Background: In December 2019, an episode of COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV2) was reported in Wuhan, China and has spread around the world, increasing the number of contagions. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) are common herpesviruses that can cause persistent latent infections and affect the developing immune system.The study was conducted to explore the prevalence and reactivation of CMV and EBV antibodies in COVID-19 patients group in comparison to healthy group and to investigate the association between the presence of these viruses with each of severity of disease and oral hygiene. Materials and Methods: Eighty Five subjects were participated in this case control study (50 patients with COVID-19 and 35 healthy controls), their age range from 18 to 77 years. Oral health status was established by oral hygiene index. Serum obtained from patients and controls was analyzed using ELISA to assess levels of anti- CMV and anti- EBV antibodies. Results: The study revealed that the mean of anti-EBV IgG in patients was significantly elevated (p<0.01) than that in controls. Otherwise, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in levels of anti- EBV IgM, anti- CMV IgG and IgM between two groups (P>0.05). In addition there were no significant differences between patients and controls (p>0.05) in the number and percentage of anti-EBV and anti-CMV antibodies. Interestingly, there was a significant increase in the level of anti-CMV IgM in severe cases as compared to mild cases, (P<0.01). Furthermore, these results revealed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in levels of anti-viral antibodies in patients with good oral hygiene compared to patients with poor oral hygiene. Conclusions: Higher frequency of anti-EBV IgG among patients indicates that latent infection is more common in COVID-19 patients. While an increased percentage of anti-CMV IgM indicated reactivation of latent infection and is related to disease severity suggesting that COVID-19 can cause cellular immune impairment.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a systemic disease with a substantial impact on the hematopoietic system and hemostasis. Neutrophilia is an early indicator of SARS-CoV-2 infection, while lymphopenia acts as a biomarker of the severity of infection, and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is the main indicator of cytokine storms. Thus, this study aimed to provide local data about hematological parameters among COVID-19 patients and estimate their correlation with viral load and other factors in severe cases. A total of 99 nasopharyngeal swabs and whole blood specimens were collected from individuals suspected with COVID-19 between October and December 2020. Samples were tested by real time reverse transcript
... Show MoreArticle information: COVID-19 has roused the scientic community, prompting calls for immediate solutions to avoid the infection or at least reduce the virus's spread. Despite the availability of several licensed vaccinations to boost human immunity against the disease, various mutated strains of the virus continue to emerge, posing a danger to the vaccine's ecacy against new mutations. As a result, the importance of the early detection of COVID-19 infection becomes evident. Cough is a prevalent symptom in all COVID-19 mutations. Unfortunately, coughing can be a symptom of various of diseases, including pneumonia and inuenza. Thus, identifying the coughing behavior might help clinicians diagnose the COVID-19 infection earlier and distinguish
... Show MoreAbstract To estimate the seroprevalence of HCV infection among HIV-infected haemophiliacs and to demonstrate the most prevalent HCV genotype, 47 HIV-infected haemophilia patients were screened for anti-HCV antibodies. By performing polymerase chain reaction and DNA enzyme immunoassay, HCV-RNA was detected with subsequent genotyping. Seroprevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was 66.0%. Of 31 HCV/HIV co-infected patients, 21 (67.7%) had no history of blood transfusion. We detected 4 HCV genotypes: 1a, 1b, 4 and 4 mixed with 3a, HCV-1b being the most frequent. Contaminated factor VIII (clotting factor) could be responsible for disease acquisition.
Background: coronavirus-19 disease recently emerged as a global pandemic affecting the respiratory system. However, during the course of the illness, the disease can directly or indirectly involve other body organs including the liver.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the incidence of hepatic involvement and its clinical significance in COVID-19 patients.
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional single-center study was conducted on 112 patients who have an infection with Covid 19 (proved by polymerase chain reaction). Depending on infection severity, patients were categorized into three groups (according to the guidelines of the Chinese National Health Committee)
... Show MoreSUMMARY. The objectives of the present study were to assess the possible predictors of COVID-19 severity and duration of hospitalization and to identify the possible correlation between patient parameters, disease severity and duration of hospitalization. The study included retrospective medical record extraction of previous coron avirus COVID-19 patients in Basra hospitals, Iraq from March 1st and May 31st, 2020. The information of the participants was investigated anonymously. All the patients’ characteristics, treatments, vital signs and laboratory tests (hematological, renal and liver function tests) were collected. The analysis was conducted using the SPSS (version 22, USA). Spearman correlation was used to measure the relations
... Show MoreSince the COVID-19 pandemic alarm was made by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus (CoV) 2, several institutions and agencies have pursued to clarify the viral virulence and infectivity. The fast propagation of this virus leads to an unprecedented rise in the number of cases worldwide. COVID-19 virus is exceptionally contagious that spreads through droplets, respiratory secretions, and direct contact. The enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus has a specific envelop region called (S) region encoding (S protein) that specifically binds to the host cell receptor. Viral infection requires receptors' participation on the host cell membrane's surface, a key- step for the viral invasion of susceptible cells.
Rec
... Show MoreImmunological genes, including TLR3 and RIG-I, have recently been established to have linked to predisposition to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its severity. The purpose of this case-control study (100 recovered COVID 19 cases and 100 healthy individuals) was to determine the role of gender, age, TLR3 and RIG-I genes in COVID-19 aggressiveness. TLR3 and RIG-I gene expression was detected using a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). COVID-19 infection intensity increased with age and no statistical difference between males and females (p>0.05) was found. TLR3 and RIG-I gene expression levels were higher in patients compared to hea
... Show MoreThe most common cause of upper respiratory tract infection is coronavirus, which has a crown appearance due to the existence of spikes on its envelope. D-dimer levels in the plasma have been considered a prognostic factor for COVID-19 patients.
The aim of the study is to demonstrate the role of COVID-19 on coagulation parameters D-dimer and ferritin with their association with COVID-19 severity and disease progression in a single-center study.
Susceptibility to the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently been associated with ABO blood groups in patients of different ethnicities. This study sought to understand the genetic association of this polymorphic system with risk of disease in Iraqi patients. Two outcomes of COVID-19, recovery and death, were also explored. ABO blood groups were determined in 300 hospitalized COVID-19 Iraqi patients (159 under therapy, 104 recovered, and 37 deceased) and 595 healthy blood donors. The detection kit for 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) RNA (PCR-Fluorescence Probing) was used in the diagnosis of disease.
The negative impact of oral diseases on the function, economy, and general health of the population is well‐documented. In the last decades, evidence linking increased expression of depression and oral diseases/conditions has significantly increased. The aim of this study is to assess the association between oral disease/conditions and self‐reported symptoms of depression individuals.
A specially designed questionnaire was distributed via social media for 1 week. It consisted of two main sections; the first section was dedicated to collect demographic variables and self‐reported symptoms