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Various pathogenic microorganisms have been implicated as the cause of infectious diarrhea in children as a result of water and food contamination. The study's goal is to determine the reliability of complete blood count (CBC) in peripheral blood of children with acute diarrhea which infected by certain enteric bacteria, with an emphasis on leukocytes (WBCs). A study conducted to examine the pattern of bacterial distribution in children with acute diarrhea's stool, as well as the relationship between the presence of pathogenic bacteria in stool samples and the number of total WBCs and differential leukocyte count in peripheral blood. Samples size includes (76) of health none diarrhea and (174) diarrheal patients, statistical analysis revealed that co-infection by E. coli and Klebsiella sp. was significantly higher (P<0.001) among children which suffered by diarrhea in compare to health individuals. In addition, the logistic regression shows co-infections and infections by Klebsiella sp. (OR: 29.44, 16.288 respectively) more likelihood leads to acute diarrhea compare to E. coli infection alone (P<0.001). Neutrophils/Lymphocyte ratio (NRL) was (2.412) times higher and neutrophils (1.069) times more in diarrheal group (P<0.001), also the AUC for NRL was 0.833(sensitivity: 81.61 and specificity: 68.42), while for percent of neutrophils was less 0.671 (sensitivity: 46.24 and specificity: 85.71). Concluded that peripheral leukocyte count, particularly the NRL index, is helpful in children with acute diarrhea and additionally that the prevalence of diarrhea is altered by different bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BK and JC polyomaviruses are known to infect humans (1,2). Recently, the novel KI polyomavirus (KIPyV) and WU polyomavirus (WUPyV) have been identified in respiratory secretions of children with signs [...]

This investigation aims to provide epidemiological features of the COVID-19 patients that admitted to Shahid Dr Hemin Teaching Hospital in Sulaimani city, Iraq. To carry out this work, cross-sectional method was used. A convenience sampling method was applied for data collection which started from 2nd October to 31th December 2020. The current study included only 371 patients who admitted for having COVID-19. The data were collected from patient’s medical record and a direct interview method was used for filling in the questionnaire forms. The collected data were statistically analysed by SPSS program with considering a p-value ≤ 0.05 as a significant interpretation. The findings show that the age of patients ranged from 19-95 years old and mean age of the participants was (63.69±12.73). The majority of patients 159 (42.9%) were between 65-79 years old and followed by 124 (33.4%) of them were between 50-64 years old. Male to female ratio was 2:1. Most of the patients were retired 119 (32.1%) in comparison to other occupations and illiterate patients 151(40.7%) were dominance over other patient’s education levels. In addition, majority of patients had hypertension 278(74.9%), diabetes 132 (35.6%) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) 130 (35.0%). On the other hand, regarding to condition of patients 230 (62.0%) and 141(38.0%) of them were in severe and moderate stage of disease respectively. Also, a. significant association were observed between the age group, occupation, education level, stage of the disease and patients’ outcome, while for gender, marital status and residency there were statistically non-significant. The presence of CVD, hypertension and diabetes increase the mortality rate among the patients. In conclusion, the age of COVID-19 patients has a great impact on increasing mortality rate and the presence of comorbidities among the COVID- 19patients significantly raise the mortality rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of new curative drugs and the consumption of natural dietary ingredients with the ability to exhibit immunomodulatory activity is urgently needed to decrease the risk of chronic diseases among the population. Rosmarinus officinalis (Lamiaceae) is an aromatic plant that has been traditionally and medicinally used as a carminative, antispasmodic, painkiller, circulatory tonic, to stimulate hair growth and to improve memory dysfunction. This study aimed to assess the potential effects of rosemary solvent extracts on human immune function. Science Direct, Web of Science, Wiley, Elsevier, PubMed, Scopus, and the Google scholar search engines were used to retrieve relevant information included combinations of "rosemary" or "R. officinalis" with "immune function," "immunity," "immune system," "anti-inflammatory," "inflammation," or "health benefit." A number of studies have been found a stimulatory effect of rosemary and its active compounds on the immune system in vitro and animal study, but there is a lack of evidence in humans for supporting this. The results