Bacterial co-infections and antimicrobial resistance associated with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 infection.

Bacterial co-infections are typically associated with viral respiratory tract infections and pose a significant public health problem around the world. COVID-19 infection damages tissues lining the respiratory track and regulates immune cells/cytokines leading to microbiome dysbiosis and facilitating the area to be colonized by pathogenic bacterial agents. There have been reports of different types of bacterial co-infection in COVID-19 patients. Some of these reports showed despite geographical differences and differences in hospital settings, bacterial co-infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. The inappropriate use of antibiotics for bacterial infections, particularly broad-spectrum antibiotics, can also further complicate the infection process, often leading to multi drug resistance, clinical deterioration, poor prognosis, and eventually death. To this end, researchers must establish a new therapeutic approach to control SARS-CoV-2 and the associated microbial coinfections. Hence, the aim of this review is to highlight the bacterial co-infection that has been recorded in COVID-19 patients and the status of antimicrobial resistance associated with the dual infections.

The Adverse Reactions of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose are Mild and Similar to the Second Dose Responses: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Like other vaccines, Pfizer BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 virus infections begins to decline within a few months after the 2nd dose. On August 12, 2021, the FDA allowed additional Pfizer BioNTch's COVID-19 vaccine dose (3rd or booster dose) for individuals with weakened immunity. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term adverse reactions (ADRs) of the 2nd and the 3rd doses of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Methods: Information for this study was collected by Google Form questionnaire (online survey). The results included responses from 442 people, the majority from Saudi Arabia. Results: The most common local ADRs following the 3rd dose were injection site pain, injection site hypersensitivity, and axillary lymph node swelling. The most common systemic ADRs were fatigue, muscle pain, bone pain, headache, and fever less than 38ºC. Less common systemic ADRs were shivering, fever more than 38ºC, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea, arrhythmia, cough, abdominal pain, chest tightness, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and tachypnea. Rare systemic ADRs were constipation, dizziness and vertigo, lack of concentration, sore throat, excessive hair loss, dysmenorrhea and heavy menstruation, and Bell's palsy. Severe allergic reactions were reported by 2.6% of participants after the 2nd dose, compared with none after the 3rd dose. Nasal congestion and runny nose are more frequent after the 3rd dose. The ADRs of the 2nd and 3rd doses were significantly more prevalent in females. 12% of participants reported ADRs lasting more than one week after the 3rd dose compared to 5% after the 2nd dose. People ≤ 60 years were more affected by the vaccine ADRs. Conclusion: Most of the ADRs reported after the 3rd vaccine dose were consistent with the Pfizer vaccine information sheet and similar to the 2nd dose ADRs.

Elevated Salivary Inflammatory Biomarkers are Associated with SARS-CoV-2 Infection Severity.

High levels of inflammatory cytokines in serum have been reported in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. There is growing interest in recognizing the role of inflammatory biomarkers in saliva in diagnosing systemic diseases. This study assumed that estimating biomarkers in saliva samples from patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 would distinguish between mild and severe cases. Saliva was collected from 142 controls and 158 SARS-CoV-2 patients (mild 72 and severe 86) to measure interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand-10 (CXCL-10). IL-6 and CXCL-10 were significantly increased in patients with mild and severe SARS-CoV-2 infections. CRP was significantly increased only in severe SARS-CoV-2 cases. All biomarkers were significantly higher in severe cases than in mild cases (p < 0.001). Among patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, men showed significantly higher CRP and CXCL-10 levels than females (p < 0.01 and 0.05, respectively). In addition, elderly patients (40-80 years) had significantly higher IL-6, CRP, and CXCL-10 (p < 0.001). Patients with diabetes and hypertension showed elevated IL-6, CRP, and CXCL-10 (p < 0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between IL-6, CRP, CXCL-10, and between age, IL-6, CRP, and CXCL-10. Saliva may have a future value in measuring the inflammatory biomarkers associated with the severity of SARS-CoV2 infection and therapeutic monitoring.

