scholarly journals Clinics in Surgery 1Remedy Publications LLC., | http://clinicsinsurgery.com/ 2021 | Volume 6 | Article 3380 The Effect of Spinal Steroid Injections on COVID-19 Infection and Its Severity

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Sayantan Bose ◽  
Subodh Patil ◽  
Joshi George K

Aim: This paper is to determine the incidence of COVID-19 infection and severe symptoms following spinal steroid injections for pain control. Methodology: This a retrospective observational study based in the department of neurosurgery, Salford Royal Foundation Trust. Study period is from March 23rd, 2020 till December 31st, 2020. 222 patients had these injections during the time period. Data was collected by telephonic interview and online questionnaire. Data was analyzed to find out how many of the people who received steroid injection got COVID infection and how many had severe infection. It was then compared with local infection rates. Results: Out of 222 patients found, 130 patients opted to take part in the survey. Six patients among them had tested positive after the injection and two more patients had symptoms of COVID who have been considered to be positive. Overall, 6.15% of patients who received steroid injections had positive COVID-19 results. 3.85% patients had the infection within 3 months of injection. One patient (0.77%) needed hospital admission due to COVID. The incidence of COVID during this time period in Salford was 6.17% and rate of hospital admission due to COVID was 0.77%. Conclusion: The rate of COVID-19 infection after steroid injection are lower than the local incidence of COVID in Salford during that time period and equivalent to the rate of hospital admission due to COVID. This suggests that a steroid injection in the spine for pain management does not increase the incidence of COVID or cause severe infections.

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Nudel ◽  
Rosa Lundbye Allesøe ◽  
Wesley K. Thompson ◽  
Thomas Werge ◽  
Simon Rasmussen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Infections are a major disease burden worldwide. While they are caused by external pathogens, host genetics also plays a part in susceptibility to infections. Past studies have reported diverse associations between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and infections, but many were limited by small sample sizes and/or focused on only one infection. Methods We performed an immunogenetic association study examining 13 categories of severe infection (bacterial, viral, central nervous system, gastrointestinal, genital, hepatitis, otitis, pregnancy-related, respiratory, sepsis, skin infection, urological and other infections), as well as a phenotype for having any infection, and seven classical HLA loci (HLA-A, B, C, DPB1, DQA1, DQB1 and DRB1). Additionally, we examined associations between infections and specific alleles highlighted in our previous studies of psychiatric disorders and autoimmune disease, as these conditions are known to be linked to infections. Results Associations between HLA loci and infections were generally not strong. Highlighted associations included associations between DQB1*0302 and DQB1*0604 and viral infections (P = 0.002835 and P = 0.014332, respectively), DQB1*0503 and sepsis (P = 0.006053), and DQA1*0301 with “other” infections (a category which includes infections not included in our main categories e.g. protozoan infections) (P = 0.000369). Some HLA alleles implicated in autoimmune diseases showed association with susceptibility to infections, but the latter associations were generally weaker, or with opposite trends (in the case of HLA-C alleles, but not with alleles of HLA class II genes). HLA alleles associated with psychiatric disorders did not show association with susceptibility to infections. Conclusions Our results suggest that classical HLA alleles do not play a large role in the etiology of severe infections. The discordant association trends with autoimmune disease for some alleles could contribute to mechanistic theories of disease etiology.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abeer Harb Al-Qawasmi ◽  
Fawwaz Al-Abed Al-Haq

<p>This study aims at the study of newborn names in Jordan of a sociolinguistic perspective. This study tries to detect the difference in naming newborns in Jordan over the decades - from the seventies to 2015 due to the result of some factors that may have affected the Jordanian society, whether historical, religious and/or social. The data necessary to complete the study was obtained from the Civil Status Department and the Department of Statistics. The data obtained consisted of names of both sexes during the time period from the seventies until the early year of 2015, a random sample of personal names within the same family were also provided. The data was analyzed quantitatively. The study revealed that there is a clear change in the choice of newborn names-male and female-in Jordan, whether a change in sounds or in morphemes. In specific, names during the seventies were strongly linked to the culture and the values, religious or social, in which the people believed in. During the eighties and nineties, names were associated with certain social values, however, some names were shown to be affected by urbanization or modernization. And with the beginning of 2000 up to 2015, peoples directions towards naming newborns changed due to the advent of globalization, associating with development and urbanization, and moreover, the influence of different cultures on the community.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Ahsan Samad ◽  
Erdiansyah Erdiansyah ◽  
Rina Wulandari

