Objective We aimed to explore anxiety status across a broad range of HCWs supporting patients with COVID-19 in different global regions. Method This was an international online survey in which participation was on voluntary basis and data were submitted via Google Drive, across a two-week period starting from March 18, 2020. The Beck Anxiety Inventory was used to quantify the level of anxiety. Results 1416 HCWs (70.8% medical doctors, 26.2% nurses) responded to the survey from 75 countries. The distribution of anxiety levels was: normal/minimal ( n = 503, 35.5%), low ( n = 390, 27.5%); moderate ( n = 287, 20.3%), and severe ( n = 236, 16.7%). According to multiple generalized linear model, female gender ( p = 0.001), occupation (ie, being a nurse dealing directly with patients with COVID-19 [ p = 0.017]), being younger ( p = 0.001), reporting inadequate knowledge on COVID-19 ( p = 0.005), having insufficient personal protective equipment (p = 0.001) and poor access to hand sanitizers or liquid soaps ( p = 0.008), coexisting chronic disorders (p = 0.001) and existing mental health problems (p = 0.001), and higher income of countries where HCWs lived ( p = 0.048) were significantly associated with increased anxiety. Conclusions Front-line HCWs, regardless of the levels of COVID-19 transmission in their country, are anxious when they do not feel protected. Our findings suggest that anxiety could be mitigated ensuring sufficient levels of protective personal equipment alongside greater education and information .

In this multicentre study, which is the largest case series ever reported, we aimed to describe the features of tularaemia to provide detailed information. We retrospectively included 1034 patients from 41 medical centres. Before the definite diagnosis of tularaemia, tonsillitis (n = 653, 63%) and/or pharyngitis (n = 146, 14%) were the most frequent preliminary diagnoses. The most frequent clinical presentations were oropharyngeal (n = 832, 85.3%), glandular (n = 136, 13.1%) and oculoglandular (n = 105, 10.1%) forms. In 987 patients (95.5%), the lymph nodes were reported to be enlarged, most frequently at the cervical chain jugular (n = 599, 58%), submandibular (n = 401, 39%), and periauricular (n = 55, 5%). Ultrasound imaging showed hyperechoic and hypoechoic patterns (59% and 25%, respectively). Granulomatous inflammation was the most frequent histological finding (56%). The patients were previously given antibiotics for 1176 episodes, mostly with β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors (n = 793, 76%). Antituberculosis medications were provided in seven (2%) cases. The patients were given rational antibiotics for tularaemia after the start of symptoms, with a mean of 26.8 ± 37.5 days. Treatment failure was considered to have occurred in 495 patients (48%). The most frequent reasons for failure were the production of suppuration in the lymph nodes after the start of treatment (n = 426, 86.1%), the formation of new lymphadenomegalies under treatment (n = 146, 29.5%), and persisting complaints despite 2 weeks of treatment (n = 77, 15.6%). Fine-needle aspiration was performed in 521 patients (50%) as the most frequent drainage method. In conclusion, tularaemia is a long-lasting but curable disease in this part of the world. However, the treatment strategy still needs optimization.

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that primarily affects the reticuloendothelial system. But, the extent of liver damage in due course of the disease is unclear. This study included 325 brucellosis patients with significant hepatobiliary involvement identified with microbiological analyses from 30 centers between 2000 and 2013. The patients with ≥5 times of the upper limit of normal for aminotransferases, total bilirubin level ≥2 mg/dl or local liver lesions were enrolled. Clinical hepatitis was detected in 284 patients (87.3 %) and cholestasis was detected in 215 (66.1 %) patients. Fatigue (91 %), fever (86 %), sweating (83 %), arthralgia (79 %), and lack of appetite (79 %) were the major symptoms. Laboratory tests showed anemia in 169 (52 %), thrombocytopenia in 117 (36 %), leukopenia in 81 (25 %), pancytopenia in 42 (13 %), and leukocytosis in 20 (6 %) patients. The most commonly used antibiotic combinations were doxycycline plus an aminoglycoside (n = 73), doxycycline plus rifampicin (n = 71), doxycycline plus rifampicin and an aminoglycoside (n = 27). The duration of ALT normalization differed significantly in three treatment groups (p < 0.001). The use of doxycycline and an aminoglycoside in clinical hepatitis showed better results compared to doxycycline and rifampicin or rifampicin, aminoglycoside, doxycycline regimens (p < 0.05). However, the length of hospital stay did not differ significantly between these three combinations (p > 0.05). During the follow-up, treatment failure occurred in four patients (1 %) and relapse was seen in three patients (0.9 %). Mortality was not observed. Hepatobiliary involvement in brucellosis has a benign course with suitable antibiotics and the use of doxycycline and an aminoglycoside regimen seems a better strategy in select patients.

