The coronavirus, which leads to coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), may affect various systems of the body (including respiratory, heart, blood circulation, gastrointestinal, nervous, urinary, and renal systems). Similar to COVID-19, first- and second-hand smoking also endanger the immune system and affect a wide range of systems. Therefore, considering the adverse effects of tobacco on different systems of the body, this study aimed at investigating the effects of tobacco on the onset, transmission, prognosis, and severity of COVID-19 in patients. Related articles were selected through advanced searching in Scopus, PubMed, and ScienceDirect databases and Google search engine while including no time limit and using three keywords derived from Mesh (COVID-19, smoking, and tobacco). Most studies have indicated that the incidence of COVID-19 was extremely lower in patients with a history of active smoking compared to patients with no smoking history. According to the results, smoking has an impact on the prognosis and outcome of COVID-19, increases the severity of the disease, the need for hospitalization and the intensive care unit (ICU), and the death rate, as well as challenging the treatment process and changing the attitude of smokers, enhancing their desire to quit smoking. Therefore, smokers are less likely to develop COVID-19, but the rate of transmission, disease severity, and mortality and the need for hospitalization increase in these subjects, and thus treatment will be challenging. Thus, quitting smoking may help improve the function of the respiratory system.
Background: Various studies suggest that coinfection with two or more respiratory pathogens is common. Coinfection with two viruses affects the host and exerts synergic effect as well and can influence the disease pathogenesis, immune system responses and treatment and outcome. Influenza and COVID-19 respiratory viruses have very similar symptoms and for this reason, bring about problems including delayed treatment and right diagnosis. This report describes three cases of coinfection with COVID-19 and influenza. Case Presentation: First case is a 46 years old Iranian housewife with the history of chronic coughs from two months ago who presented with exacerbation of coughs together with dyspnea. The second case is a 62 years old Iranian housewife with history of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM-2) who presented with productive coughs, dyspnea and weakness. The third case is an Iranian pregnant housewife who presented with myalgia, fever and chills and dry coughs from a week ago. All three cases were tested positive for influenza and COVID-19 PCR tests. Conclusion: coinfection with two viruses can result in synergism of pathogens. Moreover, coinfection with a bacterial pathogen can make further problems. In these cases, coinfection with two viruses and mycobacterial infection in one of the cases along with comorbidities and pregnancy implied that these conditions entail immediate diagnosis as well as appropriate treatment choices.
The prevalence of Corona virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the university education system. Due to the development of technology in recent decades and the need for social distance to prevent the spread of the disease and to prevent interruptions in student education, education has changed to virtual. Considering the importance of education and its decisive role in improving the academic level of students, we tried to review the challenges of virtual education and the factors affecting its quality. This review study was performed by searching databases such: as Pubmed, Scopus, SID, and Magiran using keywords including virtual teaching, virtual learning, COVID-19, and Medical Sciences and limiting the search to the keywords in the title and abstract and also according to PRISMA guidelines. In the present study, the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning were investigated. Findings showed that the factors affecting the quality of e-learning are classified into four main sections, which include: the existence of appropriate infrastructure, Class control and administration, Necessary training for using software for professors and students, and the Proportion of the volume of taught content with its evaluation. One of the most important disadvantages of e-learning in the past year is the lack of proper infrastructure for training and exams, high internet interruption, the impossibility of student interaction, and the large volume of content. Due to the existence of barriers to the formation of classes in person, it is possible to help increase the educational quality of students and advance learning by using the necessary and appropriate measures in the correct use of virtual education and increasing the quality of the required infrastructure.
Viral pneumonia affects about 200 million people each year. Viral pneumonias have a seasonal pattern and are more common among children and the elderly. The most common virus in children is respiratory syncytial virus (RCV) and it is the influenza virus in adults. The world has been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic since December 2019. Among all the epidemiological risk factors, the role of smoking as a risk factor for pneumonia is controversial. Cigarette smoke contains about 5000 chemicals that weaken the defense mechanisms of the respiratory system and increase the risk of various respiratory infections. The present review study was carried out on 105 articles that were obtained from searches in Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar search engines using the keywords viral pneumonia, COVID-19, influenza, cigarette, smoking, respiratory syncytial virus, and SARS-CoV-2. A total of 55 articles that focused on the effect of smoking on the incidence and mortality of pneumonia due to RSV, influenza, and coronavirus were selected. Exposure to secondhand smoke makes children more susceptible to RSV infection. Smokers are also more likely to become infected and die from the flu. The effect of smoking on the risk of COVID-19 is controversial. In this regard, the results of a number of studies show that smokers are at a greater risk of developing COVID-19 infection and death. However, there are other studies suggesting that smoking has no effect on COVID-19 infection and that smoking reduces the risk of developing COVID-19.
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