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe the impact and behavior of the community on post-disaster economic conditions in the city of Palu and to know the local government's public policies in handling these cases. Using qualitative methods with a case study approach, literature study, and secondary data processing from various social elements. In addition, data collection was carried out by interviewing informants who felt the direct impact of the earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction in Palu, Sigi and Donggala. The results showed that the post-disaster impact felt by the people of Palu City was generally in the "severe" classification. The socio-economic conditions of the people of Palu include several aspects, ranging from the geographical conditions that are in disaster-prone zones, to the extremely poor health conditions after the disaster. The conclusion of this research shows that the escalation of natural disasters in the city of Palu is considered quite large because it consists of three types of disasters, namely the Earthquake, Tsunami and Liquifation in the same time period. Palu City is the capital of the Province as well as the economic and administrative center of Central Sulawesi Province. Damage to warehousing infrastructure coupled with massive looting from unscrupulous people in logistics supply warehouses resulted in goods that were supposed to be distributed both to the city and the district finally unable to be implemented.Tujuan penelitian ini yaitu mengidentifikasi dan mendeskripsikan evaluasi dampak dan perilaku masyarakat terhadap kondisi perekonomian pasca bencana di kota Palu dan mengetahui kebijakan publik pemerintah setempat dalam menangani kasus tersebut. Menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan  studi kasus, studi literature, dan pengolahan data sekunder dari berbagai elemen sosial. Selain itu pengambilan data dilakukan dengan cara wawacara kepada narasumber yang merasakan dampak langsung dari bencana gempa,tsunami dan likuifaksi di Palu,Sigi dan Donggala. Hasil penelitian memperlihatkan bahwa dampak pasca bencana yang dirasakan oleh masyarakat Kota Palu secara umum berada pada klasifikasi “berat”. Kondisi sosial ekonomi masyarakat kota Palu meliputi beberapa aspek, mulai dari kondisi geografis yang berada pada zona rawan bencana, kondisi kesehatan sangat memprihatinkan pasca bencana. Kesimpulan penelitain ini menujukkan bahwa eskalasi bencana alam kota Palu dinilai cukup besar karena terdiri dari tiga macam bencana yaitu Gempa Bumi, Tsunami dan Liquifasi dalam kurun waktu sama. Kota Palu merupakan ibukota Provinsi sekaligus sebagai pusat ekonomi dan pemerintahan Provinsi Sulawesi Tengah. Rusaknya infrakstruktur pergudangan ditambah dengan adanya penjarahan yang massiv dari oknum masyarakat pada gudang-gudang suplai logistik mengakibatkan barang yang semestinya didistribusikan baik ke kota ataupun ke kabupaten akhirnya tidak dapat dilaksanakan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-176
Author(s):  
Muhammad Yunus Patawari

Mass media is one of the leading sectors in handling COVID-19. Amidst current health emergency, public trusttowards the information conveyed by the mass media is the key to successful mitigation. Various types of newsregarding massive COVID-19 reports in several media channels have the potential to cause information bias whichends in pros and cons. Insubstantial debates in varied media are counter-productive to the efforts of various partiesin educating the society to avoid misinformation. Based on this, it is important to know the media that are referencesand that gain public trust in seeking information. This study examines the level of public trust in information aboutCOVID-19 in the mass media, both old and new media, using an online questionnaire methodology on May 3, 2020,which was given to 60 respondents. The results show that the respondents’ level of faith in television is higher, but itsconsumption by viewers is much lower than that of online media (news sites and social media). The results showedthat viewers still deemed television a reliable reference for information. From these data it was found out why themedia are rarely used by the people but are able to gain high trust in the eyes of the public. The results of this studyare expected to provide an overview of the attitudes and behavior of the community in understanding COVID-19information so that relevant parties can make appropriate policies in the perspectives of media and communication.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002087282110604
Author(s):  
Monika Parchomiuk

