Clinical laboratory parameters and comorbidities associated with severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Journal of Medical Virology

Tofiq

Rostam

et al. 2022

Self Cite

From March 2021, various countries including Iraq issued prompted recommendations for increased COVID‐19 vaccine protection in individuals especially those at risk of catching the virus (i.e., lifestyle, health sector workers, and chronic diseases). It is critically important to understand the impact of COVID‐19 vaccinations with the most commonly used vaccines (Pfizer and AstraZeneca) among populations either on the severity of the disease or the transmissibility of SARS‐CoV‐2 variants of concern (VOCs) and in sequential waves. This study was conducted to establish the clinical severity of COVID‐19 caused by Delta and Omicron SARS‐CoV‐2 variants among patients who either attended or were admitted to hospitals and to compare the effectiveness of Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID‐19 vaccines (single or double doses) at least to prevent hospitalizations if not eradicating the pandemic. A case–control study was done of 570 hospitalized patients; including 328 COVID‐19 confirmed patients (166 males, 160 females) who received homologous vaccinations and 242 unvaccinated patients (128 males, 114 females) during the studied waves. The study showed that unvaccinated COVID‐19 patients in both waves had expressed significantly a higher number and longer periods of symptoms than vaccinated ones. Additionally, there was no significant effect of vaccine types, Pfizer and AstraZeneca or vaccine shot numbers on the PCR‐Ct in the last (Omicron) wave of the pandemic. However, in the previous (Delta) wave of the pandemic, fully vaccinated (double doses) COVID‐19 patients had higher PCR‐Ct values. Whether among vaccinated or unvaccinated patients, lower CRP levels recorded during the Omicron wave than that of the Delta wave, and regardless of the vaccine type or shot numbers, there were no significant differences between the two waves. Lower WBCs were observed in patients (vaccinated and unvaccinated) infected with the Delta variant in comparison to those infected with the Omicron variant and without any remarkable effect of the vaccine type or shot numbers. This is the first molecular and investigational study of the Delta variant and circulated Omicron in Iraq, regarding the severity of these two waves of SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic and the efficacy of homologous vaccination, indicating the insufficiency of two doses and the demand for booster dose(s) as the most effective way of keeping on the safe‐side against SARS‐CoV‐2.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disease severity and efficacy of homologous vaccination among patients infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 Delta or Omicron VOCs, compared to unvaccinated using main biomarkers

Journal of Medical Virology

Tofiq

Rostam

et al. 2022

Self Cite

“…Recent evidence signifies that measurement of biomarkers is strictly linked to the consciousness of mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and cellular and organ damage. Efficient clinical and laboratory biomarkers would be helpful in the disease process including screening, predicting clinical severity, prompt treatment and clinical therapy, and interception of serious complications 14–17 . Furthermore, for assessing patient condition, laboratory parameters are considered more reliable and objective over clinical parameters 15 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical outcomes and phylogenetic analysis in reflection with three predominant clades of SARS‐CoV‐2 variants

Rashid

Eur J Clin Investigation

et al. 2023

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BackgroundThe pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) undergoes continuous evolution, resulting in the emergence of several variants. Each variant has a different severity and mortality rate.Materials and MethodsIn this study, 1174 COVID‐19 patients were studied for mortality and severity over three SARS‐CoV‐2 predominating variant periods in 2021 and 2022 in Sulaimani Province, Iraq. In each period, a representative, variant virus was subjected to phylogenetic and molecular and clinical analysis.ResultsPhylogenetic analysis revealed three SARS‐CoV‐2 variants, belonging to: Delta B.1.617.2, Omicron BA.1.17.2, and Omicron BA.5.6. The Delta variants showed more severe symptoms and a lower PCR‐Ct value than Omicron variants regardless of gender, and only 4.3% of the cases were asymptomatic. The mortality rate was lower with Omicron (.5% for BA.5.2 and 1.3% for BA.1.17.2) compared with Delta variants (2.5%). The higher mortality rate with Delta variants was in males (2.84%), while that with Omicron BA1.17.2 and BA.5.2 was in females, 1.05% and .0%, respectively. Age group (≥70) years had the highest mortality rate; however, it was (.0%) in the age group (30–49) years with Omicron variants, compared with (.96%) in Delta variants.ConclusionsThere has been a surge in COVID‐19 infection in the city due to the predominant lineages of SARS‐CoV‐2, B.1.617, Omicron BA.1.17.2 and Omicron BA.5.6, respectively. A higher PCR‐Ct value and severity of the Delta variant over Omicron BA.1.17.2 and/or BA.5.2 variants were significantly correlated with a higher death rate in the same order.

“…Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhibit a broad variety of symptoms and disease progressions that are not solely due to their age or other health issues. Because of the wide spectrum of intensity in clinical manifestations, host genetics are likely to have a significant effect on COVID-19 vulnerability and severity [ 3 – 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…

genetics are likely to have a significant effect on COVID-19 vulnerability and severity [3][4][5][6].Extensive research has been conducted on the role of host genetic factors in COVID-19 development, and these investigations have identified several gene susceptibility variations, although with various degrees of evidence [7]. The most studied candidate gene polymorphisms for the impact of COVID-19 are interferon-induced transmembrane 3 (IFITM3) and interleukin-6 (IL6) [8][9][10].The IFITM3 protein is essential for adaptive and innate immunity [10].

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Genetic polymorphism between the Sorani and Hawrami kurdish populations and COVID-19 outcome

Rashid

Salih

2023

Mol Biol Rep

Background Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic, and mortality and clinical consequences vary across countries. One of the factors influencing COVID-19 outcomes is genetic polymorphism. Two Kurdish populations, Sorani and Hawrami, live in the Sulaimani province of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It seems Hawrami had a milder COVID-19 outcome. According to previous research conducted on various ethnic groups across the globe, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) and interluken-6 (IL6) genes were associated with the severity of COVID-19 in those populations. Methods and results We hypothesized that Hawrami may have protective SNPs. So, in this study, we used DNA sequencing to genotype three IFITM3 SNPs and nine IL6 SNPs by DNA sequencing to investigate the association of Sorani and Hawrami population polymorphisms. Genotype AA for the rs12252 SNP in IFITM3 was insignificantly more common in the Sorani group (54% vs. 44%). The Hawrami population showed a higher percentage of the CC genotype of the rs34481144 SNP in the IFITM3 gene (62% vs. 44.3%) and a higher proportion of the non-risky GG genotype of the rs1800795 SNP in the IL6 gene (53.4 vs. 43.3); however, the SNPs were insignificantly associated between the two populations. Conclusions IFITM3 and IL6 SNPs have no statistically significant association between the two Kurdish populations. The decreased proportion of non-risk alleles at rs34481144 and rs1800795 in the Hawrami population may partially support the research hypothesis. However, contrary to our hypothesis, the Sorani group had an insignificantly higher protective variant of the rs12252 SNP. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11033-023-08448-8.