Background: Inappropriate use of antimicrobials results in rapid emergence of resistance, selection pressure on resistant microorganisms, adverse reactions, and treatment failures. An effective approach to improving antimicrobial use in healthcare settings is a structured antimicrobial management program known as antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). Education and training is considered a backbone element of AMS program .This study aimed to evaluate the impact of educational program on the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of healthcare providers (HCPs) towards antimicrobial stewardship before and after the educational program at the surgery department and surgical ICU, National Liver Institute hospital (NLI), Egypt.Results: Among the 69 invited HCPs, 48 attended the educational program sessions with attendance response rate about 70%. Regarding pre-educational KAP score of the respondents' physicians and pharmacists, 39.3% of them had good knowledge score, 85.7% of them had positive attitude, &and 31.8% of physicians had good practice score; however, 100% of the pharmacists had poor practice. Regarding the respondents' nurse, the pre-education mean score of knowledge was 13.3/20, attitude 14.8/16, and practice 9.3/14. Following educational program, there was a significant improvement in knowledge, attitude, and practice of the respondents' health care providers (P < 0.001); on the contrary, there was no significant improvement in the practice of pharmacists (P > 0.05). Conclusion:The implemented educational program was successful in improving the knowledge, attitude, and practice of HCPs; therefore, continuous efforts are needed to implement more educational programs to increase awareness towards AMS among HCPs.

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a growing threat to global health security. Whilst the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a natural phenomenon, it is also driven by antibiotic exposure in health care, agriculture, and the environment. Antibiotic pressure and inappropriate use of antibiotics are important factors which drive resistance. Apart from their use to treat bacterial infections in humans, antibiotics also play an important role in animal husbandry. With limited antibiotic options, alternate strategies are required to overcome AMR. Passive immunization through oral, nasal and topical administration of egg yolk-derived IgY antibodies from immunized chickens were recently shown to be effective for treating bacterial infections in animals and humans. Immunization of chickens with specific antigens offers the possibility of creating specific antibodies targeting a wide range of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In this review, we describe the growing global problem of antimicrobial resistance and highlight the promising potential of the use of egg yolk IgY antibodies for the treatment of bacterial infections, particularly those listed in the World Health Organization priority list.

Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related decompensated cirrhosis is a severe life-threatening illness. The safety of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) has opened a gate of hope for that subgroup of patients who were previously contraindicated for interferon therapy. Objective We aimed at the investigation of the safety and efficacy of different DAAs regimens in the treatment of HCV-related decompensated cirrhosis patients, to determine sustained virological response (SVR)12 rates and to analyze the factors associated with response. Methods A retrospective, single-center study including HCV-related decompensated cirrhosis patients who received DAAs. Demographic, laboratory and clinical data were analyzed. The SVR12 rate was the primary outcome measure. Secondary outcomes included the predictors of response, changes in the baseline model for end-stage liver disease and child-turcotte-pugh (CTP) scores, and fibroindices (APRI and fibrosis-4 index) at 12 weeks after treatment. Results In total, 145 eligible patients (141 with CTP class B and 4 with class C) were enrolled in this study. SVR12 was achieved by 88.06% (118/134) of efficacy population on different DAAs regimens, Treatment was discontinued in 11 patients because of severe side effects without any deaths. Younger age showed a significant positive association with SVR12. Conclusions DAAs can be used for the treatment of HCV-related decompensated liver disease, with acceptable SVR12 rates and safety profiles.

Few studies have addressed the relationship between the nutritional status of patients with COVID-19 and their disease course. This multicenter prospective study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and its association with their clinical outcomes. Sociodemographic, physical, clinical, and nutritional data of 121 patients with confirmed COVID-19 were collected upon admission and at discharge from three COVID-19 quarantine hospitals in Egypt via a questionnaire and a standardized scale. The majority (73.6%) of the patients had a reduced dietary intake over the last week before admission, and 57% were severely ill. Overall, 14% had a high risk of malnutrition on admission, increasing to 26.3% at discharge. Malnutrition was present in most (85.7%) of the intensive care unit patients and deaths, compared with recovered patients (14%). We concluded that malnutrition might worsen the clinical outcomes and increase the morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 patients. A multidisciplinary approach is recommended to manage patients with COVID-19, considering their nutritional status before and during infection, with early detection of high-risk patients in order to design and provide the appropriate nutritional support.

Objective The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made its worldwide spread since its outbreak in December 2019. Limited information is available about the epidemiology and clinical characteristics of COVID-19, especially in Africa and Egypt. Methods We aimed to study the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 in Egyptian children. This is an observational retrospective cohort study performed at two specialized COVID-19 isolation hospitals in Egypt. All admitted COVID-19 pediatric patients between March 20, 2020, and May 1, 2020, were included in the study. Discussion This study included 40 COVID-19 confirmed cases (mean age, 9.4 years), 67.5% were male, 85% were asymptomatic, and 15% had mild symptoms. There were no confirmed severe or critically ill cases among the patients. Conclusion COVID-19 runs in a benign course in Egyptian children with no mortality and no significant morbidity.

The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of different DAAs regimens in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) Egyptian patients who failed to achieve SVR after their treatment with SOF-based regimens. Methods: This was a retrospective observational multicenter study that included CHC patients that failed to achieve cure on SOF-based regimens who were re-treated using different DAAs regimen and were allocated according to national guidelines for the treatment of hepatitis C. Primary outcome was to assess the SVR12 rate among prior non-responders after retreatment with a second course of DAAs. Results: Our study included 172 patients who failed to achieve SVR after treatment with SOF-based treatment regimen [age: 51.2 AE 11.3, 58.7% men]. Included patients were retreated using SOF/DCV/RBV, SOF/ r/PAR /OMB /RBV, SOF/DCV/SIM, SOF/LDV AE RBV or SIM/SOF. SVR12 was successfully attained in 95.35% (164/172) of the included non-responders. Conclusion:The current multicenter study proved the efficacy of various DAAs regimens issued by the National Committee for Control of Viral Hepatitis for retreatment of relapsed CHC Egyptian patients.

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Article information Background: Since the Ministry of Health and Population [MOHP] in Egypt had declared the appearance of the first COVID-19 confirmed case in Egypt on February 14, 2020. Strict measures were taken to control the virus spread, including the identification of some centers for triage and others for quarantine. The aim of the work: The goal of our research was to determine the clinical and hematological results of COVID-19 confirmed patients at two specialized triage hospitals. Patients and Methods: This was an observational prospective cohort in which we included all adult patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 by RT-PCR of samples taken by nasopharyngeal swabs attended to two Egyptian hospitals that, assigned by MOHP as a triage center for COVID-19, in the period between 5 th April to 27 th August 2020. The clinical characteristics and hematological findings at presentation were studied. Results: This study included 200 consecutive COVID-19 confirmed patients from both hospitals, fever [75%] was the main presenting symptom followed by cough [71%] then dyspnea [20%]. [41%] of the patients had lymphopenia, [5%] had lymphocytosis, [11.5%] had neutrophilia, [2%] had thrombocytopenia, and [30.5%] had anemia. Conclusion: COVID-19 could be presented typically by pulmonary or atypically by various extrapulmonary manifestations in addition to different hematological laboratory findings.