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The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm, placing healthcare systems around the globe under immense pressure. The exceptional circumstance has made the scientific community turn to artificial intelligence (AI), with hopes that AI techniques can be used in all aspects of combating the pandemic, whether it is in using AI to uncover sequences in the genomic code of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) virus for the purposes of developing therapeutics, such as antivirals, antibodies, or vaccines, or using AI to provide (near-) instantaneous clinical diagnosis techniques by way of analysis of chest X-ray (CXR) images, computed tomography (CT) scans or other useful modalities, or using AI for as a tool for mass population testing by analyzing patient audio recordings. In this chapter, we survey the AI research literature with respect to applications for COVID-19 and showcase and critique notable state of the art approaches. © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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BACKGROUND: Given the sparse data on vitamin D status in pediatric COVID-19, we investigated whether vitamin D deficiency could be a risk factor for susceptibility to COVID-19 in Egyptian children and adolescents. We also investigated whether vitamin D receptor (VDR) FokI polymorphism could be a genetic marker for COVID-19 susceptibility. METHODS: One hundred and eighty patients diagnosed to have COVID-19 and 200 matched control children and adolescents were recruited. Patients were laboratory confirmed as SARS-CoV-2 positive by real-time RT-PCR. All participants were genotyped for VDR Fok1 polymorphism by RT-PCR. Vitamin D status was defined as sufficient for serum 25(OH) D at least 30 ng/mL, insufficient at 21-29 ng/mL, deficient at <20 ng/mL. RESULTS: Ninety-four patients (52%) had low vitamin D levels with 74 (41%) being deficient and 20 (11%) had vitamin D insufficiency. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with 2.6-fold increased risk for COVID-19 (OR = 2.6; [95% CI 1.96-4.9]; P = 0.002. The FokI FF genotype was significantly more represented in patients compared to control group (OR = 4.05; [95% CI: 1.95-8.55]; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Vitamin D deficiency and VDR Fok I polymorphism may constitute independent risk factors for susceptibility to COVID-19 in Egyptian children and adolescents. IMPACT: Vitamin D deficiency could be a modifiable risk factor for COVID-19 in children and adolescents because of its immune-modulatory action. To our knowledge, ours is the first such study to investigate the VDR Fok I polymorphism in Caucasian children and adolescents with COVID-19. Vitamin D deficiency and the VDR Fok I polymorphism may constitute independent risk factors for susceptibility to COVID-19 in Egyptian children and adolescents. Clinical trials should be urgently conducted to test for causality and to evaluate the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation for prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19 taking into account the VDR polymorphisms.
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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is currently the greatest atypical pneumonia outbreak, causing widespread anxiety and fear. Objective(s): To study cases with clinical manifestations that have been identified as COVID-19 according to the Egyptian Ministry of Health's criteria, their management protocol, and outcome data at the isolation department of El-Dakhla General Hospital. Patients and Methods: This work was performed upon 106 patients with clinical symptoms of COVID-19 at the isolation department of El-Dakhla General Hospital. Result(s): Mortality was associated with older age. No patients within the died group had been vaccinated. Vaccination was significantly associated with decreased severity of chest affection, admission to the ICU, and duration of admission. Mortality was associated with severity of chest affection. All died patients were admitted to the ICU. This study also revealed that abnormal vital and laboratory data were significantly associated with mortality. On using binary regression analysis of factors to be significantly associated with mortality, lower duration of admission and not being admitted to ICU decreased the risk of mortality among the studied patients, yet was statistically nonsignificant (P>0.05), whereas higher C-reactive protein on admission increased the risk by 1.186 folds. Conclusion(s): Age, vaccination state, severity of chest affection, ICU admission and duration, use of some medications, vital data, and laboratory data are important factors to assess the prognosis and severity of COVID infection. Copyright © 2023 The Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis.
