Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Depression and Anxiety among Pregnant Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted perinatal women’s mental health. However, protective factors associated with depression among pregnant Japanese women during the pandemic have not been reported. Purpose: The present study investigated the risk and protective factors associated with depression and anxiety among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online questionnaire was administered to 157 pregnant women between October 2022 and May 2023 at two general hospitals in Japan. The Japanese versions of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to assess symptoms of depression and anxiety. The χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test and multivariate logistic regression model were used to examine factors associated with depression and anxiety among pregnant women. Results: Overall, 47.1% and 35.7% of the pregnant women reported depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. A “history of mental illness” was a risk factor for depression and anxiety among pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, unmarried status was a risk factor for anxiety among pregnant women, whereas outdoor and indoor exercises were protective factors against depression and anxiety, respectively. Conclusions: Exercise may have protected pregnant women from depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Encouraging exercise may help maintain the mental health of pregnant women who do not have exercise restrictions.

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Present or Gone, Where Do Adolescents Stand?

Introduction: The initial global response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic focused on adults as adolescents mainly had subclinical infections. Adolescents, however, could transmit the virus and hence be a risk to the elderly, young children and immunocompromised. Adolescents are also at risk of long-term complications. This study sought to determine the prevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 among adolescents in Southern Nigeria, and to determine the association between SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity and age, gender, socioeconomic class, school type and nutritional status. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in Edo state of southern Nigeria. We recruited 270 in-school adolescents aged 10 - 19 years. A WHO-adapted, pre-tested questionnaire was used to obtain data on participant history and risk factors. The questionnaire was interviewer-administered. Adolescents whose parents gave consent were recruited through a multi-stage randomized sampling method. Capillary blood for the assay was collected and analysed using a lateral-flow immunoassay device. The primary outcome was serostatus of the study. The positive predictors of serostatus were finally determined using a multiple logistics regression model. Statistical significance was set at p Results: The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was 45.9%. IgM antibodies were found in 5.6% of participants. Older adolescents had higher seropositivity rates than younger adolescents (2 = 8.101, p = 0.017). There was no association between gender and seropositivity. Adolescents in public schools were more likely to be seropositive than those in private schools (2 = 25.242, p = 0.001). A higher seroprevalence was noticed among study participants in the lower socioeconomic class (x2 = 6.928, p = 0.031), and those in overcrowded classes. (2 = 79.303, p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study showed a high seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among in-school adolescents. Behavioural change communication on SARS-CoV-2, vaccination of adolescents, and standardization of classrooms are recommended.

Delay Times and Clinical Outcomes in Acute Myocardial Infarction: Comparison of Periods before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Myocardial Infarction and the Pandemic

Introduction: At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a drop in the number of patients treated for cardiac emergencies raised concern about cardiovascular mortality in that period. An increase in care delay for patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) may have affected clinical outcomes. Objectives: To analyze delay times and clinical outcomes of patients with STEMI undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI), before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Retrospective observational study that included patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI from December 2018 to July 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic cases were divided into two groups: pandemic I—from March to August 2020;and pandemic II—from September 2020 to July 2021. Patients were compared according to the period of hospitalization. Primary outcomes were delay times in assistance and clinical outcomes (acute kidney injury [AKI], post-procedural vascular complications and in-hospital mortality). Results: 108 patients were included, 39 (36.1%) in the pre-pandemic period, 13 (12.1%) in pandemic I and 56 (51.8%) in pandemic II. Time from onset of symptoms to arrival at the service and door-to-balloon time did not differ significantly among groups. Vascular complications were more frequent during the pandemic (I and II) than in the pre-pandemic period (2.5% pre-pandemic vs 15.4% pandemic vs 12.5% pandemic II;p = 0.03). AKI incidence was similar in all three periods. There was a non-significant increase in in-hospital mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: In patients with STEMI, there was an increase in vascular complications and a trend toward increased mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delay times to admission and reperfusion did not differ significantly between before and during the pandemic.

Buying Behavior Under Coronavirus Disease(COVID-19)Pandemic Situation:A Online Perspective Case in Bangladeshi Shoppers

Coronavirus disease(COVID-19)is an highly infectious respiratory disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.Most people infected by the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment;a portion of infected people may die.Under coronavirous disease pandemic situation,human normal life,movement and business has been disturbed due to lockdown and closing of shopping malls and business centers in the city.Nowadays,e-commerce is a vigorous tool for diminishing streaming business processes,cycle time,organizational costs,stay at home,maintain social distancing,protect from virus,and enlightening associations with both shoppers and business partners.The research investigated the buying behavior of Bangladeshi shoppers under coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic situation in case of online perspective.The research reconnoitered the impact of five aspects:health aspect,price aspect,product aspect,trust aspect,and place aspect on online buying behavior under coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic situation in Bangladesh.Data were collected through a structured questionnaire by online survey method from 155 samples which encompass online shoppers in country.Simple random sampling technique were used.Data were analyzed using factor analysis,reliability analysis,and multiple regression analysis.Findings revealed that four out of five aspects:health aspect,price aspect,product aspect,and place aspect had a positive and significant influence on online buying behavior under coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic situation in the perspective of Bangladesh.The assessment generates responsiveness among online practicing companies,researchers,managers,shoppers,and prospects online buyers.Online functioning businesses could be a successful leading aspects for explaining online buying behavior under coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic situation in the context of Bangladesh.