demonstrated the potential of rosemary and its main active components as dietary ingredients with immunomodulatory functionality. Human studies should be performed and a double-blind randomized controlled trial would be ideal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early detection and prompt response are crucial measures to prevent and control outbreaks. Public health agencies, therefore, designed the Communicable Disease Surveillance System (CDSS) to obtain essential data instantaneously to be used for appropriate action. However, a periodic evaluation of CDSS is indispensable to ensure the functionality of the system. For this reason, this study aims to assess the performance of the core and support functions of the CDSS in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A descriptive cross‐sectional study was used. From a total of 291 health facilities HFs (Primary health care centers and Hospitals) in the Kurdistan region of Iraq that have surveillance activities, 74 HFs were selected using a random stratified sampling approach. The World Health Organization (WHO) generic questionnaire has been used to interview the surveillance staff, together with direct collection of the data. Our analysis shows a lack of surveillance guiding manual in the HFs. Even at the district level, where a surveillance manual existed, case definitions, thresholds, and control measures were still missing. To note, more than 93% of HFs had organized and comprehensive patients registers for the collection of their clinical and secondary data. Also, all HFs had functioning laboratories. The majority of them (almost 93%) were equipped to collect, process, and store blood, stool, and urine specimens. About 72% of these laboratories were also able to transport timely the specimens to more specialized laboratories. At all levels, data reporting to the higher level exceeded the recommended minimum rate of 80%. The reporting system at the district level was based on emails, while in the periphery on hand‐delivered in paper‐based formats (50%), telephone (22%), and social media (22%). Furthermore, our analysis highlights the lack of data analysis: only 3.8% of Primary Health Care Centers conduct simple data analysis regularly, while hospitals do not do any sort of analysis. Also, only a few HFs investigated an outbreak, though using system routine sources to capture these public health events. Our findings show a lack in epidemic preparedness (3%), in feedback (53%), in standard guidelines, training, supervision, and resource allocations in HFs (0%). Taken together, our data show the importance of strengthening the CDSS in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, by reinforcing the surveillance system with continuous feedback, supervision, well‐trained and motivated staff, technical support, and coordination between researchers and physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the Editor: Before 2007, two human polyomaviruses were known to infect humans: BK virus and JC virus (1,2). Recently, 2 novel polyomaviruses, KI polyomavirus (KIPyV) and WU polyomavirus (WUPyV), [...]

In December 2019, the epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) broke out in Wuhan in China. Symptoms of COVID-19 are non-definite and mild symptoms include: fever, cough. However, elderly and populations with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension are more likely to be at risk of severe pulmonary infection and death. Many therapies have been proposed and assed for treating (COVID-19). In April 2020, two papers appeared that suggested clinical trials of low dose radiotherapy (LDRT) for COVID19 pneumonia. Following that, some researchers carried out some studies, and they modify the amount of doses and fractionation. Regarding the aging, some study using a sensitive age that ranged from 18 to 50 years, are more likely to have stochastic effects that cannot analyzed directly as it needs more time to experience these effects. In this review, we analysis the possibility of a low dose radiotherapy that can have in treating COVID-19 pneumonia, by using almost all accessed publications that performed on a low dose radiotherapy (LDRT) for curing bacteria or virus as well as studies that focus on using LDRT for antiinflammatory. We show that LDRT can perform the mitigation and the repair response of the immune system to provide a potential therapy of COVID-19. A single dose of low-dose radiotherapy can be effective in both cost and time and could potentially relieve symptoms of respiratory rapidly. However, such treatment would not be without obstacle and it can be difficult since it is necessary to recognize those few patients who are more benefit from radiation treatment and identifying short and long-term impacts. clinical stage of disease should be known. Additionally, it is not acceptable to report that LDRT would be superior to any type treatment that are currently under taking, until results from clinical trial will be released. