ABSTRACT
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a condition that consists predominantly of an apparent early delay in communication and social skills. Among the multiple identified etiologies, genetics play a key role. The implementation of early interventional therapy for children with ASD is starting to show promising results. A few medical databases were used to collect multiple published types of research, which were thoroughly screened. Ultimately, a small amount was selected according to the defined eligibility criteria. The 12 articles that were reviewed involved a more significant number of boys than girls, and most clinical trials displayed the importance of starting early therapy. Astonishingly, the overwhelming effects of the COVID-19 pandemic did not affect the continuation of speech therapy in certain areas. In addition, studies emphasize knowledge scarcity, insufficient resources in certain areas, and the demand to educate the community. Conversely, no difference in the level of severity was noted with the implementation of early therapy. Early therapy, chiefly speech therapy used to treat children with ASD, demonstrated favorable outcomes. Communities require awareness about the condition on a broader scale to educate caregivers on early alarming symptoms. All in all, additional exploration needs to be done.
ABSTRACT
Myopia is the most common refractive error among children. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected children's health in many ways. Policy changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as home quarantine and online schooling, have been proposed as causes for the increased risk of myopia progression. During strict home quarantine, children spend less time outdoors and more time using electronic devices which are important risk factors associated with myopia. Our systematic review aims to assess the relationship between myopia progression and these risk factors in children. We did the literature search from PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect. A total of 10 research papers were selected for final review using the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The research articles used had a quality of more than 70%. The quality of these articles was determined using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) tool. Our review included eight cross-sectional and two cohort studies. Most of these studies used questionnaires to assess the risk factors of myopia. Standardized ocular examinations were done in most studies to measure visual acuity, spherical equivalent, and axial lengths. Our study found that the progression of myopia was affected by the reduced time spent outdoors and increased screen time during the pandemic. We also found that children's increased use of electronic devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, has significantly affected myopia progression during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Digital microscopy (DM) is one of the cutting-edge advances in pathology, which entails improved efficiency, diagnostic advantages, and potential application in virtual diagnosis, particularly in the current era of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the diagnostic challenges are the remaining concerns for its wider adoption by pathologists, and these concerns should be addressed in a specific subspecialty. We aim to identify the common diagnostic pitfalls of whole slide imaging (WSI), one modality of DM, in gastrointestinal (GI) pathology. From validating studies of primary diagnosis performance, we included 16 records with features on GI cases involved, at least two weeks wash-out periods, and more than 60 case study designs. A tailored quality appraisal assessment was utilized to evaluate the risks of bias for these diagnostic accuracy studies. Furthermore, due to the highly heterogeneous studies and unstandardized definition of discordance, we extract the discordant cases in GI pathology and calculate the discrepant rate, resulting from 0.5% to 64.28%. Targeting discrepancy cases between digital microscopy and light microscopy, we demonstrate five main diagnostic pitfalls regarding WSI as follows: additional time to review slides in WSI, hard to identify dysplasia nucleus, missed organisms like Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), specific cell recognitions, and technical issues. After detailed reviews and analysis, we generate two essential suggestions for further GI cases signing out by DM. One is to use systematized 20x scans for diagnostic workouts and requesting 40x or even 60x scans for challenging cases; another is that a high-volume slides training should be set before the real clinical application of WSI for primary diagnosis, particularly in GI pathology.
ABSTRACT
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) that is challenging the health sector and negatively impacting the global economy takes us back to the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus pandemic that brought the world to a standstill. In 2009, H1N1 became a significant health concern for several months. It mainly affected people under the age of 65 hyears who had no prior immunity, including children. Among the high-risk populations were pregnant patients and those with chronic cardiac, pulmonary, or respiratory diseases. These patients were at risk of developing severe pneumonia and respiratory complications. Cystic fibrosis (CF) represents a form of severe chronic lung disease in young adults and is the major fatal hereditary disorder of Caucasians in the United States. An online search of PubMed and Google Scholar was conducted to find relevant literature that explicitly examines patients with CF and H1N1.
