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Tribune News Network
Doha
The Department of Biomedical Sciences at the College of Health Sciences (CHS), Qatar University (QU), recently organised a webinar titled ‘Latest updates in the (Covid-19) virus studies by Dr Gheyath’s research team’ as part of a series of events hosted by the department to highlight research activities of its faculty members.
Gheyath Khaled Nasrallah is associate professor of Biomedical Science at CHS.
The webinar held through WebEx platform received more than 50 participants from various health institutions in the country and from the Biomedical Research Center at QU.
Dr Maha Al Asmakh, head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, said that QU is making all efforts to support research in cooperation with health institutions in Qatar to address the threat of the coronavirus.
Dr Gheyath Nasrallah’s study involved around 2,100 volunteers in July and August 2020. One of the major findings discussed during his presentation was the 15 percent prevalence rate of SARS-CoV-2 among Public Health Care Corporation’s (PHCC) patients. The prevalence rate was significantly higher in males than in females and the cases were not equally distributed in all areas of Doha.
The study conducted between July and September at Red Crescent Medical Centers involved 2,641 male skilled workers, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). The prevalence among workers was much higher than in the PHCC participants -- 60.6 percent, which is more than the number required to reach heard immunity. The SARS-CoV-2 prevalence was significantly associated with geographic location, level of education and type of occupation, according to the study. The striking results was that only eight cases from the total positive sample developed severe symptoms, which is good for the population of Qatar.
Dr Nasrallah performed a comparison of the effectiveness of different serology diagnostic assays and equipment for testing the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. These assay are present in different health institutions in Qatar including, HMC, Sidra and PHCC. He pointed that all of the automated assay has shown similar performance with little difference in the sensitivity and specificity for detecting the antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Dr Nasrallah’s research also aimed to understand the reason of having high rate of SARS-CoV-2 in Qatar, but the least morbidity and mortality. He mentioned that in collaboration with a group of researched from the Sidra Medicine and Weil Cornell Medicine - Qatar, they found that people who live in crowded areas and shared accommodations might have high levels of immunity to common cold coronavirus family which only causes mild or no symptoms. Due to the closed contact between these groups of people, they are continuously exposed to these viruses more than the people living in the suburbs. This should enable them to develop high antibody level that provide cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2, the study said.
Doha
The Department of Biomedical Sciences at the College of Health Sciences (CHS), Qatar University (QU), recently organised a webinar titled ‘Latest updates in the (Covid-19) virus studies by Dr Gheyath’s research team’ as part of a series of events hosted by the department to highlight research activities of its faculty members.
Gheyath Khaled Nasrallah is associate professor of Biomedical Science at CHS.
The webinar held through WebEx platform received more than 50 participants from various health institutions in the country and from the Biomedical Research Center at QU.
Dr Maha Al Asmakh, head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, said that QU is making all efforts to support research in cooperation with health institutions in Qatar to address the threat of the coronavirus.
Dr Gheyath Nasrallah’s study involved around 2,100 volunteers in July and August 2020. One of the major findings discussed during his presentation was the 15 percent prevalence rate of SARS-CoV-2 among Public Health Care Corporation’s (PHCC) patients. The prevalence rate was significantly higher in males than in females and the cases were not equally distributed in all areas of Doha.
The study conducted between July and September at Red Crescent Medical Centers involved 2,641 male skilled workers, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). The prevalence among workers was much higher than in the PHCC participants -- 60.6 percent, which is more than the number required to reach heard immunity. The SARS-CoV-2 prevalence was significantly associated with geographic location, level of education and type of occupation, according to the study. The striking results was that only eight cases from the total positive sample developed severe symptoms, which is good for the population of Qatar.
Dr Nasrallah performed a comparison of the effectiveness of different serology diagnostic assays and equipment for testing the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. These assay are present in different health institutions in Qatar including, HMC, Sidra and PHCC. He pointed that all of the automated assay has shown similar performance with little difference in the sensitivity and specificity for detecting the antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Dr Nasrallah’s research also aimed to understand the reason of having high rate of SARS-CoV-2 in Qatar, but the least morbidity and mortality. He mentioned that in collaboration with a group of researched from the Sidra Medicine and Weil Cornell Medicine - Qatar, they found that people who live in crowded areas and shared accommodations might have high levels of immunity to common cold coronavirus family which only causes mild or no symptoms. Due to the closed contact between these groups of people, they are continuously exposed to these viruses more than the people living in the suburbs. This should enable them to develop high antibody level that provide cross-protection against SARS-CoV-2, the study said.
