Browsing by Author "Azab, Noha"

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Mucormycosis: A potential head and neck problem in COVID-19 patients
(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 19/01/2022) Abdel-Aziz, Mosaad; Azab, Noha; Abdel-Aziz, Nada M; Abdel-Aziz, Dina M
Mucormycosis is a rare fatal fungal infection that affects the nose and paranasal sinuses and may even extend to the orbit and the brain. The rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is the commonest form of Mucorales infection. The infection is usually transmitted by inhalation and causes tissue necrosis by angioinvasion and thrombosis.1 The disease has a rapid course causing ischemia and gangrene of the affected tissue, and it mainly affects immunocompromised patients.2 Before the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), diagnosis of the disease was limited to individuals with low immunity such as patients with uncontrolled diabetes, end-stage renal diseases, hematologic malignancies, and/or organ transplantation. After the COVID-19 outbreak, many case reports of COVID-19-associated mucormycosis (CAM) have been published
Pediatric COVID-19 and the Factors That May Mitigate Its Clinical Course
(GEORG THIEME VERLAG KG, RUDIGERSTR 14, D-70469 STUTTGART, GERMANY, 10/15/2020) Abdel-Aziz, Mosaad; Abdel-Aziz, NadaM.; Abdel-Aziz, Dina M; Azab, Noha
The clinical manifestations of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vary from mild flu-like symptoms to severe fatal pneumonia. However, children with COVID-19 may be asymptomatic or may have mild clinical symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate clinical features of pediatric COVID-19 and to search for the factors that may mitigate the disease course. We reviewed the literature to realize the clinical features, laboratory, and radiographic data that may be diagnostic for COVID-19 among children. Also, we studied the factors that may affect the clinical course of the disease. Fever, dry cough, and fatigue are the main symptoms of pediatric COVID-19, sometimes flu-like symptoms and/or gastrointestinal symptoms may be present. Although some infected children may be asymptomatic, a recent unusual hyper-inflammatory reaction with overlapping features of Kawasaki's disease and toxic shock syndrome in pediatric COVID-19 has been occasionally reported. Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronvirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid testing is the cornerstone method for the diagnosis of COVID-19. Lymphocyte count and other inflammatory markers are not essentially diagnostic; however, chest computed tomography is highly specific. Factors that may mitigate the severity of pediatric COVID-19 are home confinement with limited children activity, trained immunity caused by compulsory vaccination, the response of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors in children is not the same as in adults, and that children are less likely to have comorbidities. As infected children may be asymptomatic or may have only mild respiratory and/or gastrointestinal symptoms that might be missed, all children for families who have a member diagnosed with COVID-19 should be investigated.
Subjective Smell Assessment as An Office-based Rapid Procedure In COVID-19 Era
(Elsevier, 2020) Abdel-Aziz, Mosaad; Abdel-Aziz, Nada M.; Abdel-Aziz, Dina M.; Azab, Noha
A recent history of smell disorder may be a potential predictor for COVID-19. The authors used a subjective olfaction score that was demonstrated on a hard paper-bar. The authors examined 480 patients who were attending the outpatient clinic. Ninety-seven patients (20.2%) demonstrated variable degrees of recent smell disorder. For those patients, lab testing including nasopharyngeal swab for real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed. Eighty-eight of them (90.7%) have been confirmed to be COVID-19 positive. Although psychophysical testing is more reliable, subjective assessment of smell is a rapid procedure and can be used as an office-based method for patients’ screening in COVID-19 era. Smell disorder could be an alarming sign for COVID-19 even with absent characteristic symptom