Epidemiological interventions for university students affected by COVID-19 in Erbil, Kurdistan – Iraq

Authors

  • Zheen Abdullah Department of Clinical Analysis, College of Pharmacy, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq
  • Aryan Ganjo Department of Clinical Analysis, College of Pharmacy, Hawler Medical University and Department of Medical Analysis, Faculty of Applied Science, Tishk International University, Erbil, Iraq
  • Suhayla Shareef Department of Medical Analysis, Faculty of Applied Science, Tishk International University and Department of Biology, College of Education, Salahaddin University-Erbil, Iraq.
  • Rawand Jawad Department of Clinical Analysis, College of Pharmacy, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15218/crewh.2024.03

Keywords:

SARS-CoV-2, Erbil city, COVID-19, Pandemic

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 became the harbinger of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main aims of this study is to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in the population of the universities in Erbil, Kurdistan-Iraq. As well as results of IgG/IgM in COVID-19 patients are also highlighted in this study.
Material and method: A total of 100 recorded data for the COVID -19 isolated from the patients were collected within (10) months (November 2020 until August 2021) from universities in Erbil city, Kurdistan – Iraq. Descriptive statistics was used for analysis.
Results: A total of 100 samples were taken from three universities (52 from Hawler Medical University, 35 from University of Kurdistan Hawler and 13 from Tishk International University), from these 32 were male and 68 were female with age arranged between 17-29 years old. Moreover 81 of patients their positive results were confirmed with IgG/IgM test while 19 of them were negative with this test. However, 94% of patients none suffer from other diseases (cardiovascular disease, asthma, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, bronchitis) while 2% suffer from diabetes and 4% from asthma. Indeed, the patients used different medications during treatment, 18% of them treated with Favipiravir, 66% of them used Azithromycin, 5 % consumed Enoxaparin, 8 % Dexamethasone and 3 % treated with ceftriaxone IV. On the other hand, 83 of patients were nonsmokers and 17 of them were smokers.

References

Mackenzie, J. S.; Jeggo, M.; Daszak, P.; Richt, J. A.,(2013). One Health: The human-animal-environment interfaces in emerging infectious diseases. Springer:; Vol. 366.

Liu, J.; Dai, S.; Wang, M.; Hu, Z.; Wang, H.; Deng, F., (2016). Virus like particle-based vaccines against emerging infectious disease viruses. Virologica Sinica, 31, 279-287.

Qu, G.; Li, X.; Hu, L.; Jiang, G.,( 2020). An imperative need for research on the role of environmental factors in transmission of novel coronavirus (COVID-19). ACS Publications:.

Weber, D. J.; Rutala, W. A.; Fischer, W. A.; Kanamori, H.;(2016). Sickbert-Bennett, E. E., Emerging infectious diseases: Focus on infection control issues for novel coronaviruses (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV), hemorrhagic fever viruses (Lassa and Ebola), and highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, A (H5N1) and A (H7N9). American journal of infection control, 44 (5), e91-e100.

Sharma, A.; Tiwari, S.; Deb, M. K.; Marty, J. L.,(2020). Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2): a global pandemic and treatment strategies. International journal of antimicrobial agents, 56 (2), 106054.

Organization, W. H., Statistics on Middle East respiratory syndrome. Geneva: WHO. (2019). Published on Nov.

Wang, X.; Ren, Z.; Wang, L.; Chen, J.; Zhang, P.; Chen, J.-P.; Chen, X.; Li, L.; Lin, X.; Qi, N., (2022). Identification of coronaviruses in farmed wild animals reveals their evolutionary origins in Guangdong, southern China. Virus Evolution, 8 (1), veac049.

Arslan, O. E., Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).(2024). Rising Contagious Diseases: Basics, Management, and Treatments, 164-180.

Zumla, A.; Chan, J. F.; Azhar, E. I.; Hui, D. S.; Yuen, K.-Y., (2016). Coronaviruses—drug discovery and therapeutic options. Nature reviews Drug discovery, 15 (5), 327-347.

Denis, M.; Vandeweerd, V.; Verbeeke, R.; Laudisoit, A.; Reid, T.; Hobbs, E.; Wynants, L.; Van der Vliet, D., Covipendium:(2020). Information available to support the development of medical countermeasures and interventions against COVID-19. Transdisciplinary Insights, 4 (1), 1-296.

Chan, J. F.-W.; Kok, K.-H.; Zhu, Z.; Chu, H.; To, K. K.-W.; Yuan, S.; Yuen, K.-Y.,(2020). Genomic characterization of the 2019 novel human-pathogenic coronavirus isolated from a patient with atypical pneumonia after visiting Wuhan. Emerging microbes & infections, 9 (1), 221-236.

Wang, C.; Horby, P. W.; Hayden, F. G.; Gao, G. F., (2020). A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. The lancet, 395 (10223), 470-473.

Baloch, S.; Baloch, M. A.; Zheng, T.; Pei, X., (2020). The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine, 250 (4), 271-278.

