Morphological abnormalities of peripheral blood cells among patients with COVID-19 disease.

Purpose: The hematological changes in COVID-19 patients continue to receive great attention, especially in the field of public health. To our knowledge, coronavirus disease may be identified based on the severity of illness, and the study of peripheral blood smears may offer important information to facilitate the identification. Thus, we evaluated the morphological abnormalities (atypical and immature lymphocytes, lymphocytes with micronuclei, various nuclear abnormalities among erythrocytes) and quantitative changes in peripheral blood cells among 48 individuals with COVID-19 disease.

Molecular Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Lineages in Armenia.

The sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 provides essential information on viral evolution, transmission, and epidemiology. In this paper, we performed the whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 using nanopore and Illumina sequencing to describe the circulation of the virus lineages in Armenia. The analysis of 145 full genomes identified six clades (19A, 20A, 20B, 20I, 21J, and 21K) and considerable intra-clade PANGO lineage diversity.

The role of anticoagulation in preventing myocardial infarction and improving outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with cardiovascular (CV) complications including myocardial injury, myocarditis, arrhythmias, and venous thromboembolism. The infection is more severe in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD), where systemic inflammation due to cytokine storm, hypercoagulation, as well as high hematocrit and platelet (PLT) count may contribute to an increased CV risk. The authors hypothesize that anticoagulants and antiplatelets prevent miocardial infarction (MI) in patients with pre-existing CVD.

Antimicrobial Resistance in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Armenia: 2016-2019.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the acquired ability of pathogens to withstand antimicrobial treatment. To bridge the gap in knowledge for implementing effective and targeted interventions in relation to the AMR in Armenia, we designed this study to explore the performance of AMR diagnostics and the profile of AMR in the Nork Infection Clinical Hospital (NICH) for the period of 2016-2019, particularly to (i) determine the proportions of antimicrobial resistance among all samples tested at the hospital laboratory, (ii) determine the proportion of resistance against specific antimicrobials, and (iii) identify factors associated with AMR. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a secondary data analysis that included all the patients tested for AMR in the laboratory of the NICH for the period of 2016-2019.

Implementation of a Regional Training Program on African Swine Fever As Part of the Cooperative Biological Engagement Program across the Caucasus Region.

A training and outreach program to increase public awareness of African swine fever (ASF) was implemented by Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Ministries of Agriculture in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. The implementing agency was the company SAFOSO (Switzerland). Integration of this regional effort was administered by subject matter experts for each country.