Children with sickle cell disease: are they protected from serious COVID-19?

Background: COVID-19, the pandemic that hit the world in 2020, resulted in millions of deaths, with the elderly and adults succumbing to the disease more often than children. However, the presence of underlying morbidities increased the risk of death. Sickle cell disease (SCD) was previously classified as a major risk factor for severe COVID-19 disease.

Pediatric Respiratory Infections ‎After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Single-Center Experience.

Background Pediatric respiratory infections, mainly bronchiolitis, are a substantial clinical burden. The most common etiology is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Other viruses include human rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, influenza, adenovirus, coronavirus, and parainfluenza viruses.

COVID-19 in children ranging from asymptomatic to a multi-system inflammatory disease: A single-center study.

Objectives: To identify clinical and laboratory characteristics of the Saudi children with confirmed COVID-19.

Methods: Eighty-eight children (0-14 years) with COVID-19 who were admitted to Prince Sultan Military Medical City (PSMMC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from April to June 2020 were recruited.

Results: Mean age was 5.

Genetic and Biochemical Predictors of Neonatal Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common complication of prematurity with a multifactorial etiology, influenced by both genetic susceptibility and environmental factors on the immature lung. Fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 and -4 (FGFR-3 and FGFR-4) are abundantly expressed in both the epithelium and mesenchyme in the developing mammalian lung. FGFR-4 may play a role in developing BPD as it is associated with airway inflammation and remodeling; studies showed a link between BPD and a polymorphism in the gene.

Erythrocyte Complement Receptor 1 Gene Polymorphisms and Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

To evaluate the role of erythrocyte complement receptor 1 ( ) gene in the predisposition to respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), we studied 50 infants with RDS and 50 controls. Real-time polymerase chain reaction allelic discrimination analysis of A3650G (rs2274567) and genotyping of the alleles (HindIII) were performed. Allele L of HindIII restricted single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associated with the severity of RDS.

Mutation spectrum of Egyptian children with cystic fibrosis.

Objective: To know the common CFTR mutations in the Egyptian patients with cystic fibrosis as it was previously thought to be uncommon disease in Egypt.

Methods: This is a cross sectional study of 60 patients diagnosed as cystic fibrosis by sweat chloride testing. They were enrolled from the Allergy and Pulmonology Unit Children's Hospital Cairo University.

Human Surfactant Proteins A2 (SP-A2) and B (SP-B) Genes as Determinants of Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Objective: To study the relationship between SP-A2 and SP-B gene polymorphisms and respiratory distress syndrome in preterm neonates.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Neonatal intensive care unit and the Molecular Biology unit of the Chemical Pathology Department, Kasr Alainy hospital, Cairo University.

Profile of cystic fibrosis in a single referral center in Egypt.

It was generally believed that Cystic fibrosis (CF) is rare among Arabs; however, the few studies available from Egypt and other Arabic countries suggested the presence of many undiagnosed patients. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequency of CF patients out of the referred cases in a single referral hospital in Egypt. A total of 100 patients clinically suspected of having CF were recruited from the CF clinic of the Allergy and Pulmonology Unit, Children's Hospital, Cairo University, Egypt, throughout a 2 year period.