Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Global efforts have been exerted to prevent the spreading of the disease through political decisions together with personal behaviors, which depend on awareness of the public. The goal of this study is to assess the knowledge, perceptions and attitude of the Egyptian public towards the COVID-19 disease. We conducted a cross-sectional survey about these points, which was distributed among adult Egyptians. Five hundred and fifty nine persons completed the survey. The mean knowledge score was 16.39 out of 23, gained mainly though social media (66.9%), and the internet (58.3%). Knowledge was significantly lower among older, less educated, lower income participants, and rural residents. Most participants (86.9%) were concerned about the risk of infection. While 37.6% thought that their salary will be continued if they become isolated, 68.5% believed that it should be continued during this period. About 73.0% were looking forward to get the vaccine when available. In general, participants had a good knowledge about the disease and a positive attitude towards protective measures. This knowledge is gained mainly through novel media channels, which have pros and cons. Although the government has taken major steps to educate the public and limit the spread of the disease, more effort is needed to educate and support the lower economic strata. If a vaccine or a treatment is approved, we recommend a government control over its use to preserve the rights of the vulnerable and needy groups.

Objectives: COVID-19 has been recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, and physicians are at the frontline to confront the disease. Burnout syndrome (BOS) is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. The objective of this study is to evaluate the frequency and associated risk factors of BOS among a sample of Egyptian physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Using Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey, a cross-sectional electronic survey was conducted to assess BOS among the target group.Results: Two hundred and twenty physicians participated in the study. The frequency of BOS among the research group was 36.36%. The possibility of development of BOS increased two times with the need to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) from participants' own money, with harassment by patients' families, and was less likely to develop in doctors with older age. While male gender was a predictor of depersonalization (DP), female gender showed a significant association with higher emotional exhaustion (EE). Infection or death from COVID-19 among colleagues or relatives showed significant association with elevated EE and lowered personal achievement (PA), respectively.Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic added new factors to the development of BOS in our research group. Several measures should be taken to support physicians at this stage. These measures include psychological support, organizing work hours, adjusting salaries, and providing personal protective equipment and training on safety measures.

Background Biobanking is a relatively new concept in Egypt. Building a good relationship with different stakeholders is essential for the social sustainability of biobanks. To establish this relationship, it is necessary to assess the attitude of different groups towards this concept. The objective of this work is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and opinions of Egyptian patients towards biobanking issues. Methods We designed a structured survey to be administered to patients coming to the outpatient clinics in 3 university hospitals in Egypt. The survey included questions estimating the level of knowledge about the term “Biobank”, together with questions about the attitudes and opinions about related issues. Results Two hundred and fifty-nine patients participated in the survey. Eighty-one percent of participants reported that they never heard about the term before. About 85% expressed that they would be willing to donate their samples for research and about 87% thought that sample donation did not contradict their religious beliefs. Fifty eight percent were willing to participate in a genetic research project, 27.8% supported sharing their sample with pharmaceutical companies, and 32.4% agreed to share their samples with institutions abroad. Conclusion Although there is limited knowledge about biobanking among Egyptian patients, many had a positive attitude towards sample donation and didn’t show religious concerns against it. However, they showed concerns regarding participation in genetic research and with sharing their samples across borders or with pharmaceutical companies. Public education about biobanking is possible, taking into consideration the specific cultural and legal framework in Egypt. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12910-019-0394-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives COVID-19 is a multisystem disease, and some patients suffer from physical or psychological symptoms for weeks or even months after infection, which is described as post-COVID syndrome. The goal of this study is evaluating the prevalence of post-COVID-19 symptoms among Egyptian patients and detecting the factors associated with the presence of these symptoms. Methods An on-line cross-sectional survey using Google Forms was used to conduct the present study, which took place between June and August 2021. Results Three hundred and ninety-six participants filled in the survey. The mean age of participants was 41.4 years. Most participants had mild to moderate COVID-19 (81.31%). The prevalence of post-COVID-19 symptoms was 87.63%, where the most frequent symptom was fatigue (60.86%). Female sex, the presence of comorbidities, lower degree of education, longer disease duration, as well as severe and critical forms of the disease were significantly associated with the presence of post-COVID symptoms. Using regression analysis, the predictors of post-COVID symptoms were severe and critical forms of the disease and intake of antibiotics and corticosteroids for treatment of COVID-19. Conclusions COVID-19 is followed by high prevalence of post-COVID symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the relationship between the use of antibiotics and the development of post-COVID symptoms. We recommend further studies to understand this relationship. We also recommend restricting the use of these drugs to indicated cases according to the international guidelines. More studies are needed to gain better understanding of post-COVID symptoms especially in females.

