Background: The occurrence of seizures in bacterial meningitis is important, as it has been reported to increase the risk of complications; however, its frequency and predictors are not well studied yet. Objective: To assess the frequency, clinical, and biochemical predictors of seizures in children with acute bacterial meningitis. Method: A cross-sectional study recruited confirmed acute bacterial meningitis cases based on positive CSF culture and sensitivity among children aged 2 months to 15 years admitted to the Central Child Teaching Hospital emergency department in Iraq. Patients were divided into two groups based on seizure at presentation time. Demographic characteristics [age, gender, residence, duration of fever and disease, presenting complaints and antibiotic intake]; hematological [WBC, neutrophils] Lymphocyte, N/L ratio, packed cell volume, platelets, blood sugar, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) indices were compared between groups. Results: Seizures had a frequency of 18% among the 122 children and were significantly higher in younger cases with female predominance. By multivariate analysis and odds ratio (OR), predictors for seizure were as follows: CSF lymphocytes (OR=0.25, 95%CI=0.08–0.26), lethargy (OR=8.15, 95%CI=1.03-68.65), headache (OR=0.09, 95%CI=0.02-0.45), neck stiffness (OR=0.07, 95% CI=0.01-0.61) and poor feeding (OR=4.8, 95%CI=1.21–18.97). Conclusions: CSF lymphocytes reliably predicted seizure with good sensitivity and specificity of 75% and 73%. Lethargy and poor feeding had the highest odds as clinical predictors of seizures. Together, those results can help with risk stratification and allocate resources for high-risk cases to improve patient outcomes
As many expensive and invasive procedures are used for the diagnosis or follow-up of clinical conditions, the measurement of cell-free DNA is a promising, noninvasive method, which considers using blood, follicular fluid, or seminal fluid. This method is used to determine chromosomal abnormalities, genetic disorders, and indicators of some diseases such as polycystic ovary syndrome, pre-eclampsia, and some malignancies. Cell-free DNA, which are DNA fragments outside the nucleus, originates from an apoptotic process. However, to be used as a marker for the previously mentioned diseases is still under investigation. We discuss some aspects of using cell-free DNA measurements as an indicator or marker for pathological conditions.
Information pollution is regarded as a big problem facing journalists working in the editing section, whereby journalistic materials face such pollution through their way across the editing pyramid. This research is an attempt to define the concept of journalistic information pollution, and what are the causes and sources of this pollution. The research applied the descriptive research method to achieve its objectives. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The findings indicate that journalists are aware of the existence of information pollution in journalism, and this pollution has its causes and resources.
Background:Plant-derived compounds have action alongside Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and numerous compounds, inhibit efflux pumps and hence have become known as efflux pump inhibitors. Clarithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic used to treat pharyngitis, tonsillitis, acute maxillary sinusitis and acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis the antibacterial range is the similar as erythromycin but it is active against Mycobacterium avium complex, M.leprae and atypical mycobacteria. The in vitro antibacterial activity results of different boswellic acid compounds discovered alpha keto-boswellic acid (AKBA) to be the preponderance potent antibacterial compound alongside Gram-positive pathogens, but it showed no significant a
... Show MoreBackground: Alveolar ridge expansion is proposed when the alveolar crest thickness is ≤5 mm. The screw expansion technique has been utilized for many years to expand narrow alveolar ridges. Recently, the osseodensification technique has been suggested as a reliable technique to expand narrow alveolar ridges with effective width gain and as little surgical operating time as possible. The current study aimed to compare osseodensification and screw expansion in terms of clinical width gain and operating time. Materials and methods: Forty implant osteotomies were performed in deficient horizontal alveolar ridges (3–5 mm). A total of 19 patients aged 21–59 years were randomized into two groups: the screw expansion group, which invo
... Show MoreAcinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii ) is considered a critical healthcare problem for patients in intensive care units due to its high ability to be multidrug-resistant to most commercially available antibiotics. The aim of this study is to develop a colorimetric assay to quantitatively detect the target DNA of A. baumannii based on unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) from different clinical samples (burns, surgical wounds, sputum, blood and urine). A total of thirty-six A. baumannii clinical isolates were collected from five Iraqi hospitals in Erbil and Mosul provinces within the period from September 2020 to January 2021. Bacterial isolation and biochemical identification of isolates
... Show MoreIdentifying phenolic compounds in some genera belonging in the Amaranthaceae family by HPLC technique
KE Sharquie, AA Noaimi, E Abdulqader, WK Al-Janabi, J Dermatol Venereol, 2020 - Cited by 6
This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of microbial contamination in food keeping freezers in some local markets in Baghdad city/ Iraq, as well as the contamination of the hands of workers in markets, and the possibility of contamination caused by the transport of food. 30 samples of snow ice found in food keeping freezers in local markets was randomly collected, and 30 swabs from workers hands were taken from the same markets at the same time. Microbiological examination of ice samples was conducted as well as the hands of workers’swabs, and the bacteria were isolated and diagnosed through microbiological and biochemical tests followed. Microbial test results showed some isolates of bacteria in ice samples obtained from food keep
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