Challenges During Review of COVID-19 Research Proposals: Experience of Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University Research Ethics Committee, Egypt.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an overwhelming increase in research studies submitted to research ethics committees (RECs) presenting many ethical challenges. This article aims to report the challenges encountered during review of COVID-19 research and the experience of the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University Research Ethics Committee (FMASU REC). From April 10, 2020, until October 13, 2020, the FMASU REC reviewed 98 COVID-19 research protocols.

A cross-sectional household cluster serosurvey of hepatitis C virus antibodies in an urban slum of Cairo, Egypt in 2004.

Background: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) continues to be a burden to the Egyptian population and its economy. Despite all efforts, the prevalence of infection continues to be one of the highest in the world. The high national prevalence has been attributed to unintentional, nosocomial spread during an anti-schistosomiasis campaign conducted in the 1970's, but that does not fully explain the persistent infection rates.

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from U.S. military personnel participating in Operation Bright Star, Egypt, from 2005 to 2009.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major health problem for travelers to the Middle East. During the autumn months of 2005, 2007, and 2009, U.S.

Hotel clinic-based diarrheal and respiratory disease surveillance in U.S. service members participating in Operation Bright Star in Egypt, 2009.

We conducted clinic-based, influenza-like illness and diarrheal disease surveillance among U.S. service members participating in Operation Bright Star 2009.

Specific IgA antibodies in the diagnosis of acute brucellosis.

An Egyptian female with night sweats, headache, and back pain was diagnosed with acute brucellosis one week after returning from a North African country. Humoral immune responses to specific immunogenic proteins were investigated before and after treatment. ELISA was performed to detect levels of specific antibody (Ab) titers.

Validation of the Dri-Dot Latex agglutination and IgM lateral flow assays for the diagnosis of typhoid fever in an Egyptian population.

Laboratory confirmation of typhoid fever is essential for appropriate medical treatment. Blood culture is a standard test for diagnosis of typhoid fever, but well-equipped diagnostic facilities to perform culture are seldom available in endemic areas. We retrospectively compared 2 diagnostic field tests, a latex agglutination Dri-Dot assay and an IgM Lateral Flow assay, to blood culture, in patients with clinically diagnosed typhoid fever.

Enteric disease surveillance under the AFHSC-GEIS: current efforts, landscape analysis and vision forward.

The mission of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Division of Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC-GEIS) is to support global public health and to counter infectious disease threats to the United States Armed Forces, including newly identified agents or those increasing in incidence. Enteric diseases are a growing threat to U.S.

Antimicrobial resistance surveillance in the AFHSC-GEIS network.

International infectious disease surveillance has been conducted by the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense (DoD) for many years and has been consolidated within the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Division of Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC-GEIS) since 1998.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of rifaximin for the prevention of travelers' diarrhea in US military personnel deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Incirlik, Turkey.

Background: Infectious diarrhea is an important problem among travelers and deployed US military overseas causing substantial morbidity due to acute illness and may result in burdensome postinfectious sequelae.

Methods: The nonsystemic antibiotic rifaximin was evaluated for prevention of travelers' diarrhea (TD) in a US military and civilian adult beneficiary population in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. In all, 100 volunteers deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, received rifaximin 1,100 mg once daily or placebo for 2 weeks, and participants were followed daily for 2 weeks.

The changing epidemiology of meningococcal meningitis after introduction of bivalent A/C polysaccharide vaccine into school-based vaccination programs in Egypt.

Background: The strategy recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to curtail outbreaks of meningococcus in Africa is enhanced surveillance with administration of oily chloramphenicol as well as vaccination when incidence thresholds are exceeded. The role of capsular polysaccharide meningococcal vaccine in outbreak prevention has been the subject of considerable debate. The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population initiated a school-based vaccination program with bivalent A/C capsular polysaccharide vaccine in 1992.

Relationship between intracranial granulomas and cerebrospinal fluid levels of gamma interferon and interleukin-10 in patients with tuberculous meningitis.

Cerebrospinal fluid gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-10 levels in 39 patients with tuberculous meningitis were serially measured. Cytokine levels did not predict intracranial granuloma (IG) development, but IFN-gamma levels in the top quartile after 1 month of therapy were highly associated (odds ratio = 18) with detection of an IG by computed tomography scanning.

Short-course azithromycin for the treatment of uncomplicated typhoid fever in children and adolescents.

We studied 149 children and adolescents 3-17 years of age with clinical typhoid fever who were treated with either oral azithromycin (20 mg/kg per day; maximum dose, 1000 mg/day) or intravenous ceftriaxone (75 mg/day; maximum dose, 2.5 g/day) daily for 5 days. Blood and stool specimens were obtained for culture before the initiation of therapy and were repeated on days 4 and 8 of treatment.

Rapid diagnosis of typhoid fever by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detection of Salmonella serotype typhi antigens in urine.

We developed and evaluated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies to capture somatic antigen 9 (O9), flagellar antigen d (Hd), and the Vi capsular polysaccharide antigen (Vi) from the urine of persons with and without typhoid fever. Sequential urine samples were collected from 44 patients with blood culture-confirmed typhoid fever and from two control groups. The first control group included patients with brucellosis (n = 12) and those with clinically diagnosed, non-typhoid, acute, febrile illness (n = 27).

Fluconazole for the treatment of Cryptococcus neoformans meningitis in an immunocompetent host.

We present a case of a 23-year-old immunocompetent male who presented with chronic meningitis and was diagnosed as cryptococcal meningitis by positive cryptococcal antigen titer. The cerebrospinal fluid culture was positive for Cryptococcus neoformans. He was treated initially with amphotericin B but was later changed to fluconazole due to toxicity.