In April 2020, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Oman, a high-income country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), implemented a robust contact tracing (CT) system for COVID-19. To capitalise on Oman's experience, EMRO has developed a case study presenting the methodology used to conduct the CT activities, main functions of the system, challenges encountered, lessons learnt, and the way forward. To develop the case study, a key informant interview was conducted virtually with the CT focal...

The SARS-CoV-2 vaccines trigger the production of neutralizing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein and induce a T cell-mediated immune response. However, the antibody titers that confer protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus are currently not well-established. While immunocompetent individuals achieve a high level of immune response after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, it now appears that a high proportion of immunosuppressed or immunocompromised, patients exhibit low or no response to two...

The role of epidemiological models is crucial for informing public health officials during a public health emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, traditional epidemiological models fail to capture the time-varying effects of mitigation strategies and do not account for under-reporting of active cases, thus introducing bias in the estimation of model parameters. To infer more accurate parameter estimates and to reduce the uncertainty of these estimates, we extend the SIR and SEIR...

Scientists and medical experts are among the professionals trusted the most. Are they also the most suitable figures to convince the general public to get vaccinated? In a pre-registered experiment, we tested whether expert endorsement increases the effectiveness of debunking messages about COVID-19 vaccines. We monitored a sample of 2,277 people in Italy through a longitudinal study along the salient phases of the vaccination campaign. Participants received a series of messages endorsed by...

CONCLUSIONS: Two-thirds of parents of children with kidney disease or hypertension were unsure or unwilling to vaccinate their child against COVID-19. Higher hesitancy towards routine childhood and influenza vaccination was associated with hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines.. Enhanced communication of vaccine information relevant to kidney patients in an accessible manner should be examined as a means to reduce vaccine hesitancy.

Conjunctival epithelial cells, which express viral-entry receptors angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and transmembrane protease serine type 2 (TMPRSS2), constitute the largest exposed epithelium of the ocular surface tissue and may represent a relevant viral-entry route. To address this question, we generated an organotypic air-liquid-interface model of conjunctival epithelium, composed of basal, suprabasal, and superficial epithelial cells, and fibroblasts, which could be maintained...

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 may lead to long-term endothelial consequences including hypertension, stroke and myocardial infarction. A pilot study 'COVID-19 blood pressure endothelium interaction study', which found that patients with normal blood pressure (BP) at the time of hospital admission with COVID-19 showed an 8.6 mm Hg higher BP ≥12 weeks after recovery, compared with a group without COVID-19. The 'LOnger-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 INfection on blood Vessels And blood pRessure'(LOCHINVAR)...

CONCLUSIONS: Vaccine effectiveness in fragile individuals appears to be lower due to a faster immunity decline. However, the Omicron variant seems to cause less severe COVID-19.

CONCLUSIONS: Clozapine treatment in COVID-19-positive patients may be associated with a transient reduction of absolute neutrophils count, in some cases reaching neutropenia levels. Neutropenia rates reported in SARS-CoV-2-infected patients are higher than the prepandemic reports; therefore, we assume that the cause might be a result of the immunological interference between clozapine and SARS-CoV-2. Clozapine treatment needs to be continued whenever possible, with dose adjustments in relation...

CONCLUSION: Examining the factors affecting the attachment process of pregnant and puerperal women will guide the improvement of the quality of health services in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate Iraq's health facility preparedness for the surge of hospitalised cases associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we review pandemic preparedness at both general and tertiary hospitals throughout all districts of Iraq. COVID-19 pandemic preparedness, for the purpose of this review, is defined as: (1) staff to patient ratio, (2) personal protective equipment (PPE) to staff ratio, (3) infection control measures training and compliance...

CONCLUSION: In older people with confirmed COVID-19, both intermediate and high frailty risk were associated with reduced survival compared to those with low frailty risk.

We aimed to determine whether early public health interventions in 2020 mitigated the association of sociodemographic and clinical risk factors with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. We conducted a population-based cohort study of all adults in Ontario, Canada who underwent testing for SARS-CoV-2 through December 31, 2020. The outcome was laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction testing....

CONCLUSIONS: A substantial number of people used the chabot in a short period. Mobile messenger apps could be leveraged to provide accurate vaccine information and to investigate vaccine intention and risk factors for vaccine hesitancy.

Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines have demonstrated strong immunogenicity and protection against severe disease, concerns about the duration and breadth of these responses remain. In this study, we show that codelivery of plasmid-encoded adenosine deaminase-1 (pADA) with SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein DNA enhances immune memory and durability in vivo. Coimmunized mice displayed increased spike-specific IgG of higher affinity and neutralizing capacity...

CONCLUSION: Besides all the histological appearance of angioinvasion, bone, and soft tissue invasion, a notable aspect was the shift in inflammatory pattern, which was more granulomatous in nature, with a decrease in fungal load correlating with the drop of COVID second wave. This proves that as immunity develops, the host's response to secondary opportunistic infections changes.