COVID-19 is a new disease that results in a worldwide pandemic. A rapid increasing of studies regarding occurs within a few period after its first emergence. The infodemic of COVID-19 data occurs. On the one hand, it can bring useful new knowledge. On the other hand, the negative impact such as misconduct and exaggeration off data occurs. In addition, since this new disease occurs in the IT era, the public health communication through social media regarding COVID-19 is also an interesting public health phenomenon. In this brief report, the authors summarize and discuss on infodemic and its unwanted effect on COVID-19.

Background: Smoking causes cardiovascular risk which may alter the stability between the production and degradation of the extracellular matrix. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is a zinc-containing endopeptidase that degrades extracellular matrix and plays a vital role in tissue remodeling. As a result, elevated serum MMP-9 levels produced by smoking, particularly in younger age, raise the risk of future coronary heart disease (CHD). Aim and Objective: Our aim is to find out the possible relationship between circulating MMP-9 and the risk of cardiovascular disease in young smokers. Materials and Methods: The study contains three groups. Group 1 includes 60 young active smokers with diabetic CHD, Group 2 includes 60 young active smokers with CHD, and Group 3 includes 60 healthy controls as nonsmokers who were attending SRM Medical College Hospital in Tamil Nadu for cardiology and medicine OP. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay was used to measure serum MMP-9, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and apolipoprotein E (APO-E) levels, and enzymatic techniques were employed to quantify lipid levels. Results: When compared to the controls, the mean serum MMP-9, hsCRP, and APO-E levels were significantly higher in both the groups. The study also shows a significant positive association between MMP-9 with hsCRP, APO-E, smoking burden, and smoking intensity. Conclusion: The study concludes that increased MMP-9 levels, particularly in inflammatory conditions caused by smoking, are associated with an increased risk of future cardiovascular disease.

Objectives: The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of conditioning the enamel surface with 10% papain gel and 5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) on the shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets and correlate it with the conventional bonding mechanism utilizing a universal testing machine. Materials and Methods: Ninety extracted human premolars divided into three groups: In Group 1, treatment with 5.25% NaOCl for 60 s on enamel surface followed by etchant and primer application. In Group 2, treatment with 10% Papain gel for 40 s followed by etching and primer application. In Group 3, etching was followed by primer application. A universal testing machine was used to record the SBS of the orthodontic brackets. Results: About 5.25% NaOCl (15.10 ± 2.66) and 10% papain gel (15.66 ± 2.83) treatment on enamel before acid etching when compared to the control group (12.82 ± 2.03) increased the SBS with a statistically significant difference between them (P = 0.002, P < 0.001). The experimental groups, NaOCl (15.10 ± 2.66) and papain gel (15.66 ± 2.83) group, were comparable but did not show any statistically significant difference between them (P = 0.665). Conclusion: SBS of orthodontic brackets can be significantly increased if the enamel is deproteinized with 5.25% NaOCl and 10% papain gel before acid etching with 37% phosphoric acid compared to the conventional bonding technique. Deproteinizing enamel can be considered a cost-effective ally to increase orthodontic brackets' bond strength and thereby reduce the duration of orthodontic treatment.

Background: There are various studies on coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) from globally which are mainly focused on respiratory and other medical manifestations of the disease. There are few studies on ocular manifestations in COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 patients. Objectives: We aim to investigate the ocular manifestations of hospitalized post-COVID-19 patients at a tertiary care institute in the North Eastern part of India. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among hospitalized post-COVID-19 patients 18 years and above during July 1, 2021–December 31, 2021. A universal sampling method was employed. A structured pro forma was used for data collection along with detailed ocular examination. Descriptive statistics were generated from collected data. Approval of the study was obtained from the institutional ethics committee. Results: A total of 105 patients were included in the study with ages ranging from 18 to 85 years and males constituting 63.8%. Around two-thirds of the patients (70, 66.7%) had not received any vaccination. Chest X-ray showed bilateral moderate consolidation in 59 (56.2%) patients. Twelve (11.4%) patients developed ocular signs and symptoms. Dry eye, redness of the eye, dimness of vision, itching, blurring of vision, and discharge from the eyes are some of the symptoms encountered. Two patients developed subconjunctival hemorrhage, one patient had a retinal hemorrhage and exposure keratopathy was detected in one patient. Conclusion: In this study, 11.4% of hospitalized post-COVID-19 patients have ocular manifestations. Post-COVID-19 syndrome could affect the eyes thus necessitating meticulous follow-up of patients who recovered from COVID-19.

