COVID-19 is a unique viral infectious illness that causes a variety of symptoms and health hazards, particularly to the respiratory system and has been declared a worldwide pandemic. The disease is characterized by a cytokine release in severe conditions. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a proinflammatory cytokine, mediates an important immunomodulatory process. Also, vitamin D was identified to have a role in the innate immunity of individuals. Our study was designed to find the role of IL-6 and vitamin D in COVID-19 patients, as well as, to see whether there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and cytokine syndrome development. The study included 90 COVID-19 patients and 30 control people from Baghdad, Iraq. The age of the participants was non-significantly (P>0.05) different between COVID-19 and control, so was the body mass index. IL-6 level was significantly (P<0.05) higher in COVID-19 patients compared to control, while vitamin D level was significantly (P<0.05) reduced in COVID-19 patients. Nevertheless, the results have shown no significant correlation between vitamin D and IL-6 in the serum of COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, both IL-6 and vitamin D exhibited an excellent sensitivity in the diagnosis of COVID-19.
Coronavirus: (COVID-19) is a recently discovered viral disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus.
The majority of patients with corona-virus infections will have a mild-moderate respiratory disease that recovers without special care. Most often, the elderly, and others with chronic medical conditions such as asthma, coronary disease, respiratory illness, and malignancy are seriously ill.
COVID-19 is spread mostly by salivary droplets or nasal secretions when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
COVID-19 causes severe acute respiratory illness (SARS-COV-2). The first incidence was recorded in Wuhan, China, in 2019. Since then it spreads leading to a pandemic.
... Show MoreThe objective of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare providers (HCPs) at personal and professional levels.
This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. It was conducted using an electronic format survey through Qualtrics Survey Software in English. The target participants were HCPs working in any healthcare setting across Iraq. The survey was distributed via two professional Facebook groups between 7 April and 7 May 2020. The survey items were adopted with modifications from three previous studies of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Avia
This study aimed to evaluate the preparedness and adherence of community pharmacists to the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Health Advisory COVID-19 guidelines for pharmacists (July 2020) during COVID-19 pandemic. This was a cross-sectional study based on electronic survey using google form, which was distributed from November 19, 2020 to January 1, 2021 using social media platforms. The survey measured 21 pharmacy preventive measures (PM). A multivariate regression analysis was used to identify factors influencing pharmacy implementing of PM. Hand disinfection after serving patients represented the main adopted measure (89.3%). Surprisingly, only 35.4% of participants implemented the proper ways of hand disinfection during fa
... Show MoreThe internet has been a source of medical information, it has been used for online medical consultation (OMC). OMC is now offered by many providers internationally with diverse models and features. In OMC, consultations and treatments are available 24/7. The covid-19 pandemic across-the-board, many people unable to go to hospital or clinic because the spread of the virus. This paper tried to answer two research questions. The first one on how the OMC can help the patients during covid-19 pandemic. A literature review was conducted to answer the first research question. The second one on how to develop system in OMC related to covid-19 pandemic. The system was developed by Visual Studio 2019 using software object-oriented approach. O
... Show MoreAs COVID-19 pandemic continued to propagate, millions of lives are currently at risk especially elderly, people with chronic conditions and pregnant women. Iraq is one of the countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, in Iraq, there is a need for a self-assessment tool to be available in hand for people with COVID-19 concerns. Such a tool would guide people, after an automated assessment, to the right decision such as seeking medical advice, self-isolate, or testing for COVID-19. This study proposes an online COVID-19 self-assessment tool supported by the internet of medical things (IoMT) technology as a means to fight this pandemic and mitigate the burden on our nation
One of the major health problems causing defects or damage to one or more of the four heart valves [aortic, mitral, pulmonary, and tricuspid] is valvular heart disease [VHD]; it occurs due to congenital abnormalities or acquired pathology. It is a defect that results in weak heart valves and is therefore unable to function as precise pathways of the blood. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the ferroxidase activity of ceruloplasmin (Cp) and the lipid profile of valvular heart disease patients in sera. Ninety subjects were included in this study and 60 patients with HDV were divided into two subgroups according to the affected valve: 33 patients with aortic valve disease (AV) and 27 patients
Background: COVID-19 pandemic has influenced all life aspects; Dental staff, like other healthcare providers, may be exposed to COVID-19 as part of their work and its psychological impacts on healthcare workers should not be ignored
Objectives: To assess the anxiety, and fear from COVID-19 pandemic in dentists working in specialist dental centers: sample the Al-Resafa health directorate, and its relation between the anxiety, and COVID-19 fear with some of their demographic variables
Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2nd Jan. to 14th Feb. 2021, by an electronic version of questionnaire through Google-form; the questionnaire was formed based on Mental-Health-American-Org
... Show MoreThe covid-19 pandemic sweeping the world and has rendered a large proportion of the workforce as they are unable to commute to work. This has resulted in employees and employers seeking alternative work arrangements, including the software industry. Then comes the need for the global market and international presence of many companies to implement the global virtual teams (GVTs). GVTs members are gradually engaged in globalized business environments across space, time and organizational boundaries via information and communication technologies. Despite the advancement of technology, the project managers are still facing many challenges in communication. Hense, to become a successful project manager still a big challenge for them. This study
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