Articles

Background:</b> The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern. In this context, effective and affordable diagnostic procedures are essential for identifying and managing cases. Complete blood counts (CBC) are among the most common and readily available diagnostic tests. The current study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of CBC in diagnosing COVID-19 and identifying cases. <b>Patients and Methods:</b> A case-control study was conducted on 173 patients at Ain Shams University Hospitals over a period of three months. Patients were allocated into two groups according to COVID-19 PCR results: Group 1 included patients with COVID-19 positive PCR, and Group 2 included patients with COVID-19 negative PCR. <b>Results:</b> The study found that differential CBC had significant value in diagnosing COVID-19 disease. Many COVID-19 patients had lymphopenia and leucopenia compared to non-COVID-19 suspected patients. The low values of leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and eosinophils with a CBC test were found to be valuable in the initial diagnosis of COVID-19. <b>Conclusion:</b> The definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 requires RT-PCR analysis, which is time-consuming and less accessible. Thus, the initial diagnosis and treatment of patients may be delayed. This study suggests that CBC, which is easily available and affordable, can be valuable in the early identification of COVID-19 cases, allowing for prompt treatment and management.

<b>Background: </b>Cigarette smoking is one of the 10 greatest contributors to global death and disease. Cigarette smoking is the most common type of tobacco use. In average, to date 47.5% of men and 10.3% of women are current smokers. Tobacco continues to be the second major cause of death in the world. It consists of many chemicals, including cytotoxic, carcinogenic and free radicals, therefore it affects many organs if not all. <b>Objective:</b> The aim of this study is to assess the extent of adverse effect of cigarette smoking on blood pressure, liver function, and hemoglobin concentration in male population on the West Coast of Libya. <b>Methods:</b> This study was conducted on (200) healthy male subjects, their ages ranged from 15 to 85 years. They were divided into four groups; 50 non-smokers as control group (age between 15-35 years), 50 smokers (age between 15-35 years), 50 non-smokers as control group (age between 36-84 years) and 50 smokers (age between 36-84 years). The blood was collected in EDTA tubes to test the Complete blood count (CBC) and in plain tubes for biochemical assay (activities of liver enzymes). The Blood pressure of subjects was measured directly after sample collection. <b>Result</b>: The blood pressure among the group of age 36-84y was significantly higher (<i>P < 0.05</i>) when compared between the smokers and the nonsmokers group, while among the group of age 15-35 was not significant. The results of liver enzymes activities among the group of age 36-84y showed that ALT and ALP were significantly high (<i>P <0.05</i>) in the smoker group when compared with the nonsmoker group, while serum AST was not significant (<i>P>0.05</i>). However, among the group of age between 15-35 years, the results showed that statistically significant differences (<i>P<0.05</i>) were observed in ALT and AST activities for the smoker group when compared with the nonsmoker group. Regarding RBCs count and hemoglobin concentration among both of groups (age between 15-35 &#x26; 36-84 years), the results showed that a significant difference in mean RBCs count and hemoglobin concentration were noted between the smokers and the nonsmokers. <b>Conclusion</b>: It can be concluded that exposure to cigarette smoking leads to an increase the blood pressure. Cigarette smoking can lead to an increase in liver enzymes activities, RBCs count and Hb concentration.