Serum Procalcitonin Level and Comorbidity in Covid-19 Patients in UAE

Background: Most COVID-19 patients experience a mild form of the disease, but there is a certain percentage of patients who progress to a very severe disease state that requires intensive care and invasive ventilation. In order to ensure better patient management and improved outcomes, early identification of patients who may be at a higher risk of severe infection can play an important role. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the mean procalcitonin (PCT) level and comorbidity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Methods and Results: A total of 231 COVID-19-positive patients aged between 20 and 82 years (170[73.6 %] males and 61[26.4%] females) were included in this study. Serum PCT was accessed by procalcitonin assay using the Beckman Coulter UniCel DxI 800 instrument. All patients were classified into 5 groups according to age: 20-29 years-20(8.7%), 30-39 years-47(20.3%), 40-49 years-72(31.2%), 50-59 years-48(20.8%) and >60years-44(19.0%). Eighty-seven (37.7%) patients had no chronic disease, while 144(62.3%) had comorbidities: hypertension (37[16.0%]), diabetes mellitus (44[19.0%]), a combination of diabetes mellitus with hypertension (32[13.9%]), asthma (6[2.6%]), hyperlipidemia (4[1.7%]), renal disease (1[0.4%]), and COPD (1[0.4%]). COVID-19 patients with diabetes in combination with hypertension had a statistically greater PCT level than COVID-19 patients without comorbidities (P=0.0273). However, there were no statistically significant differences in the mean PCT levels between other comorbidities. There were no statistically significant differences in the mean PCT level between different age categories (P=0.7390). The serum PCT measurement could evaluate the prognosis of the disease in some COVID-19 patients. © 2022, International Medical Research and Development Corporation. All rights reserved.

Stress among Teachers in Virtual Classrooms Working in the Higher Education Sector during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Teaching is one of the most stressful professions since teachers have many responsibilities to meet the targets such as teaching, lesson planning, classroom management and discipline, supervisory role, extracurricular activity, etc. However, during the COVID-19 outbreak, teaching has become challenging for professional teachers. A total number of 85 professional teachers were screened, by which 73 subjects provided informed consent to take part in the study and were included in the study. A stress questionnaire developed by International Stress Management Association UK (ISMA) was used to assess the stress among professional teachers. Among the 50 subjects, five subjects had a history of hypertension, one subject had diabetes mellitus, 11 subjects had low back pain, five subjects had knee pain, and two subjects had migraine. The stress assessment questionnaire revealed that 64% of subjects were towards moderate risk, 34% high risk, and 2% low risk for stress. The present study concludes that professional teachers are at moderate to high risk of developing occupational-related stress associated with health-related problems.

The Association of C-Reactive Protein and Ferritin Levels with the Severity of COVID-19 in Ajman, UAE

Background: SARS-Cov-2, a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan city, China, has spread worldwide, causing severe illnesses and a high mortality rate. Many studies have shown the association of elevated levels of pro-inflammatory markers, such as ferritin and C-reactive protein (CRP), with the severe course of coronavirus disease The aim of this research was to investigate the association between CRP and ferritin levels, and the severity of COVID-19. Methods and Results: This cross-sectional study was performed in Thumbay Hospital, Ajman, United Arab Emirates, from January 2021 to October 2021. A total of 100 COVID-19 positive patients were included in this study. Serum CRP and ferritin were measured by immunoturbidimetric assay. We found statistically significant differences between ferritin levels and disease severity (P=0.005), age category (P=0.030), and the clinical wards (P=0.016). Statistically significant differences were found between the ferritin levels in mild to moderate cases (P=0.023) and mild to severe cases (P.007). There were significant differences in CRP in mild to moderate cases (P 4).012), and in mild to severe cases (P=0.000). Thus, the results obtained showed that CRP and ferritin levels are considerably greater in severe cases than in mild and moderate cases of COVID-19. The findings of the current study indicate that CRP and serum ferritin levels might be considered as an essential indication of the progression and severity of COVID-19.

