t-test and 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Of the 290 participants included in the statistical analysis, 250 were medical doctors. Low scores of protective practices were noticed among the participants, as only 12% of doctors had a score above 6/15 points, and only 37.5% of nurses had a score of more than 4/12 points. Medical doctors who were not on the frontlines scored significantly higher than those who were on the frontlines (4.69 vs 3.80 points, respectively; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: More courses and training sessions should be implemented to improve the practice of protective measures among HCWs (frontliners in particular) in areas with fragile health systems, such as Syria, during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those on the frontlines. Moreover, specific COVID-19 protection measures guidelines to low-income countries are needed.

Assessment of medical students' preparedness and willingness for integration into a war-torn healthcare system: the example of COVID-19 pandemic scenario.

In Syria, medical students were placed on call to provide sufficient human resources during COVID-19 pandemic. This research aimed to explore the ability and willingness of the final-year medical students to assist during COVID-19 in the Syrian war-torn and fragile health-system. Final-year Syrian medical students were approached between 9th-17th April 2020 through an online questionnaire. Students' COVID-19-related medical knowledge (5-point score), clinical judgement (5-point score), and preparedness and willingness to integrate in healthcare facilities were assessed. A 10-point score was created, and linear regression and Tukey's HSD test were conducted. 1673 valid responses were received, of which 1199 (71.66%) responses were from the final-year students. Of the latter, 728 (60.71%) scored 4 points or higher in the medical knowledge score (mean 3.69 points), while 298 (24.85%) scored 4 or higher in the clinical judgement score. Final-year students scored significantly higher than the fourth-year students in the clinical judgement score. Finally, 682 (56.88%) of the final-year students expressed willingness to volunteer with healthcare teams. Final-year medical students may provide medical aid, on voluntary basis, by working in fragile health systems during pandemics. However, this should be undertaken in cases of extreme need. Sufficient personal protective measures, intensive training, and adequate supervision should be guaranteed.

The substantial awareness role of web-based and social media platforms in developing countries during a pandemic scenario: the example of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: During the outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19, social media platforms have shown effectiveness in information dissemination. Delivering evidence-based medical knowledge and trustworthy recommendations is a difficult mission for classical entities, especially in a war-torn country with a fragile health system. In this context, the role of non-governmental scientific organizations was proven, filling the gap between original scientific sources and a non-English speaking population. METHODS: We reviewed an example of an organization named Syrian Researchers, which publishes based-on-reliable-sources of scientific content and has massive reachability across Middle East and beyond. RESULTS: We strongly believe that this model is a simple and suitable approach that may be helpful for other low-income or war-torn countries in the context of health-related disasters. CONCLUSIONS: This subject is of high importance and we believe that this approach may ameliorate public health knowledge, thus, participate in defying the COVID-19 consequences.

A review of potential treatments to date in COVID-19 patients according to the stage of the disease.

INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION: Since the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide. With the rapid spread of this virus, an immense burden has fallen upon both healthcare and economic systems. As a consequence, there is an unprecedented urgency for researchers and scientific committees from all over the world to find an effective treatment and vaccine. REVIEW STRUCTURE: Many potential therapies are currently under investigation, with some, like Hydroxychloroquine, being authorized for emergency use in some countries. The crucial issue is now clearly to find the suitable treatment strategy for patients given comorbidities and the timeline of the illness. Vaccines are also under development and phase 1 clinical trials are rolling. Despite all efforts, no single drug or vaccine has yet been approved. In this review, we aim at presenting the proposed pathophysiological mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 and to provide clinicians with a brief and solid overview of the current potential treatments classified according to their use at the three different currently proposed disease stages. In light of pathogenesis and proposed clinical classification, this review's purpose is to summarize and simplify the most important updates on the management and the potential treatment of this emergent disease.