Tehran University Medical Journal

The highly contagious new coronavirus virus, SARS-CoV-2, was first appeared in Wuhan, China in late 2019. The virus has spread to 216 countries, including Iran, until 7 September 2020. So far, the number of people infected by the new corona virus and died from the disease is 27032617 and 881464 worldwide, respectively. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce the available treatments for this virus, as a global dilemma. Articles for this review study were selected from Embase, Medline and Google Scholar. Published full articles in English, English full articles published from 1st December 2019 to 23rd July 2020, were included. The search terms included combinations of COVID-19, SARS-COV-2, chloroquine, convalescent plasma, antiviral, antibacterial, Remidesivir, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine phosphate, vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. There were no restrictions on the types of study eligible for inclusion. Different available therapies generally can be divided into small molecules and biological products. Among the small molecule drugs used for COVID-19 patients Remdesivir, Favilavir, and hydroxychloroquine have been associated with considerable success in disease control. Separation and transfusion of plasma from blood of improved COVID-19 patients to new patients and the use of recombinant Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) have been two very successful biological therapies in the treatment of COVID-19 disease. However, many efforts are being made by researchers around the world to make other effective and promising biological products. The development of a safe and effective vaccine can lead to great success in eradicating the disease. Also, the production of anti-SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies and using of stem cell-based therapeutics can be a great success in treating the disease. In addition, according to the miRNA properties, many efforts have been made to inhibit the production of viral proteins using natural miRNAs or artificial siRNAs. It has been proposed that aptamers derived from SELEX can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19. Subsequently, since the size of miRNAs is at the nanometer level, they can easily incorporate to the targeted exosomes and be delivered via circulation in human blood to the infected cells such as lung cells. Interestingly, miRNAs can be delivered into the lung by inhalation.

Background: Infectious diseases in the pandemic stage have significant life-threatening, psychological and social effects. Identifying the characteristics associated with people's cooperation in self-care leads to greater immunity for themselves and others. Therefore, this study was conducted to predict the self-care of the Iranian people according to their individual and social characteristics in face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Methods: A survey study was conducted on 1056 adults aged 18 and over in different provinces of Iran through a form of answering online researcher-made questions (n=40, α=0.9) in social networks in four days. This paper studies the level of self-care of people against Covid 19 pandemic which was conducted with the support of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in April 2016. Data were analyzed using Student t-test and variance. Moreover, "decision tree technique" was used to identify communication patterns.

Background: The pandemic of Covid-19 is spreading around the world. Extensive research is needed to focus on identifying the underlying causes of the disease. This study aimed to investigate the clinical and etiological symptoms of the Covid-19.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study, conducted on 510 infected patients in the infectious disease clinic of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran from March 2019 to June 2020 for A period of Four months during the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic. The method of selecting patients was continuous and was divided into two groups of 179 inpatients and 331 outpatients based on lung scan and clinical symptoms. Demographic information, clinical signs, and risk factors were collected through a questionnaire and the data were statistically analyzed.

Conclusion: Fever, chills and cough were important symptoms in identifying infected patients with Covid-19. According to the results of the present study and the findings of other studies, the supportive effect of vitamin D3 in reducing the severity of infectious diseases should be considered. Clinical trials with appropriate sample size are recommended to investigate the functional role of this vitamin in Reducing the severity of viral diseases of the respiratory tract.

