Background Effective treatment for Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is under intensive research. Nigella sativa oil (NSO) is a herbal medicine with antiviral and immunomodulatory activities, and has been recommended for the treatment of COVID-19. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of NSO treatment in patients with COVID-19. Methods All adult patients with mild COVID-19 symptoms presented to King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were recruited for an open label randomized clinical trial (RCT). They were randomly divided into control or treatment groups, with the latter receiving 500 mg NSO (MARNYS® Cuminmar) twice daily for 10 days. Symptoms were daily monitored via telecommunication. The primary outcome focused on the percentage of patients who recovered (symptom-free for 3 days) within 14-days. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04401202). Results A total of 173 patients were enrolled for RCT. The average age was 36(±11) years, and 53% of patients were males. The control and NSO groups included 87 and 86 patients respectively. The percentage of recovered patients in NSO group (54[62%]) was significantly higher than that in the control group (31[36%]; p = 0.001). The mean duration to recovery was also shorter for patients receiving NSO (10.7 ± 3.2 days) compared with the control group (12.3 ± 2.8 days); p = 0.001. Conclusions NSO supplementation was associated with faster recovery of symptoms than usual care alone for patients with mild COVID-19 infection. These potential therapeutic benefits require further exploration with placebo-controlled, double-blinded studies.

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in quarantine/lockdown measures in most countries. Quarantine may create intense psychological problems including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) especially for the vulnerable critically developing children/adolescents. Few studies evaluated PTSD associated with infectious disasters but no Saudi study investigated PTSD associated with COVID-19 in children/adolescents. This study was undertaken to screen for PTSD in children/adolescent in Saudi Arabia to identify its prevalence/risk factors during COVID-19 pandemic and its quarantine. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted after 2 months form start of quarantine for COVID-19 pandemic utilizing the original English version and an Arabic translated version for the University of California at Los Angeles Brief COVID-19 Screen for Child/Adolescent PTSD that can be parent-reported or self-completed by older children/adolescents. Participants (Saudi citizens/non-Saudi residents) were approached online via social media. Results Five hundred and thirty seven participants were enrolled. The participants were 262 boys and 275 girls with a mean age of 12.25±3.77 years. Symptoms of no, minimal, mild and potential PTSD were identified in 15.5%, 44.1%, 27.4% and 13.0% of children/adolescents, respectively. The age, gender, school grade, and residence were not predictive of PTSD symptoms. Univariate analysis of risk factors for PTSD revealed that work of a close relative around people who might be infected was significantly different between groups of PTSD symptoms, but this difference disappeared during multivariate analysis. Children/adolescents of Saudi citizens had significantly lower median total PTSD score than children/adolescents of expatriate families (p = 0.002). Conclusion PTSD associated with the COVID-19 and its resultant quarantine shouldn’t be overlooked in different populations as it is expected in a considerable proportion of children/adolescents with variable prevalence, risk factors and severity. Parents/healthcare providers must be aware of PTSD associated with COVID-19 or similar disasters, so, they can provide children/adolescent with effective coping mechanisms.

Objectives: To investigate the potential efficacy of Nigella sativa (NS) oil supplementation on the outcomes of patients with mild Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Background: No previous studies have involved school children or their parents in the evaluation of virtual learning environment (VLE). Thus, this survey was performed to develop a novel questionnaire which was then used to evaluate the satisfaction of school children and their parents with the VLE in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A cross-sectional survey utilizing a validated and reliable questionnaire was distributed online for VLE evaluation. A median value >3 indicated participant satisfaction in each of the 5 domains of the questionnaire as well as overall VLE satisfaction. Results: Six hundred and ninety three participants including 571 Saudi citizens and 122 non-Saudi residents participated in this survey. The number of school children who agreed or strongly agreed were significantly lower than the number of children who disagreed or strongly disagreed with preferring the VLE over traditional education (p<0.001). The participants evaluated the VLE experience as unsatisfactory with a median value ≤3 for 4 out of 5 questionnaire domains with an overall satisfaction value of 2.8. Among the 117 participants who gave further written opinions/comments, 42(35.9%) participants supported the VLE as an alternative to traditional classrooms, if equipment and internet are made available and for the safety of their children.Conclusions: This is the first powerful population study, both globally and nationally, to utilize a novel validated and reliable questionnaire for exploring VLE satisfaction. This study showed the participants’ unsatisfactory VLE experience. The VLE is accepted as an alternative to traditional classrooms to keep up with learning and to maintain the safety of children and it can be a supplementary learning method but many measures are still needed to develop the VLE.

BackgroundEffective treatment for patients with the novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is desperately needed and is currently under intensive research. Nigella sativa oil (NSO), a herbal medicine, that has a documented wide antiviral and immunomodulatory activities offering a therapeutic potential for COVID-19.MethodsA randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted on adult symptomatic quarantined patients with mild COVID-19 between May 2020, and August 2020. Patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia were recruited. They were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive supplementation with oral capsules of NSO (MARNYS® Cuminmar 500 mg twice daily for 10 days) plus standard care or standard care medications alone. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients recovered (free of symptoms for 3 days) within 14 days from enrollment. This trial was registered with clinicaltrials.gov, NCT04401202.FindingsA total of 94 patients were enrolled. Their mean age was 35 (SD=11) years old and 57% of them were male. There were 47 patients in the treatment group (NSO) and 47 patients in the control group. The proportion of patients recovered in the treatment group was significantly higher than the control group, 37 (79%) versus 21 (45%) (p=0.001). Additionally, there was a significant difference in the average recovery time among both groups, 9 (SD=3) versus 11 (SD=3) days (p=0.003). Furthermore, 2 patients from the control group required hospitalization within the study period versus none in the treatment group. Adverse events were reported in 3 patients of NSO recipients as gastrointestinal symptoms.ConclusionsIn this RCT of adult patients with mild COVID-19, NSO was associated with a significant increase in the likelihood of recovery and a decrease in the chance of hospitalization. To our knowledge, this is the first RCT that shows potential therapeutic benefits of NSO in patients with COVID-19 which requires further confirmation with larger double-blinded RCTs.