Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T21:26:55.368Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

COVID-19 in Patients With a Past History of Chemical War Injury: A Cross-Sectional Study in Southern Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2021

Amir Emami ,
FatemehSadat Pezeshkian Open the ORCID record for FatemehSadat Pezeshkian [Opens in a new window] ,
Fatemeh Javanmardi ,
Ali Akbari  and
Ali A. Asadi-Pooya Open the ORCID record for Ali A. Asadi-Pooya [Opens in a new window]
Amir Emami
Affiliation:
Burn & Wound Healing Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
FatemehSadat Pezeshkian
Affiliation:
Epilepsy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Fatemeh Javanmardi
Affiliation:
Burn & Wound Healing Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Ali Akbari
Affiliation:
Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
Ali A. Asadi-Pooya*
Affiliation:
Epilepsy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
*
Corresponding Author: Ali A. Asadi-Pooya, Email: aliasadipooya@yahoo.com.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19 is associated with a different presenting clinical picture or a more severe course of illness in people with a past history of chemical war injury.

Methods:

This is a multicenter retrospective study in Fars Province, Iran, from August 22 to October 4, 2020. People with a past history of chemical war injury and COVID-19 were studied. Two age- and sex-matched control groups, double the size of the patient group each, from the same database of patients with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at the same time (ie, healthy controls and pseudocontrols).

Results:

A total of 46 people with a past history of chemical war injury, 92 healthy controls, and 92 pseudocontrols were studied. People with COVID-19 and a past history of chemical war injury had a significantly higher rate of chest pain compared with others. There were no other clinical differences between the groups. Mortality rate was 17.39%, 15.21%, and 27.17% in people with a past history of chemical war injury, the control group, and the pseudocontrol group, respectively.

Conclusions:

A past history of a chemical war injury does not add to the risk of COVID-19 and does not significantly modify its clinical picture either.

Keywords

chemicalCOVID-19mortalityriskwar
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , December 2022 , pp. 2352 - 2354
Copyright
© Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Javanmardi, F, Keshavarzi, A, Akbari, A, et al. Prevalence of underlying diseases in died cases of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2020;15(10):e0241265. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241265 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oster, C, Morello, A, Venning, A, et al. The health and wellbeing needs of veterans: a rapid review. BMC Psychiatry. 2017;17(1):414. doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1547-0 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gerber, MR. The things they carry: veterans and the COVID-19 pandemic. J Gen Intern Med. 2020;35(10):3093-3094. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06048-x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darchini-Maragheh, E, Nemati-Karimooy, H, Hasanabadi, H, et al. Delayed neurological complications of sulphur mustard and tabun poisoning in 43 Iranian veterans. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2012;111(6):426-432. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2012.00922.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization. Public health response to biological and chemical weapons: WHO guidance. Biosecur Bioterror. 2005; 3(3): 268-269. doi: 10.1089/bsp.2005.3.268 Google Scholar
Ghaednia Jahromy, M, Mohsenian, MS, Rezagholizamenjany, M, et al. Effects of mustard gas on veterans: a review. Ann Mil Health Sci Res. 2017;15(2):e62051. doi: 10.5812/amh.62051 Google Scholar
Farnoosh, G, Ghanei, M, Khorramdelazad, H, et al. Are Iranian sulfur mustard gas-exposed survivors more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2? Some similarity in their pathogenesis. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2020;14(6):826-832. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.156 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khateri, S, Ghanei, M, Keshavarz, S, et al. Incidence of lung, eye, and skin lesions as late complications in 34,000 Iranians with wartime exposure to mustard agent. J Occup Environ Med. 2003;45:1136-1143. doi: 10.1097/01.jom.0000094993.20914.d1 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luo, J, Jeyapalina, S, Stoddard, GJ, et al. Coronavirus disease 2019 in veterans receiving care at veterans health administration facilities. Ann Epidemiol. 2020;55:10-14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cates, J, Lucero-Obusan, C, Dahl, RM, et al. Risk for in-hospital complications associated with COVID-19 and influenza - Veterans Health Administration, United States, October 1, 2018–May 31, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69(42):1528-1534. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6942e3 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Emami et al. supplementary material

Emami et al. supplementary material 1

Download Emami et al. supplementary material(File)
File 29.3 KB
Supplementary material: File

Emami et al. supplementary material

Emami et al. supplementary material 2

Download Emami et al. supplementary material(File)
File 14.4 KB