BACKGROUND: Coronavirus current pandemic (COVID-19) is the striking subject worldwide hitting countries in an unexplained non-universal pattern. Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine was an adopted recent justification depending on its non-specific immune activation properties. Still the problem of post-vaccine short duration of protection needs to be solved. The same protective mechanism was identified in active or latent tuberculosis (TB). For each single patient of active TB, there are about nine cases of asymptomatic latent TB apparently normal individuals living within the community without restrictions carrying benefits of immune activation and involved in re-infection cycles in an excellent example of repeated immunity training sessions of the whole community. AIM: We aimed to asses the correlation between TB burden and COVID-19 mortality in all affected countries having different BCG vaccination policies. METHODS: Publicly available data were extracted for 191 countries including population size, TB estimations, national BCG vaccination policy, the World Health Organization regions and economic classification, and COVID-19 mortality and number of cases. The analysis was performed using Spearman’s correlation test. RESULTS: Significant large negative correlation (−0.539, p < 0.001) was found between TB prevalence and COVID-19 mortality rate worldwide. Medium negative significant correlations were found between TB cases and COVID-19 mortality in the high and lower middle-income countries, and those having current BCG vaccination programs (−0.395, p = 0.001, −0.365, p = 0.015, and −0.476, p < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Countries with high TB prevalence have higher chances of protection against COVID-19 mortality through the theory of widely distributed natural immune activation within community. Confounders should be assessed separately.
Today, the prediction system and survival rate became an important request. A previous paper constructed a scoring system to predict breast cancer mortality at 5 to 10 years by using age, personal history of breast cancer, grade, TNM stage and multicentricity as prognostic factors in Spain population. This paper highlights the improvement of survival prediction by using fuzzy logic, through upgrading the scoring system to make it more accurate and efficient in cases of unknown factors, age groups, and in the way of how to calculate the final score. By using Matlab as a simulator, the result shows a wide variation in the possibility of values for calculating the risk percentage instead of only 16. Additionally, the accuracy will be calculate
... Show MoreIn this search, a new pyrophosphate technique was proved. The technique was employed to single- nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which diagnosis using a one-base extension reaction. Three Mycobacterium tuberculosis genes were chosen (Rpob, InhA, KatG) genes. Fifty-four specimens were used in this study fifty-three proved as drug-resistant specimens by The Iraqi Institute of Chest and Respiratory Diseases in Baghdad.; also one specimen was used as a negative control. The steps of this technique were by used a specific primer within each aliquot that has a short 3-OH end of the base of the target gene that was hybridized to the single-stranded DNA template. Then, the Taq polymerase enzyme and one of either α-thio-dATP, dTTP, dGTP, or dCTP
... Show MoreAbstract:
The hotel sector is one of the most vital sectors exposed to risks, and the authorities concerned with control must take their active and influential role in putting the hotel sector on the right track and compatible with the internationally approved approaches, and the importance of auditing the performance of the hotel sector in light of the (Covid-19) pandemic is embodied in the fact that it gives a clear and realistic picture to the management and regulatory bodies about the performance and activities of this sector and the shortcomings and deviations that must be addressed, and also helps government decision makers to ob
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy and reluctant had an important obstacle in achieving protection and population immunity against coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). It is essential to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination acceptance rates among medical students and health care workers to provide recommendations and counseling vaccine hesitant population. AIM: This study aims to identify level of COVID-19 hesitancy, attitude, knowledge, and factors that affect vaccination decision. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done among medical students in Al-Kindy College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq. Data collection was done through an online Google Forms questionnaire during 2021 from 810 medical students.
... Show MoreObjectives: The present study aims at detecting the depression among nurses who provide care for infected patients with corona virus phenomenon and to find out relationships between the depression and their demographic characteristics of age, gender, marital status, type of family, education, and years of experience of nurses in heath institutions, infection by corona virus, and their participation in training courses.
Methodology: A descriptive study is established for a period from October 10th, 2020 to April 15th, 2021. The study is conducted on a purposive (non-probability) sample of (100) nurse who are providing care for patients with COVID-19 and they are selected from the isolation wards. The instrument of the study is develope
This study aims to analyze the spatial distribution of the epidemic spread and the role of the physical, social, and economic characteristics in this spreading. A geographically weighted regression (GWR) model was built within a GIS environment using infection data monitored by the Iraqi Ministry of Health records for 10 months from March to December 2020. The factors adopted in this model are the size of urban interaction areas and human gatherings, movement level and accessibility, and the volume of public services and facilities that attract people. The results show that it would be possible to deal with each administrative unit in proportion to its circumstances in light of the factors that appe
SUMMARY. 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 MoreMedical images play a crucial role in the classification of various diseases and conditions. One of the imaging modalities is X-rays which provide valuable visual information that helps in the identification and characterization of various medical conditions. Chest radiograph (CXR) images have long been used to examine and monitor numerous lung disorders, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, atelectasis, and hernia. COVID-19 detection can be accomplished using CXR images as well. COVID-19, a virus that causes infections in the lungs and the airways of the upper respiratory tract, was first discovered in 2019 in Wuhan Province, China, and has since been thought to cause substantial airway damage, badly impacting the lungs of affected persons.
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