Background: Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in elderly patients typically has a poor prognosis and addition of aggressive local therapy to the systemic therapy could provide encouraging outcomes with prolonged survival in certain patients with stage IV NSCLC. Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare the treatment response and progression-free survival (PFS) between single-agent chemotherapy (CT) followed by external-beam radiotherapy versus single-agent CT alone in elderly patients with metastatic NSCLC. Materials and Methods: In a randomized prospective study, after taking Ethical committees approval, 40 patients aged from 60 to 82 years were enrolled and divided into two equal groups: Arm A and Arm B. Both the arms received Gemcitabine 1 g/m²/dose as 30 min intravenous infusion on D1, D8, and D15 of 28-day cycle or D1 and D8 of a 21-day cycle for a total of 3–4 cycles, whereas Arm A received radiation 45–55 Gy @ 180 cgy/fraction after CT. Treatment response and PFS against time were analyzed using Friedman's test and Kaplan − Meier method. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The demographic profiles of the patients were comparable between the two groups. Most patients have Stage IV M1b disease and squamous cell carcinoma subtype and bone metastasis. There were marked symptomatic improvements in both the arms. The overall treatment response was 70.0% in Arm A and 50.0% in Arm B with median follow-up was 8 months. Median PFS and overall survival were 5 months and 8 months for arm A, respectively whereas it was 4 months and 7 months for Arm B (P = 0.03). Conclusion: In this study, it was found that sequential single agent CT followed by radiation has shown survival advantage in certain patients with Stage IV NSCLC.

Background: Substitution of nonopioid analgesic drugs in place of opioids perioperatively has become mandatory recently due to the development of the opioid crisis. This study emphasizes nonopioid alternatives to significantly reduce perioperative opioid consumption in gynecological surgeries. Objective: This study compared the efficacy of intravenous paracetamol and intravenous (iv) paracetamol with dexmedetomidine in terms of postoperative visual analog scale (VAS) score, sedation score, hemodynamic changes, and analgesic requirement in gynecological procedures. Materials and Methods: This prospective randomized double-blinded study included females between the age of 18 and 60 years who underwent gynecological surgeries. Group P received iv paracetamol 1 g infusion, Group DP received an infusion of iv paracetamol 1 g with dexmedetomidine at a dose of 0.5 μg/kg as infusion 10 min before the end of the surgery over 10 min. VAS score, sedation score, hemodynamic changes, and rescue analgesic requirement were observed up to 12 h postoperatively. Results: Group DP had a significantly lower VAS score in the 4^th and 6^th h (P = 0.009 and 0.023, respectively). Group P had significantly higher rescue analgesia than Group DP (P = 0.005). Group DP had a significantly higher heart rate than Group P at the 2^nd and 4^th h (P = 0.001) postoperatively. Group DP had significantly lower mean arterial pressure than Group P at 2 h (P = 0.001). Sedation score among Group DP was significantly higher till 10 h. Conclusion: Combining iv dexmedetomidine and paracetamol effectively reduces postoperative pain, analgesic requirements with good sedation score, and mild hemodynamic changes. Hence, it effectively increases postoperative comfort and reduces hospital stay and cost.

Background: Psoriasis is one of the common psychosomatic illnesses which have impairment of physical, psychological, social functioning of an individual. This impairment may lead to psychiatric morbidities such as anxiety disorders and depressive disorder which increase the suicidal risk in these patients. The present hospital-based comparative study was carried out to evaluate the depression and suicidal risk in patients with psoriasis and to compare them with healthy control. Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study. Fifty patients with psoriasis were enrolled for the study after their informed consent with purposive sampling method from the department of dermatology in a tertiary care hospital in the northeastern part of India and compared them with those of the control group. The severity of psoriasis was assessed using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index scale. The same patients were evaluated by the International Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders tenth revision research criteria along with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and suicidal risk assessment form to diagnose and grade depression and assess for suicidal risk. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 16.0. Results: The incidence of depression was significantly higher in the psoriasis patient group (44%) in comparison to the control group. Among them, 50% of the depressed patients had mild depression and 31.9% of the patients had very severe depression with death wish with suicidal ideation. Furthermore, 4.6% of the depressed patients have a high risk of suicide. Conclusions: These findings indicate the need of early recognition of depression and suicidal risk among these patients and their early intervention will improve the primary disease process and will prevent a devastating outcome like suicide.

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 associated with bacterial infection represents a serious public health challenge. Recently, there is a remarkable increase in the number of researches that confirms the effect of Helicobacter pylori on pulmonary diseases. Aim: The goal of this research was to see how H. pylori affected the presentation of COVID-19 infections as a prospective risk factor. Materials and Methods: This research was conducted in Babylon, Iraq, from January 1, 2022, to March 5, 2022. A total of 180 people were engaged in this study, with 90 patients identified with SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction testing and 90 people serving as a control group. Antibody screening assays on blood samples were used to look for antibodies against H. pylori. The samples were processed for complete blood count and ABO blood group. Results: COVID-19 infection was more frequent in females than in males, especially between 31 and 45 years. When compared to healthy people, COVID-19 patients had a higher white blood cell count (P = 0.0001) and a lower lymphocyte count (P = 0.0001). H. pylori and COVID-19 have been found to have a strong relationship, especially in females. When comparing patients to healthy people, blood group A is the most common. Conclusion: People with H. pylori infections are considerably more sensitive to COVID-19 than people without H. pylori infections (P = 0.011). In combination with SARS-CoV-2, IgG for H. pylori might be a risk factor.