زهرا نافعی

The World Health Organization first reported outbreaks of COVID-19 in 2019 in Wuhan, China. Limited studies have been performed on long-term complications after the acute phase of this disease in children. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term outcomes of children who had previously been hospitalized with COVID-19.

In this cross-sectional study, long-term complications in 105 children less than 18 years of age suspected of having Covid-19 disease were assessed (2020-2021). This evaluation was performed by completing a questionnaire by patients' families three months after discharge and collecting information from the patients' records at the time of hospitalization. Participants were also classified into four age groups. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19. P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

All 105 children suspected of having COVID-19 who were hospitalized during the mentioned period were included in this study, but the families of 80 children completed the questionnaire. The most common long-term complications in the patients were mood disorders (35.2%), loss of appetite (22.9%), and fatigue (20%), respectively. It has also been found that with the increasing age of the patients, the incidence of complications has increased.

 This study results demonstrated that the most common side effects observed in trimester follow-up of children with COVID-19 are mood disorders, loss of appetite, and fatigue, respectively. Thus, post-COVID-19 complications cannot be dismissed among children and adolescents. Controlled population-based studies and further in-depth analyses are needed to confirm their impact on individuals and health care systems.

Microbial resistance due to antibiotics overuse can endanger the general health of society. Various factors play a role in mothers' overuse of antibiotics for their children. This study aimed to investigate mothers' attitude and behavior about the use of antibiotics in children under five years old in Yazd City.

In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 302 mothers with children under five years old were included in 2019-2020; a questionnaire of mothers' attitudes and practices regarding antibiotic use was completed. Then, the obtained data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 and P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The mothers' attitude level was poor, moderate, and good in 60 (20%), 180 (59.5%), and 62 patients (20.5%), respectively. Furthermore, mothers' practice level was poor in 55 (18.2%), moderate in 210 (69.5%) and good in 37 (12.3%). The level of attitude (P = 0.000) and practice (P = 0.007) in mothers with a higher level of education was significantly higher. With increasing the number of children, mothers' attitude (P = 0.03) and practice (P = 0.02) were significantly lower.

The study results showed that most mothers have a moderate level of attitude and practice in using antibiotics in their children. A significant number of them also mentioned antibiotic use without a prescription. Therefore, to reduce the improper use of antibiotics, it is recommended to pay attention to educational programs with proper planning by the public media. It makes sense to train physicians, monitor their performance and closely monitor the sale of antibiotics in pharmacies to reduce their use without a doctor's prescription.

Sleep is recognized as an essential part of life. Sleep problems are one of the common parental concerns for pediatricians. This study was performed on 301 infants aged 1-2 years referring to health centers of Yazd for vaccination from 2008 to 2009. Of the patients, 71% had a delayed fall asleep; 62% of them had unfavorable sleep habits such as drinking milk from the breast or a bottle. Approximately 50% of them had 2-3 times and 25% more than three times night walking. Mean of nocturnal sleep for them was 9.45 hours and less than half of them (46.2%) had enough nocturnal sleep the duration of which was between 12-14 hr. Also 46.2% had sweating during sleep. 96.7% of the children had room sharing with parents and 40.2% had bed sharing with their parents. In the current study there was no relationship between type of delivery, sex and weight of infants with sleep disorders. Sleep disorder was significantly more common in children with abnormal sleep habit. This study showed that bedtime resistance and the irregular bedtime are seen more associated with each other. High frequency of sleep problem in the study may indicate the extent of sleep problems in our kids and public education regarding sleep hygiene to promote parent's awareness is essential to alleviate this problem.