  SARS-CoV-2 emerging from Wuhan, China is a member of the Coronaviridae family, which has so far infected and killed many people. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected various aspects of life in Iran and Worldwide, and governments have imposed quarantines and travel bans on an unprecedented scale. The virus causes COVID-19, which can spread through close contact with the infected person, contaminated equipment, and suspended air droplets. The most common symptoms of the disease include fever, cough, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal symptoms, and diarrhea. In severe cases, the lung infection can occur, which causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that leads to ICU admission and even death.
  Besides, this infection can cause gastrointestinal, neurological, and renal impairments. Not merely, this new coronavirus has infected many more people worldwide in comparison to MERS and SARS, but also it has killed more people. Patients with underlying diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, respiratory problems, kidney disease, heart disease and Immunodeficiency are at higher risk of infection and potential death. Also, the risk of death and complication increases in older adults, while most of the infected children are asymptomatic. Some infected people may have mild or no symptoms but can still transmit the disease and spread it to others.
To diagnose COVID-19, serology tests, and level of ESR, CRP and other acute-phase reactants are helpful, whereas molecular tests, such as RT-PCR tests, that detect the virus’s genetic material are still the golden standard. Also, CT scan detects lung involvement; Ground-glass opacification, especially in lower lobes and subpleural region, is the most common CT characteristic, although it is not specific for COVID-19. Because the disease is difficult to diagnose, hard to prevent and challenging to treat, it has become a major concern for many countries. This review aims to gather existing information in the fields of virology, molecular pathogenesis, disease symptoms, epidemiology, clinical presentations, diagnosis, treatment, and the spread of the disease. This study also provides evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies for health policymakers, doctors, nurses, and practitioners in the field of public health, including researchers and students.

In 2019 a newly emerged coronavirus was detected by the Center for disease control (CDC) in China. Nucleic acid sequencing from nose and throat swab samples of patients revealed that it was like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). World Health Organization (WHO) named it coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and reported more than 100000 positive tests until March 2020 for COVID-19. During the past 20 years, the world has been affected by three coronavirus epidemics, SARS-COV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and COVID-19 that make world attention. The mortality rate of COVID-19 was more than other coronaviruses, but because of more people affected by it, it seems that it has a less fatality rate compared with MERS- CoV. Initial data showed that more than 80% of patients did not have any symptoms or may had light symptoms. 15% showed severe pneumonia, 5% became critically ill, and developed multiorgan dysfunction and septic shock. Due to the epidemic of emerging viruses and the lack of information about it, this study aimed to provide a quick overview of the most recent studies in the world. To perform this review, keywords such as COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, and Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 were retrieved using the medical subject headings (MeSH) system and then searched in English in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases.
COVID-19 virus enters its genome into the cells by binding to Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in some organs such as the lungs. Although the transmission route is unclear, it enters the body through respiratory droplets. The clinical symptoms includ fever, cough, dyspnea, myalgia, confusion, headache, sore throat, rhinorrhea, chest pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, malaise, and convulsion. The standard diagnostic method is Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), but due to the time-consuming and sensitivity and the existing errors in this technique, chest CT and hematologic data are preferred. No definitive cure for the virus has been suggested so far, but antiviral drugs such as Oseltamivir, Ganciclovir, Lopinavir, Ritonavir and Remdesivir, and the anti-malarial drug Chloroquine phosphate and Interferon are in use until the discovery of the vaccine.

Background: Neurosurgery practice conflicts with many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic; Including the lack of beds in intensive care units, as well as the use of some methods such as drills and trans-nasal and trans-oral approaches that produce aerosols or are directly in contact with patient discharge. Due to these challenges, developing a clinical guideline to help neurosurgeons and medical staff in decision making and improving patients and medical staff safety during the COVID-19 pandemic is the purpose of this study.
Methods: First, all of the relevant clinical guidelines to neurosurgical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic were extracted from the data centers. Finally, five clinical guidelines were selected. The questions and the items were designed according to these guidelines. The answers to each of the questions were extracted from these guidelines. The complementary evidence was extracted by searching in the data centers again. Finally, the answers were edited and the edited answers were considered as the recommendations. These recommendations were sent to 4 experts in the Neurosurgery field and 2 experts in the infectious diseases field. The appraisers evaluated the recommendations according to the AGREE-REX instrument.  This instrument has 9 items and 3 domains including clinical applicability, values and preferences, and implement ability. Recommendations with above 80% agreement were considered as the final recommendations.

