Community pharmacists faced more complex challenges in meeting patients’ medication needs during the pandemic than previously reported in the literature. Objectives To explore the perception and abilities of community pharmacists in managing patients’ needs in terms of medication dispensing during the pandemic, and to examine its effect on improving the patients’ situations. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional study design, validated by 30 experts, was conducted using an electronic survey (Google Form) to assess the effect of the dispensing practice of Iraqi community pharmacists on the patient’s clinical outcomes during the pandemic. The survey was distributed on professional pharmacist’s social media platforms from December 2021 to June 2022. Results It was found that more than 75% of participants agreed that their role in managing mild cases of COVID-19 decreased the strain on other healthcare professionals. The pharmacists perceived that more than 80% of the patients were satisfied with the pharmacist’s advice regarding the COVID-19 treatment plan and recorded significant improvement (p ˂ 0.05) in the signs and symptoms of those patients. This was achieved by dispensing antibiotics, analgesics, and supplements according to the community pharmacists’ opinion. The main reason behind dispensing antibiotics and analgesics in Iraqi pharmacies during the COVID-19 pandemic was to provide the official prescription for patients. In contrast, 90% of the dispensed drugs without a prescription were nutritional supplements and analgesics, with vitamin C and paracetamol accounting for 90.8% and 88.9%, respectively. On the other hand, the antibiotics represented 70.5% of the dispensed drugs without a prescription, with azithromycin accounting for 76.1% of them. Conclusion Most of the participants succeeded in dealing with COVID-19 patients and were confident in dispensing analgesics, antibiotics, and supplements to treat mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 patients. Patients who trusted the pharmacist’s advice got significant improvement in their COVID-19 symptoms.
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on emergencies and pain among orthodontic patients attending a teaching hospital. The study was conducted among orthodontic patients receiving active orthodontic treatment or in a retention period at the College of Dentistry, University of Baghdad, Iraq. Their participation was voluntary, and they filled out an Arabic-translated questionnaire. The survey included general information, orthodontic problems, and a numerical rating scale for pain assessment. We used descriptive and inferential statistics (frequencies and intersecting frequencies), chi-square test and linear regression. Out of 75 orthodontic patients, only 54 (15 males and 39 females) were included in the s
... Show MoreAfter the outbreak of COVID-19, immediately it converted from epidemic to pandemic. Radiologic images of CT and X-ray have been widely used to detect COVID-19 disease through observing infrahilar opacity in the lungs. Deep learning has gained popularity in diagnosing many health diseases including COVID-19 and its rapid spreading necessitates the adoption of deep learning in identifying COVID-19 cases. In this study, a deep learning model, based on some principles has been proposed for automatic detection of COVID-19 from X-ray images. The SimpNet architecture has been adopted in our study and trained with X-ray images. The model was evaluated on both binary (COVID-19 and No-findings) classification and multi-class (COVID-19, No-findings
... Show MoreBy March 2020, a pandemic had been emerged Corona Virus Infection in 2019 (COVID-19), which was triggered through the sensitive pulmonary syndrome (SARS disease corona virus- 2 (SARS COV-2). Overall precise path physiology of SARS COV-2 still unknown, as does the involvement of every element of the acute or adaptable immunity systems. Additionally, evidence from additional corona virus groups, including SARS COV as well as the Middle East pulmonary disease, besides that, fresh discoveries might help researchers fully comprehend SARS CoV-2. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) serve a critical part in both detection of viral particles as well as the stimulation of the body's immune response. When TLR systems are activated, pro-inflammatory cy
... Show MoreAt the end of 2019, a new form of Coronavirus (later dubbed COVID-19) emerged in China and quickly spread to other regions of the globe. Despite the virus’s unique and unknown characteristics, it is a widely distributed infectious illness. Finding the geographical distribution of the virus transmission is therefore critical for epidemiologists and governments in order to respond to the illness epidemic rapidly and effectively. Understanding the dynamics of COVID-19’s spatial distribution can help to understand the pandemic’s scope and effects, as well as decision-making, planning, and community action aimed at preventing transmission. The main focus of this study is to investigate the geographic patterns of COVID-19 disseminat
... Show MoreThe most prevalent chronic complication of diabetes mellitus is diabetic neuropathy. The pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy is exacerbated by hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress, which causes nerves to deteriorate in a programmed manner. Many clinical trials depend on supplement in an attempt to improve neuropathy symptoms such as (pain & tingling) and patient quality of life, one of them is Coenzyme Q10 which is reported to have an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and was totally nontoxic and non-reported side effects. This study aimed to evaluate using a Coenzyme Q10 supplement as an adjuvant therapy to gabapentin to improve the clinical symptoms of diabetic neuropathy in relation to its anti-inflammatory and antioxid
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