Shiraz Emedical Journal
Volume:21 Issue: 12, Dec 2020

 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a critical world concern, with healthcare workers (HCWs) at a high risk of infection. Thus, a sufficient level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) must be ensured.

 We aimed to investigate the KAP toward COVID-19 among HCWs in Shiraz, Iran.

 A cross-sectional study was performed on a large sample of HCWs dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple hospitals affiliated to the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The survey featured four sections: demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and practice. An expert panel validated the questionnaire, and its reliability was ensured through a pilot study on 20 HCWs (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.9).

 We found that 72.8% of HCWs had sufficient knowledge, 66.65% indicated correct attitudes, and 67.72% described good practices. However, 24.23% thought adequate protective equipment or facilities are unavailable. The knowledge scores were lowest on prevention and diagnosis, though symptoms were well-recognized. The male gender was correlated with more correct attitudes. Among nurses, 2 - 5 years of work experience was associated with better practice, with a master’s degree being related to more positive attitudes.

 The KAP of HCWs toward COVID-19 are acceptable in Shiraz, but further education and training is beneficial, especially on disinfectants and prevention; reassurance regarding protective equipment is also vital.

 Different aspects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children have not been well understood so far.

 In this paper, we reported the clinical, Paraclinical, and epidemiological features of the hospitalized children infected with COVID-19 in the southeast of Iran.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted in six hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences. All children who were under the age of 15 years old hospitalized with acute respiratory infection from February 20 to May 14, 2020, were included in this study. Demographic characteristics, past medical history data, and disease-related data such as symptoms, signs, radiologic, and laboratory data were collected.

 Of 97 hospitalized children with an acute respiratory infection, 13 cases (13.4%) had been diagnosed to be infected by COVID-19. The mean (standard deviation) and median of age of the patients with COVID-19 were 68.0 (55.9) and 60 months, respectively. Fever (n = 11, 84.6%), cough (n = 8, 61.5%), respiratory distress (n = 5, 38.5%), and gastrointestinal symptoms (n = 5, 38.5%) were known as the most common symptoms in patients with COVID-19. Frequency fever (84.6% vs 47. 6%, P = 0.016) and respiratory distress (38.8% vs 13.1%, P = 0.022) were significantly higher in patients with COVID-19 compared to non-COVID individuals. Frequency of admission in the intensive care unit (38.5% vs. 27.4%, P = 0.668) and death rate (15.4% vs. 7.1%, P = 0.291) were higher in patients with COVID-19 compared to non-COVID-19 subjects, but there were no significant differences between the two groups in term of these variables.

 A low proportion of children hospitalized with acute respiratory syndrome were infected by COVID-19. Most of the children with COVID-19 recovered with supportive care with no need for any specific treatment.

 The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic (COVID-19) has brought great public health challenges into our lives. To date, there has been no specific therapeutic protocol for this disease, which requires a study with high-quality evidence.

 To analyze clinical trials on COVID-19 in Brazil.

 Documentary research was conducted on the clinical trial registration platform. For the search strategy, the “COVID-19” keyword was established in the “condition or disease” section and “Brazil” in the “country” section. No limit on the search period was considered. Data were analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics.

 Of the 81 registered clinical trials, 48 met the eligibility criteria. The sample size ranged from 10 to 3,000 individuals. Most studies recruited individuals aged 18 - 64 years (48.5%) and > 65 years (48.5%). Regarding the study design, randomized (91.6%), parallel (89.5%), quadruple-blind (39.6%), and therapeutic (97.9%) types were more frequent. Most studies used standard two-arm trial (70.8%), used drugs (79.2%), placebo (58.3%), and were sponsored by pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies and universities with 33.3% and 29.2%, respectively.

 Clinical trials under development in Brazil on COVID-19 are mostly carried out with adult and elderly participants, and regarding the study design, have a predominance of randomized allocation, parallel model, quadruple-blind masking with a therapeutic purpose. Most studies use antithrombotic agents or combinations of antithrombotic agents.
 

 Public support plays a crucial in managing public health crises. Communicating with the public during a pandemic has a major role in gaining public support. Public information-seeking behaviors are the core element of epidemic communication..

 The current study aimed to investigate the Iranian information-seeking behaviors during the first three weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran.

 In this cross-sectional study, the use of web search queries to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran from December 2019 to March 1 2020, is investigated. The Iranian search queries for COVID-19 were evaluated from December 30, 2019, to March 1, 2020. Google trend reports were used to retrieve data on the number of search queries. Queries were categorized into “epidemic news”, “necessary protective equipment”, “prevention strategies”, and “treatment”. To analyze the data, segmented regression was applied. Also, the daily percent change (DPI) was estimated.

 The frequency of Google searches for COVID19-related queries first increased during the period of 18 - 23 February 2020 (DPC: 34.0; P value < 0.001), and then declined to March 1, 2020 (DPS: -3.9; P value < 0.001). The most prevalent query was “Epidemic news” (54%), followed by “necessary equipment” (33%). The frequency of these two queries increased from 18 - 23 February. "Prevention strategies" was the most common search category on March 1.

 When an epidemic begins to spread, people try to get the “latest news” and “what they need to protect themselves”.

 COVID-19 is a serious pandemic. However, no studies worldwide have assessed the knowledge of any healthcare workers, including dentists, towards COVID-19.

 Given the importance of Iran as an epicenter of this disease, this preliminary study assessed the knowledge of dentists, dental students, and dental specialists towards COVID-19.

 In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire with 23 questions (three regarding sources of information and 20 regarding knowledge) was developed through a pilot study. It was distributed electronically to dental professions/students, 778 of whom completed it. Factors associated with knowledge were assessed using the chi-square test in SPSS (α = 0.05).

 Above 70% of the responders answered correctly to all questions, except for six more technical questions, including handwashing-related questions. Age, specialization, and attendance at lectures and meetings did not play a role in grasping accurate information (all P values > 0.1). Men had poorer information (P = 0.014), and the sources of information were mostly official websites and social networks (P = 0.000).

 Knowledge of dentists, dental students, and specialists towards SARS-CoV-2 is generally good, except in the case of more technical questions that need more education (especially regarding handwashing).

 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with a wide range of clinical symptoms.

 The present study aims to investigate the neurological manifestations among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Rouhani Hospital in Babol.

 This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted in March and April 2020 on patients admitted to Rouhani Hospital in Babol with COVID-19. A number of 230 medical records were selected randomly from a list. The data were collected using the demographic characteristics questionnaire and a checklist for the neurological symptoms.

 Among the 230 patients with COVID-19 (mean [SD] age, 59.85 [16.22] years; 138 men [60%]), 127 (56%) patients had at least one neurologic symptom. The most common symptoms of the central nervous system disorder were headache (34%), dizziness (25%), and impaired consciousness (20%), and the most prevalent symptoms of the peripheral nervous system disorder were taste impairment (17%) and smell impairment (16%). The occurrence of transient ischemic attack (TIA) in women was significantly higher than in men (P = 0.02). Moreover, the incidence of dizziness, impaired consciousness, ataxia, cerebrovascular accident (CVA), anorexia, and smell impairment had a significant relationship with age (P < 0.05).

 The neurological manifestations are prevalent and substantial among patients with COVID-19. Therefore, it is suggested that the healthcare workers take these symptoms seriously, especially in the outbreak of COVID-19, and take the pertinent preventive and protective measures.

COVID-19 may have various radiological manifestations on the patient’s chest computed tomography (CT) scan. Few cases with COVID-19 and pneumomediastinum have been reported to date. Here we present a patient with COVID-19, pneumomediastinum and emphysema.