In 2020 a new pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is affecting the lives of millions of patients and healthcare workers worldwide. The clinical picture of this infection is in a dynamic process of discovery, and more symptoms emerge as the clinicians observe and diagnose manifestations that affect multiple organs. Anosmia (loss of smell), and ageusia (loss of taste) become more frequently cited as independent symptoms or in association with the most common manifestations of the disease, such as fever, cough and dyspnea. A thorough screening program will prevent most nosocomial and community-acquired infections by promoting efficient triage and specific measures such as isolation of the patients. Therefore, it is important to include frequent symptoms in the anamnesis and questionnaires to select those patients who might benefit from testing, isolation, and treatment. This study summarizes the existing data regarding the association of anosmia and ageusia with the SARS-CoV-2 infection. It also aims to describe manifestations of these, particularly in the clinical picture of all symptomatic patients. Health Organisation (WHO) (1). SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronaviridae family alongside with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, and it has a single-stranded RNA genome (2). The coronavirus invasion of the target cells is mediated by a transmembrane spike glycoprotein (S). It has two subunits: S1, for binding to the host cell receptors, and S2, for the fusion process with the host cell membrane. These subunits will remain in a prefusion conformation after specific protease cleavage, with the distal S1 subunit comprising the receptor-binding domains (RBD), specifically involved in recognition of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) (3,4). The S protein will be further cleaved by host proteases and activated for the membrane fusion. Due to the peripheral location of S proteins, they are the main target for neutralizing antibodies and for new developing therapies (3,5). The ACE2 is a functional receptor for the SARS-CoV-2 and has a ubiquitous distribution into the human body, but its expression is higher in the nasal mucosa, lung parenchyma, and gastrointestinal tract (6). Some studies suggest a possible link between smoking and enhanced expression of ACE2 receptors (7), thus, smoking could be a risk factor that increases the susceptibility of the patient to contact the new coronavirus. SARS-Cov-2 is a highly transmissible virus with an incubation period of approximately 14 days, with a median time of 4-5 days from exposure to symptoms onset (8-10). It has been stipulated that the viral transmission is through the droplets, direct contact, contact with an infected individual, fecal, oral, and body fluid routes (11-13). The most typical symptoms experienced by the patients were fever (83-99%), cough (59-82%), fatigue (44-70%), anorexia (40-84%), shortness of breath (31-40%), sputum production (28-33%) and myalgias (11-35%) (14-16). Less common symptoms reported include headache, confusion, rhinorrhea, sore throat, hem...

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic infection caused by the obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). T. gondii infection is a cause of congenital infection worldwide. Primary infection or the reactivation of latent infection during pregnancy may lead to fetal infection and to congenital toxoplasmosis syndrome. Seropositive pregnant women are generally protected from maternal-fetal transmission of T. gondii , although exceptions exist. The aim of our study was to analyze the dynamics of T. gondii seroprevalence during a 10-year period and to correlate it with age and demographic features of pregnant women. We tested 6,889 pregnant women in Timisoara, Romania, for IgG-anti- T. gondii antibodies, in two successive periods: i) 2008-2010 (group 1: 1,457 participants); and ii) 2015-2018 (group 2: 5,432 participants). For each participant, data on age and area of residence were collected. Our results showed that in the Western Region of Romania T. gondii seroprevalence in pregnant women declined from 43.79 to 38.81% in the last ten years. This trend was observed in both urban (40.53 vs. 34.85%) and rural areas (52.22 vs. 46.22%). A higher seroprevalence rate was found in rural than in urban areas. In addition, we found an increasing tendency of seroprevalence related to the age of pregnant women.

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The WHO/UNAIDS suggests that digital tools – such as social media and online training opportunities, can connect providers in difficult social and medical contexts to providers elsewhere for guidance, support, and advice. Social media is emerging as an innovative option for connecting clinicians together and for enhancing access to professional resources. In Romania, characterized by an atypical HIV/AIDS epidemic which is further challenged by a range of access complexities, it is unclear how often – and which kinds of – social media clinicians use to support clinical care. This study was conducted to ascertain social media use for clinical providers based in two regions of Romania (Transylvania and Moldavia) who face distance challenges that could potentially be alleviated by social media interaction. We used an online survey to understand what social media are currently popular and perceived to be useful for learning clinical information. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted. Providers indicated Facebook and WhatsApp were the most common social media platforms, with 62% and 45% reporting daily use, respectively. Providers who used one media platform were significantly more likely to use another social media platform (p < .05). These data are helpful for creating an online training platform on HIV/AIDS for Romanian clinical providers.

The purpose of the research is to highlight the impact of two aspects defining personal identity: the HIV/AIDS status and family background, on the individual self esteem of young people having grown up in a family or an orphanage environment. We evaluated 93 young people from families and placement centers, both HIV-positive and HIV-negative, for a period of 12 months, from January to December 2013. We used the Self Esteem Inventory to evaluate their overall self esteem, as well as their social, family and school self esteem. The age of the young people evaluated was between 14 and 25 years, with a mean age of 20.48 years; 33 of them were male (35.48%) and 60 female (64.51%); 49 individuals came from a family environment (52.6%), while 44 from placement centers (47.3%). More than half (53.7%) were attending or have graduated from high school. In 25.8% of cases, education was limited to primary school (4-8 grades), and we reported two cases of home-schooling. A percent of 18.27 of all young people had higher education, attending university or post-high school classes. Overall, self esteem is significantly lower in HIV-infected subjects from placement centers. The same goes for social self esteem. In family and school self esteem, the results are variable, depending on the influence that the HIV status and the growing up environment have on the young people. Growing up in a placement center impacted negatively on the development of self esteem in young people, regardless of their health status. When adding to this situation a chronic disease such as HIV/AIDS, the proper emotional development of youth is even more endangered. This situation needs to be analyzed in order to fully support the development of all youth.