ABSTRACT
The ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected people from all cultures, religions, gender, and age groups around the world. In the last few months, several studies have been conducted on various aspects of COVID-19. Our goal was to see if the pediatric population is vulnerable to this infection. In this review, we conducted extensive research mainly by using the PubMed database. We used Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and associated keywords to engage in an extensive search focussing on COVID-19 in the pediatric population. We discovered that most of the studies were from China, and some of them were in the Chinese language. However, English translations of many of the studies were available. For accessing the relevant statistical data, we relied on the World Health Organization (WHO) resources and the official website of the Ontario Government (ontario.ca). Most of the studies showed that the virus has affected the pediatric population. However, we found some differences among these studies regarding the severity of symptoms in children affected by COVID-19. While a few studies stated that the virus has presented with milder symptoms in the pediatric population, some studies have presented data of children who have suffered life-threatening complications due to COVID-19. Although the data is limited, we have been able to conclude from the studies we reviewed that COVID-19 does indeed affect children the same way as any other age group. Moreover, children can act as carriers of the virus and can endanger the lives of other individuals. Besides, neonates and infants can easily acquire the infection from family members without having any exposure to the outside world. Hence, utmost care should be taken while handling this population. More trials and studies should be conducted to analyze the impact of early diagnosis of infection in children and its management.
ABSTRACT
A whole new pathogen, to which humans have virtually no pre-existing immunity, has caused fear all over the world. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV-2) is one of the types of human novel-coronavirus of the family coronavirus. The nature of transmission of the virus makes it one of the most infectious pathogenic diseases that has ever existed. Though the human coronaviruses have existed since the discovery of the human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) and human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) in 1960, it has been a challenge to develop an effective cure as well as vaccine for the diseases associated with coronaviruses. Commonly, human coronaviruses cause illnesses such as intestinal and respiratory tract illnesses. Nevertheless, the symptoms reflected after infection from the coronaviruses take some time before being identified. Thus, viruses can replicate and cause more harm to the human body before being detected. Moreover, research continues to explain why some gene variations in some individuals increase the risk of some infectious diseases, while others are not affected. Looking at gene variations in people infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and studying how genes influence people's response to infection will help to develop a vaccine that will help strengthen the immune system. Knowing how the human genes respond to the virus COVID-19 will help to cure people more effectively.
ABSTRACT
Today the world is facing one of the deadliest pandemics caused by COVID-19. This highly transmissible virus has an incubation period of 2 to 14 days. It acts by attaching to the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2) with the help of glycoprotein spikes, which it uses as a receptor. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR; rt-PCR) is the gold standard diagnostic test, and chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scan are the other main investigations. Several medications and passive immunization are in use to treat the condition. We searched using PubMed and Google Scholar using keywords such as COVID-19, coronavirus, and their combination with pathological findings, clinical features, management, and treatment to search for relevant published literature. After the removal of duplications and the selection of only published English literature from the past five years, we had a total of 31 papers to review. Most of the COVID-19 affected patients have mild pneumonia symptoms, and those with severe disease have comorbidities. Patients with COVID-19 had pathological findings, like ground-glass opacities, consolidations, pleural effusion, lymphadenopathy, and interstitial infiltration of inflammatory cells. Radiological changes show lung changes such as consolidations and opacities, and the pathological findings were infiltration of inflammatory cells and hyalinization. Patients with mild symptoms should self-quarantine, whereas those with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are treated in the hospital. Medications under trial include antivirals, antibacterials, antimalarials, and passive immunization. Supportive treatment such as oxygen therapy, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and ventilator support can also be used. The symptoms shown by patients are very mild and self-limiting. There is no definitive treatment, although a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin have shown good results, and passive immunization also shows promising results, their safety profile is yet to be studied in detail.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) is a catastrophic illness that has significantly altered the world's panoramic view of medicine. As the number of cases around the globe rise, the COVID-19 research writing has been immediately enhanced by professionals internationally. In this review, we focus on the neurological and psychological effects of COVID-19, which can determine both the severity of coronavirus and its related pandemic respectively. While it is critical to distinguish the neurological manifestations from the psychological effects, the latter is becoming more pervasive due to the fast-expanding outbreak. We conducted a systematic review and included observational retrospective, case-series studies, and surveys to establish the largest pool of valuable research. Articles on these approaches were conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google scholar. Some gray material was also selected because of the recent nature of the disease. Data collected from the studies have proposed that COVID-19 is not unusual in demonstrating the neurological symptoms, as it proved in the past by its sister coronaviruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-1 (SARS-COV-1) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-COV). Studies have presented that some patients with COVID-19 also showed neurological signs, such as headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, loss of taste and smell, and impaired consciousness. However, it necessary to clarify that the invasion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) directly or indirectly affects the central nervous system (CNS). Contrarily, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every single element of life. It has not only changed the individual's health directly but also has significant psychological, economic, and sociological effects. These issues indicate the disease's extraordinary threat, and we must realize that another pandemic will shortly follow it: that of mental and behavioral illness. Thus, the long-lasting psychological implications of this outbreak deserve further investigation side by side.