Sapporo Medical Journal

Abstract : Pneumonia remains a leading infectious cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Pneumonia is mainly caused by viruses, but current therapeutic regimen often consists of antibiotic due to the lack of etiologic diagnosis. Irrational antibiotic often leads to antimicrobial resistance and high expenditure of healthcare resources. The aim of this study was to characterize the clinical features and etiology of viral pneumonia in children. A cross-sectional study was conducted in children aged 1-60 months with pneumonia according to WHO 2013 criteria, at the Dr. Soetomo Hospital from January to April 2014. Identification of virus was carried out by multiplex PCR, using Luminex primer xTag ®RVP-FASTv2. Seventy-five children met the criteria of enrolment to this study. The most common observed symptoms were fever (86.7%), coryza (60.0%) and vomiting (46.7%). The most common clinical signs were rales (95.6%), fast breathing (88.9%) and flaring nostril (80.0%). In terms of the detected viruses, EnV-HRV had the highest detection rate (46.7%), followed by HBoV (17.8%), InfV (8.9%), RSV (8.9%), HMpV (6.7%), HPIV (6.7%), CoV (4.4%) and none for AdV. The disease was typically a single infection (57.8%), with no observed specific seasonal trend. Fever, coryza, vomiting, rales and fast breathing were the most common symptoms and signs of pneumonia observed in this study. The most common viruses identified in children with viral pneumonia were EnV-HRV and HBoV.

Abstract : Introduction: Frequent transfusions in people with thalassemia put them at risk for the effects of increased iron load, leading to dysfunction of a number of organs such as the heart and endocrine glands including the liver and pancreas in these patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the rate of pancreatic dysfunction in non-diabetic patients with thalassemia major. Materials and Methods: This study was a group of historical study. Forty patients with non-diabetic thalassemia major (case group) and 40 healthy children based on age and BMI were included and for both groups, the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) was concluded; glucose, fasting insulin, C-peptide levels, Serum ferritin, and plasma sugar were measured two hours after receiving glucose. The insulin resistance index (HOMA IR) and beta-cell function index (HOMA-B) were calculated based on the evaluation model (HOMA). SPSS software version 20 and SAS version 9.1 were used for statistical analysis of the data. Results: average fasting blood glucose (P = 0.050), insulin (P <0.001), C-peptide (P <0.001) as well as insulin resistance index (P <0.001) and beta-cell function index (P <0.001) in the case group was significantly higher. According to the OGTT test, none of the individuals in the case-control groups had diabetes, the prevalence (IGT) in the case group and control was 22.5% and 2.5%, respectively, which were significantly higher in the case group (P = 0.007). According to the following analys

Abstract : The ADAMTS are a group of proteinases containing the thrombospondin motifs. ADAMTS15 is a member of ADAMTS family and plays a crucial role in the proteoglycan degradation. Overexpression of ADAMTS15 gene promotes the breakdown of extracellular matrix (ECM) which associated in several diseases including initiation of premature rupture of membrane (PROM) process. Moreover, ADAMTS15 and long chains noncoding RNA (lncRNA) has a positive feedback loop trough PROM. In contrast, collagen expression has negative feedback towards ADAMTS15 expression followed by occurring of PROM. This review provides an overview of current knowledge of ADAMTS15, including its structure, regulation of ADAMTS15 and their role in PROM.

Abstract : To prevent the increase in the spread of new cases of Covid-19 requires the use of more medical equipment quantity such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), rapid and swab test than in normal conditions. In consequence, this Pandemic situation produces more medical waste in Primary Health Centers (Puskesmas), which must be managed according to the required health protocol. This study aims to describe the medical waste generation during the Covid-19 pandemic and its management in puskesmas. The research design used was a cross-sectional survey. This research was conducted at 60 health centers in Bandung City. The results showed there was no difference in the methods of managing medical waste under normal conditions with the Covid-19 pandemic. 93.3% out of 60 puskesmas experienced an increase in the amount of medical waste of 43.19% average. Most of them have sorted medical waste from domestic waste. Medical waste packaging in temporary storage has not been labeled and stored for more than two days at temperatures above 00C without using cold storage. Based on the result, it is recommended that integrated waste storage is needed per region for the temporary storage of medical waste, which is equipped with cold storage. The person in charge of the Environmental Health program in Puskesmas, 78.3% were Sanitarian/Environmental Health Workers.

Abstract : COVID-19, an RNA virus that is a member of the Coronaviridae family is currently considered a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). This obligates the implementation of special universal precautions and guidelines. Saudi Arabia (SA) followed the WHO guidelines by adopting the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as a guard against this infection. The aim is to report the knowledge and perception about COVID-19 infection and its protective measures. These include hygienic tools and PPE. The study targeted the inhabitants of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) with a special emphasis on SA. A cross-sectional anonymous Arabic language questionnaire-based study was performed. It included forty-four questions to gauge the correlations between sociodemographic data, knowledge and perception of preventive tools against COVID-19. The study included 3278 participants. The majority of the sample (98.5%) lived in SA. Excellent knowledge and perception about COVID-19 prevention were noted in 16% of the respondents. Most participants (70.6%) wore gloves after a proper hand hygiene. Moreover, 97.1% had employed face masks in public. Fortunately, 98.7% followed the WHO guidelines of social distancing. The Gulf inhabitants, particularly those of SA, are more knowledgeable with a positive attitude towards the proper hygienic tools and PPE in preventing COVID-19 infection. This may be attributed to the comprehensive Ministry of Health protective guidelines.