Detection and Epidemiological Features of Human Coronaviruses in Patients with Acute Gastroenteritis in Northern Jordan

Fecal specimens collected from patients with acute gastroenteritis among the Northern Jordan population were screened for human coronaviruses-229E, human coronaviruses-NL63, human coronaviruses-HKU1, and human coronaviruses-OC43 by Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and PCR. Out of the 401 analyzed specimens, 42(10.5%) specimens were found positive for at least one human coronavirus. Of the 42 specimens, 57.1% were positive for human coronaviruses-229E, 33.3% for human coronaviruses-NL63, and 9.5% for human coronaviruses-HKU1. The human coronaviruses-OC43 virus was not detected in the tested specimens. None of the fecal specimens collected from healthy individuals were found positive for human coronavirus strains. No significant association was found between human coronavirus infection and gender (P>0.05). Most infected cases were in the age group >60 years old (23.8%), followed by the age group 0–1-year-old (19.0%). Most cases of human coronaviruses were detected in the winter season (42.9%) with a significant association recorded with human coronaviruses-NL63 (P = 0.006), and the lowest in the spring season (4.8%).The relationship between the human coronavirus-229E and fever (P = 0.04) and between human coronavirus-HKU1 and weakness (P = 0.04) were significant. No association (P> 0.05) between respiratory disease and positive human coronaviruses fecal specimens. The average symptom duration was 2-3 days. Among the viral-positive specimens, 38.1% were under antibiotic treatment. The provided data will help in patient care control of viral acute gastroenteritis © 2023 Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved

Incidence of Guillain-Barré Syndrome post COVID-19: a systematic review of case reports and case series.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this systematic review was to study the incidence, risk factors and patients subjected to Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) after COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For qualitative assessment and assessing the methodological quality, the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA 2020) checklist were utilized. Data from PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, CINAHIL, Medline, ResearchGate, and Scopus were searched. The relevant studies involved patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis by RT-PCR, and GBS diagnosis based on typical clinical symptoms and/or confirmatory diagnostic results. A total of 12 English relevant articles (6 papers were case reports and 8 were case series with a total of 32 patients) published in a peer-reviewed journal from 2019 to 2021 were included. Following the review methodology, two independent raters were responsible for retrieving, extracting and checking for data eligibility. Demographic characteristics are presented as frequencies and percentages. Based on distribution of values, continuous data were expressed as median and interquartile range (IQR). RESULTS: Out of 32 patients, 26 patients reported neurological symptoms, 6 cases went unnoticed, 7 cases showed involvement of the cranial nerves, 12 cases did not, and 13 cases went unreported. CONCLUSIONS: It is too early to draw any conclusions concerning a potential relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and GBS. More large-scale observational studies are required to understand the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2-associated GBS and to demonstrate a definite causal relationship between GBS and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Improving awareness of physical therapy students on infection control policies and procedures in COVID-19 outbreak: A cross-sectional study

Awareness and education of policies and regulations for controlling infections in physiotherapy (PT) practice is a critical subject with rare previous studies. Noting that COVID-19 as distressing threat. Avoiding spread of healthcare associated infections is done via strong strategies on proper cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing equipment. This study was done to measure & provide a better considerate of infection control policies and regulations during PT practice to ensure physiotherapists (PTs) and patient safety. An electronic questionnaire was sent to 180 physiotherapists in Jeddah, KSA [senior physiotherapists, interns & students]. Data statistical analysis revealed a huge gap between the participants' answers, in favor of the seniors. From the result we can conclude that physiotherapists and students should be well-educated about national & international standard principles of infection control, using protecting equipment and safe disposal of infected objects.