Objectives Collection and storage of biospecimens and data for biobanking raise many ethical concerns. Stakeholders’ opinions about these ethical issues are important since they can help in the development of ethical guidelines to govern biobanking activities. Physicians are among the important stakeholders since they contact potential participants and could be biobank users. The goal of this study is to evaluate the perceptions and attitude of Egyptian physicians towards ethical issues in biobanking. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was designed and distributed with the target group between November 2019 and January 2020. Results The questionnaire was completed by 223 physicians. While 65.5% reported hearing the term "Biobanking" before, 45.7% knew that there are biobanks in Egypt. Participants had a general positive attitude towards the value of biobanks in research. About 73% agreed that biobanks can share biospecimens with international research organizations, but only 42.6% supported collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, and 44% agreed to the use of user fees by biobanks. About 48% supported the use of broad consent in biobanks, and 73.1% believed that donors of biospecimens should be informed about results of research performed on their biospecimens. Conclusion Although many Egyptian physicians heard about biobanking, they had limited knowledge about the existence of biobanks in Egypt. They had concerns about commercialization, use of broad consent and user fees. A knowledge gap exists among these stakeholders, which should be covered by different educational activities. Community discussions should start to reach consensus about the issues of commercialization and return of research results.

Background: Egypt as part of the Eastern Mediterranean region is facing a growing HIV epidemic. Developments in the National HIV Program are associated with an increase in survival of HIV-positive persons. This study aimed to assess health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of healthy children/adolescents of HIV-positive parents compared with healthy children/adolescents of healthy HIV-negative parents. Participants and Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted. Healthy children aged 3-17 years old of all HIV-positive parents registered in the national HIV treatment center in Alexandria Fever Hospital during the year 2016 were enrolled (n=33) and compared with a comparable group of children of healthy parents (n=33). The HRQOL of studied groups was assessed by interviewing parents using Kinder Lebensqualität Fragebogen questionnaire revised parents' version. Results: Among the HIV-positive persons, 54.5% of their children had poor to fair HRQOL compared with only 9.1% of children of healthy parent group. They had significantly lower HRQOL scores in ; the physical, mental, family, and friends domains (P<0.05). Adolescents of HIV-positive parents had significantly lower HRQOL score compared with children (P=0.028). Parents' education was the only independent predictor of daughter/son's HRQOL (b=13.073, P=0.014). Conclusion: HIV-positive status of parents negatively affects the HRQOL of their children. Development of organized social and mental support services to families with HIV-affected member/s within the Egyptian National HIV program is highly recommended with specific focus on adolescents and children, especially those having lower educated parents.

Introduction Biobanking is an emerging concept in Egypt. Medical students represent important future stakeholders in the research community. The objective of this work was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and opinions of Egyptian medical students toward biobanking issues. Methods We designed a structured survey about these issues, which was communicated online with medical students at three universities in Egypt. Results A total of 315 of 364 questionnaires were completed. More than half the students have heard the term “biobanking” before. Approximately 77% had a general positive attitude toward the concept of biobanking; however, only 57.7% were willing to participate with their own or family samples. The positive attitude toward donation was significantly higher in participants with negative family history of inherited diseases (p = 0.02). Conclusion Although some students had limited knowledge of biobanking, they had a positive attitude toward the concept in general. However, this was not reflected in a similar attitude toward donating biospecimens, especially in those with a family history of inherited disease. Moreover, they expressed concerns about data protection and samples sharing with different stakeholders. Taking all these into account, educational activities about biobanking should be given to medical students to fill the knowledge gap on the subject.

We assessed information needs about HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections [STI] in the Eastern Mediterranean Region by surveying a sample of people considered knowledgeable about the subject. Respondents felt that information on certain areas of HIV/AIDS/STIs was much needed. Health care workers were perceived to see a high need for information and services generally. Religious and community leaders were perceived to see less need for some information and services [such as condom promotion, sex education for young people]. All groups were perceived to see a need for education and services for people living with AIDS and drug users. Television and radio were considered the best channels for health education while training was seen as the most effective method for information exchange.