Management and Rehabilitation of COVID-19: A Physiotherapist Perspective

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new coronavirus that emerged in 2019 and causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Many people experiencing ongoing health effects following COVID-19 infection manage their condition independently at home while acutely infected without a health professional’s aid. The number of patients who need post-COVID syndrome management, focusing on recovery and rehabilitation, is likely to grow as COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise. Per the WHO, as of February 2021, 107 million people were affected, with 59.8 million recoveries across the world, and in UAE, 3,32,603 cases have been reported, with 3,13,060 recoveries. Purpose: The current paper highlights the importance of physiotherapy rehabilitation service for patients with confirmed COVID-19 in the acute hospital setting, including screening to determine indications for physiotherapy, respiratory physiotherapy, exercise interventions, and postdischarge period. Methods: A thorough literature search was conducted. The electronic databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and Scopus were searched using a combination of keywords and in-cluded randomized trials, recommendations, quasi-randomized or prospective controlled clinical trials, reports, guidelines, and letters to the editor. Results: Based on the current research and guidelines given by the World Confederation for Physical Therapy and Physiotherapy Associations in various countries, a detailed physiotherapy assessment and management for patients in different stages of COVID-19 is presented. Conclusion: We conclude that early physiotherapy rehabilitation should be started to avoid post-COVID complications and improve patients’ quality of life.

Efficacy of pursed lip breathing with bhastrika pranayama vs incentive spirometry in rehabilitating post Covid 19 follow up-a randomized control study

Background Covid 19 infection has severe impact in various systems of the body, but primarily it affects the respiratory system by destroying the lung tissues, and thus leading to an acute medical emergency. There is an alarming sign to be noted, on the raise of post covid patient's numbers, who arrive at post covid follow up special clinic with persistent breathing difficulty. Hence this study focuses on post hospitalization pulmonary rehabilitation with an effective home exercise to improve the pulmonary ventilation. Aim This study aims to explore the efficacy of combining various breathing exercise to improve the pulmonary ventilation. Methods An Experimental study was carried out with 48 participants. On the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria, all of these participants were categorized into experimental and control group. Experimental group received pursed lip breathing exercise with bhastrika pranayama and the control group receivedIncentive spirometry.The FVC & FEV1 parameters in PFT were recorded pre and post to the intervention by blinded tester who was not aware about group allotment. Result: Post test FEV1 experimental group shows a mean value of 75.75 and standard deviation of 3.7997 and showing a T value of 5.2756 with a p value of <0.0001.Post test FEV1 shows significant improvement among both groups. Conclusion The present study analyzed efficacy of intervention for patients with dyspnea in post covid follow up clinic. The patients are not only having respiratory complaints but also had complaints of various dysfunctions. So the other factors should also need to be assessed and a proper intervention should be rendered in order to prevent re-hospitalization.

Prevalence of high blood pressure and risk factors among health care workers during Covid-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: During humanitarian crisis health-care professionals are the frontline workers to provide best services to the community. The health care professionals are potential to expose many stressors at work place is believed to provoke stress. The COVID-19 pandemic is creating lots of stress to everyone.The aim of this study is to find the prevalence of high blood pressure and cardiac risk factors among health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Total no of 137 health care professionals were selected based on inclusion criteria out of them 80 subjects were selected based on simple random sampling and included for the study. RESULTS: The majority of subjects 38 (47.5%) are 25-35 years of age, 29 (36.2%) are 36-45 years of age and 13 (16.2%) are 46-55years of age. With regards to gender, 42 (52.5%) were males and 38 (47.5%) were females. The findings of the present study speculate that all the male health care workers having high percentage of body fat as 26.06, the average heart rate wasmeasured as 92.5 BPM. Further, 52.4% of them are having stage 1 hypertension.However,the is no abnormality was found in pulse pressure among the health care workers. CONCLUSION: This study evidenced that 52.4% of the health care workers having high blood pressure and all the participants have high body fat percentage 26.06 with body mass index as overweight 25.4. Further, it evidences that they are under risk of developing hypertension.