Self-Referred Walk-in (SRW) versus Emergency Medical Services Brought Covid-19 Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristics of the emergency medical services (EMS) brought COVID-19 patients versus self-referred walk-in patients. METHODS: This was a Cross-sectional study of COVID-19 infected cases in Jahrom, south of Iran. Age, sex, the symptoms of beginning days' passing, respiratory distress, PO2 at arrival, admission length and in-hospital death were retrieved for confirming COVID-19 cases in the whole 2020 year. Respiratory distress was considered as the sign that agitates the patient to call EMS care. Survival analysis was used to evaluate the possible difference of the hospitalization outcome in EMS brought or Self-referred walk-in (SRW) patients. RESULTS: There was 704 (27.1%) registries patients transfer to the hospital by EMS and 1895 (72.9%) cases with SRW referred to the hospital. The survival distributions for the EMS group were statistically significant and lower than SRW group (p<0.05). Despite the SRW patients, respiratory distress was associated with lower survival in EMS group (p<0.05). Days passing the symptom's beginning was significantly different between EMS group (6.1±5.3 days) and SRW group (6.9±4.6 days). Cox regression showed higher mortality rate in patients higher than 75 years old in both groups (p<0.05). Higher PO2 at arrival was associated with lower mortality rate of Hazard Ratio of 0.959 (p<0.001) and 0.903 (p<0.001) in EMS and SRW groups, respectively. The history of heart disease and hypertension were associated with 1.011 and 1.088 times more than mortality risk in EMS group; while cancer history was associated with 2.74 times more of mortality risk in SRW group. CONCLUSION: It seems that severe acute respiratory syndrome occurs soon in some patients that lead to the need for an ambulance to transfer the patient to the hospital. Therefore, EMS transfer patients should be considered for more risk of severe COVID-19; considering comorbidities of heart disease and hypertension as red flags.

Aluminum Phosphide Poisoning Mortality Rate in Iran; a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: According to statistics provided by the forensic medicine facility of Iran, there are a high number of Aluminum phosphide (ALP) poisoning-related deaths in the country; while the mortality rate varies in different studies. This study aimed to determine a pooled estimate of ALP poisoning mortality rate in Iran. METHODS: The present study was a systematic review and meta-analysis of the mortality rate of ALP poisoning in Iran. Through the quarry of Persian and English databases, using "aluminum phosphide", "phosphine", "rice pills", "poisoning", and "Iran" as keywords, and no time restrictions, studies reporting mortality rate in ALP poisoning cases were collected. The random-effects model was used to pool the proportions of mortality and age of survivors versus non-survivors. RESULTS: 21 studies with 3432 cases of ALP poisoning were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled mortality rate of ALP poisoning in Iran was 39.6%, (95% CI: 31.5%-47.9%; I2 = 95%). Since there was significant publication bias, the trim-and-fill correction was conducted and the corrected pooled mortality rate was estimated to be 27.3% (95% CI: 18.9%- 36.5%), which is the rate that should be considered for clinical guidance. Morality rate in male and female patients was 62.3% (95% CI: 53.5%-70.8%) and 37.7% (95% CI: 29.2%-46.5%), respectively (p < 0.01). Survivors had significantly lower mean age than non-survivors (SMD: -0.26 (95% CI: -0.37 to -0.15); p < 0.01; I2=0%). CONCLUSION: According to this report, the Mortality rate of ALP poisoning in Iranian population is about 27%, with men having a higher fatality rate than women. Poisoning at a younger age is associated with better results.

COVID-19 as a worldwide selective event and bitter taste receptor polymorphisms: An ecological correlational study.

BACKGROUND: Given the observed olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions in patients with COVID-19 and recent findings on taste receptors possible important activities in the immune system, we elected to estimate the correlation between COVID-19 mortality and polymorphism of a particular type of bitter taste receptor gene called TAS2R38, in a worldwide epidemiological point of view. METHODS: Pooled rate of each of the rs713598, rs1726866, rs10246939, and PAV/AVI polymorphisms of the TAS2R38 gene was obtained in different countries using a systematic review methodology and its relationship with the mortality of COVID-19. Data were analyzed by the comprehensive meta-analysis software and SPSS. RESULTS: There was only a significant reverse Pearson correlation in death counts and PAV/AVI ratio, p = 0.047, r = -0.503. Also, a significant reverse correlation of PAV/AVI ratio and death rate was seen, r = -0.572 p = 0.021. rs10246939 ratio had a significant positive correlation with death rate, r = 0.851 p = 0.031. Further analysis was not significant. Our results showed that the higher presence of PAV allele than AVI, and a higher rate of G allele than A in rs10246939 polymorphism in a country, could be associated with lower COVID-19 mortality. While assessing all three polymorphisms showed a huge diversity worldwide. CONCLUSION: Due to extraoral activities of bitter taste receptor genes, especially in mucosal immunity, this gene seems to be a good candidate for future studies on COVID-19 pathophysiology. Also, the high worldwide diversity of TAS2R38 genes polymorphism and its possible assassination with mortality raises concerns about the efficiency of vaccine projects in different ethnicities.

A comparative, single-blind, randomized study on quetiapine and aripiperazole augmentation in treatment of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder, of unknown etiology, that affects 2.5% of the population. An appropriate therapeutic response to conventional treatment is seen. Some studies use augmentative treatment by antipsychotics, glutamatergic, lithium, buspirone, and others agents to improve the therapeutic response. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of aripiprazole and quetiapine as augmentative treatments in patients with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) refractory OCD. The OCD patients were initially treated for 12 weeks with a SSRI. If after 12 weeks their Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) score was more than 16, they were randomly assigned to either the aripiprazole or the quetiapine augmentation group for an additional 12 weeks. There were no significant differences in age, sex, education, marital status, or score of Y-BOCS and Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale (CGI-S) between groups (p > 0.05) at the outset of the study. Significant differences were noted after 1 month when compared with results at 2, 3, and 4 months in both groups (p < 0.001). Both quetiapine and aripiprazole may be effective and well-tolerated augmentative agents in the treatment of SSRI-refractory OCD. Because of positive results, aripiprazole may be considered more effective and may have a more rapid onset in terms of therapeutic response.