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COVID-19 is a deadly disease;at the time of the first COVID-19 wave (January 2020 to November 2020), so many deaths were reported worldwide. There were no standard conventional treatments and vaccines, so the whole world turned to traditional medicine. Siddha system of medicine is one of the traditional medicines practiced in the southern part of India. Shailam is a polyherbal formulation (licence no. 1189/25D) which was analyzed by molecular docking, with AutoDockVina software, against SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein (PDB ID 7DDD). Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties were also recorded for Shailams phytocompounds using the online SwissADME tool. The results of the molecular docking study showed that the phytocompounds, like Caryophyllene, Aspidospermidin-17-ol, N,N Dibenzylidene-3,3-dichlorobenzidine, Beta-selinene, Curzerene, Germacrene B, Spathulenol, had the highest docking scores: -6.6 Kcal/mol, -8.8 Kcal/mol, -8.7 Kcal/mol, -6.2 Kcal/mol, -6.0 Kcal/mol, -6.6 Kcal/mol, -6.5 Kcal/mol, respectively, and the scores fall within the docking score range of the four standard conventional drugs;Azithromycin, Hydroxychloroquinone, Ivermectin, and Remdesivir which had binding energies of 7.7 Kcal/mol, -5.9 Kcal/mol, -9.2 Kcal/mol, and -7.5 Kcal/mol, respectively. ADME analysis predicted that all of Shailams phytocompounds met four Lipinskis rule of five and have a higher bioavailability score (0.55) as compared to standard conventional drugs, Azithromycin, Hydroxychloroquinone, Ivermectin, and Remdesivir (0.17). Twelve of Shailams phytochemical compounds have high GIT absorption and can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In conclusion, Shailams phytocompounds show a good docking score and ADME property against SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein (PDB ID 7DDD) as compared to standard conventional drugs.
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This article discusses how Indonesia and Egypt dealt with Covid-19 from the Islamic law perspective. It focuses on fatwas regarding the establishment of religious rites in the Covid-19 periode. The study compares the two experiences in terms of the Islamic jurisprudential methodology and the fatwa issuance procedural systems. It analyzes the Islamic legal comparison between the Indonesian and Egyptian experiences in dealing with the Covid-19. This study found that the fatwa regarding Covid-19 in Egypt is responsive to the virus's rapid transmission. Therefore, Muslims have guidelines in performing worship during the Covid-19 period. The sharia arguments used in formulating the fatwa for the implementation of worship during the Covid-19 period are qiyas, maṣlaḥat, sad al-dharā'i and the opinions of the jurists. This methodological argument is used in principle to avoid the danger of spreading Covid-19. © 2021, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta. All rights reserved.
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Background: As a major source of morbidity and mortality, COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) has developed. In both COVID-19 and other pneumonias, high T/I troponin levels may indicate damage to the heart. Objective: ln order to expand our understanding of COVID-19 cardiology effects, as well as provide insights into the features of people who are more prone to cardiovascular diseases. Methods: At isolation hospital in Zagazig, and the isolation hospital in Tripoli, Libya, 42 COVID-19 positive subjects were studied for their echocardiographic parameters, the study was carried out from March 5th, 2021, to September 4th 2021. Results: Arrhythmias, myocardial infarctions, valvular dysfunction, pulmonary hypertension, and right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) were found to have no statistically significant association to the severity of COVID-19. Mean of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was statistically lower among severe COVID-19 patients than moderate and mild cases but means of RV diameter (mm) was statistically higher among severe COVID-19 patients than moderate and mild cases, mean of fractional area change (FAC) was statistically lower in severe COVID-19 patients. Pulmonary hypertension was the second most common echocardiographic finding (38% of patients). There was no statistically significant difference in pulmonary hypertension across COVID-19 patients in relation to the severity (P=0.211). Conclusion: Echocardiography can provide us with important information which can help in managing of patients with COVID-19 while we must consider contamination risks as well as transmission of diseases. © 2022, Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine. All rights reserved.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world unevenly;while industrial economies have been able to produce the tests necessary to track the spread of the virus and mostly avoided complete lockdowns, developing countries have faced issues with testing capacity. In this paper, we explore the usage of deep learning models as a ubiquitous, low-cost, pre-testing method for detecting COVID-19 from audio recordings of breathing or coughing taken with mobile devices or via the web. We adapt an ensemble of Convolutional Neural Networks that utilise raw breathing and coughing audio and spectrograms to classify if a speaker is infected with COVID-19 or not. The different models are obtained via automatic hyperparameter tuning using Bayesian Optimisation combined with HyperBand. The proposed method outperforms a traditional baseline approach by a large margin. Ultimately, it achieves an Unweighted Average Recall (UAR) of 74.9%, or an Area Under ROC Curve (AUC) of 80.7% by ensembling neural networks, considering the best test set result across breathing and coughing in a strictly subject independent manner. In isolation, breathing sounds thereby appear slightly better suited than coughing ones (76.1% vs 73.7% UAR). © 2021 IEEE.