Lai, C.-C.; Shih, T.-P.; Ko, W.-C.; Tang, H.-J.; Hsueh, P.-R.,(2020). Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): The epidemic and the challenges. International journal of antimicrobial agents, 55 (3), 105924.

Schoeman, D.; Gordon, B.; Fielding, B. C., Coronaviruses.(2022). Encyclopedia of Infection and Immunity, 241.

Decaro, N.; Lorusso, A., Novel human coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2): A lesson from animal coronaviruses.( 2020). Veterinary microbiology, 244, 108693.

Yen, H.-L.; Sit, T. H.; Brackman, C. J.; Chuk, S. S.; Gu, H.; Tam, K. W.; Law, P. Y.; Leung, G. M.; Peiris, M.; Poon, L. L., (2022). Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant (AY. 127) from pet hamsters to humans, leading to onward human-to-human transmission: a case study. The Lancet, 399 (10329), 1070-1078.

Rothan, H. A.; Byrareddy, S. N., (2020). The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Journal of autoimmunity, 109, 102433.

Bassetti, M.; Vena, A.; Giacobbe, D. R., (2020). The novel Chinese coronavirus (2019‐nCoV) infections: Challenges for fighting the storm. Wiley Online Library:; Vol. 50, p e13209.

Johansson, M. A.; Quandelacy, T. M.; Kada, S.; Prasad, P. V.; Steele, M.; Brooks, J. T.; Slayton, R. B.; Biggerstaff, M.; Butler, J. C.,(2021). SARS-CoV-2 transmission from people without COVID-19 symptoms. JAMA network open, 4 (1), e2035057-e2035057.

Castaño, N.; Cordts, S. C.; Kurosu Jalil, M.; Zhang, K. S.; Koppaka, S.; Bick, A. D.; Paul, R.; Tang, S. K.,(2021). Fomite transmission, physicochemical origin of virus–surface interactions, and disinfection strategies for enveloped viruses with applications to SARS-CoV-2. ACS omega, 6 (10), 6509-6527.

Riddell, S.; Goldie, S.; Hill, A.; Eagles, D.; Drew, T. W., (2020). The effect of temperature on persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on common surfaces. Virology journal, 17, 1-7.

Heneghan, C. J.; Spencer, E. A.; Brassey, J.; Plüddemann, A.; Onakpoya, I. J.; Oke, J. L.; Evans, D. H.; Conly, J. M.; Jefferson, T., (2022). SARS-CoV-2 and the role of airborne transmission: a systematic review. F1000Research, 10 (232), 232.

Mayer, J. D.; Lewis, N. D., (2020). An inevitable pandemic: geographic insights into the COVID-19 global health emergency. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 61 (4-5), 404-422.

Mccain, S.; Ward, D.; McGoohan, K.; Richards, H.; Fiore, B.; Hakeem, A.; Farid, S.; Pollard, S.; Lodge, P.; Toogood, G., (2022). The Covid-19 Pandemic Has Had a Significant Impact on the Quantity and Quality of Liver Cancer Surgery-Reality or Myth? HPB: The Official Journal of the International Hepato Pancreato Biliary Association, 24, S211.

Falzone, L.; Gattuso, G.; Tsatsakis, A.; Spandidos, D. A.; Libra, M., (2021). Current and innovative methods for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. International journal of molecular medicine, 47 (6), 100.

Shakiba, M.; Nazari, S. S. H.; Mehrabian, F.; Rezvani, S. M.; Ghasempour, Z.; Heidarzadeh, A.,( 2020). Seroprevalence of COVID-19 virus infection in Guilan province, Iran. MedRxiv.

Bendavid, E.; Mulaney, B.; Sood, N.; Shah, S.; Bromley-Dulfano, R.; Lai, C.; Weissberg, Z.; Saavedra-Walker, R.; Tedrow, J.; Bogan, A.,(2021). Covid-19 antibody seroprevalence in santa clara county, california. International journal of epidemiology, 50 (2), 410-419.

Apolone, G.; Montomoli, E.; Manenti, A.; Boeri, M.; Sabia, F.; Hyseni, I.; Mazzini, L.; Martinuzzi, D.; Cantone, L.; Milanese, G., (2021). Unexpected detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the prepandemic period in Italy. Tumori Journal, 107 (5), 446-451.

Kadri, K., (2019). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): Principle and applications. Synthetic Biology-New Interdisciplinary Science, 1-17.

Moreira, V. M.; Mascarenhas, P.; Machado, V.; Botelho, J.; Mendes, J. J.; Taveira, N.; Almeida, M. G., (2021). Diagnosis of SARS-Cov-2 infection by RT-PCR using specimens other than naso-and oropharyngeal swabs: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diagnostics, 11 (2), 363.

Downloads

Published

2025-06-01

How to Cite

Abdullah, Z., Ganjo, A., Shareef, S., & Jawad, R. (2025). Epidemiological interventions for university students affected by COVID-19 in Erbil, Kurdistan – Iraq. HMU Conference Proceedings, (4), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.15218/crewh.2024.03

Issue

Section

Proceeding