People with intellectual disabilities benefit from many forms of institutional support, which include residential, rehabilitation, and educational services. Changes caused by the pandemic, especially the introduction of new rules relating to various aspects of life, raised several challenges and problems in the functioning of these institutions and for the people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research concerned facilities providing services for people with intellectual disabilities in Poland during the pandemic. The research goal was to determine what changes took place in the rehabilitation and care institutions during the pandemic in terms of their organization and the functioning of their clients and personnel. An online questionnaire was used. The respondents were institution employees. Data showed a number of preventive, educational, and supportive activities carried out by the institutions. Adverse changes in the psychosocial functioning of people with intellectual disabilities and other problems during the pandemic were reported.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaista Wasiuzzaman ◽  
Nurul Nabilah Hj Pungut ◽  
Muhammad Khaliq Syafie Md Don

PurposeThe objectives of this study are to determine the level of awareness of crowdfunding and green projects among Bruneians, to investigate the preference of Bruneians regarding funding through crowdfunding as well as to evaluate the willingness of Bruneians to use crowdfunding as a funding alternative for green projects in Brunei. In addition to that, this study aims to identify the effects of environmental awareness and environmental concern on the willingness to crowdfund green projects.Design/methodology/approachA total of 177 responses from an online questionnaire distributed via convenience and snowball sampling was used for data analysis. Frequency, descriptive, correlation and regression analyses are used to achieve the aims of this study.FindingsThe study finds that the awareness of the concepts of crowdfunding and green project is high among Bruneians, but the level of their familiarity of crowdfunding platforms and climate change issues is very low. Regression analysis carried out to test the effects of awareness and concern on willingness indicates that while environmental concern has a significant positive effect on the willingness to support crowdfunded green projects, environmental awareness is insignificant.Originality/valueThe study highlights that government policy should be aimed at not just increasing awareness but at increasing the knowledge of the impacts of climate change issue that will raise concern and improve participation of residents in green projects. The study focuses on a rarely studied population, the people of Brunei.


Author(s):  
Erik Trinkaus ◽  
Alexandra P. Buzhilova ◽  
Maria B. Mednikova ◽  
Maria V. Dobrovolskaya

During the Mid Upper Paleolithic, the period of Late Pleistocene human existence within the Interpleniglacial, human foraging populations developed an increasingly sophisticated, elaborated, and complicated existence across Eurasia and probably across most of the Old World. This period of the Paleolithic saw the emergence of various forms of elaborate technology (e.g., ceramics and textiles, as well as elaborations of lithic and organic tool manufacture and use), expanded artistic manifestations, complex social behaviors (especially reflected in personal decoration and mortuary behavior), and increasingly effective and flexible means of subsistence and food processing. For these reasons, the people of this period were referred to, a dozen years ago, as the “Hunters of the Golden Age” (Roebroeks et al. 2000). In those and other assessments of these people, referred to as “Gravettian” in central and western Europe and by other names further east, there is frequent reference to the material from the northern Russian site of Sunghir (Сунгирь; Sungir’). The references to Sunghir are especially to the extremely rich human burials discovered during excavations in 1964 and 1969. The human paleontological materials from Sunghir, however, have only been superficially integrated into the broader assessments of human existence during this time period of hunter-gatherer fluorescence. Several volumes (and innumerable articles) have been written on aspects of the archeological work done at the Sunghir site (e.g., Sukachev et al. 1966; O.N. Bader 1978; N.O. Bader 1998; Seleznev 2008), and there have been two edited volumes concerned principally with the human remains from within and without the burials (Zubov and Karitonov 1984; Alexeeva et al. 2000). However, all of these volumes (as is appropriate) are in Russian, and only the last of them contains extensive English summaries of the contributions. As a result (given the linguistically challenged nature of many Western anthropologists—including one of us), detailed assessments of the Sunghir site and the Sunghir human remains have been slow to permeate the broader anthropological community. Originally, in the 19th century and through much of the 20th century, the focus was on the populational affinities of human remains that emerged from the Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 1573-1579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence A Lavery ◽  
Easton C Ryan ◽  
Junho Ahn ◽  
Peter A Crisologo ◽  
Orhan K Oz ◽  
...  

