Objective: COVID-19 has varying impact on different groups of people based on age, gender, race and comorbidities. Although the implications of COVID-19 on chronic pulmonary and cardiovascular disease have been extensively studied, the impact on neurological disease remains unclear. We attempt to identify the outcome and challenges of COVID-19 in patients with chronic neurological conditions.   Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 studies and 11,011 patients to compare composite poor outcome and mortality between patients with and without neurological comorbidities. We also analyzed the different clinical presentations and outcome of COVID-19 in different neurological conditions.     Results: We found a markedly higher incidence of composite poor outcome (Odds Ratio: 5.57, 95% CI: 3.81-8.12, P = 0.02) and a higher mortality (Odds Ratio: 6.47, 95% CI: 3.94 - 10.63, P = 0.008) among patients with pre-existing neurological disease, and no significantly different outcomes between patients with cerebrovascular disease and dementia. Linear Meta-regression analysis revealed that the impact of chronic neurological disease on COVID-19 was independent of chronic cardiovascular disease (P=0.406), hypertension (P=0.458), diabetes mellitus (P=0.512), COPD (P=0.281), and advanced age (p=0.066).   Conclusion: Patients with chronic neurological disease seem to develop moderate/severe COVID-19 more frequently, and have an increased mortality rate, independent of other comorbidities. They also show atypical clinical presentation in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Advanced age, cognitive dysfunction, immunosuppression, and respiratory muscle weakness might be responsible for the adverse COVID-19 outcomes in these patients.

Routine care for chronic disease is an ongoing major challenge. We aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on routine care for chronic diseases. A deeper understanding helps to increase the health system’s resilience and adequately prepare for the next waves of the pandemic. Diabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and hypertension were the most impacted conditions due to the reduction in access to care. It is important routine care continues in spite of the pandemic, to avoid a rise in non-COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. This is a review article discussing the potential impact of COVID-19 on chronic disease management.

Background: Acute Lymphoblastic leukaemia is a malignant condition resulting due to continuous clonally proliferation of progenitors of lymphoid cells. The objective is to identify the association between dermatoglyphics and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and to assess the value of dermatoglyphics as a screening tool. Methods: A case-control study was conducted on a total of around 60 subjects below the age of 15, out of which 30 children were already diagnosed and suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and the other 30 were age and sex matched controls. Fingerprints of 30 affected children were taken through an ink-pad method in both hands, analyzed and compared with controls. Information regarding any significant familial history was obtained. Results: The study suggested with an increased rate of incidence among children of age group 3-4 years and with a male preponderance (63.3%).The findings were found to be statistically significant with an association between whorls and loops among cases and controls with higher frequency of whorls in cases and loops in controls (p value < 0.05), whereas association between whorls, arches and loops, arches was not significant. In quantitative analysis, most of the cases (n=12, 39.6%) had a PII in the range of 16-20 whereas most of the controls (n=22, 72.6%) had it in the range of 11-15, with significant overlapping. Conclusions: The findings are suggestive of association of fingerprint pattern with the patients suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and therefore they might help in early diagnosis of the condition in high risk children and thus can be helpful as a screening tool.