Time Reveals the Truth! What Treatments for COVID-19 Were Quickly Abandoned, and Which Methods, Contrary to Popular Belief, Are Still Flourishing?

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, low dose radiation therapy (LDRT) was proposed as a potentially effective treatment method. To minimize potential toxicity, the initial treatment approach involved a few mGy of adapting radiation followed by a single 250 mGy whole lung challenging dose. However, antiviral drugs were also introduced as a promising treatment option, which were thought to have the potential to revolutionize the management of the crisis.

Should Parents Allow Their Children Use Smartphones and Tablets? The Issue of Screen Time for Recreational Activities.

Previous research has shown that children are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) and blue light emitted from digital screens compared to healthy adults. This paper presents the findings of a cross-sectional study conducted in Yasuj, Iran, to investigate the screen time habits of children and adolescents and its potential impact on their health. A total of 63 participants, including 44 boys and 19 girls, were randomly selected for the study.

Epidemiological data of national Kawasaki disease registry in Iran, 2007-2019.

Introduction: Kawasaki disease(KD) is a vasculitis of childhood that tends to influence the coronary arteries. There is no national data about the prevalence of KD in Iran. This study aimed to perform a national registry in Iran for 13 years.

The Paradoxical Role of far-Ultraviolet C (far-UVC) in Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2: The Issue of Droplet Size.

The Omicron variant is spreading at a rate we have never observed with any previous variant. A lot of efforts have been taken to inactivate SARS-CoV-2, especially the omicron variant. Specific wavelength ranges of electromagnetic radiation can be exploited to inactivate coronaviruses.

The Paradox of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: Why it is More Unethical Not to Investigate Low Dose Radiotherapy for COVID-19.

An accumulating body of evidence shows that various ethnicities are differentially affected by SARS-COV-2 infection. Moreover, some evidence shows that due to the vaccine inequity and millions of people living with HIV, a major catastrophe could occur in African countries that possibly affects the whole world. Given the possibility that Neanderthal genes confer a slight increase in susceptibility, this difference, at least to some extent, might possibly decrease the risk of the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants among black people in Africa.

Multicenter Study of Susceptibility of Aspergillus Species Isolated from Iranian University Hospitals to Seven Antifungal Agents.

Aspergillus species are a major cause of life-threatening invasive infections and noninvasive diseases. This study seeks to investigate the frequency of Aspergillus species among Iranian patients and their susceptibility to seven antifungals. In a cross-sectional study, 233 Aspergillus isolates were collected from 11 university hospitals in Iran between 2018 and 2021.

Revisiting the Paradox of Smoking: Radioactivity in Tobacco Smoke or Suppressing the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, via Aryl-Hydrocarbon Receptor Signal?

Despite current controversies, some reports show a paradoxical mitigating effect associated with smoking in individuals with symptomatic COVID-19 compared to the general population. To explain the potential mechanisms behind the lower number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, it has been hypothesized that cigarette smoking may reduce the odds of cytokine storm and related severe inflammatory responses through cholinergic-mediated anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Japanese scientists have recently identified a potential mechanism behind the lower numbers of COVID-19 cases amongst smokers compared to non-smokers.

COVID-19 and MERS: Are their Chest X-ray and Computed Tomography Scanning Signs Related?

Background: COVID-19 is a respiratory infection brought about by SARS-COV-2. Most of the patients contaminated by this pathogen are afflicted by respiratory syndrome with multiple stages ranging from mild upper respiratory involvement to severe dyspnea and acute respiratory distress syndrome cases. Keeping in mind the high sensitivity of computed tomography (CT) scan in detecting abnormalities, it became the number one modality in COVID-19 diagnosis.

Investigating the etiologic agents of aseptic meningitis outbreak in Iranian children.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the viral agent (s) and their genome burden associated with an aseptic meningitis outbreak that occurred in Yasuj, Iran.

Materials And Methods: During April to August 2015, 104 CSF samples from 104 patients under 14 years old admitted to the hospital of Yasuj, Iran, with aseptic meningitis associated clinical signs were collected. 200 μl CSF specimens was prepared for DNA and RNA viral genome extraction each and then subjected to diagnostic Taq-man real time PCR assays for the present of Enteroviruses, HSV, VZV, mumps, measles and rubella in the samples.

Antifungal susceptibility patterns of colonized species isolates from immunocompromised pediatric patients in five university hospitals.

Background And Objectives: Colonization of species is common in pediatric patients admitted to hematology-oncology wards. The aim of this study was to identify colonized species and their susceptibility patterns in hematologic pediatric patients.

Materials And Methods: Samples were collected from mouth, nose, urine and stool of the patients admitted to five university hospitals and cultured on sabouraud dextrose agar.

Antifungal susceptibility testing of Candida species isolated from the immunocompromised patients admitted to ten university hospitals in Iran: comparison of colonizing and infecting isolates.

Background: Antifungal susceptibility testing is a subject of interest in the field of medical mycology. The aim of the present study were the distributions and antifungal susceptibility patterns of various Candida species isolated from colonized and infected immunocompromised patients admitted to ten university hospitals in Iran.

Methods: In totally, 846 Candida species were isolated from more than 4000 clinical samples and identified by the API 20 C AUX system.

First molecular-based detection of mucocutaneous leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania major in Iran.

Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, which mostly occurs in the New World, is mainly associated with Leishmania braziliensis and to a lesser degree L. panamensis and L. amazonensis infections.

Primary gastric tuberculosis mimicking gastric cancer: a case report.

Gastric tuberculosis is an uncommon manifestation of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis infection. The clinical signs of this type of infection are nonspecific and misleading. Clinically gastric tuberculosis resembles peptic ulcer disease or malignancy.

Quantification of Leishmania infantum kinetoplast DNA for monitoring the response to meglumine antimoniate therapy in visceral leishmaniasis.

Meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime) remains the therapeutic cornerstone of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). Twenty-one VL patients were treated with Glucantime, extending for 1 week after defervescence. For monitoring the response, Leishmania infantum kinetoplast DNA loads were evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in the blood.