Abstract Background We provide evidence to revise the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) diabetic foot infection classification by adding a separate tier for osteomyelitis and evaluating if moderate and severe infection criteria improve the classification’s ability to direct therapy and determine outcomes. Methods We retrospectively evaluated 294 patients with moderate and severe infections. Osteomyelitis was confirmed by bone culture or histopathology. Soft tissue infection (STI) was based on negative bone culture, magnetic resonance imaging, or single-photon emission computed tomography. We stratified STI and osteomyelitis using IDSA criteria for moderate and severe infections and compared outcomes and complications. Results Osteomyelitis patients had greater antibiotic duration (32.5 ± 46.8 vs 63.8 ± 55.1 days; P &lt; .01), surgery frequency (55.5% vs 99.4%; P &lt; .01), number of surgeries (2.1 ± 1.3 vs 3.3 ± 2.3; P &lt; .01), amputations (26.3% vs 83.4%; P &lt; .01), reinfection (38.0% vs 56.7%; P &lt; .01), and length of stay (14.5 ± 14.9 vs 22.6 ± 19.0 days; P &lt; .01). There were no differences in moderate and severe STI outcomes except for infection readmissions (46.2% vs 25.0%; P = .02), and acute kidney injury (31.2% vs 50.0%; P = .03). There were no differences in moderate and severe osteomyelitis except the number of surgeries (2.8 ± 2.1 vs 4.1 ± 2.5; P &lt; .01) and length of stay (18.6 ± 17.5 vs 28.2 ± 17.7; P &lt; .01). Conclusions The IDSA classification better reflects outcomes if risk categories are stratified by STI or osteomyelitis and moderate and severe infections are not categorized separately.


Rheumatology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Rathmann ◽  
David Jayne ◽  
Mårten Segelmark ◽  
Göran Jönsson ◽  
Aladdin J Mohammad

Abstract Objective To determine the incidence rate, predictors and outcome of severe infections in a population-based cohort of ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). Methods The study included 325 cases of AAV (152 female) diagnosed from 1997 through 2016 from a defined geographic area in Sweden. All severe infection events (requiring hospitalization and treatment with intravenous antimicrobials) were identified. The Birmingham vasculitis activity score (BVAS) was used to evaluate disease activity, and organ damage was assessed using the vasculitis damage index (VDI). Patients were followed from time of AAV diagnosis to death or December 2017. Results A total of 129 (40%) patients suffered at least one severe infection. In 2307 person-years (PY) of follow-up, 210 severe infections were diagnosed. The incidence rate of severe infections was 9.1/100 PY and was highest during the first year following AAV diagnosis at 22.1/100 PY (P &lt; 0.001). Pneumonia, sepsis and urinary tract infection were the most common infections. Opportunistic infections constituted only 6% of all severe infections. In Cox regression analysis age and BVAS at diagnosis were the only factors independently predicting severe infection [hazard ratio: 1.54 (P &lt; 0.001) and 1.27 (P = 0.001), respectively]. Severe infection was associated with poorer prognosis with respect to median VDI score 12 months post-AAV diagnosis, renal survival and mortality. Severe infections were the cause of death in 32 patients (22% of all deaths). Conclusion . Severe infection is a common problem in AAV, with the most important prognostic factors being older age and high disease activity at diagnosis. Severe infections are associated with permanent organ damage and high mortality.


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