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019, the causative agent is severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-Co-2). The virus spread quickly to other areas and countries and the disease has become pandemic. This meta-analysis study was carried out to evaluate the clinical characteristics and to assess the prevalence of comorbidities in COVID-19 confirmed patients from January 1, 2020 to December 1, 2020. Totally, 5580 cases were involved in this study, (55.2%) of them were males, the predominant clinical symptoms of COVID-19 patients were fever, cough, and fatigue (61.9, 50.1%, and 34.1% respectively). The most frequent comorbidities were hypertension, diabetes, as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (13.1%, 7.4 %, and 5.9% respectively). The majority of the patients in this study were male, the most prevalent signs and symptoms were fever, cough, and fatigue. The highly repeated comorbidities in the cases were hypertension, diabetes, also cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract with heterogeneous disease presentation. A cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken in Mosul General Hospital. The study was conducted using two distinct methodologies. An observational checklist was used by the researcher to assess the patients' characteristics and factors related to UC from 200 hospitalized patients from December 2018 to April 2019. Data were entered into spreadsheets and analyzed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. The results showed that 49.0% of patients was males and 51.0% was female; the mean age was 46.36 years old. Elderly stage (> 45 years of age) makes the highest proportion of the patients 99 (49.5%). The majority of patients was from urban or inside Mosul city center 140 (70%). The study also showed that the more frequency of patients 103 (51.5%) were in severe condition. Patients were used or given more antibiotics, they will be liked to get UC 191 (95.5%) and the relation was found to be statistically significant at (p<0.001). The study showed that 95 (47.5%) of all cases had a previous family history of UC. Out of 102 female patients, 45 (44.1%) were more frequently under uses of contraceptive pills. 60 (58.8%) of patients was in severe cases of UC and followed by moderate 35 (34.3%). Out of 103 severe cases, 60 of them were female. These differences were statistically significant at (p<0.05). In addition, out of 45 female patients were used oral contraceptive pills, 30 (66.7%) of them were in severe cases of UC and followed by 14 (31.1%) were in moderate cases. Majority of patients previously were sensitive to spices 160 (80.0%) and followed by fish and eggs 21 (10.5) 16 (8.0%) respectively. In addition, out of 160 spices sensitive patients, 80 (50.5%) of them were in severe cases and 61 (38.1%) were in moderate cases. Statistically, these differences are significant at (p<0.05). In the conclusion, UC among late adult in our community needs critical care and monitoring. The female patients were at risk of UC especially, who uses oral contraceptive pills. The random and more antibiotic uses are considered as major risk factors lead to cause UC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge and practice of public, especially patients about eye diseases are important to reduce magnitude of human blindness. Vision and sight are very essential because they allow us to connect to each other's. In accordance to the recently published data; the estimation of 253 million people lives with vision impairment, 36 million are blind and 217 million suffer from moderate to severe vision impairment. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Shahid Dr. Aso Hospital in Sulaimani city-Iraq, from April to August 2017 by face-to-face interview through close ended questionnaire for data collecting. All data were analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0 software. P-value of < 0.05 was considered as a statistically significant. A total of 430 patients were randomly chosen to participate in the study. They were 254 (59.1%) males and 176 (40.9%) females. 76.7% of respondents was worrying about vision loss, 0.7% was worrying about hair loss. Of the participants, 32.8% was with a good knowledge level and 40.5% was with a poor knowledge level, as well as 3.1% was in a good practice and 58.8% was in a poor practice level. Female knowledge mean score was 9.53±4.96 and male knowledge mean score was 8.42±5.45, the practice mean score of males was 4.33±1.96 and mean practice score of females was 4.13±1.93. The study data indicate the worrying of participates about vision loss is in the highest proportion and the awareness and practice of patients about eye diseases is unsatisfactory. Health education campaigns are needed to improve personal awareness about vision related problems and for better eye health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]