Public health preparedness and responses to the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic in South Asia:a situation and policy analysis

Like rest of the world,the South Asian region is facing enormous challenges with the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic.The socio-economic context of the eight South Asian countries is averse to any longterm lockdown program,but the region still observed stringent lockdown close to two months.This paper analyzed major measures in public health preparedness and responses in those countries in the pandemic.The research was based on a situation analysis to discuss appropriate plan for epidemic preparedness,strategies for prevention and control measures,and adequate response management mechanism.Based on the data from March 21 to June 26,2020,it appeared lockdown program along with other control measures were not as effective to arrest the exponential growth of fortnightly COVID-19 cases in Afghanistan,Bangladesh,India,Nepal and Pakistan.However,Bhutan,Maldives and Sri Lanka have been successfully limiting the spread of the disease.The in-depth analysis of prevention and control measures espoused densely populated context of South Asia needs community-led intervention strategy,such as case containment,in order to reverse the growing trend,and adopt the policy of mitigation instead of suppression to formulate COVID-19 action plan.On the other hand,mechanism for response management encompassed a four-tier approach of governance to weave community-led local bodies with state,national and international governance actors for enhancing the countries’emergency operation system.It is concluded resource-crunch countries in South Asia are unable to cope with the disproportionate demand of capital and skilled health care workforce at the time of the pandemic.Hence,response management needs an approach of governance maximization instead of resource maximization.The epidemiologic management of population coupled with suitable public health prevention and control measures may be a more appropriate strategy to strike a balance between economy and population health during the time of pandemic.

Ensemble Deep Learning Framework for Situational Aspects-Based Annotation and Classification of International Student’s Tweets during COVID-19

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe,social media plat-forms became an essential source of information and communication for many.International students,particularly,turned to Twitter to express their struggles and hardships during this difficult time.To better understand the sentiments and experiences of these international students,we developed the Situational Aspect-Based Annotation and Classification(SABAC)text mining framework.This framework uses a three-layer approach,combining baseline Deep Learning(DL)models with Machine Learning(ML)models as meta-classifiers to accurately predict the sentiments and aspects expressed in tweets from our collected Student-COVID-19 dataset.Using the pro-posed aspect2class annotation algorithm,we labeled bulk unlabeled tweets according to their contained aspect terms.However,we also recognized the challenges of reducing data’s high dimensionality and sparsity to improve performance and annotation on unlabeled datasets.To address this issue,we proposed the Volatile Stopwords Filtering(VSF)technique to reduce sparsity and enhance classifier performance.The resulting Student-COVID Twitter dataset achieved a sophisticated accuracy of 93.21%when using the random forest as a meta-classifier.Through testing on three benchmark datasets,we found that the SABAC ensemble framework performed exceptionally well.Our findings showed that international students during the pandemic faced various issues,including stress,uncertainty,health concerns,financial stress,and difficulties with online classes and returning to school.By analyzing and summarizing these annotated tweets,decision-makers can better understand and address the real-time problems international students face during the ongoing pandemic.

Fiscal Amenities in Serbia during COVID-19 Pandemic Situation

Serbian government enacted thefollowing measures for taxpayersduring COVID-19 pandemics ituation:·Deferral of payments of tax on wages and social contributions for private sector is given till 2021.This measure has the goal to enhance liquidity of all the legal entities in Serbia which pay wages to their employees.

