RESUMO
COVID-19 has been linked to more than expected cases of strokes especially in young population. Over a 42-day follow-up period, the BNT162b2 vaccination caused few side effects, majority of it were minors and few are dangerous. This is the second case report which suggest a relationship between COVID-19 mRNA BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine and stroke. Our case is regarding 40-year Saudi women previously healthy, presented to ER with signs and symptoms of weakness in her right side with ipsilateral mild facial palsy and slurred speech ten days after receiving first dose BNT162b2 vaccine. Non-contrast CT scan of the brain demonstrated large fairly defined hypodense area involving the left fronto-temporal region;it exerts a mass effect in the form of effacement in the cortical sulci and mild compression of the ipsilateral ventricle with no shift of the midline structures. In our case, a link between the stroke and Pfizer vaccine is hard to exclude out. The above link has to be investigated further, and people who develop a stroke sooner after getting the first dose should be addressed carefully.
RESUMO
Background: COVID-19 pandemic is expected to affect the mental health, especially among medical students. Data from the literature in Jordan are scarce, especially during the second wave of the pandemic. We aimed to assess medical students’ level of fear, prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms—represented in psychological distress (PD)—and sleep quality (SQ) amid the current pandemic of COVID-19. A total of 2104 students were included through convenient sampling from the six schools of Medicine in Jordan. Online-based questionnaire using Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) scale, Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), and Sleep Quality Scale (SQS) was used to collect the data. Chi-square, t-tests, and ANOVA were used to establish the associations. Results: 88.4% and 47.4% of the students were found to have PD and poor or just fair sleep quality on SQS, respectively, with PD ranging from mild (18.6%) to severe (42.1%). Calculated FCV-19S score was 14.62 (SD=5.38), indicating high level of fear. Students with excellent SQ had significantly lower rates of depression, anxiety, and PD as compared to those with good, fair, and poor SQ (P < 0.001 for all). Conclusion: Jordanian medical students appear to be especially susceptible to COVID-19 pandemic impact on mental health and reported high rates of PD. While rates of COVID-19 fear are still considered high, they are remarkably lower than that reported in early studies. We strongly recommend providing resources and access to professional mental health care to students reporting poor SQ and/or symptoms of anxiety and depression. Limitations: Using a cross-sectional design, online-based survey, convenient sampling, and scarcity of local literature are among the inevitable limitations caused by the pandemic that have prevented us from drawing cause-effect associations. © 2021, The Author(s).