Synbiotic for Prevention of SARS-Cov2 Infection in High Risk Hospital Staffs: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 increasingly involves people worldwide. Probiotics can improve immune system functions via different mechanisms. We proposed that Synbiotic Lactocare? may also reduce SARS-Cov2 infection in high-risk medical staff working in COVID-19 hospital wards. Method: In a randomized, controlled trial, 60 hospital staff without any history of clinical or laboratory evidence of SARS-Cov2 infection were received either once-daily oral synbiotic capsule (Lactocare?) that contains 1 billion CFU/Cap of L. (Lactobacillus) casei, L. rhamnosus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Bifidobacterium breve, L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium infantis, L. bulgaricus, and Fructooligosacharide (Zist Takhmir, Tehran, Iran) or placebo with the same appearance for 30 days. They were followed for two months. Result: During the two-month period of this study, SARS-COV-2 RT-PCR test results were positive in three participants (9.67%) in placebo group compared to zero positive tests in synbiotic group. The differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.238). During the study, two persons (7 %) of placebo group had respiratory complaints such as cough, rhinorrhea and/or dyspnea, compared with one in synbiotic group (p = 0.492). Conclusion: This study showed that overall frequency of SARS-COV2 infection in participants receiving synbiotic and those receiving placebo did not differ significantly. However, 3 hospital staff in placebo group compared to no one in synbiotic group had SARS-COV2 infection. Further studies with greater power and alternative probiotic strains and mixture are warranted to determine whether Synbiotic can prevent COVID-19 in at-risk hospital staff.

Assessment of mechanism, type and severity of injury in multiple trauma patients： A cross sectional study of a trauma center in Iran

Purpose： To accurately assess the mechanism, type and severity of injury in Iranian multiple trauma patients of a trauma center. Methods： Patients with multiple traumas referring to the emergency department of Hasheminejad University Hospital in Mashhad, lran, entered this cross sectional study from March 2013 to December 2013. All the patients with injury severity score （ISS） 〉 9 were included in this study. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software （Version 11.5） and P values less than 0.05 were considered as significant differences. Results： Among the 6306 hospitalized trauma patients during this period, 148 had ISS〉9. The male fe- male ratio was 80%. The mean age of the patients was （33.5 m 19.3） years. And 71% of the patients were younger than 44 years old. There were 19 （13%） deaths from which 68.5% were older than 44 years old. The mean transfer time from the injury scene to hospital was （55 e 26） minutes. The most frequent mechanisms of injury were motorcycle crashes and falling from height, which together included 66.2% of all the injuries. A total of 84% of hospital deaths occurred after the first 24 h of hospitalization. Head and neck were the most common body injured areas with a prevalence of 111 cases （75%）. Conclusion： Motorcycle crashes have high frequency in lran. Since most victims are young males, injury prevention strategies should be considered to reduce the burden of injuries.