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Background Determining the clinical features and outcomes of patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is fundamental to improve the understanding and adequate management of the novel illness. This study aims to identify the determinants of survival and the outcome within 30 days in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 infection in Upper Egypt. Patients and methods A total of 1064 cases were consecutively admitted to isolation hospitals in Upper Egypt. All cases had confirmed COVID-19 infection. The electronic records of the patients were retrospectively revised and the demographic data, clinical manifestations, quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA) score on admission, and 30-day outcome (ICU admission, death, recovery, or still in hospital) were analyzed. Overall cumulative survival rates in all patients and those more than or less than 50 years were calculated. Results Overall, 49.2% of the study population were males, whereas 50.8% were females, with mean age of 49.4±17.8 years. On admission, 83.9% were stable with qSOFA score less than 1, 3% required noninvasive mechanical ventilation, and 2.1% required O2 therapy. Within 30 days, 203 (19.1%) cases required admission to ICU. Death was recorded in 11.7% of cases, 28.7% recovered, and 59.7% were still under treatment. Determinants of ICU admission and survival in the current study were age more than 50 years, qSOFA more than 1, and need for O2 therapy or noninvasive ventilation. The cumulative survival was 75.3%, with the mean survival of 28.1, and 95.2% overall survival rate was recorded in those aged less than or equal to 50 years. Conclusions Age older than 50 years old, those with preexisting diabetes mellitus, initial qSOFA score, requirement for O2 therapy, and noninvasive ventilation from the first day of hospital admission may be associated with unfavorable 30-day in-hospital outcome of COVID-19.
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In the general framework of knowledge discovery, different techniques were used for information extraction from multi-label documents. As the world is currently facing COVID-19, it has made it more important than ever to have such knowledge extraction from previous documents. Therefore, Natural Language Processing (NLP) can be an essential model for tackling such an issue. By taking into consideration that having such a model plays an essential role to generate new insights in support of the ongoing fight against this infectious disease. This work introduces a sophisticated model that is able to read data from various articles about COVID-19, and finally give the most appropriate answer to the questions asked in order to gain insight information automatically. The model is applied to COVID-19 open research dataset challenge (CORD-19) that's has caught the attention of many researchers and it contains over 400,000 scholarly articles. The result of the proposed model has shown a good achievement, as it is explained in the result section. It was found that NLP is a good choice for tackling this global pandemic for information extraction and it contribute a new insight in support of the ongoing fight against this infectious disease. ©2021 Seventh Sense Research Group.
