Background and objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an on-going epidemic with a multitude of long-ranging effects on the physiological balance of the human body. It can cause several effects on thyroid functions as well. We aimed to assess the lasting sequelae of COVID-19 on thyroid hormone and the clinical course of the disease as a result. Methods Out of 76 patients, 48 patients of COVID-19 positive and 28 patients of COVID-19 negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were assessed for thyroid functions, IL-6, and Procalcitonin between moderate, severe, and critical pneumonia on HRCT. Results Seventy-five percent of patients with COVID-19 had thyroid abnormalities and higher IL-6 levels (76.10 ± 82.35 vs. 6.99 ± 3.99, 95% CI 52.18–100.01, P-value <0.01). Logistic regression analysis suggested TT3 (P-value 0.01), IL-6 (P-value <0.01), and Procalcitonin (P-value 0.03) as independent risk factors for COVID-19. ROC curve demonstrated IL-6 as the most sensitive marker (P-value <0.01), and TT3, and Procalcitonin as the predictor for COVID-19 disease. Conclusion This pilot study from Pakistan demonstrates that changes in serum TSH and TT3 levels may be important manifestations of the courses of COVID-19 pneumonia.

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the ongoing pandemic with multitude of manifestations and association of ABO blood group in South-East Asian population needs to be explored. Methods It was a retrospective study of patients with COVID-19. Blood group A, B, O, and AB were identified in every participant, irrespective of their RH type and allotted groups 1, 2,3, and 4, respectively. Correlation between blood group and lab parameters was presented as histogram distributed among the four groups. Multivariate regression and logistic regression were used for inferential statistics. Results The cohort included 1067 patients: 521 (48.8%) participants had blood group O as the prevalent blood type. Overall, 10.6% COVID-19-related mortality was observed at our center. Mortality was 13.9% in blood group A, 9.5% in group B, 10% in group C, and 10.2% in AB blood group (p = 0.412). IL-6 was elevated in blood group A (median [IQR]: 23.6 [17.5,43.8]), Procalcitonin in blood group B (median [IQR]: 0.54 [0.3,0.7]), D-dimers and CRP in group AB (median [IQR]: 21.5 [9,34]; 24 [9,49], respectively). Regarding severity of COVID-19 disease, no statistical difference was seen between the blood groups. Alteration of the acute phase reactants was not positively associated with any specific blood type. Conclusion In conclusion, this investigation did not show significant association of blood groups with severity and of COVID-19 disease and COVID-19-associated mortality.

This research work reports the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in a 1D grating device in a gold film on glass substrate. Various grating structures have been modelled using finite element analysis (FEA) in comsol RF module. The periodicity in such devices remains constant, whereas slit width is changed for each structure. We have studied the effects of slit width on SPP resonances and formation of the plasmonic bandgap. The trend shows that bandgap energy increases with increasing slit width and reaches a maximum value for slit width nearly equal to half of the periodicity in the grating structure and then decreases which is a new and important observation. The possible reason for this optimum value of the slit width corresponds to the absence of higher plasmonic modes and the sinusoidal nature of the slit.

Novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) primarily involves the respiratory system. Consumptive coagulopathy is seen in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and multiorgan failure (MOF). Usually, only severely sick patients develop mild thrombocytopenia. We present a case of mildly symptomatic young adult, presenting with severe thrombocytopenia. She responded well to corticosteroids.

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