RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOME INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND BACTERIAL INFECTIONS AMONG COVID-19 PATIENTS.

Fifty blood samples were collected from patients who were confirmed to have COVID-19 by conducting a diagnostic test using real-time RT-PCR for the direct qualitative detection of the Coronavirus when the patients attended the private clinics at Al Rabeea Private Hospital in Mosul for the period from the beginning of March to the end of May 2021. The patients' ages range from17-59 years, with 23 males (46%), and 27 females (54%). The blood samples were taken before giving any type of treatment for blood culture, biochemical, and immunological tests. Bacteremia is investigated to determine the types of bacteria that cause bacteremia, biochemical tests such as D-dimer, S. Ferritin, CRP, Protein S, Protein C, FBS, LDH, Blood Urea, Serum Creatinine, SGOT & SGPT, and immunological tests such as blood group, IgG & IgM, IL-1B, IL-6, TNF-α alpha, ASOT, ESR, C3, and C4. In this study, the relationship between bacteremia and the types of biomarkers used is determined in addition to the relationship of bacteremia to the patient's age, sex, SPO2, and body temperature. More accurate comparison is also accomplished in cases of bacteremia by adopting the types of bacteria isolated if they were gram-positive or gram-negative. The results of this study show an increase in the severity of COVID-19 disease caused by a secondary bacterial infection. This is determined by measuring several biomarkers used in this study and also by performing bacteriological tests to document bacteremia by blood culture. Also, these results can be adopted in future studies concentrating on the molecular level to determine the genetic changes associated with viral infection with or without secondary bacterial infection to develop an effective treatment protocol.

Twin pregnancies: incidence and outcome - Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital experience.

A retrospective study of twin births at the Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh, from January 1987 to December 1996 was carried out. There were 62 739 deliveries and 598 sets of twins. The incidence of twins was one in 105 maternities. The perinatal mortality rate was 46 per 1000 births compared with 12.3 per thousand for singletons. Premature delivery (<34 weeks) and very low birth weight infants (<1500 g) accounted for 12.5% and 8.7% of the twin deliveries respectively, but contributed to 60% and 63.6% of the total deaths respectively. Nineteen (3.2%) patients received no antenatal care, however, they contributed to 16.2% of the total deaths. This report represents our experience at the Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the management of twin pregnancies during a period of 10 years.

Cesarean delivery of the second twin after vaginal delivery of the first twin.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.