Surgical versus Non-Surgical Management of Obstructive Sleep-disordered Breathing in Children: A Meta-analysis

Surgical versus Non-Surgical Management of Obstructive Sleep-disordered Breathing in Children: A Meta-analysis

Alaa Ahmed Abd El Hamid (1), Anas Mohamed Askoura (2), Diaa Marzouk Abdel Hamed (1), Mohamed Shehata Taha (2), Mohamed Farouk Allam (1)

1. Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt

2. Department of ENT, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt

 

The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal 2020;14:47-52. 

Electronic publication date: 23/10/2020

Publisher Item Identifier (PII): BMS-TORMJ-2020-10

 DOI: 10.2174/1874306402014010047

Abstract

Background: Obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (OSDB) is a term for several chronic conditions in which partial or complete cessation of breathing occurs many times throughout the night, resulting in fatigue or daytime sleepiness that interferes with a person’s functions and reduces the quality of life.

Objective: Comparing the effectiveness of surgical versus non-surgical treatment of OSDB in children in clinical trials through a meta-analysis study.

Patients and Methods: A number of available studies and abstracts concerning the surgical versus non-surgical treatment of OSDB in children were identified through a comprehensive search of electronic databases. Data were abstracted from every study in the form of a risk estimate and its 95% confidence interval.

Results: The current study revealed that there was a statistically significant improvement in the surgically treated patients rather than non-surgically treated patients regarding the quality of life.

Conclusion: The current meta-analysis reports a significant clinical improvement in the surgical (adenotonsillectomy) group as compared to the non-surgical group, in terms of disease specific quality of life, and healthcare utilization in spite of the availability of only one study.

 

Keywords: OSDB, Children, Surgical, Meta-analysis, Systematic review, Quality of life.

The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal 2020;14:47-52.

https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TORMJ/TORMJ-14-47.pdf

BCG Vaccine does not Protect Against COVID-19

Mohamed Farouk Allam, Ghada Essam El-Din Amin

Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt

The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal 2020;14:45-46.

Electronic publication date: 23/10/2020

Publisher Item Identifier (PII): BMS-TORMJ-2020-17

DOI: 10.2174/1874306402014010045 

Abstract

A recent article by Jop de Vrieze (March 23, 2020) suggested that BCG vaccine could protect against COVID-19 infections. The arguments were that several European countries, like Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, which are badly affected by COVID-19, and the USA stopped vaccination of the general population by BCG and excluded it from their routine vaccination schedule. Many people started to receive doses of BCG based on that hypothesis even before its confirmation. We think that the BCG vaccine could not protect against COVID-19 because several countries like China and Iran, which are severely affected by COVID-19, still include the BCG vaccine in its routine vaccination schedule. Other arguments include that the BCG vaccine improves cell-mediated immunity with little effect on humoral immunity; Immunity against viruses, in general, is mainly humoral.

Keywords: Coronavirus, COVID-19, BCG, Vaccine, Review, Immunity.

 

The Open Respiratory Medicine Journal 2020;14:45-46. 

https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TORMJ/TORMJ-14-45.pdf

Vaccination Schedules and COVID-19 Risk

 

Mohamed Farouk Allam, Fady Andraous, Ghada Essam El-Din Amin

Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt

 

The Open Microbiology Journal 2020;14:278-280. 

Electronic publication date: 23/10/2020

Publisher Item Identifier (PII): BMS-TOMICROJ-2020-46

 

Abstract

A significant difference in the number of novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) cases and mortality has been noted among different World Health Organization (WHO) regions and countries. We compared the vaccination schedules for 2 countries from WHO Europe Region (Italy and Spain) and 2 countries from WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (Iran and Egypt). Both Iran and Egypt included the Sabin vaccine as part of the obligatory vaccination programs; meanwhile, Italy and Spain used the Salk vaccine. Recently, Iran and Egypt added a single dose of the Salk vaccine to the 6-7 doses of Sabin vaccine because of the new evidence showing that the use of the Salk vaccine in conjunction with Sabin vaccine achieves better mucosal immunity. Italy and Spain used an acellular vaccine against pertussis. Meanwhile, Iran and Egypt used a whole-cell vaccine. Taking into consideration the lower number of deaths in Iran and Egypt compared to Italy and Spain, we could hypothesize that the whole-cell pertussis vaccine could have a cross-immunity against COVID-19. Further research is warranted to identify the main reasons for the lower number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in certain countries in order to control COVID-19.

Keywords: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pertussis, BCG, Measles, Vaccine, Review.

The Open Microbiology Journal 2020;14:278-280. 

https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOMICROJ/TOMICROJ-14-278.pdf