Editorial: Diagnosis of COVID-19 in Countries with Limited Health Resources – Blood Markers versus rRT–PCR

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Unexpected Diagnosis of Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) During Inguinal Hernia Repair in 11-year-old-girl

Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) is an X-link recessive genetic mutation of androgen receptor (AR) gene leading to complete inability of cell to respond to the androgens. CAIS occurs in 1 out of 20,400 XY live-birth babies, and affects about 1–2% of prepubertal girls that present with an inguinal hernia. Although individuals with CAIS have XY, those with grades 6 and 7 on the Quigley scale are born phenotypically female, without any signs of genital masculinization. Thus, individuals affected by CAIS develop a normal external female phenotype with normal female external genitalia, well-developed breast, absent uterus, and bilateral undescended testicles. The question of CAIS diagnosis does not come forward until the absent menses at the puberty is noted or accidentally during an inguinal hernia repair in a premenarchal girl. The present study reports a case of inguinal hernia repair on 11-year-old girl, which led to unexpected intraoperative notion of CAIS. The diagnostic work-up, genetic counseling, sex assignment, and the need for preoperative CAIS screening in girls with bilateral inguinal hernia are described and discussed. Keywords: DSD, CAIS, bilateral inguinal hernia, gonadectom

Exploring Baby Walker Usage and Related Injuries in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia

Background: Baby walkers have commonly used devices that allow infants to move around with the support of wheels, but they have been associated with various risks and hazards. Therefore, this study aimed to assess baby walker usage and their injuries, the awareness of caregivers regarding common misconceptions surrounding baby walkers, and to explore their attitudes toward general children's safety in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among families with children aged older than six months and younger than 12 years in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia, using a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 75 kindergartens and schools were contacted for data collection between October and November 2022. The questionnaire included sections to gather information on the socio-demographic characteristics of the caregivers, their awareness of common misconceptions regarding baby walkers and their attitudes towards general children's safety. Results: 84.4% of caregivers used baby walkers for various reasons, primarily to facilitate early walking for the child (73.1%) and provide entertainment (54.1%). However, 22% of users reported injuries related to baby walker usage. Regarding the awareness, only 6% of caregivers were aware of assessed common misconceptions surrounding baby walkers. Additionally, the study revealed that 43% of the sample displayed a poor to moderate attitude towards general child safety. Conclusion: The findings emphasize the need for targeted educational initiatives to increase awareness, correct misconceptions, promote positive attitudes towards child safety, and mitigate the risks associated with baby walker usage. Healthcare professionals and other stakeholders should play an active role in providing accurate information and promoting safe practices to ensure the well-being and safety of infants

Correlation of ultrasonographic estimated fetal weight with actual birth weight at a rural setting

Background: Ultrasound estimation of fetal weight in term pregnancies is used to determine fetal growth. The objective of this study was to assess the precision of sonographic estimation of fetal weight in normal vaginal deliveries at a rural setting.Methods: The study was cross-sectional. A group of 74 pregnant women delivered normally in Muglad hospital in West Kordofan, Sudan, were considered in the study. Fetal weight was estimated by Hadlock and shephards formulae within one week prior to delivery and then newborn weight was taken within 24 hours after delivery. Data were collected by a questionnaire and medical examination as well as sonographic examination. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 23 and Kruskal Wallis Test (post-hoc analysis) Pearson’s correlation coefficient within 95% confidence interval. p value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.Results: The correlation, by Paired sample, to assess fetal weight was as follows: between Hadlock and shephards was 0.901 (p < 0.001), between Hadlock and AFW was 0.908 (p < 0.001) and between Shephards and AFW was 0.781 (p < 0.001).Conclusions: Estimation of fetal weight by Hadlock has been more correlated with actual fetal weight (AFW) than that done with shephards. The study recommends using Hadlock formula which is more accurate in estimation of fetal weight by sonography

Effect of Obesity on Cognitive Function among School Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objectives: Childhood obesity contributes to the risk of numerous health problems and has become a major global health concern. This study aimed to establish the association between obesity and cognitive function among healthy school adolescents. Methods: This study was carried out by taking school adolescents (n = 400) from June 2016 to December 2017. The mean age of the participants was 13.93 ± 0.81 years. The students were divided into group A (obese, n = 223) and B (non-obese, n = 177). Cognitive functions were recorded as per study tool of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Results: Severely obese students showed a significant delay in cognitive functions as compared to students with normal BMI. Attention Switching Task (AST)-Latency among students with normal BMI was 647.88 ± 137.59 compared to the students with high BMI (685.08 ± 115.92, p = 0.05), AST-Incongruent was 680.78 ± 142.07 versus 726.76 ± 122.31 (p = 0.02), AST-Percent correct trials was 84.31 ± 10.45 versus 78.09 ± 14.87 (p = 0.001), and Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift (IED) Total errors among students with normal BMI was 33.93 ± 21.53 compared to the students with high BMI (42.86 ± 37.27, p = 0.03). Conclusion: Cognitive functions including AST-Latency, AST-Incongruent, AST-Percent correct trials, and IED Total errors were significantly weakened in markedly obese students. Significant impairments in their cognitive functions, especially attention, retention, intelligence, and cognitive flexibility, were observed. The findings of this study emphasize the need to involve school adolescents in physical activities to reduce body weight in order to have cognitive functions within normal range and also to minimize obesity-associated complications

