SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has been changing the world since December 2019. A comprehensive search into many COVID-19 treatment guidelines was conducted and reported in this article. This is a review paper to probe differences in COVID-19 managing strategies and explore the most common treatment plans among countries. Published guidelines from 23 countries and three references guidelines—until the end of 2020—were included in this article. The majority of COVID-19 treatment options were reported in this review and it includes antiviral drugs, antimalarial drugs, antibiotics, corticosteroids, immunotherapy, anticoagulants, and other pharmacological treatment. The presence of such information from different countries in a single comprehensive review article could help in understanding and speculation of variation in the recommended treatment in each country. This might be related to the cost of medications, the access to the medications, availability of medication that could potentially be useful in managing COVID-19 cases, and the availability/capacity of healthcare facilities. Finally, although there are various treatment groups listed in the published therapeutic guidelines worldwide, unfortunately, there is no evidence for effectiveness of most of these medications in reducing the COVID-19 mortality curve over more than one year of this global pandemic.

Several clinical trials are being conducted worldwide to investigate the protective effect of the bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine against death in healthcare providers who are working directly with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Clinical studies suggested that certain live vaccines, particularly the BCG vaccine, could reduce the mortality due to other diseases caused by non-targeted pathogens, most probably through the nonspecific effects (heterologous effects). By the end of May 2020, the available information on the COVID-19 pandemic indicated the great effect of the BCG vaccine in reducing the number of COVID-19 death cases. The occurrence of death due to COVID-19 was found to be 21-fold lower in countries with a national BCG vaccination policy than in countries without such a policy, based on the medians of COVID-19 death case per 1 million of the population in these two groups of countries (p<0.001, Mann-Whitney test). Therefore, it can be concluded that the early establishment of a BCG vaccination policy in any country is a key element in reducing the number of COVID-19 and tuberculosis death cases.

The majority of the Arab countries have high records of daily tobacco smoking. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) use has exponentially increased in the past decade in Arab countries. Consumers’ willingness to quit smoking traditional cigarettes and their perception of e-cigarettes as a safer...

Background: The use of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) as a birth control method is very common worldwide. OCPs have many other labeled non-contraceptive indications, and as a result there is an associated risk of improper use, as with any other medications. This study was designed to assess the unforeseen improper uses of OCPs observed by community pharmacists in Jordan. Method: A cross-sectional study design was conducted using a self-administered survey. A convenience sample (n = 380) of Jordanian community pharmacists, were recruited through social media resources. The survey included multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were completed using SPSS. Results: More than half of the recruited pharmacists (55.3%) were female, and the mean age of the participants was 32.58 ± 9.94. The majority of the pharmacists (85%) had good knowledge about the non-contraceptive indications of OCPs. About 53% of them confirmed their exposure to cases of the improper use of OCPs. About 67.5% of the pharmacists who confirmed exposure to such cases, reported the topical use of OCPs for the enhancement of hair growth. Around 15% of those pharmacists stated that OCPs were used to give negative results for addictive drug screening tests. In the event that the pharmacists suspected improper use, more than 90% suggested they would refrain from dispensing the pills. Conclusion: This study has spotlighted many unforeseen uses of OCPs in Jordan and highlighted the need for restricted national regulations on the monitoring of OCP prescription/selling patterns in Jordan by policymakers. Moreover, there is a need for the establishment of national educational programs for the Jordanian community regarding the safe proper use of OCPs.

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the current literature, clinical trials, and products approved for the delivery of antibiotics to the lungs. While there are many literature reports describing potential delivery systems, few of these have translated into marketed products. Key challenges remaining are the high doses required and, for powder formulations, the ability of the inhaler and powder combination to deliver the dose to the correct portion of the respiratory tract for maximum effect. Side effects, safety concerns, and disappointing clinical trial results remain barriers to regulatory approval. In this review, we describe some possible approaches to address these issues and highlight prospects in this area.