OBJECTIVE: The increasing prevalence of suspected cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presenting to emergency departments (EDs) requires a rapid and reliable triaging tool. The diagnostic performance of chest computed tomography (CT) has yet to be validated for triaging cases in the ED. We aimed to assess the diagnostic performance of chest CT compared to GeneXpert Xpress Xpert severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test in rapidly diagnosing COVID-19 among patients with respiratory symptoms presenting to the ED. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective, single-center study at Tripoli University Hospital including cases with respiratory symptoms who underwent chest CT as well as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for suspected COVID-19 between May 18 and August 18, 2020. RESULTS: A total of 1240 cases were included, among whom 570 had radiologically evident COVID-19 on chest CT (46%). Five hundred and sixty-five cases had positive PCR results (45.6%), of whom 557 had radiologically evident COVID-19 on chest CT (97.7%). The calculated accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 98%, 98.5%, 98%, 97.7%, and 98.8%, respectively, in relation to the PCR results. CONCLUSION: During the current pandemic, chest CT is a quick and reliable diagnostic tool for COVID-19 in the ED.
Nader Shalaka(11-2021)

Objective: In Libya, no pertussis booster doses are administered to children after 18 months of age. In light of evidence of waning of vaccine-induced immunity to pertussis, this study aimed to evaluate the waning of immunity in vaccinated school-entry age children, as measured by susceptibility to infection at population level. For this purpose, IgG and IgA levels were measured as markers of recent (infection in the last 6 months) and non-recent infections (infection in the last 12 months). Material and Methods: This was a cross sectional study undertaken in Tripoli, in February 2015. Children of school-entry age (> 5 to ≤ 7 years) were recruited on convenience basis at vaccination centers. Sera were tested for antibodies to pertussis. Results: Samples from791 children (421 males and 370 females, mean age 6.50 were tested). All of the participants had received 4 doses of Whole cell pertussis containing vaccine in the first 2 years of life. The prevalence of recent and non-recent pertussis infection were 4.8% and 2.5%, respectively. The proportion of children with undetectable level of IgG was 76.1%. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed significant circulation of Bordetella pertussis among vaccinated children by school-entry age. The circulation of B. pertussis in this population may be an indirect sign of waned immunity, which is simply corroborated by the absence of detectable antibodies in 76.1% of the children. arabic 14 English 76
Suleiman Abusrewil, Abdulla Bashein(1-2019)

Fungi are a huge source of unexplored bioactive compounds. Owing to their biological activities, several fungi have shown commercial application in the health industry. Tuber aestivum Vittad. is one such edible fungi with an immense scope for practical biological applications. In the present study, the anti-angiogenic activity of petroleum ether and ethanol extracts of T. aestivum was investigated using the chick chorioallantoic membrane assay and compared to the positive controls silibinin and lenalidomide. Both the extracts showed a dose-dependent anti-angiogenic response. The extracts were also assessed for their anti-inflammatory potential by lipoxygenase-inhibition assay. The IC50 values for LOX inhibition assay, computed by the Boltzmann plot, were 368.5, 147.3 and 40.2 μg/mL, for the petroleum ether extract, ethanol extract, and the positive control ascorbic acid, respectively. The ethanol extract of T. aestivum showed superior anti-angiogenic and anti-inflammatory activity than the petroleum ether extract. Compositional investigation of the extracts by GC–MS revealed the presence of various bioactive compounds. The compounds were correlated to their anti-angiogenic and antiinflammatory activity based on a meticulous literature search. arabic 25 English 145
Sandesh J. Marathe, Abdulla Bashein, (1-2020)