Background: Long-term and intensive physical exercise can change the function of different cells in the immune system in athletes, predisposing them to viral infections such as coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The purpose of this brief report was to provide protocols related to the immune system in athletes to prevent infectious diseases.

Background: Age is a strong risk factor for increasing the risk of severity and death from Covid-19. The risk of hospitalization for Covid-19 disease increases with age. Since the elderly constitute a large proportion of Covid-19 patients, the present study was performed to evaluate the severity of the disease in the hospitalized elderly due to Covid-19 and the delay in hospitalization and death resulting from it, for better disease management.
Methods: The present retrospective cohort study was performed on 444 elderly patients with Covid-19 admitted from 1 April until late October 2020 in Baharloo Hospital in Tehran, Iran. After being diagnosed using the results of RT-PCR and CT scan, patients, were divided into 3 groups: moderate, severe and very severe based on the severity of the disease. Analysis of variance was used to compare quantitative data and a chi-square test was used to examine qualitative variables in disease groups.
Results: From 444 elderly participants in the study, 73% were infected moderately, 15% severely, and 12% had a very severe form. The mean age was 72.90±8.42 and patients with a very severe form of the disease (75.68±8.28) were older. The average time from the onset of symptoms to hospitalization was 7 days. In the elderly with a very severe form of the disease, respiratory dyspnea (P=0.002) and decreased level of consciousness (P<0.0001) were higher. The average hospital stay was 7 days. In very severe form it lasted up to 11 days. ICU mortality and hospitalization were higher in patients with very severe forms of the disease. With the increasing delay in the days of hospitalization, the severity of the disease and mortality has increased.
Conclusion: The study showed that prolonging the onset of symptoms till hospitalization worsens prognosis and also exacerbates the disease and increases mortality in the elderly.

Background: The clinical field has vast sick data that has not been analyzed. Discovering a way to analyze this raw data and turn it into an information treasure can save many lives. Using data mining methods is an efficient way to analyze this large amount of raw data. It can predict the future with accurate knowledge of the past, providing new insights into disease diagnosis and prevention. Several data mining methods exist but finding a suitable one is very important. Today, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become one of the causing deadly diseases in the world. The early diagnosis of pandemic coronavirus disease has a significant impact in preventing death. This study aims to extract the key indications of the disease and find the best data mining methods that enhance the accuracy of coronavirus disease diagnosis.
Methods: In this study, to obtain high accuracy in diagnosing COVID-19 disease, a complete and effective workflow over data mining methods was proposed, which includes these steps: data pre-analyzing, indication selection, model creation, the measure of performance, and display of results. Data and related indications of patients with COVID-19 were collected from Kerman Afzalipour Hospital and Rafsanjan, Ali Ebn Abi Taleb Hospital. Prediction structures were made and tested via different combinations of the disease indications and seven data mining methods. To discover the best key indications, three criteria including accuracy, validation and F-value were applied and to discover the best data mining methods, accuracy and validation criteria were considered. For each data mining method, the criteria were measured independently and all results were reported for analysis. Finally, the best key indications and data mining methods that can diagnose COVID-19 disease with high accuracy were extracted.

Background: coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as an emerging infectious disease started in China in 2019. By increasing the number of patients and spreading to all countries, it was considered a pandemic disease. COVID-19 became an international concern. Patients affected by coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) reported different symptoms. Most signs and symptoms were related to the respiratory system. To our knowledge, the onset of Covid-19 with chronic hiccups was reported in two patients. The aim of this study was to assess the onset of symptoms of Covid-19 disease in patients in a hospital in Zabol, Iran.
Methods: This study is a retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study which was performed from March to June 2021. The study setting was a hospital affiliated with Zabol Medical University. The study population included all patients diagnosed with Covid-19. A total of 350 patients were selected by the census. For data gathering, we used Patient’s records including demographic information, clinical examination records, and para-clinical tests results. We used descriptive statistics and SPSS ver. 20 for data analysis and management.

