Human immunodeficiency virus infection and chemotherapy treatment in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lentivirus which that may progress to immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and predispose for opportunistic infections and malignancies. According to recent reports,  1.5 million people died of AIDS in 2013 worldwide which is a 35% decrease since 2005. The number of deaths has decreased in part due to antiretroviral treatment (ART) wide spread use. In Bahrain, in 2011, a multidisciplinary team was established for HIV management involving major stakeholders: public health, infectious diseases, pharmacists, nursing and virologists. A retrospective descriptive study is done about HIV positive patient in Bahrain, their current treatment regimens and other blood parameters were collected, aiming to have a general idea about their health status in a way to help in their medical care. The data was collected retrospectively from the 2014 registry about all patients who are diagnosed to have HIV. Their ART regimen, CD 4 count and viral load were gathered and entered in Excel sheet.. A total of 208 patients were diagnosed to have HIV up to 2014. However, only 108 of them have their full data. In addition, a review of the frequency of admission of these patients over a 10 year period was done too. On reviewing the medical records of the patients admitted over the last ten years from 2004 till 2014, it was found that the total admission of HIV positive patients were 107. Hepatitis C was the most common co infection among those patients with a percentage of 24%. It was found that with better ART treatment and better structure of HIV team and program, we are getting more patients to be controlled. There is a clear increase in the number of patients with improving CD4 count. Based on the results of our study, the HIV multi-disciplinary management team is an essential part for the best management of these patients

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Logistic Regression Based Model for Improving the Accuracy and Time Complexity of ROI's Extraction in Real Time Traffic Signs Recognition System

Designing accurate and time-efficient real-time traffic sign recognition systems is a crucial part of developing the intelligent vehicle which is the main agent in the intelligent transportation system. Traffic sign recognition systems consist of an initial detection phase where images and colors are segmented and fed to the recognition phase. The most challenging process in such systems in terms of time consumption is the detection phase. The tradeoff in previous studies, which proposed different methods for detecting traffic signs, is between accuracy and computation time. Therefore, this paper presents a novel accurate and time-efficient color segmentation approach based on logistic regression. We used RGB color space as the domain to extract the features of our hypothesis; this has boosted the speed of our approach since no color conversion is needed. Our trained segmentation classifier was tested on 1000 traffic sign images taken in different lighting conditions. The results show that our approach segmented 974 of these images correctly and in a time less than one-fifth of the time needed by any other robust segmentation method

Pentraxin 3 genotyping in relation to serum levels of pentraxin 3 in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the association of serum Pentraxin 3 and genotyping with the risk of developing AMI and its severity. Patients and methods: Fifty patients admitted to the coronary care unit presented with STEMI (acute ST segment myocardial infarction) at the Cardiology Department, Menoufia University Hospital in the period from October 2014 to April 2015 and another 20 subjects age- and gender-matched were taken as the control group. All patients and control groups were subjected to the following: Full history taking, complete clinical examination. ECG and echocardiography and Laboratory investigation including: estimation of lipid profile, urea and creatinine, CKMB, troponin I, serum pentraxin 3 and Genotyping of pentraxin 3 A/G SNP (rs2305619). Results: The patients with myocardial infarction had significantly higher levels of pentraxin 3 than the controls. The cut-off values for PTX3 and troponin I were 4.35 ng/ml and 0.34 μg/l respectively. Pentraxin 3 showed the highest diagnostic accuracy of coronary artery disease (96%), with sensitivity (96%) and specificity (95%). The highest serum pentraxin 3 levels were in the AA mutant homozygous type. Conclusion: PTX3 is one of the earliest biomarkers for detecting acute coronary syndrome. rs2305619 AA genotyping of the pentraxin 3 gene might be a candidate risk factor for development of coronary artery disease, presumably by increased pentraxin 3 levels

