The COVID-19 pandemic is probably the greatest natural disaster of our generation and the 21st century with a great impact on mental health. The present study aims to quantify, with the help of the Beck questionnaire, the degree of depression in a group of 109 patients with moderate forms of COVID-19, hospitalized in the Second Clinic of the Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases St. Cuv. Parascheva Galati during the period: 1.01-30.03.2021. Of these, 35 patients (32.11%) had varying degrees of depression, and had an age and body mass index statistically significantly higher than those without depression. These patients also had statistically significantly higher Charlson scores of cumulative comorbidities and required longer hospitalization than patients without depression. The severity of COVID-19 and the percentage of favorable prognosis did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups. Our study reveals a lower incidence of depression among patients with COVID-19 compared to existing studies in the literature. This can be explained by the fact that our study is conducted at the end of the first year of the pandemic when antiviral therapy schemes stabilized and population vaccination began. The high genetic variability of the virus, which can determine at any time the appearance of new strains with greater aggression, contagion or with mutations on the spike protein, maintains the need to keep non-specific preventive measures and the mental tension related to this pathology. Thus, intrapandemic psychiatric disorders remain a major public health problem and require strong government prevention and control measures.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are important players in the COVID-19 pandemic management and are inescapably in the first line to be exposed to the SARS CoV-2 virus. They were at risk of losing their lives while caring for their duty for COVID patients. This pandemic has substantial psychological impact on HCWs. This study describes the prevalence of burnout between HCWs handle with COVID-19 pandemic. The study explored the level of burnout in this population and examined factors involved in development of this psychological consequence. This cross-sectional survey was conducted on personnel from an Infectious Diseases monospecialty Hospital, which provides care for COVID-19 patients. The study was attended at 12 months after the outbreak. A questionnaire- based survey using Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was conducted for all personnel. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Age, gender, job category and the level of burnout in each subscale was measured. 186 persons completed the questionnaire (79%from employees). 61.86% experienced medium and high levels of burnout comparable with other country studies. The mean score and SD in emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal accomplishment were 23.26+8.45, 11.11+4.05, and 22.62+6.83, respectively. The prevalence of burnout in the hospital`s personnel was 38.179% in low rates, 46.77% had medium level and 15.05% high level. Doctors and administrative staff were more affected than others. Nevertheless, there are no significant statistical differences in the level of the three domains of burnout studied regarding the age and job profile. In conclusion, in our hospital, designated to treat moderate and severe COVID-19 patients burnout is equally present among HCWs.

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α inhibitors are highly used in Romania for the treatment of autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, inflammatory bowel diseases, and ankylosing spondylitis. Biological therapy using TNF-α inhibitors is very effective but is associated with an increased risk of opportunistic infections, including active tuberculosis. Here, two cases are presented of patients with RA and psoriasis under biological therapy who developed very aggressive forms of disseminated tuberculosis, with a rapid progression to death. The authors conclude that patients undergoing biological therapy require thorough evaluation prior to initiating treatment, followed by continuous and rigorous monitoring by a multidisciplinary team during biological treatment, particularly in countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis.

Background and Objectives: The occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in children in Romania has been reported since 1989. This retrospective study was aimed at assessing clinical and biological risk factors for mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in two HIV-acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) Regional Centers (RCs), Constanta and Craiova in Romania. Materials and Methods: During the study period (2008–2019), 408 HIV-positive pregnant women, 244 from Constanta RC and 164 from Craiova RC who attended antenatal visits, were included. All HIV-positive pregnant women were under combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) during pregnancy and childbirth, being followedup with their infants up to 18 months after delivery. We investigated the clinical as well as biological risk factorsassociated with increased MTCT of HIV. Results: Comparing different variables of HIV-positive pregnant women from the two HIV-AIDS CRs, we find that there are significant differences between the mean value of hemoglobin, CD4 level, environmental area, marital and amniotic membranes status, and HIV patient stage in the last trimester of pregnancy (p < 0.05), but without any differences in mother’s mean age, education level, type of delivery, breastfeeding, the duration of cART administration, HIV viral load, and survival rate. Conclusions: In 408 HIV-positive pregnant women followed up at two HIV-AIDS RCs in Romania, the most important clinical and biological risk factors associated with increased MTCT of HIV are represented by anemia, CD4 level, and HIV patient stage.

The aim of the study was to assess the clinical effects of periodontal healing using a Romanian pharmaceutical compound of marine fish extract (Alflutop®). Adults with periodontal disease were included in the study group. Gingival inflammation, the degree of tooth mobility, and probing depth (PD) were recorded for each patient before and after therapy. Patients were divided into two groups: group I—after scaling and root planing (SRP), patients followed therapy with marine fish extract, Alflutop®, group II—SRP therapy alone. Statistically significant differences between groups in terms of gingival inflammation reduction (p = 0.045) were found. Tooth mobility reduction, as well as PD improvement, were also noticed after the therapy (p = 0.001), but no statistically significant differences among PD reduction rates were found (p = 0.356). Alflutop® has proven a certain therapeutic efficiency in the treatment of periodontitis in terms of reduction in the clinical signs of inflammation and tooth mobility.