Mediterranean Journal of Emergency Medicine & Acute Care

Introduction: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID 19) is an ongoing pandemic that brought significant changes in the healthcare sector, including healthcare-seeking behaviours, population movement, and daily activities. The COVID 19 has significantly affected the influx of paediatric patients attending the emergency department at a tertiary hospital level. This paper aims to measure and study the magnitude and reasons behind the reducing number of children attendances. COVID-19 compares with the disappearing number of children attending PED's to Pied Piper of Hamelin, attracting kids away from their homes as in our old bedtime stories.

Methods: Our paper is a single-centre, retrospective, observational study in the Paediatric Emergency Department (PED) and data obtained from Electronic Medical Records and ED Dashboard. We included all paediatric patients who registered in our PED during April, May, and June over three years (2018, 2019, and 2020), including their level of triage and rate of admissions.

Results: The total attendance and the number of admissions dropped dramatically in 2020 compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019. The number of attendances dropped from 10880 in 2018 and 11889 in 2019 to only 4621 in 2020. However, the percentages of category 1 and 2 patients increased in 2020 compared to the previous years.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the pandemic dramatically affected the PED visits by decreasing the number of patient attendances. In addition, it also reduced the access to several children in need of essential emergency department services.

Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with Streptococcal infections, or PANDAS, is a diagnosis of children with an acute and fast onset of obsessions, compulsions or tics succeeding a Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection. Coprolalia is a form of tics where the patient involuntarily says obscene and inappropriate words. We report a case of a 15-year old girl with a history of suspected PANDAS presenting to the emergency department with recurrent coprolalia without signs of a streptococcus infection. PANDAS and other neuropsychiatric syndromes can have different acute presentations. The ED physicians should be familiar with such disorders and presentations.

Background: In the field of scientific research, it is well recognized that the starting point for such efforts necessitates a proper and thorough literature search using reliable databases. Objectives: The aim of this article is to present future researchers with a guide that provides a well-defined set of search terms (MeSH terms and keywords) for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the Arab world, and countries within them. Methods: Selecting the proper search terms for the 26 countries and COVID-19 required a systematic approach for building a search strategy. MeSH and keyword searching was initially conducted in Medline (OVID) and replicated in PubMed. Discussion: Based on the described methodology, we extracted and compiled an extensive and comprehensive collection of search terms pertaining to the countries of the Arab world, MENA region, and COVID-19. Conclusions: This guide will facilitate conducting systematic and scoping reviews, using Medline (OVID) and PubMed, on medical and health topics including COVID-19 as an example. It acts as a reference that includes the appropriate terms to conduct a literature search, facilitates the search process, and ensures its breadth and completeness.