Publications by authors named "Mariana Helou"

Lebanon has faced a series of crises, starting with the economic collapse in 2019, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut blast on August 4, 2020. These events have left the population vulnerable to psychological distress. Our study aims to assess the psychological impact of the Beirut explosion on Lebanese healthcare providers.

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On September 17, 2024, an unforeseen attack due to the Pagers Explosion targeting a military party in Lebanon left more than 2750 casualties. A total of 38 injured patients presented to the Lebanese American University Medical Center-Rizk Hospital (LAUMC-RH), a private university hospital. Most injuries were amputated fingers and eye injuries.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study focuses on evaluating preparedness tools for responding to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidents specifically in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
  • An online survey involving disaster medicine experts helped assess the effectiveness of CBRN response flowcharts, training scenarios, and preparedness assessment tools through statistical methods and AI techniques.
  • Results showed strong agreement among experts on the validity of these tools, indicating they can effectively enhance response strategies for CBRN incidents across various regions.
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On September 17, 2024, at 15:30 local time, thousands of pagers used by members of a specific party group detonated across Lebanon. As a result of the explosions, 2800 were wounded and 12 lost their lives. Almost two-thirds of the injuries were in the face, eyes, or hands.

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Article Synopsis
  • - A mass casualty incident (MCI) is defined as an event that causes a high number of injuries, overwhelming medical resources and requiring immediate emergency response beyond normal capacity.
  • - Hospitals must quickly shift from their regular operations to crisis mode with an emergency preparedness plan (EPP) in place to handle the situation effectively.
  • - The study focuses on the Lebanese American University Medical Center’s EPP in response to the MCI caused by the Beirut blast, highlighting the challenges faced due to Lebanon's low-resource environment compounded by previous crises like COVID-19.
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On February 6, 2023, Turkey was struck by the most powerful earthquake recorded since 1939, leaving millions of people devastated and homeless with over 36,000 casualties. According to the Ministry of Health, at least 50% of the major health centers were damaged, with only about 30% of the pre-existing doctors able to help. The earthquake occurred during a harsh winter and amidst an ongoing humanitarian complex situation in Syria resulting from the Syrian civil war that started in 2011.

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After the beginning of the Syrian crisis, increased rates of infectious diseases were reported. Lebanon, a neighboring country with a major socioeconomic crisis, witnessed a measles outbreak since July 2023, with 519 reported suspected cases. Half of the cases were under 5 y of age, most of them were unvaccinated.

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Acute diarrhea is a prevalent disease worldwide and a cause of mortality in low and middle-income countries. In previous studies, the causative enteropathogen is found in 38% to 58% of patients, leaving a considerable diagnostic gap. In this study, we intend to determine the pathogenic agents responsible for acute diarrhea in patients presenting to the Emergency Departments of several Lebanese hospitals.

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Article Synopsis
  • * A study utilized AI-driven techniques, including text mining and machine learning, to analyze feedback from 29 disaster medicine experts regarding preparedness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) risks in MENA.
  • * The analysis revealed a consensus among experts highlighting fears about inadequate access to preparedness information while also acknowledging positive concepts for improving CBRN readiness, ultimately informing policymakers to collaborate on better healthcare preparedness strategies.
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Foot complications of patients with diabetes could lead to amputations and early death. Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are usually difficult to treat and impose huge financial burden. Monitoring wound progress is the mainstay of any treatment and alternatives to face-to-face consultations such as tele-medicine have been proposed.

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Chlorine dioxide is a powerful disinfectant with strong antibacterial properties. We conducted a study at different sites of the Lebanese American University Medical Center-Rizk Hospital to determine the efficacy of the ECOM air mask in decreasing the particle load. Air cultures were obtained from three different locations, namely the patients' elevator, visitors' elevator and mobile clinic and the number of colonies grown on each type of agar was determined.

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Introduction: The current study aimed to determine the prevalence, risk factors, and stages of severity of acute kidney injury (AKI) caused by colistimethate sodium (CMS) treatment in patients diagnosed with systemic antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. The predictors of all-cause mortality in this patient population were also examined.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients who were admitted to a university-affiliated hospital and acute tertiary care referral center in Beirut, Lebanon between January 2015 and December 2018 and underwent CMS treatment for a period of 48 h or more.

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This study aims to describe COVID-19 patients characteristics, laboratory and imaging results, and the different outcomes of patients admitted to the Lebanese American University Medical Center-Rizk Hospital over a period of 9 months. In this observational retrospective study, data were obtained from electronic medical records of 491 male and female patients from the ages of 17 to 97. Analysis of the patients was performed in 3 periods: August 2020 to October 20 November 202020 to January 2021 and February 2021 to April 2021 corresponding with 3 waves of newly diagnosed cases during this period.

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In recent years, Lebanon has been struggling with a socioeconomic crisis exacerbated by population displacement after the Syrian crisis, which put a significant burden on its healthcare system. An additional challenge has been the response to a cholera outbreak- a deadly waterborne disease transmitted through the fecal-oral route that usually manifests as severe watery diarrhea and can rapidly progress to death. After reports of a cholera outbreak in Syria were disclosed in September 2022, the Northern Governorate of Lebanon too began reporting cases immediately after, and the first case was confirmed on October 6, 2022.

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Aortic dissection is an uncommon yet frequently fatal illness. Patients generally present with tearing chest pain with possible acute hemodynamic instability. Hence, early diagnosis and intervention is critical for survival.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) initially presented as a disease that affected the lungs. Then, studies revealed that it intricately affected disparate organs in the human body, with the liver being one of the most affected organs. This review aimed to assess the association between COVID-19 and liver function, shedding light on its clinical implication.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is a recent pandemic. Healthcare workers (HCW) are at high risk of acquiring the infection and transmitting it to others. Seroprevalence for COVID-19 among HCW varies between countries, hospitals in the same country and even among different departments in the same hospital.

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Purpose: The European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation funding program awarded the NIGHTINGALE grant to develop a toolkit to support first responders engaged in prehospital (PH) mass casualty incident (MCI) response. To reach the projects' objectives, the NIGHTINGALE consortium used a Translational Science (TS) process. The present work is the first TS stage (T1) aimed to extract data relevant for the subsequent modified Delphi study (T2) statements.

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Introduction: With the continuous spread and emergence of transmissible diseases, focusing on preventive measures is essential to decrease their incidence and spread. In addition to behavioral measures, vaccination is an optimal way to protect the population and eradicate infectious diseases. The majority are aware of children's vaccinations, while many might not know that adult vaccinations are also essential.

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Background: Invasive fungal infections have presented a challenge in treatment. In the past, it was known that the frontrunner in such infections is s with little emphasis placed on non-albicans species (NAC). Studies worldwide have shown a rise in fungal infections attributed to non-albicans species.

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Introduction: On August 4, 2020, a massive explosion of a warehouse holding 2,700 metric tons of ammonium nitrate took place in the port of Beirut, Lebanon. This incident, which is considered as one of the largest industrial disasters lead to the death of at least 220 people and more than 6000 injuries. Hospitals near the blast were damaged significantly which made it difficult to treat injured patients.

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