RESUMEN
Background: Post-viral anosmia is responsible for more than 40% of cases of anosmia. Anosmia has been a neglected symptom in the primary healthcare setting until the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection highlighted new atypical symptoms of the disease, including anosmia, which has become one of the diagnostic symptoms of the disease, and epidemiological concern. We aimed to detect the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection within patients presented with anosmia and to test for other respiratory viruses in the negative COVID-19 patients. We also detected the recovery of anosmia and IgM/IgG against COVID-19. We prospectively included 60 outpatients with the major complaint of anosmia. Nasopharyngeal swabs were done for SARS-CoV-2 real-time PCR, and if negative, PCR to other respiratory pathogens was tested. After one month, we inquired about the recovery of smell loss together with testing for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Result(s): Sixty patients were enrolled in the study. Forty-six patients (76.7%) were SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive and 14 (23.3%) were negative. Rhinovirus was the commonest isolated pathogen in the negative cases (5/14). Complete recovery of anosmia occurred in 34 patients (56.7%), while partial recovery in 24 (40.0%), and no recovery in 2 patients (3.3%). The median time to complete recovery was 10 days. 28.3% (13/46) of the patients showed negative antibody response for both IgG and IgM. Conclusion(s): Sudden-onset anosmia is a symptom that is highly predictive of being COVID-19-infected. While recovery is expected within 2 weeks, some patients have no antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.Copyright © 2022, The Author(s).
RESUMEN
Objective Vitamin D has many immune benefits and because its deficiency impacts most age groups, it became a nutrient of interest in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) era. The objective of this study was to highlight the contribution of vitamin D status to the disease severity of hospitalized pediatric patients suffering from COVID-19 infection. Methods This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted on 42 children with documented positive polymerase chain reaction for COVID-19 infection. Detailed history taking and thorough clinical examination were done for each recruited patient. Besides the laboratory and radiological assessment done for COVID-19 patients, 25 hydroxy vitamin D levels [25(OH) D] in the serum were estimated using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Results Using the cutoff level of 10 ng/mL, only 40% of the patients were below this level and 60% had their vitamin D level more than or equal to 10 ng/mL. Significantly more patients of the first group needed oxygen support (denoting more severe COVID-19 infection and lung involvement). The older the patients, the more evident was vitamin D deficiency among them, and 25(OH) D values were not correlated to weight for length nor weight categories in the studied series of patients suffering from COVID-19. Conclusion Vitamin D deficiency affects the severity of pediatric COVID-19 infection in hospitalized patients. It is prudent to advise vitamin D level assessment in such cases and promptly manage the patients accordingly. We recommend further studies to assess the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the clinical outcome of COVID-19 in the pediatric population and other vulnerable groups.
RESUMEN
Background: The WHO has declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic with a rapidly increasing number of patients at a rate exceeding the limits of health-care resources. Some people seem to be at higher risk of worse prognosis and increased mortality. Identifying these vulnerable groups is a necessity. Aim of study: To identify the risk factors associated with ICU admission in COVID-19 patients. Methodology: We present a retrospective study where the clinical data of patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection were collected from Ain-Shams University Isolation-Hospital records on admission from 10 April 2020 to 30 July 2020 to identify risk factors in patients requiring ICU admission during hospital stay. Results: Of 323 subjects diagnosed by the RT-PCR as positive COVID-19, 62 (19.2%) of which were admitted at the ICU. The mean age of the subjects was 46.6 ± 16 years. Significant morbidities were associated with higher age groups (p value 0.000), smokers (p value 0.004), Cairo-residents (p value 0.009), being a health-care provider (p value 0.001) and hypertensive patients (p value 0.000). Conclusions: Elderly, smokers, diabetic and hypertensive need further attention during disease course. Our results call for further investigations of risk factors for COVID-19 severity;preferably on large prospective cohorts, to increase their validity.
RESUMEN
A significant difference in the number of novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) cases and mortality has been noted among different World Health Organization (WHO) regions and countries. We compared the vaccination schedules for 2 countries from WHO Europe Region (Italy and Spain) and 2 countries from WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (Iran and Egypt). Both Iran and Egypt included the Sabin vaccine as part of the obligatory vaccination programs;meanwhile, Italy and Spain used the Salk vaccine. Recently, Iran and Egypt added a single dose of the Salk vaccine to the 6-7 doses of Sabin vaccine because of the new evidence showing that the use of the Salk vaccine in conjunction with Sabin vaccine achieves better mucosal immunity. Italy and Spain used an acellular vaccine against pertussis. Meanwhile, Iran and Egypt used a whole-cell vaccine. Taking into consideration the lower number of deaths in Iran and Egypt compared to Italy and Spain, we could hypothesize that the whole-cell pertussis vaccine could have a cross-immunity against COVID-19. Further research is warranted to identify the main reasons for the lower number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in certain countries in order to control COVID-19.
RESUMEN
Due to the international spread of COVID-19, the difficulty of collecting nasopharyngeal swab specimen from all suspected patients, the costs of RT-PCR and CT, and the false negative results of RT-PCR assay in 41% of COVID-19 patients, a scoring system is needed to classify the suspected patients in order to determine the need for follow-up, home isolation, quarantine or the conduction of further investigations. A scoring system is proposed as a diagnostic tool for suspected patients. It includes Epidemiological Evidence of Exposure, Clinical Symptoms and Signs, and Investigations (if available). This scoring system is simple, could be calculated in a few minutes, and incorporates the main possible data/findings of any patient.