Background The novel coronavirus has become a global threat and healthcare concern. The manifestations of COVID‐19 pneumonia in transplant patients are not well understood and may have more severe symptoms, longer duration, and a worse prognosis than in immunocompetent populations. Aims This study proposed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of COVID‐19 pneumonia in kidney transplant recipients. Patients/Methods Clinical records, laboratory results, radiological characteristics, and clinical outcome of 24 kidney transplant patients with COVID‐19 pneumonia were evaluated from March 20, 2020, to May 20, 2020. Results The most common symptom was shortness of breath (70.8%), followed by fever (62.5%) and cough (45.8%). Five patients had leukopenia, and only one patient had leukocytosis, while 75% of the patients had a white blood cell (WBC) count in the normal range, and 79% of recipients developed lymphopenia. All of the patients had an elevated concentration of C‐reactive protein and an increase in blood urea levels. Chest CT images of 23 patients (95.8%) showed typical findings of patchy ground‐glass shadows in the lungs. Of the 24 patients, 12 were admitted to ICU (invasive care unit), and ten of 24 patients (41.6%) died, and 14 patients were discharged after complete recovery. Conclusion It seems that COVID‐19 is more severe in transplant patients and has poorer outcomes. Multiple underlying diseases, low O 2 saturation, and multilobar view in chest CT scan may be of prognostic value. However, many SARS‐CoV‐2 demonstrations are similar to those of the general population.

Background: One of the most important causes of complications and mortality in medical centers are nosocomial infections. Disinfection of hospital surfaces is essential element for ensuring that infectious agents are not transmitted to patients. Alcohol-based and chlorine-based disinfectants have unfavorable properties. Given that the antimicrobial effect of heavy metals such as silver is recognized as a viable option for eliminating bacteria, the exploration of nanotechnology in this context has been described in this study. Nanotechnology uses both science and technology to produce new materials with nano-scales..Objectives: The effect of silver nanoparticles on some common hospital bacteria has been studied in this research..Patients and Methods: We have selected nine patients' metal file covers and following sterilizing, we have infected them with one of these bacteria; Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus cereus. Then, the infected surfaces have been disinfected with different dilutions of silver nanoparticles. Sampling and culturing has done following four specific intervals. Afterwards, the colonies that developed have been counted and compared..Results: All of the three dilutions of silver nanoparticles could bring the colony count out of 7.5x106 to less than 100 which indicate more than a 99 percent reduction. No remarkable difference of the three dilutions of disinfectants was observed in reducing the colony count in 5,15, 30 and 60 minute disinfection intervals (P value > 0.05). The effect of constant dilution of silver nanoparticles on the reduction of organisms varied in response to the time of disinfection (P value < 0. 05)..Conclusion: Silver nanoparticles had appropriate effects in all three types of dilutions and allowing for a more protracted contact time has given significantly better results

Aims COVID-19 is a significant global threat to public health. Despite the availability of vaccines and anti-viral drugs, there is an urgent need for alternative treatments to help prevent and/or manage COVID-19 symptoms and the underlying dysregulated immune response. We hypothesized that administration of Inflawell ® syrup, a Boswellia extract formulation enriched for boswellic acids (BAs), can reduce the excessive or persistent inflammation and thereby prevent disease progression. BAs are medicinally activated triterpenoids found in the resins of Boswellia spp ., and possess an immense therapeutic potential due to their anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory activities. We investigated the effect of Inflawell ® syrup, on moderate COVID-19 patients along with the current standard of care treatment. Methods A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind clinical trial was conducted, following definitive confirmation of COVID-19. Forty-seven hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19 were enrolled and received either the Inflawell ® syrup or placebo. Clinical symptoms and markers of inflammation were evaluated at baseline and completion of the trial. Results Our clinical trial revealed an increase in the percentage of oxygen saturation level in patients that received the BAs compared to placebo ( P < 0.0001). In addition, the average duration of hospitalization was significantly shorter in the BAs group compared with the placebo group ( P < 0.04). Concomitantly, some improvement in the clinical symptoms including cough, dyspnea, myalgia, headache, and olfactory and gustatory dysfunction were detected in the BAs group. Hematologic findings showed a significant decrease in the percentage of neutrophils ( P < 0.006) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) levels ( P < 0.003), associated with a significant increase in the percentage of lymphocytes in the BAs group compared with the placebo ( P < 0.002). Additionally, a significant decrease in CRP, LDH, IL − 6 and TNF − α levels was detected in the BAs group. Following the intervention, fewer patients in the BAs group were PCR-positive for COVID-19 compared to placebo, though not statistically significant. Conclusion Overall, the treatment with Inflawell ® resulted in shorter hospital stay, alleviation of COVID-19 clinical symptoms and decline in the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Trial registration The trial has been registered in https://www.irct.ir with unique identifier: IRCT20170315033086N10 ( https://en.irct.ir/trial/51631 ). IRCT is a primary registry in the WHO registry network ( https://www...

Background: Oropharyngeal candidiasis is a fungal infection in the mouth caused by Candida species. Oropharyngeal candidiasis is a major problem among hematologic malignancy patients. Objectives: The present study was designed to identify and evaluate antifungal susceptibility patterns of Candida spp. isolated from hematological malignancy patients with oral candidiasis. Methods: Samples were collected from the oral cavity of 138 patients and confirmed for oropharyngeal candidiasis by microscopic examination and fungal culture. Isolated Candida strains were identified by ITS-PCR. Hyphal wall protein 1 (HWP1) was amplified to differentiate the Candida albicans complex. In vitro antifungal susceptibility tests against fluconazole, amphotericin B, and caspofungin were performed according to CLSI M27-A3/S4. Results: The study enrolled 120 patients, including 74 (61.66%) females and 46 (38.33%) males. The mean age of affliction by fungal infections was 42 ± 8 years. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia (44%) comprised the majority of cases. The most commonly isolated species among patients were C. albicans (n = 110; 91.6%), C. glabrata (n = 8; 6.6%), and C. africana (n = 2; 2.8%). The overall resistance of C. albicans was 2.7% to fluconazole, and 1.8% to amphotericin B. Candida glabrata showed 12.5% resistance to amphotericin B. All Candida spp. isolates from patients were susceptible to caspofungin. Conclusions: Local information about the increasing resistance to fluconazole in both C. albicans and non albicans Candida species and their antifungal susceptibility is useful for deciding on antifungal prophylaxis and selecting the empirical therapy of cancer patients.

Background and Purpose: Oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC) is a fungal infection of the oral cavity caused by the members of C. albicans complex. Although C. africana, as a part of the complex, is considered to be mostly responsible for the development of vulvovaginal candidiasis, it may be associated with a wider clinical spectrum. Case report: This report described two cases diagnosed with oral candidiasis during the receipt of treatment for malignancies. Conventional and molecular tests were performed on the samples collected from the patients’ oral cavities. The test results revealed C. africana as the causative agent of oral candidiasis. Furthermore, in vitro antifungal susceptibility test indicated the full susceptibility of all C. africana isolates to caspofungin. However, the data were also suggestive of the resistance against fluconazole and amphotericin B. Caspofungin was used as the main antifungal agent for the treatment of oral candidiasis, resulting in the improvement of thrush in patients. The resistance of C. africana to fluconazole and amphotericin B suggests the necessity of performing in vitro susceptibility testing on the isolates for the selection of appropriate antifungal agents. Conclusion: As the findings indicated, the achievement of knowledge regarding C. africana as an emerging non-albicans Candida species and its antifungal susceptibility profile is crucial to select antifungal prophylaxis and empirical therapy for oral candidiasis in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.