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Introduction: COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory infection which can have adverse effects on multiple organ systems. There is limited information concerning the harmful effects of social distancing in patients with chronic illnesses who avoid seeking medical attention due to fear of contracting the novel COVID-19 disease. Case Description: A 64-year-old African American female with a past history of HIV- related dementia and seizure disorder was residing with family members, requiring assistance with activities of daily living. She was ambulatory but needed assistance with hygiene and meals. The family reported that over the past 7-10 days, she had become less interactive, remaining bedbound and resisting oral intake. There was an initial reluctance to bring her to the Medical Center due to the fear of contracting COVID-19 infection, given her immune-suppressed status. Despite family efforts to provide social distancing and home care, mental status progressively worsened, prompting presentation to the emergency department. The patient had a GCS of 10. The patient was nonresponsive, did not follow commands, and only withdrew from noxious stimuli. Vital signs were prominent for fever 37.7° C and blood pressure was 94/64 mmHg. Pertinent laboratory results included: serum sodium, 201 mEq/L, plasma osmolality, 431 mOsm/kg, BUN 107 mg/dl, and creatinine of 4.8 mg/dL. CT head showed no acute intracranial pathology. Her condition required ICU care, including mechanical ventilation. COVID-19 screening was negative, while culture of lower respiratory secretions was positive for Staphylococcus aureus. With treatment of the respiratory infection and gradual hydration with 0.9 % sodium chloride solution which was shifted to Dextrose 5% after 3 days, the serum sodium concentration decreased to167 mEq/L. The patient was extubated and mental status gradually improved toward her baseline level. Serum sodium improved to 140 mEq/L and serum creatinine improved to 0.7 mg/dL over a 10 day period. The patient was subsequently transferred to a rehabilitation unit. Discussion: Despite the pivotal role of social distancing in preventing the spread of the novel Coronavirus, reluctance in seeking medical attention can lead to serious and even life threatening consequences.
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Background: The effect of angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) on outcome and severity in COVID-19 patients has been postulated. Methods: We performed a systematic review in different databases to identify studies and research work that assessed the association of ACEi/ARBs on the severity of illness and mortality in COVID-19 subjects. Inclusion criteria for our meta-analysis were all studies that included human subjects with COVID-19 infection, reported mortality and severity of the disease, and described ACEi/ARB treatment. The data collected were the name of the first author, journal title, the country of the study, sample size, relative risk and confidence intervals for association of ACEi/ARB treatment and mortality and severity. We used the random-effects model for the meta-analysis and the funnel plot analysis to assess potential publication bias. Results: Out of 4,702 records reviewed in different databases, 11 papers were included in our meta-analysis. Altogether, 8,643 patients were included in the final analysis. Random effects model (REM) for the relationship between ACEi/ARB and survival showed that ACEi/ARB does not affect survival (relative risk [RR]=0.81, confidence interval ranges [CIR] from 0.53 to 1.23). There was no evidence of heterogeneity with I-squared =25.5% and p<0.235. By applying Egger's test, there was no evidence of small studies effect with P=0.64. REM for the relationship between ACEi/ARB and disease severity showed that ACEi/ARB are not related to disease severity (RR=0.90, CIR from 0.70 to 1.15). There was evidence of heterogeneity with I-squared =56.2% and p=0.01. By applying Egger's test, there was no evidence of small studies effect with P=0.93. Conclusions: Based on the results of this meta-analysis, ACEi/ARB are not associated with increased mortality or severity in COVID-19 subjects.
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BackgroundSARS-CoV and MERS-CoV are two coronaviruses that received great attention due to their high pathogenicity and mortality rates in human populations. While SARS was controlled, MERS continues to be a global public health concern. To examine differences in the epidemic patterns of these two viruses, we collected all available sequences to compare the different evolutionary characteristics of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Notably, almost all of the human infection cases occurred in the Middle East, and cases that occurred outside of the Middle East involved travelers from this region, while African infections have so far not been reported. It is not clear that genetic differences between Africans and Arabs lead to differences in susceptibility.ResultsIn this study, we compared their evolutionary dynamics to provide a One Health perspective of their different results of disease control. The phylogenetic network of SARS-CoVs showed that human isolates gathered into a “super-spreader” cluster, and were distinct from civet isolates. In contrast, dromedary camel- and human-isolated MERS-CoVs were clustered together. Thus, most clades of MERS-CoV can infect humans, and MERS-CoVs seem easier to spill over from animal-to-human interface. Although MERS-CoVs are endemic to dromedary camels in both the Middle East and Africa, all human infections are linked to the Middle East. The nucleotide sequences of the MERS-CoV receptor gene--dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) from 30 Egyptians, 36 Sudanese, and 34 Saudi Arabians showed little difference.ConclusionsOur study reveals the reason why MERS-CoV is not easily controlled. Analysis of genetic differences between Africans and Arabs suggest that human population differences in DPP4 might not be the reason for their different MERS prevalence, raising the possibility that other reasons, such as poorer disease surveillance in Africa, might explain these observations.