Background: Early prediction of the outcome situation of COVID-19 patients can decrease mortality risk by assuring efficient resource allocation and treatment planning. This study introduces a very accurate and fast system for the prediction of COVID-19 outcomes using demographic, vital signs, and laboratory blood test data.
Methods: In this analytic study, which is done from May 2020 to June 2021 in Tehran, 41 features of 244 COVID-19 patients were recorded on the first day of admission to the Masih Daneshvari Hospital. These features were categorized into eight different groups, demographic and patient history features, vital signs, and six different groups of laboratory blood tests including complete blood count (CBC), coagulation, kidney, liver, blood gas, and general. In this study, first, the significance of each of the extracted features and then the eight groups of features for prediction of mortality outcomes were considered, separately. Finally, the best combination of different groups of features was assessed. The statistical methods including the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC) based on binary Logistic Regression classification algorithm were used for evaluation.

Background: Information on the coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) which can clinically range from asymptomatic infection to severe pneumonia, in transplant recipients is still low. Infections are a major cause of death in kidney transplant recipients, and kidney transplant recipients, like other organ recipients, appear to be more vulnerable to a variety of infections due to comorbidities and immunosuppressive drugs that predispose them to infection.
Case presentation: In this study, we reviewed 10 transplant recipients with a mean age of 50.3±11.25 years who were admitted to Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital in Babol due to COVID-19 From April 2019 to September 2019. Four patients were female and six ones were male. Fever (100%) and cough (60%) were the most common symptoms in patients. All patients used standard immunosuppressive drugs (tacrolimus, corticosteroids, mycophenolate, and cyclosporine). The mean level of oxygen saturation at the time of admission in these patients was 87.9±11.3 and in two patients with death outcomes of 57% and 95%, it was at the beginning of hospitalization. The mean leukocytes of patients at the beginning of hospitalization was10470±5784.08 per ml and the mean lymphocytes of these patients were 1081.5±516.05. In the studied patients, the mean of previous years of transplantation was 8/05±7.13 and two patients died 20 years and 5 years after their kidney transplantation. Two patients (20%), aged 57 and 50 years, died from progressive respiratory symptoms and the other eight patients recovered and were discharged from the hospital.
We reported COVID-19 infection in ten kidney transplant recipients with different clinical outcomes and periods, which may be a reference for the management of COVID-19 in such patients.
Conclusion: It seems that more information is needed to better understand the effect of anti-transplant immunosuppressive therapy on the outcome of COVID-19 infection in kidney transplant recipients. Long-term follow-up studies and more cases are needed to clarify the diagnosis, outcome, and treatment options for COVID-19 in these patients.

Background: Coronavirus in 2019 was recognized as one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to reports, the mortality rate in people who need mechanical ventilation varies from 50 to 97 percent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of Covid-19 disease based on different characteristics in patients and mechanically ventilated variables.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 160 patients with a definite diagnosis of Covid-19 who were under mechanical ventilation and admitted to the intensive care unit of Alzahra Hospital in Isfahan from March 2020 to March 2021. Data was collected by checklist. The checklist included demographic information, including age, gender, as well as information such as underlying diseases, disease outcome, length of hospitalization, etc. After collecting the data, they were analyzed in SPSS software version 22 and at a significance level of less than 0.05.

Results: In this study, the overall mortality rate among mechanically ventilated patients was 62.5%. The mean age of patients was 69.99±17.87 years and the mean duration of hospitalization in surviving patients was 15.47±11.73 days and for deceased ones was 55.21±69.14 days. The mean age of the deceased group (65.71±16.59) was significantly higher than the surviving group 53±21.17 was (P=0.0001). The length of hospital stay in the deceased group was significantly longer than the surviving group (P=0.005). As a result, ventilator mode and inotropic agent intake during treatment increased the chance of mortality in patients under mechanical ventilation (P=0.001). There was a significant relationship between underlying diseases of hypertension, kidney disease and autoimmune disease with mortality in patients (P<0.05). Conclusion: Various factors including the length of stay in the hospital, comorbidities such as hypertension, renal disease and autoimmunity may affect the outcome of critically ill ICU patients under mechanical ventilation. Patients who require long-term invasive ventilation and the use of inotropic drugs to maintain their cardiovascular status while hospitalized in the ICU are at higher risk for mortality.

