Beta thalassemia major (BTM) is a genetic disorder that has been linked to an increased risk of contracting blood-borne viral infections, primarily due to the frequent blood transfusions required to manage the condition. One such virus that can be transmitted through blood is the Human Parvovirus B19 (B19V). The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency and molecular detection of B19V. This study included 60 blood donors as controls and 120 BTM patients. B19V was identified by serology, which measured B19-IgG and B19-IgM antibodies. Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (nPCR) was employed to target the VP1/VP2 structural proteins. The results showed that B19V seropositivity represents 27.5% (33 out of 120) in BTM patients, and only 8 out of 60 subjects represents (13.3%) in the control group (P-value 0.078). Notably, male patients exhibited a significantly higher prevalence of B19-IgM and B19-IgG antibodies, with 32% and 24% of males testing positive, respectively, compared to female patients. Elevated levels of Aspartate and Alanine Transaminase were observed with values of 51.94±50.09 and 46.81±50.20, respectively. Additionally, nPCR analysis detected B19V DNA in 4.16% (5 out of 120) of BTM patients, while no positive results were detected in the control group. Screening the blood and blood products for the virus in high-risk group can considerably reduce the prevalence. Preventive measures are required in such vulnerable population.
Background: since December 2019, China and in particularly Wuhan, faced an unprecedented an outbreak challenge of coronavirus disease 2019, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Clinical characteristics of Iraqi patients with COVID-19 and risk factors for mortality needed to be shared with the health care providers to improve the overall disease experience. Methods: prospective, single-center study recruited patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection who were admitted to Al-Shifaa Isolation Center / Baghdad Medical City between the mid of March and the end of April 2020 until had been discharged or had died. Demographic data, information on clinical signs, symptoms, at presentation, treatment, have been collected
... Show MoreBackground: left ventricular hypertrophy is independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The presence of diabetic complications such as autonomic neuropathy and retinopathy may predict cardiac structural changes in diabetic patients. Objective: To explore the chance of occurrence of left ventricular hypertrophy in diabetic patients and whether it is related to the presence of other diabetic complications. Methods: ninty seven (97) normotensive diabetic patients (57) type II with mean duration of diabetes of (12±6 y) and forty (40) type I with mean duration of (8±6 y) were studied by echocardiography and compared with 41 patients as control. Results: The LVMI was significantly higher in type II diabetics compared
... Show MoreBackground: Asthma is a disease of the airways characterized by chronic inflammation associated with airway hyper-responsiveness and airway wall remodeling. Aims of the study: The aims of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral manifestations , identify different microorganism from oral micro flora and determination of salivary IgA and salivary flow rate in asthmatic patients taking different dose of Prednisolone in comparison with control group. Subjects, materials and methods: The study included 17 patients under treatment with Prednisolone (10-20 mg),15 patients take (20-30 mg) of Prednisolone and other 18 patients take (30 – 40mg) of Prednisolone, and 25 healthy control group (10 male and 15 female). Results : The mo
... Show MoreBackground. Alopecia areata (AA) is a common form of noncicatricial hair loss of unknown cause, affecting 0.1-0.2% of the general population. Most evidence supports the hypothesis that it is disease of the hair follicle of autoimmune nature mediated by T-cells, with important cytokine role. Objective of the Study. The objective of this study is to study the association and changes in serum levels of interleukin-15 (IL-15) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in patients with AA in relation to the type, activity, and disease duration. Patients and Methods. Thirty-eight patients with AA and 22 individuals without the disease as controls were enrolled in this case-controlled study conducted in the Department of Dermatology in the Al-K
... Show MoreIn this work, we synthesized thirteen compounds of 1-(2-furoyl)thiourea derivatives 1-13 by conversion of 2-furoyl chloride to 2-furoyl isothiocyanate by reacting it with potassium thiocyanate in dry acetone in a quite short reflux time then, in the same pot, different of (primary and secondary amines) were added individually to achieve thiourea derivatives. The products were characterized spectroscopically using (FT-IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR) techniques. Some of them were evaluated as antioxidant agents using DPPH radical scavenging method, and all were examined theoretically as enzyme inhibitors against Bacillus pasteurii urease (pdb id: 4ubp) and by studying molecular docking using Autodock (4.2.6) software.
The major of DDoS attacks use TCP protocol and the TCP SYN flooding attack is the most common one among them. The SYN Cookie mechanism is used to defend against the TCP SYN flooding attack. It is an effective defense, but it has a disadvantage of high calculations and it doesn’t differentiate spoofed packets from legitimate packets. Therefore, filtering the spoofed packet can effectively enhance the SYN Cookie activity. Hop Count Filtering (HCF) is another mechanism used at the server side to filter spoofed packets. This mechanism has a drawback of being not a perfect and final solution in defending against the TCP SYN flooding attack. An enhanced mechanism of Integrating and combining the SYN Cookie with Hop Count Filtering (HCF) mech
... Show MoreBackground: The appointment system is a common practice in primary health care clinics in developed countries. The patients and health care providers in the primary health care setting perceived the appointment system as an indicator of good quality service.
Objective: The aim of this study was to survey patients’ and health care providers’ attitudes towards the introduction of an appointment system and their satisfaction with the existing ‘walk-in’ system in the primary health care setting.
Subjects and Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted included a convenient sample of 234 patients as well as 76 health care providers from two primary health care center
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