Multisectoral actions of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mazandaran province of Iran.

AIM: A widespread outbreak of COVID-19 is followed by adverse effects on the mental health of the general population. Therefore, this study is an audit to investigate the activities of various organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mazandaran Province, Iran. METHODS: The aim of the study was to collect the data, the relevant officials in various organizations and units were contacted to collect the statistics of actions taken in psychology and psychiatry wards. Moreover, databases such as Google Scholar and Iranian resources were searched. RESULTS: According to the results, different healthcare systems worked in parallel during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, Mazandaran University of Medical Science [MAZUMS] Health Vice-Chancellor performed the following activities during this crisis: establishing a virtual crisis management working group, holding a provincial educational committee to train the crisis management teams, organizing virtual psychological intervention teams in the healthcare systems, and so forth. In addition, the mental health activities by Mazandaran Welfare Organization during the COVID-19 outbreak included providing hostelry free psychological counseling, quarantine boarding and rehabilitation centers, and providing harm prevention protocols of COVID-19, especially for marginalized regions. In the third level of medical centers, including hospitals, consultation-liaison psychiatry or psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, therapeutic interventions for comorbid psychiatric disorders with COVID-19 disease, and online workshops for mental health were conducted to reduce burnout of medical staff and nurses. CONCLUSION: This study can provide a good guideline for different service providers by using the experiences of other centers to achieve better results.

Disaster and Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients experience a variety of disease caused disabilities that makes them more vulnerable to the effects of disasters. This study aimed to review all existed studies about disasters and related disaster management planning about MS patients. Methods: The PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science, ProQuest, science direct , and grey literature databases were searched up to the mid of 2021. All obtained titles were assessed by the inclusion criteria. Abstracts of the relevant titles were reviewed and eligible articles/documents were included for full text review and data abstraction. Results: From 24616 Articles/documents, finally 15 documents (13 articles, and 2 books) were selected. In 8 articles (53%) specifically, focused on MS patients and, in the rest focused on them as a member of people with disabilities. Most studies (10, 71.4%), emphasized on the disaster induced stress effect on MS patients. In two books/book sections, the disaster preparedness plan for all types of disabilities was presented in general, and MS patients were mentioned as a member of the group of patients with disabilities. Conclusion: Despite the importance of planning in response to disasters to address specific problems of MS patients, there is a lack of proper planning. This is very important and there is an urgent need to develop appropriate planning protocols for addressing the special conditions of MS patients in response to disasters.

Prevalence Rate of Diabetes and Hypertension in Disaster-Exposed Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as hypertension (HTN) and diabetes mellitus (DM) have been one of the major health problems in the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence rate of DM and HTN following natural and man-made disasters that impose significant economic and psychological burdens on human communities. METHODS: In this systematic and meta-analysis review, all cross-sectional studies that at least one of their objectives was to measure the prevalence of HTN or DM in individuals affected by natural and man-made disasters were included. Literature review was done in international databases including PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, from database inception to February 17, 2019. The extracted data included the bibliographic characteristics of the article, the age of the participants, number of participants, gender, sample size, outcome, duration of the follow-up, and prevalence of DM and HTN. Data were analyzed by STATA software (version 11) and random effect method and the I2 index were used to investigate heterogeneity between the articles. RESULTS: A total of 16 articles met the inclusion criteria. Based on the quality assessment, 11 papers were categorized as moderate and 5 paper were categorized as high quality. The prevalence of HTN and DM in disaster-exposed populations were 47.35 (CI 95%: 38.53-56.17) and 13.56 (CI 95%: 10.12-17.01), respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show a high prevalence of HTN and DM in survivors of major disasters, which is higher in comparison to the general population.

The prevalence of anemia and hemoglobinopathies in the hematologic clinics of the kermanshah province, Western iran.

Hemoglobinopathies are the most common single gene disorders worldwide with a considerable frequency in certain area particularly Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. Hemoglobinopathies include structural variants of hemoglobin (Hb S, Hb C, HbE,…) and thalassaemias which are inherited defects in the globin chains synthesis. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of hemoglobinopathies in western Iranian patients. A total of 344 patients (151 males and 193 females) with abnormal CBC and/or hemoglobin electrophoresis were enrolled in the present study. Cellulose acetate gel electrophoresis was performed for all patients and abnormal bands were identified by citrate agar gel electrophoresis and PCR based methods. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) was present in 156 (45.3%) individuals. Thirty four (9.8%) patients had both iron deficiency anemia and α-thalassemia trait trait, 41(11.9%) patients were with both iron deficiency anemia and minor ß-thalassemia. There were 31(9%) patients with α-thalassemia trait and 5 (2.2%) patients with Hb H disease. Fifty six (16.2%) patients had minor ß-thalassemia. Also, there were 10 (2.9%) individuals homozygous for hemoglobin D-Punjab and one patient with hemoglobin G (0.3%). There was one sample with hemoglobin C. Further, we found 3 patients (0.9%) with sickle cell trait and more 3 patients (0.8%) with S/ ß +-thalassemia. Our results indicated that the most frequent cause of hypochromic and/or microcytic anemia in our population was IDA and the minor ß-thalassemia was the second cause that needs to more attention in screening programs.

Psoriasis in hyper IgE syndrome - a case report.

BACKGROUND: Hyper IgE syndrome (HIES) is a rare primary immune deficiency, described as Job(`)s syndrome characterized by increased serum levels of IgE, eczema, recurrent cutaneous and pulmonary infections. In this paper, we presented a case of Hyper IgE syndrome. CASE PRESENTATION: A 16-year-old Iranian boy presented with a one year history of skin lesions in knees and elbows was diagnosed of psoriasis disease. He had a history of recurrent infections including otitis media, pneumonia, diarrea and skin infection. Laboratory results showed increased level of total IgE and normal in other immunoglobulin. Histologic finding showed hyperkeratosis, parakeratosis of acanthotic epidermis with regular elongation of rete ridges diagnose psoriasis disorder. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this is the first case of hyper IgE patient with psoriasis disorder. We addressed the important laboratory findings and actual theories explaining possible association between hyper IgE immunoglobulinemia and psoriasis disorder.

Clinical features and types of von Willebrand disease in women with menorrhagia referred to hematology clinic of kermanshah.

Menorrhagia is the most common symptom that is experienced by women with bleeding disorders. Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common congenital human bleeding disorder that is manifested as a quantitative deficiency in Von Willebrand factor (VWF) or dysfunction of this factor. The frequency of VWD is similar in both men and women. However, VWD is more readily detected in women due to the presence of severe bleeding associated with menstrual cycles and childbirth. The present study was carried out to find the frequency of VWD, its types, and clinical features of the disease among women with menorrhagia who referred to the Hematology Clinic of the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. The study comprised 482 women with menorrhagia. After excluding patients with confounding factors, 56 (11.6%) patients were evaluated for inherited bleeding disorders. We detected 31 (55.3%) patients with VWD. Type 3 of VWD was the most frequent subtype (45.2%) followed in frequency by type 2 (32.3%), and type 1 (22.5%). In conclusion, our study indicated that menorrhagia can be the first symptom of VWD. Therefore, rare coagulation disorders should be considered in women with idiopathic menorrhagia, particularly in regions with high rates of consanguinity.