Background: Despite the importance of vaccines in preventing COVID-19, the willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccines is lower among RA patients than in the general population. Objective: To determine the extent of COVID-19 knowledge among RA patients and their attitudes and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccines. Methods: A qualitative study with a phenomenology approach was performed through face-to-face, individual-based, semi-structured interviews in the Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, rheumatology unit. A convenient sample of RA patients using disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs was included until the point of saturation. A thematic content analysis approach was used to analyze the obtained data. Results: Twenty-five RA patients participated in this study. Regarding knowledge about COVID-19, most participants were able to define COVID-19, realize its contagious nature, and see the need for masks to get protection from this infection, while only a minority knew COVID-19 symptoms. Most participants obtained information about COVID-19 from TV programs and the public. Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, about 1/4 of the participants knew vaccine side effects, and only 12% of them had positive attitudes toward the vaccine. Additionally, 19 participants were unwilling to take the vaccine. The most common reasons behind this reluctance to take the vaccine include fear of the vaccine's short- and long-term side effects and the worsening of RA. Conclusion: RA patients' knowledge about COVID-19 and its vaccines was poor, and their attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines were negative.
The purpose of this interview study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of Response to Intervention (RtI) implementation in their school. Particularly, the study explored teachers’ knowledge of RtI, teachers’ perceptions of RtI their intervention/instruction in school, and teachers’ suggestions of RtI implementation in their school. The study design was a qualitative interview in nature and data were collected from face-to-face interviews with four teachers in one school. The findings revealed that RtI means to identify students’ problems; the positive teachers’ perceptions of their implementation included: (a) students who demonstrate progress through RtI are those who receive private education services, (b) progress monito
... Show MoreBackground: Health education was put as one of the components of primary health care elements and was recognized as a fundamental tool to the attainment of health for all
Objective: To evaluate the Knowledge, attitude regarding health education & to find out if there is any association between the gathered data and certain variables (age, gender, educational level, occupation). Methods: A Cross-sectional study done at Al Mustansyryia Primary Health Care Center from the 1st of January to 1st of May 2016. All patients attending the Primary Health Care Centers who were above 18 years of age and willing to participate in the research (303) were included in t
... Show MoreObjectives: To study the prevalence of rs1799964 (-1031 T/C) and rs361525 (- 238 G/A) SNPs and their effect on the disease activity, severity, and cytokines production in newly diagnosed Iraqi rheumatoid arthritis patients. Patients and Methods: sixty-three patients were diagnosed by a specialist physician while attending the rheumatology unit and twenty control participated. The inflammatory markers were measured and PCR amplification and sequencing were performed to demonstrate TNF-α SNPs. Results: Regarding (-1031 C/T) SNP, the TT genotype and allele C were significantly present in the controls, and the CT genotype was distributed significantly in the patients. The TT genotype was mostly distributed in the mild-moder
... Show MoreThis study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence rate of
toxoplasmosis among 294 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with
methotrexate (MTX), 50 RA patients without treatment and 50 samples as
healthy control. Blood samples were collected and the presence of T.gondii
IgG and IgM antibodies was determined by using Enzyme linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) was
also estimated in serum of all subjects by using ELISA method too. The
seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis IgM and IgG in RA+MTX was
60(20.408%), and 98(33.33%), in RA patients 4(8%), and 18(36%) while,
it was 2(24%), 6(12%) in healthy group. Tumor necrosis factor alpha
(TNF-α) was also estimated in serum of a
The prolactin hormone played role in the many autoimmune disorders. To determine the importance of high levels of prolactin in triggering rheumatoid arthritis, thirty patient's women with hyperprolactinemia aged (20-45) years old have been investigated and compared with twenty five healthy individuals. All the studied groups were carried out to measure the concentration of citrulinated peptide(CCP) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay( ELISA), antikeratin antibodies (AKA)and antinuclear antibodies(ANA) by indirect fluorescent assay IFAT. There was a significant elevation of CCP concentration compared with control groups (P< 0.05). The percentage of antikeratin antibodies and antinuclear antibodies was (20%, 10%) respectively, and
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis is a worldwide inflammatory chronic autoimmune disease with varying severity. Due to no definitive cure for this disease, current therapies aim to decrease the pain and slow further damage. The interleukin (IL)‐36 cytokine was little known for its role in rheumatoid arthritis; this research aimed to evaluate the serum IL36 levels in RA patients compared to healthy controls. This study included 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis registered at the Rheumatology Clinic in Baghdad teaching hospital. The patients were divided into three groups based on the treatments received. Group 1 included patients treated with biological therapy (etanercept, adalimumab), Group2 patients with non-biological treatment (methotr
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the autoimmune diseases characterized by the synovial inflammation which causes organs and tissues damage especially synovial tissues and joints. The study included 50 serum samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) when compared with 50 serum samples from healthy individuals as control with age range 35 – 60 years (41.3 ± 2.4 years vs. 41.0 ± 2.0 years, respectively). ELISA technique was used to assess the Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide IgG antibody (anti-CCP IgG Ab) level, anti-rheumatoid factor IgG antibody (anti-RF IgG) and anti-Cytomegalovirus (anti-CMV IgG) antibodies frequencies in the studied groups. The present findings demonstrated that all RA patients have 100% seropositive fr
... Show Moreackground An autoimmune and inflammatory illness called rheumatoid arthritis (RA) occurs when your immune system mistakenly attacks normal cells in your body. Interleukin-35 is a brand-new cytokine that belongs to the immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory IL-12 family. β -herpesvirus that produces inflammation and stays dormant in its host for life is the human cytomegalovirus. Human herpesvirus (HCMV) has been at the core of several RA-related theories. Objective The current study looked at the association between RA and serum IL-35 levels as well as the association between RA and CMV. Patients and methods Blood samples were taken in the Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Typical Rheumatology Unit from January 2022 to Mars 2022 for the curre
... Show MoreBackground: The COVID-19 virus outbreak had a massive effect on many parts of people's lives, as they were advised to quarantine and lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading, which had a big impact on people's mental health, anxiety, and stress. Many internal and external factors lead to stress. This negatively influences the body's homeostasis. As a result, stress may affect the body's capacity to use energy to defend against pathogens. Many recent investigations have found substantial links between human mental stress and the production of hormones, prohormones, and/or immunological chemicals. some of these researches have verified the link between stress and salivary cortisol levels. The aim of this study is to measure salivary corti
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder of the joints that is characterized by extra-articular involvement in addition to inflammatory arthritis. Joint and periarticular tissue loss brought on by inflammation results in functional impairment. To lessen the significant daily challenges that patients confront and to ensure better outcomes, early detection and treatment are essential. The study's objective was to establish the use of human β-defensin-2 (HBD-2) as a RA diagnostic marker. A total of 60 RA patients and 30 healthy controls participated in the research. The ELISA technique was used to measure serum HBD-2. The following tests were performed: complete blood count (CBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), renal func
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