A Current Review from Recent Literature on Novel Sars-cov-2 Outbreak

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus 2019 was traced back in China in late 2019, followed by their worldwide transmission as a pandemic. From January to August 2020, a total of 1,724 papers were published, where 125 were only published in August 2020, demonstrating the importance and need for current awareness and research to overcome this deleterious virus. This paper briefly highlighted the major characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 in detail, including; a brief history of coronavirus, various transmission routes, range of mild to severe symptoms, available diagnostic tests, treatment options, measures for infection control and prevention, and particular emphasis on self-acceptance and upholding to face mask-wearing. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is limitless and has affected all the nation throughout the horizon; the voyage is indeed hard but not impossible to overcome. However, it is the responsibility of each and every individual to be cautious, know, and understand their role in this difficult situation. To conclude, due to the lack of cohesive data, this review has collated the most recent literature regarding COVID-19 and provided the reader with clear and simple knowledge and instructions on the control and prevention of COVID-19 and hence to protect the most vulnerable population

Prevalence of Bipolar Disorder and Associated Risk Factors Among Population in Western Region Of Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To determine the prevalence of bipolar disorder and associated risk factors among the population in the Western Region, KSA. Methods:This research will employ a cross-sectional study design. Cross-sectional studies are well-suited for assessing the prevalence and risk factors of a particular condition in a specific population at a single point in time. This design will allow us to gather data on the prevalence of bipolar disorder and identify associated risk factors among the population in the Western region of Saudi Arabia. Results: The study included 407 participants. The most frequent weight among them was 51-65 kg (n= 109, 26.8%), followed by 66-75 kg (n= 93, 22.9%). The most frequent height among study participants was 1.61-1.70 m (n= 137, 33.7%) followed by 1.51-1.60 m (n= 128, 31.4%). The most frequent body mass index value was 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 (n= 161, 39.6%), followed by 25-29.9 kg/m2 (n= 142, 34.9%). The gender of study participants is almost equal with male (n= 204, 50.1%) and female (n= 203, 49.9%). The most frequent age among them was 62 years and above (n= 157, 38.6%), followed by 40-50 years (n= 92, 22.6%). Participants were asked the participants about what is the duration of their mental illness(bipolar). The most frequent answer was nothing (n=277,68.1%), followed by one year (n=96, 23.6%), and the least of them were six years (n=1,0.2%). Conclusion: The results showed that most of the study participants are married and intermediate owners and most of them have a university education. Most participants are not overweight according to their body's bodies. Most of the study participants had a good social link

Impacts of biomedical hashtag-based Twitter campaign: #DHPSP utilization for promotion of open innovation in digital health, patient safety, and personalized medicine

The open innovation hub Digital Health and Patient Safety Platform (DHPSP) was recently established with the purpose to invigorate collaborative scientific research and the development of new digital products and personalized solutions aiming to improve human health and patient safety. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a Twitter-based campaign centered on using the hashtag #DHPSP to promote the visibility of the DHPSP initiative. Thus, tweets containing #DHPSP were monitored for five weeks for the period 20.10.2020–24.11.2020 and were analyzed with Symplur Signals (social media analytics tool). In the study period, a total of 11,005 tweets containing #DHPSP were posted by 3020 Twitter users, generating 151,984,378 impressions. Analysis of the healthcare stakeholder-identity of the Twitter users who used #DHPSP revealed that the most of participating user accounts belonged to individuals or doctors, with the top three user locations being the United States (501 users), the United Kingdom (155 users), and India (121 users). Analysis of co-occurring hashtags and the full text of the posted tweets further revealed that the major themes of attention in the #DHPSP Twitter-community were related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), medicine and health, digital health technologies, and science communication in general. Overall, these results indicate that the #DHPSP initiative achieved high visibility and engaged a large body of Twitter users interested in the DHPSP focus area. Moreover, the conducted campaign resulted in an increase of DHPSP member enrollments and website visitors, and new scientific collaborations were formed. Thus, Twitter campaigns centered on a dedicated hashtag prove to be a highly efficient tool for visibility-promotion, which could be successfully utilized by healthcare-related open innovation platforms or initiatives

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10&nbsp;years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37&nbsp;years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020