Background: People with chronic diseases of the immune system, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), are at risk for Covid-19 disease. However, more research is needed with long-term follow-up. The aim of the study was to follow up people with MS (PwMS) for up to three months after AstraZeneca vaccination for the recurrence of MS and Covid-19 infection.
Methods: This study was a case study (descriptive-analytical) of follow-up type. The study population was PwMS over 18 years of age in Kermanshah province who received both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. This study was conducted from August to November 2021. Sampling was done with existing methods based on the National MS Registry of Iran (NMSRI). Demographic information of patients was extracted from NMSRI. A researcher-made form was used to collect information by telephone three months after vaccination about clinical characteristics, Covid-19 infection, and recurrence of MS. Data were analyzed using SPSS-25 software.
Results: Study participants were 40 MS patients with a mean (SD) age of 39.27 (8.8) years, including 32 (80.0%) women. A mean of 9.39 (4.6) years had passed since The patients were diagnosed with MS, and 29 (76.4%) had RR type MS. Four patients (10%) relapsed between the second dose and three months later, of whom two (50%) had sensory symptoms, one (25%) had optic nerve involvement, and one (25%) had motor symptoms and pyramidal pathway involvement. The symptoms of Covid-19 were mild in three patients (10%), while severe symptoms developed in one patient (10%) who received rituximab. Among the patients, no cases of thrombosis were observed. Infusion therapy, a leg fracture, and kidney stones were the only hospitalized cases.

Conclusion: Covid-19 and MS relapse prevalence did not differ significantly in the three months before and after vaccination. There is a need for further studies with a longer follow-up period.

Background: The prevalence of emerging and re-emerging diseases has made the need for basic preparations for all health care organizations more crucial. Strengthening preparedness and formulating crisis strategies will have a great impact on reducing casualties. Given the importance of preparing hospitals to deal with such an outbreak and reduce the resulting mortality, the present study was conducted to assess their readiness against Covid-19.
Methods: The present study is a quantitative and descriptive cross-sectional research conducted from October to March 2019. Data collection used the standard checklists prepared by the European Center for the Prevention and Control of Coronavirus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, consisting of eight domains and 21 components. The minimum score that each hospital could get in this checklist was 143 and the maximum was 429. The sampling method in the present study was a census, and nine reference hospitals for Corona were included in the study. All hospitals’ directors, managers, quality officers and crisis secretaries and others related to hospital readiness during Covid-19 were recruited by the census.

Results: On average, the hospitals scored 391 out of 429, indicating a fairly "high readiness" in dealing with Covid-19. The highest score obtained by the hospitals was 425 and the lowest score was 349. In terms of preparation areas, the hospitals’ readiness was higher than 80% in all areas. The highest readiness of hospitals was in the fifth  domain, i.e. Hand hygiene, personal protective equipment and hospital waste management. The 7th domain namely, patient placement and relocation, and patient visitor access was of the lowest preparation. Conclusion: The hospitals were of fairly appropriate readiness to deal with Covid-19. This level of preparedness, despite being desirable, might not reflect the real capacity of hospitals to deal with this disease. Regular evaluation of the Covid referral hospitals could help make these hospitals more prepared. Also, the experiences of hospitals that were more prepared should be used to improve the condition of other hospitals.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the presence of ocular symptoms was common in COVID-19 patients, which can cause secondary complications in the treatment of ocular diseases. On the other hand, obesity can cause secondary symptoms in infectious diseases by impairing the function of the immune system, which indicates the relationship between involvement of different tissues and dysfunction of the cellular immune system. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body indexes (i.e., age, height, weight, and BMI) and the presence of ocular symptoms in patients with COVID-19.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study (from March 2021 to May 2021), ocular symptoms (including blurred vision, epiphora, photophobia, discharge and exudate, redness, pain, and itching of the eyes) and body indexes (age, height, weight and BMI) were evaluated in 108 patients with COVID-19, who were referred to Ayatollah Rouhani hospital, Babol, Iran. The independent t-test and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were used to examine the data relationship in SPSS software.