Acute Bacterial Meningitis in Qatar: A Hospital-Based Study from 2009 to 2013

Background and Objectives. Bacterial meningitis is a common medical condition in Qatar. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of bacterial meningitis, the frequency of each pathogen, and its sensitivity to antibiotics and risk factors for death. Patients and Methods. This retrospective study was conducted at Hamad General Hospital between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2013. Results. We identified 117 episodes of acute bacterial meningitis in 110 patients. Their mean age was 26.4±22.3 years (range: 2–74) and 81 (69.2%) of them were male patients. Fifty-nine episodes (50.4%) were community-acquired infection and fever was the most frequent symptom (94%), whereas neurosurgery is the most common underlying condition. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were the most common causative agent, of which 95% were oxacillin-resistant, while 63.3% of Acinetobacter spp. showed resistance to meropenem. The in-hospital mortality was 14 (12%). Only the presence of underlying diseases, hypotension, and inappropriate treatment were found to be independent predictors of mortality. Conclusion. Acute bacterial meningitis predominantly affected adults and coagulase-negative staphylococci species were the common causative agent in Qatar with majority of infections occurring nosocomially. More than 90% of all implicated coagulase-negative staphylococci strains were oxacillin-resistant

Memory T Cells Discrepancies in COVID-19 Patients

The immune response implicated in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pathogenesis remains to be fully understood. The present study aimed to clarify the alterations in CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cells’ compartments in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, with an emphasis on various comorbidities affecting COVID-19 patients. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 35 COVID-19 patients, 16 recovered individuals, and 25 healthy controls, and analyzed using flow cytometry. Significant alterations were detected in the percentage of CD8+ T cells and effector memory-expressing CD45RA CD8+ T cells (TEMRA) in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy controls. Interestingly, altered percentages of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, T effector (TEff), T naïve cells (TNs), T central memory (TCM), T effector memory (TEM), T stem cell memory (TSCM), and TEMRA T cells were significantly associated with the disease severity. Male patients had more CD8+ TSCMs and CD4+ TNs cells, while female patients had a significantly higher percentage of effector CD8+CD45RA+ T cells. Moreover, altered percentages of CD8+ TNs and memory CD8+CD45RO+ T cells were detected in diabetic and non-diabetic COVID-19 patients, respectively. In summary, this study identified alterations in memory T cells among COVID-19 patients, revealing a sex bias in the percentage of memory T cells. Moreover, COVID-19 severity and comorbidities have been linked to specific subsets of T memory cells which could be used as therapeutic, diagnostic, and protective targets for severe COVID-19

The burden of metabolic risk factors in North Africa and the Middle East, 1990–2019: findings from the Global Burden of Disease StudyResearch in context

Summary: Background: The objective of this study is to investigate the trends of exposure and burden attributable to the four main metabolic risk factors, including high systolic blood pressure (SBP), high fasting plasma glucose (FPG), high body-mass index (BMI), and high low-density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDL) in North Africa and the Middle East from 1990 to 2019. Methods: The data were retrieved from Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Summary exposure value (SEV) was used for risk factor exposure. Burden attributable to each risk factor was incorporated in the population attributable fraction to estimate the total attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Findings: While age-standardized death rate (ASDR) attributable to high-LDL and high-SBP decreased by 26.5% (18.6–35.2) and 23.4% (15.9–31.5) over 1990–2019, respectively, high-BMI with 5.1% (−9.0–25.9) and high-FPG with 21.4% (7.0–37.4) change, grew in ASDR. Moreover, age-standardized DALY rate attributed to high-LDL and high-SBP declined by 30.2% (20.9–39.0) and 25.2% (16.8–33.9), respectively. The attributable age-standardized DALY rate of high-BMI with 8.3% (−6.5–28.8) and high-FPG with 27.0% (14.3–40.8) increase, had a growing trend. Age-standardized SEVs of high-FPG, high-BMI, high-SBP, and high-LDL increased by 92.4% (82.8–103.3), 76.0% (58.9–99.3), 10.4% (3.8–18.0), and 5.5% (4.3–7.1), respectively. Interpretation: The burden attributed to high-SBP and high-LDL decreased during the 1990–2019 period in the region, while the attributable burden of high-FPG and high-BMI increased. Alarmingly, exposure to all four risk factors increased in the past three decades. There has been significant heterogeneity among the countries in the region regarding the trends of exposure and attributable burden. Urgent action is required at the individual, community, and national levels in terms of introducing effective strategies for prevention and treatment that account for local and socioeconomic factors. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation