Seroprevalence of brucellosis antibodies and associated risk factors among the hospitalized patient, Aleppo, Syria: a hospital-based cross-sectional study.

Introduction and importance: Brucellosis is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world, especially in developing countries. Recent reports show that Syria is among the top ten countries where brucellosis is most prevalent. The purpose of this study is to estimate the seroprevalence of brucellosis antibodies among the hospitalized patients, in one of the largest hospitals in northern Syria. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the hospitalized patients. The authors used a questionnaire to collect sociodemographic and brucellosis-related data from the patients. The authors also collected blood samples from these patients to be screened for brucellosis antibodies using Wright Coombs Agglutination and 2-mercaptoethanol tests, during the period from November 2021 and March 2022. Results: Among the 776 patients who were recruited in the study, the seroprevalence of brucellosis antibodies was 13.1% (n=776). The highest prevalence was among the female sex (16.7%, n=298), middle aged group 12-40 years (24.1%, n=116), and patients with history of brucellosis (30.1%, n=53). Among the positive samples, the findings of 2-mercaptoethanol tests show that (14.7%, n=102) were positive (presence of IgG Antibodies), and (75.5%, n=102) were negative. Conclusion: This study is the first to describe the epidemiology of brucellosis in northern Syria. It clearly shows high rates of positivity, which reflects immense challenges facing the public health sector in Syria. The best next step in light of this crisis is to raise awareness among population about brucellosis and its risk factor.

Acute psychosis and behavioural changes with seizure-like hyperactive psychomotor activity secondary to isotretinoin initiation in a healthy young male: case report.

Introduction and importance: Acute psychosis is a common brief psychiatric emergency period of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts and/or speech with or without psychomotor elements, which is not commonly induced by isotretinoin therapy. Dermatologists should counsel the patient before starting the treatment with all new, uncommon side effects, especially neuropsychiatric manifestations before starting this medication. Case presentation: A 23-year-old male smoker with a known case of acne vulgaris recently started on isotretinoin for 2 weeks after which he developed abnormal hyperactive psychomotor activity. He was diagnosed with isoteritoin-induced acute psychosis based on clinical findings and exclusion, and valproic acid and olanzapine were initiated. The patient showed significant improvement. Clinical discussion: Acute psychosis is a new, unfamiliar side effect presenting after initiation of isotretinoin therapy in young adults who were previously healthy. The mechanism is not well known but is thought to result from a decrease in the adult's neurogenesis or alterations in exposure of the serotonergic neurotransmitter system. Conclusion: Isotretinoin is commonly used nowadays for treating young adults. Patients and their families should be counselled about all the psychiatric side effects. Antipsychotics and antiepileptics with mood stabilizers may improve the acute status for patients with isotertoin-induced psychosis.

Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC) of the Bartholin's gland misdiagnosed for three times: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) in Bartholin's gland is an uncommon malignant tumor. These tumors have a vague clinical feature, so they are diagnosed late and discovered at a high-level stage. Our case presented Three Recurrences and Three times Misdiagnosis of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (ACC). CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of adenoid cystic carcinoma arising in Bartholin's gland of a 64-year-old female patient that appeared after three previous vulvar tumors were excised. The patient underwent bilateral radiotherapy which was performed on the perineum. CONCLUSION: ACC of the vulvar sweat glands is prone to misdiagnosis and delay in both diagnosis and treatment. As seen in our case, it was misdiagnosed three times as Chondroid Syringoma. Further studies need to be conducted to better understand the tumor prognosis, and its optimal treatment options.

Prevalence of obesity and its association with fast-food consumption and physical activity: A cross-sectional study and review of medical students' obesity rate.

Background: obesity is a widespread condition with more than 400 million obese-person all over the world. It is expected of medical students to follow healthy habits as they are more familiar with the risks of obesity. In contrast, many studies showed that medical students eat fast food, spend much time on smart devices, and do not play sports. Aim: This study is the first cross-sectional study conducted to evaluate the prevalence of obesity and some daily habits carried out by medical students of Aleppo University. Method: The data of our cross-sectional study were collected between the 13th-20th of March 2021 through an online google form posted on different social media platforms. The questionnaire was divided into two main sections: firstly, participants' demographics (including age, gender, and academic year). In addition, medical students were asked to document their weight and height to estimate their Body Mass Index (BMI). The second section contained questions concerning daily habits including, the number of meals, breakfast, physical exercises, and fast food consumption. Chi-square and Fisher tests were performed by IBM SPSS statistics to analyze our data. Results: Our sample size was 514 medical students of Aleppo University. (22.1%) of them were overweight or obese (BMI> 25). Most (73.5%) eat fast food once a week or more. In addition, (39%) have three meals or more daily, and (55.7%) have two meals every day. Regarding physical activity, (76.7%) do not play sports, and (62.1%) use buses to come to the college.Stress eaters were associated significantly(p-value<0.05) with being overweight, and (70.8%) of them had a history of being overweight (p-value<0.05). Contrary to females, we found that most males were not stressed-eaters (p-value<0.05).