Evaluation of tuberculosis infection in COVID-19 patients: a case of tuberculosis and COVID-19 co-infection.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected millions of people worldwide, becoming a challenge of every nation. Since the COVID-19 can present wide spectrum of clinical signs and symptoms, patients with symptoms similar to that of COVID-19 may be misdiagnosed during the context of COVID-19 pandemic. In this regard, various co-infections may affect the outcome of COVID-19 patients if it lefts undiagnosed, especially during the administration of immunosuppressive drugs. Similar to COVID-19, TB affect the lungs and respiratory airways primarily. These two diseases have resembling symptoms, including dry cough, fever, and dyspnea. Due to the importance of early COVID-19 diagnosis, many other respiratory infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) may be missed. Herein, a case of COVID-19 and tuberculosis co-infection is presented.

Breast cancer risk factors in Iran: a systematic review & meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Breast cancer is known as one of the deadliest forms of cancer, and it is increasing globally. There are a variety of proven and controversial risk factors for this malignancy. Herein, we aimed to undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis focus on the epidemiology of breast cancer risk factors in Iran. METHODS: We performed a systematic search via PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Persian databases for identifying studies published on breast cancer risk factors up to March 2019. Meta-analyses were done for risk factors reported in more than one study. We calculated odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a fixed/random-effects models. RESULTS: Thirty-nine studies entered into the meta-analysis. Pooling of ORs showed a significant harmful effect for risk factors including family history (OR: 1.80, 95%CI 1.47-2.12), hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) (OR: 5.48, 95%CI 0.84-1.74), passive smokers (OR: 1.68, 95%CI 1.34-2.03), full-term pregnancy at age 30 (OR: 3.41, 95%CI 1.19-5.63), abortion (OR: 1.84, 95%CI 1.35-2.33), sweets consumption (OR: 1.71, 95%CI 1.32-2.11) and genotype Arg/Arg (crude OR: 1.59, 95%CI 1.07-2.10), whereas a significant protective effect for late menarche (OR: 0.58, 95%CI 0.32-0.83), nulliparity (OR: 0.68, 95%CI 0.39-0.96), 13-24 months of breastfeeding (OR: 0.68, 95%CI 0.46-0.90), daily exercise (OR: 0.59, 95%CI 0.44-0.73) and vegetable consumption (crude OR: 0.28, 95%CI 0.10-0.46). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that factors such as family history, HRT, passive smokers, late full-term pregnancy, abortion, sweets consumption and genotype Arg/Arg might increase risk of breast cancer development, whereas late menarche, nulliparity, 13-24 months breastfeeding, daily exercise and vegetable consumption had an inverse association with breast cancer development.

The neurological manifestations of COVID-19: a review article.

RESULTS: Various neurological manifestations have been reported in the literature associated with COVID-19, which in the current study are classified into Central Nervous System (CNS) related manifestations including headache, dizziness, impaired consciousness, acute cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy, and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) related manifestations such as hyposmia/anosmia, hypogeusia/ageusia, muscle pain, and Guillain-Barre syndrome. CONCLUSION: During the current context of COVID-19 pandemic, physicians should be aware of wide spectrum of neurological COVID-19 sign and symptoms for early diagnosis and isolation of patients. In this regard, COVID-19 has been associated with many neurological manifestations such as confusion, anosmia, and ageusia. Also, various evidences support the possible CNS roles in the COVID-19 pathophysiology. In this regard, further investigation of CNS involvement of SARS-COV-2 is suggested.