Insights into the Antimicrobial, Antioxidant, Anti-SARS-CoV-2 and Cytotoxic Activities of Pistacia lentiscus Bark and Phytochemical Profile; In Silico and In Vitro Study.

Foodborne infections and antibiotic resistance pose a serious threat to public health and must be addressed urgently. Pistacia lentiscus is a wild-growing shrub and has been utilized for medicinal applications as well as for culinary purposes. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of P. lentiscus bark in vitro, as well as the phytochemical composition, are the focus of this inquiry. The bark extract of P. lentiscus showed significant antimicrobial activity in experiments on bacteria and yeast isolated from human and food sources. The exposure time for the complete inhibition of cell viability of P. aeruginosa in the extracts was found to be 5% at 15 min. Phytochemical inquiry of the methanol extract demonstrates the existence of carbohydrates, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, triterpenes, and alkaloids. Deep phytochemical exploration led to the identification of methyl gallate, gallic acid, kaempferol, quercetin, kaempferol 3-O-α-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3-O-ß-glucoside, and Quercetin-3-O-ß-glucoside. When tested using the DPPH assay, the methanol extracts of P. lentiscus bark demonstrated a high free radical scavenging efficiency. Further, we have performed a molecular modelling study which revealed that the extract of P. lentiscus bark could be a beneficial source for novel flavonoid glycosides inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Taken together, this study highlights the Pistacia lentiscus bark methanol extract as a promising antimicrobial and antiviral agent.

Minor to Moderate Side Effects of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Among Saudi Residents: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has recently received emergency approval from the US FDA. The mRNA technology was used to manufacture the Pfizer vaccine; however, as a pioneering technology that has never been used in the manufacture of vaccines, many people have concerns about the vaccine's side effects. Thus, the current study aimed to track the short-term side effects of the vaccine. METHODS: The information in this study was gathered by a Google Form-questionnaire (online survey). The results included the responses of 455 individuals, all of whom are Saudi Arabia inhabitants. Adverse effects of the vaccine were reported after the first and the second doses. RESULTS: The most common symptoms were injection site pain, headaches, flu-like symptoms, fever, and tiredness. Less common side effects were a fast heartbeat, whole body aches, difficulty breathing, joint pain, chills, and drowsiness. Rare side effects include Bell's palsy and lymph nodes swelling and tenderness. Flu-like symptoms were more common among those under 60 years of age, while injection site pain was more frequent among recipients who were 60 years and older. The study revealed a significant increase in the number of females who suffered from the vaccine side effects compared to males. Difficulty of breathing was more reported among recipients who had been previously infected with the coronavirus compared to those who had not been previously infected. CONCLUSION: Most of the side effects reported in this study were consistent with Pfizer's fact sheet for recipients and caregivers. Further studies are required to determine the long-term side effects.

Reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP)-based diagnosis: A potential alternative to quantitative real-time PCR based detection of the novel SARS-COV-2 virus.

The sudden outbreak of the novel Coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19) resulted in significant challenges to global health systems. One of the primary challenges is rapid, reliable, and accurate detection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) virus among the suspected COVID-19-infected individuals. At present, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) is a widely used diagnostic method. However, it requires expensive instruments and expertise in the interpretation of results. These constraints reflect the significant need for the development of alternative diagnostic options. This study will validate the use and efficiency of the reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay as a potential alternative for the detection of COVID-19. For this purpose, a cohort of 297 suspected COVID-19 patients was tested using both the RT-LAMP assay and the conventional RT-PCR method. For the RT-LAMP assay, three genes (orf-1ab, N, and S) were identified as the target sites for the detection of COVID-19. Based on a comparative assessment, 117 out of 124 positive COVID-19 cases were observed using the RT-LAMP technique with an overall 91.45% sensitivity. Interestingly, where a consensus on 163 individuals free of SARS-Cov-2 was observed, RT-LAMP specificity was 90%. Based on these findings, the robustness of the technique, and the reduced dependency on expensive instrumentation, RT-LAMP-based COVID-19 detection is strongly recommended as a potential alternative assay.