ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapid spread worldwide and its pathogenesis is still not well understood. It's critical to identify the key immune inflammatory markers that may be correlated with COVID-19 severity. Objective: This study aimed to study the association of the peripheral lymphocyte subsets' alteration and IL-6 serum level with disease severity and outcome in COVID-19. Methodology: Samples from 30 COVID-19 patients were collected;one is EDTA anticoagulated for flowcytometric analysis of different lymphocyte subsets and the other for Interleukin-6 (IL6) serum level assessed by ELISA technique. Results: Absolute lymphocytic count (0.9 (0.5-1.4)× 103/µL), CD4+ T cells (217 (135.6-445.5) cells/µL), CD8+ T cells (160 (112-338) cells/µL) and natural killer (NK) cells (33.3 (18.2-99.5) cells/µL) were significantly reduced in severe COVID-19 patients with significantly elevated IL-6 serum levels 90 (70-120) (pg/mL) in severe patients. Lower T lymphocytes and NK subset counts with higher IL-6 levels were significantly associated with higher mortality. However, B cell count was not associated with severity or mortality. Il-6 levels, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells counts were considered best predictors of disease severity and mortality according to ROC curve analysis (with AUC 0.842, 0.884 and 0.773 respectively). Conclusion: Peripheral lymphocyte subsets as CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells and NK cells were significantly reduced in severe COVID-19 patients. CD4+ T cell count was the most significant biomarker for disease severity.Serum IL-6 levels were higher in severe illness. So, IL-6 can serve as a significant predictor of COVID-19 severity. As regard mortality and relation with lymphocytic count and lymphocytic subsets, total lymphocytic count and all T lymphocyte subsets CD4+, CD8+ and CD56+ cells count can be used as a significant predictor of death in COVID-19 patients. However, CD19+ cells counts had no relation with death. © 2020 The author (s). Published by Zagazig University.
ABSTRACT
Background. Healthcare workers (HCWs) are a vulnerable group to psychological distress (PD) because they are subjected to strict working conditions, and the nature of the work implies a heavy level of emotional involvement. Objective. This study is aimed at determining psychological distress among healthcare workers with chronic diseases during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods. This was a quantitative cross-sectional correlation study. An online self-administered questionnaire was completed from July 2021 to October 2021 by a convenience sample of 302 HCWs at two primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia. The Kessler psychological distress scale was used to assess psychological distress among HCWs. Results. The prevalence of HCWs who contracted COVID-19 was 59.9%. The overall mean score of K10 was 4.38 (SD=0.706). The majority of HCWs that had the highest percentage of a very high level of distress were female (66.2%), between the ages of 30 and 40 years (35.1%), had more than 10 years of work experience (48.0%), and were nurses (49.7%), married (61.6%), and infected with COVID-19 (59.9%). There was a significant association between the age, working experience, and PD scores of the HCWs P value < 0.05. A significant correlation between each of the variables of (heart disease, high blood pressure, lung disease, diabetes, ulcer, anemia, depression, and back pain) and PD whereas the P value < 0.05 and the R value < 0.3. Conclusion. HCWs with associated comorbidities have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a very high level of PD among the studied population. HCWs with hypertension and back pain were the most affected by psychological distress, and emotional distress could be exacerbated if the HCWs contracted COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 Pandemic has a huge influence on the learning process worldwide. To maintain student academic progress, learning activities were converted to distance learning to control the further spread of the COVID-19 virus. During this period several studies around the world were conducted to assess the effectiveness of distance learning. The results of these studies showed different perspectives, some of the students preferred e-learning while other preferred traditional methods. The aim of this study was to assess the experience of undergraduate nursing students who used distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used to conduct the study. A convenient sampling approach was used to collect the data electronically via self-reported questionnaires. The study included 328 participants. The average score of the effectiveness domain was (2.58 +/- 0.68, medium level), and the satisfaction domain was (2.56 +/- 0.54, medium level). The results indicate that technical issues were the most significant barrier (75.6%) to distance learning, followed by physical problems, and decreased access to technological devices. Savings in transportation costs (74.1%), savings in time (71.6%), and the opportunity to review recorded lectures (67.4%) were the benefits of distance learning reported by nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the nursing students reported a positive preference for distance learning. Technical issues were the most significant barrier while decreased transportation costs were the most significant facilitator. These findings were consistent with other studies from different settings. Further research is needed to build upon these findings. (C) 2022 The Authors. Published by IASE.