ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence and mortality rate of road traffic injuries in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on the data of patients who admitted by road traffic accidents 18 months before the outbreak of COVID-19 and 18 months after COVID-19 in the largest provider of trauma level 1 care services in southern Iran. SPSS 19 software was used to analyze the data. Results: A significant decrease of 12.8% was observed in the number of patients admitted by road traffic accidents during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared to the same period before the pandemic (p<0.0001). But the death toll from road traffic accidents has increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared to the same period before the pandemic (p=0.01). Conclusion: Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, it seems that factors such as restrictions on suburban travel, closure of public and recreational spaces, reduction of intra-city traffic, people staying at home and a significant reduction in injuries caused by traffic accidents, is reasonable. On the other hand, these restrictions, quarantines, and COVID disease itself can lead to confusion, anxiety, fear of infection, and thus avoid or delay the search for health care and increase mortality. Therefore, planning and policy-making is essential in order to prepare the correct guidance for seeking treatment.
ABSTRACT
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exhibits variable immunity responses among hosts based on symptom severity. Whether immunity in recovered individuals is effective for avoiding reinfection is poorly understood. Determination of immune memory status against SARS-CoV-2 helps identify reinfection risk and vaccine efficacy. Hence, after recovery from COVID-19, evaluation of protective effectiveness and durable immunity of prior disease could be significant. Recent reports described the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 -specific humoral and cellular responses for more than six months in convalescent SARS-CoV-2 individuals. Given the current evidence, NK cell subpopulations, especially the memory-like NK cell subset, indicate a significant role in determining COVID-19 severity. Still, the information on the long-term NK cell immunity conferred by SARS-CoV-2 infection is scant. The evidence from vaccine clinical trials and observational studies indicates that hybrid natural/vaccine immunity to SARS-CoV-2 seems to be notably potent protection. We suggested the combination of plasma therapy from recovered donors and vaccination could be effective. This focused review aims to update the current information regarding immune correlates of COVID-19 recovery to understand better the probability of reinfection in COVID-19 infected cases that may serve as guides for ongoing vaccine strategy improvement.