Results: The results showed that the mean body weight in COVID-19 patients with blurred vision was significantly higher than COVID-19 patients without blurred vision (P=0.003, t=-3.056). The mean height of COVID-19 patients with epiphora was significantly lower than the mean height of COVID-19 patients without epiphora (P=0.018, t=2.398). Also, the BMI of COVID-19 patients with epiphora was 30.00 ±4.07 kg/m2, while the BMI of COVID-19 patients without epiphora was 27.68±4.42 kg/m2 (P=0.047, t=0.026). In COVID-19 patients with at least one ocular symptom, height was significantly lower than heigh of COVID-19 patients without any ocular symptoms (P=0.001, t=3.397). Conclusion: Our results indicate the essential role of obesity in the occurrence of eye symptoms in COVID-19 patients. In this study, it was found that blurred vision, epiphora and the presence of at least one eye symptom in COVID-19 patients were significantly associated with the upward trend of BMI (as an index of obesity).

Background: Gastrointestinal bleeding is one of the consequences of COVID-19, which is associated with increased hospitalization and patient mortality. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of endoscopic findings and the outcome of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized from September to December 2019 in Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, out of 5800 patients who were admitted to Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan from September to December 2019 due to COVID-19 (according to the positive PCR test result), 87 patients who underwent endoscopy due to upper gastrointestinal bleeding by a skilled gastroenterologist, were selected and studied. Demographic characteristics, underlying diseases, use of anticoagulants, and laboratory findings were studied and evaluated and finally, the disease was evaluated and compared based on endoscopic findings.

Results: Based on the results obtained from this research, the patients with endoscopic lesions had higher average age (P=0.041), lower blood oxygen saturation percentage (P=0.028), and higher bleeding intensity (P=0.018). The frequency of using anticoagulant drugs in the group whose endoscopy results were abnormal was higher but insignificant. Hemoglobin, platelet, lymphocyte, and CRP levels were higher in the group whose endoscopy was normal, and NLR, LDH, and D-dimer levels were higher in the group whose endoscopy was abnormal (P<0.050). Three people (11.55%) from the group with normal endoscopy and 18 people (29.5%) from the group with abnormal endoscopy died, but the frequency of death was not significantly different between the two groups (P=0.070). Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that the COVID patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding who had endoscopic lesions had significant differences in some characteristics such as age, bleeding intensity, and blood oxygen saturation percentage with patients with normal endoscopy. Also, the frequency of death in patients with endoscopic lesions was relatively higher. Therefore, COVID patients with gastrointestinal bleeding should undergo endoscopy as soon as possible and necessary measures should be taken to control and prevent gastrointestinal bleeding.

Case Presentation: A 14-month-old female infant with Covid-19, in November 2019 with prolonged fever lasting for 12 days, weakness and lethargy was admitted to Sanandaj Social Security Hospital, in November 2019. The infant did not have any history of illness, drug or allergy and had received vaccination according to the country's protocol. Later she was transferred to Besat Hospital in Sanandaj due to persistent fever and elevated liver enzymes. The patient had severe leukocytosis and hepatosplenomegaly in the second center. During the diagnostic measures for the patient and the rule out of other possible causes through imaging and laboratory investigations and also the evaluation of relevant criteria, HLH was suggested and treated with antibiotics (ceftriaxone, meropenem), IVIg, dexamethasone and pantoprazole. After that the fever decreased, then oral prednisolone was prescribed and a follow-up was recommended. She was discharged in good general condition.