Browsing by Author "Altawfiq, Kauthar Jaffar A."

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    Self-reported long COVID-19 symptoms are rare among vaccinated healthcare workers
    (Elsevier, 2023) AlBahrani, Salma; AlBarrak, Ali; AlGubaisi, Nawal; Alkurdi, Hamoud; Alburaiki, Dalia; AlGhamdi, Abdulrahaman; AlOthaiqy, Mohammed; Tayeb, Sarah; Tayeb, Nesreen; Abdraboh, Salimah; Khairi, Amani; Alshareef, Lujain; AlHarbi, Asma; AlRabeeah, Saad; Alqahtani, Abdullah S.; Alqahtani, Jaber S.; Hakami, Fatimah Hassan; Al-Maqati, Thekra N.; Alkhrashi, Sausan Abdulrahman; Almershad, Meshael Musaed; AlAbbadi, Asmaa; Hakami, Mariam Hassan; Faqihi, Osama; Altawfiq, Kauthar Jaffar A.; Jebakumar, Arulanantham Zachariah; Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected healthcare workers (HCWs). Here, we evaluate the occurence of long-COVID-19 symtoms among HCWs. Methods: This is a questionnaire-based study of HCWs who had COVID-19 in two medical centers in Saudi Arabia and were mostly vaccinated. Results: The study included 243 HCWs with a mean age (+ SD) of 36.1 (+ 7.6) years. Of them, 223 (91.8%) had three doses of COVID-19 vaccine, 12 (4.9%) had four doses, and 5 (2.1%) had two doses. The most common symptoms at the start of the illness were cough (180, 74.1%), shortness of breath (124, 51%), muscle ache (117, 48.1%), headache (113, 46.5%), sore throat (111, 45.7%), diarrhea (109, 44.9%) and loss of taste (108, 44.4%). Symptoms lasted for< one week in 117 (48.1%),> one week and< 1 month in 89 (36.6%),> 2 months and< 3 months in 9 (3.7%), and> 3 months in 15 (6.2%). The main symptoms present> 3 months were hair loss (8, 3.3%), cough (5, 2.1%), and diarrhea (5, 2.1%). A binomial regression analysis showed no relationship between persistence of symptoms for> 3 months and other demographic or clinical symptoms characteristics. Conclusion: The study showed a low rate of the occurence of long-COVID> 3 months during the Omicron-wave among mostly vaccinated HCWs with no significant comorbidities. Furhter studies are needed to examine the effect of different vaccines on long-COVID-19 among HCWs.
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    Vaccine Derived Poliovirus (VDPV)
    (Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Salerno, 2023-06-01) Mohanty, Aroop; Rohilla, Ranjana; Zaman, Kamran; Hada, Vivek; Dhakal, Surakchhya; Shah, Abhishek; Padhi, Bijaya Kumar; Al-qaim, Zahra Haleem; Altawfiq, Kauthar Jaffar A.; Tirupathi, Raghavendra; Sah, Ranjit; Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Poliomyelitis is caused by Poliovirus, a member of a large group of enteroviruses. Vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) stem from mutated live poliovirus, which is contained in the Oral Polio Virus vaccine (OPV). In addition, the emergence of VDPV is one of the global challenges for the eradication of poliomyelitis. VDPVs continue to affect different parts of the world; 1081 cases occurred in 2020 and 682 cases in 2021. There are several reasons that may have caused the increase in circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) after the “switch” from the trivalent to the bivalent oral polio vaccine. One reason is the low vaccination rate among the targeted population, which has been further aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Several strategies could control the spread of VDPV including the use of the monovalent OPV (mOPV-2). The risk of VDPV can be minimized through increased immunization rates and the use of safer vaccine alternatives. The global effort to eradicate polio has made significant progress over the years, but continued vigilance and investment in immunization programs are needed to achieve the ultimate goal of a polio-free world.