Rare host variants in ciliary expressed genes contribute to COVID-19 severity in Bulgarian patients.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a pneumonia with extremely heterogeneous clinical presentation, ranging from asymptomatic to severely ill patients. Previous studies have reported links between the presence of host genetic variants and the outcome of the COVID-19 infection. In our study, we used whole exome sequencing in a cohort of 444 SARS-CoV-2 patients, admitted to hospital in the period October-2020-April-2022, to search for associations between rare pathogenic/potentially pathogenic variants and COVID-19 progression.

Comparative Analysis on Clinical Characteristics Among Patients with Acute Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) and Patients with Acute Hepatitis E Virus (HEV): A Single-Center Retrospective Study from Bulgaria.

Introduction: The acute viral hepatitis was one of the most common conditions in daily clinical practice varying in different parts of the world. The aim of the present study was to perform a comparative analysis on clinical characteristics among patients with acute hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection and patients with acute hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection admitted to the Military Medical Academy (MMA), Sofia, Bulgaria.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed at MMA, between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2021.

Students' Attitudes toward COVID-19 Vaccination: An Inter-University Study from Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria, vaccination coverage against the SARS-CoV-2 virus is low. The reasons for this fact are many and varied. The aim of the present study was to establish what the attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccination process are among students from various specialties from several Bulgarian universities.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus-tick survey in endemic areas in Bulgaria.

The Balkan Peninsula and Bulgaria in particular, is a well-known endemic region for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF). This study describes the prevalence of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) among tick populations from areas, previously recognized with emerging cases of CCHF disease in humans. These include regions from the Southeastern (regions of Kardzhali and Haskovo) and Central (region of Stara Zagora) parts of the country.