This study reviewed the clinical, laboratory, therapeutic and prognostic data on genitourinary involvement of brucellosis in this largest case series reported. This multicentre study pooled adult patients with genitourinary brucellar involvement from 34 centres treated between 2000 and 2013. Diagnosis of the disease was established by conventional methods. Overall 390 patients with genitourinary brucellosis (352 male, 90.2%) were pooled. In male patients, the most frequent involved site was the scrotal area (n=327, 83.8%), as epididymo-orchitis (n=204, 58%), orchitis (n=112, 31.8%) and epididymitis (n=11, 3.1%). In female patients, pyelonephritis (n=33/38, 86.8%) was significantly higher than in male patients (n=11/352, 3.1%; p<0.0001). The mean blood leukocyte count was 7530±3115/mm3. Routine laboratory analysis revealed mild to moderate increases for erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). The mean treatment duration and length of hospital stay were significantly higher when there were additional brucellar foci (p<0.05). Surgical operations including orchiectomy and abscess drainage were performed in nine (2.3%) patients. Therapeutic failure was detected in six (1.5%), relapse occurred in four (1%), and persistent infertility related to brucellosis occurred in one patient. A localized scrotal infection in men or pyelonephritis in women in the absence of leucocytosis and with mild to moderate increases in inflammatory markers should signal the possibility of brucellar genitourinary disease.

Objectives: Video games are especially popular among adolescents and young adults as a form of entertainment and the amount of time spent playing video games has increased rapidly. The main objective of this study is to assess the effect of video games on cognitive functions in adolescents. Methods: An exploratory, cross-sectional study was employed to investigate cognitive function in adolescent video game players. Cognitive functions, including memory, attention, and executive functions, were evaluated in 46 adolescents who had been playing video games regularly for at least 1 h per day, 5 days per week, for at least a year, and 31 adolescents (who played video games <5 h per week) using cognitive function assessment tests. Other data, such as demographics, medical information, video game types, and time spent playing video games were collected by questionnaires. Results: No significant difference was detected between the groups in terms of age, gender, IQ levels, and sociodemographic variables. Our findings show that visual memory results were slightly better in the playing group. Moreover, in the group that plays video games regularly, the increase in daily time spent playing games significantly increased the total error value in the Stroop Test and total interference value in California Verbal Learning Test-Children’s Version test. We also found that more time is spent on online games compared with traditional games. Conclusions: In this study, we emphasize the pathological and uncontrolled consumption of video games and the possible consequences of time spent playing games. Our findings indicate the need for more extensive research. Future research should address the various implications of video game play, especially between the potentially positive and negative effects of video games.

No abstract

Objective: To evaluate the maternal and neonatal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and the effect of 25(OH)D levels on the development of neonatal sepsis. Methods: This prospective study was performed in the neonatal intensive care unit of Medicine Hospital/Biruni University between November 2017 and September 2018. Fifty one term infants with sepsis group and 56 term infants with control group were included in this study. Blood samples for whole blood count, CRP, Ca, P, ALP, 25(OH)D and culture were obtained from all neonates. Results: Mean vitamin D levels for the neonates and their mothers were found to be 12.4±8.5 ng/ml and 13±8.7 ng/ml, respectively. There was a significant correlation between maternal and newborn 25(OH)D levels (r=0.72, p<0.01). The number of the newborns with vitamin D deficiency was significantly higher in the sepsis group (n=31, 60.8%) than in the control group (n=30, 53.6%; p=0.00), corresponding to significantly lower levels of vitamin D in the sepsis group (11±5.5 ng/ml vs. 13.8±10.6 ng/ml; p=0.012). Similarly, maternal vitamin D levels was significantly lower in the sepsis group than in the control group (10.8±5.6 ng/ml vs. 14.9±10 ng/ml; p=0.001). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that there may be an association between vitamin D deficiency and neonatal sepsis. How to cite this:Ozdemir AA, Cag Y. Neonatal Vitamin D status and the risk of neonatal sepsis. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(2):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.2.342 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

To establish the prevalence of positive penicillin skin tests among outpatients without any drug reaction history. Skin testing was performed in 147 children (aged 6-13 years) who had had received a penicillin preparation at least three times in the last 12 months without any allergic reaction. Before testing, detailed pediatric and allergy history were learned and then all children were tested with benzyl penicilloyl polylysin (PPL) and mixture of minor antigenic determinants. The test procedures were made epidermally and intradermally subsequently in every subject. The overall frequency of positive skin reactions to penicillin antigens was 10.2%. A mild systemic reaction was observed in one of the children during testing with PPL. We concluded that frequent use of penicillin and other beta-lactam antibiotics leads to sensitization of children in our study population despite these children seem to be asymptomatic during testing time.