COVID-19 pandemic impact on ocular trauma in a tertiary hospital

AIM:To analyze the impact of the coronavirus disease-2019(COVID-19)pandemic on the presentation and characteristics of patients hospitalized for ocular trauma in a tertiary hospital in China between 2019 and 2020.METHODS:A retrospective case study was designed to collect information on all cases of ocular trauma in a tertiary hospital from 2019 to 2020 and compare differences in inpatients’data(age,sex,admission vision acuity,type of diagnosis,hospital stays,mechanism of injury and location of injury).RESULTS:The total number of patients admitted to the Ophthalmology Department was 883(mean 73.58±11.25patients per month)in 2019 and 714(59.50±17.92patients per month)in 2020.The injury number of in work was also the most within the four types of location in this two year(42.36%in 2019,43.84%in 2020).The mean hospital stays were 12.66d in 2019 and 10.81d in 2020.The highest incidence of ocular trauma was the middleaged(41-65y)groups in 2019 and 2020.The most common cause of ocular trauma was sharp object in 2019(47.34%)and 2020(47.58%).The mechanical ocular trauma reaches98.98%in 2019 and 99.72%in 2020.CONCLUSION:The number of patients with ocular trauma decreased in 2020,but middle-aged(41-65y)are still high incident groups.Mechanical ocular trauma remains the leading cause of hospitalization for ocular trauma patients and the proportion of patients injured at home increases.It is necessary to arouse social attention and the public’s awareness of eye trauma protection should be strengthened during the pandemic.

Reconstruction surgery in head and neck cancer patients amidst the COVID-19 pandemic:Current practice and lessons for the future

The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has imposed a radical change in daily life and work routine.In this context,health systems have suffered important and serious repercussions in all fields.Among the changes brought about by the state of global health emergency,adjustments to guidelines,priorities,structures,professional teams,and epidemiological data stand out.In light of this,the oncological field has witnessed several changes in the approach to cancer,whether due to delay in diagnosis,screening deficit,personnel shortage or the psychological impact that the pandemic has had on cancer patients.This article focuses on the management of oral carcinoma and the surgical approaches that oral and maxillofacial specialists have had at their disposal during the health emergency.In this period,the oral and maxillofacial surgeons have faced many obstacles.The proximity of maxillofacial structures to the airways,the need of elective and punctual procedures in cancerous lesions,the aggressiveness of head and neck tumors,and the need for important healthcare costs to support such delicate surgeries are examples of some of the challenges imposed for this field.One of the possible surgical'solutions'to the difficulties in managing surgical cases of oral carcinoma during the pandemic is locoregional flaps,which in the pre-COVID-19 era were less used than free flaps.However,during the health emergency,its use has been widely reassessed.This setback may represent a precedent for opening up new reflections.In the course of a long-term pandemic,a reassessment of the validity of different medical and surgical therapeutic approaches should be considered.Finally,given that the pandemic has highlighted vulnerabilities and shortcomings in a number of ways,including the issues of essential resource shortages,underinvestment in public health services,lack of coordination and versatility among politicians,policymakers and health leaders,resulting in overloaded health systems,rapid case development,and high mortality,a more careful analysis of the changes needed in different health systems to satisfactorily face future emergencies is essential to be carried out.This should be directed especially towards improving the management of health systems,their coordination as well as reviewing related practices,even in the surgical field.

Effect of fibrinolytic therapy on ST-elevation myocardial infarction clinical outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic:A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND ST-elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI)is the result of transmural ischemia of the myocardium and is associated with a high mortality rate.Primary percutaneous coronary intervention(PPCI)is the recommended first-line treatment strategy for patients with STEMI.The timely delivery of PPCI became extremely challenging for STEMI patients during the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic,leading to a projected steep rise in mortality.These delays were overcome by the shift from first-line therapy and the development of modern fibrinolytic-based reperfusion.It is unclear whether fibrinolytic-based reperfusion therapy is effective in improving STEMI endpoints.AIM To determine the incidence of fibrinolytic therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on STEMI clinical outcomes.METHODS PubMed,Google Scholar,Scopus,Web of Science,and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were queried from January 2020 up to February 2022 to identify studies investigating the effect of fibrinolytic therapy on the prognostic outcome of STEMI patients during the pandemic.Primary outcomes were the incidence of fibrinolysis and the risk of all-cause mortality.Data were meta-analyzed using the random effects model to derive odds ratios(OR)and 95%confidence intervals.Quality assessment was carried out using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.RESULTS Fourteen studies including 50136 STEMI patients(n=15142 in the pandemic arm;n=34994 in the pre-pandemic arm)were included.The mean age was 61 years;79%were male,27%had type 2 diabetes,and 47%were smokers.Compared with the pre-pandemic period,there was a significantly increased overall incidence of fibrinolysis during the pandemic period[OR:1.80(1.18 to 2.75);I2=78%;P=0.00;GRADE:Very low].The incidence of fibrinolysis was not associated with the risk of all-cause mortality in any setting.The countries with a low-and middle-income status reported a higher incidence of fibrinolysis[OR:5.16(2.18 to 12.22);I2=81%;P=0.00;GRADE:Very low]and an increased risk of all-cause mortality in STEMI patients[OR:1.16(1.03 to 1.30);I2=0%;P=0.01;GRADE:Very low].Meta-regression analysis showed a positive correlation of hyperlipidemia(P=0.001)and hypertension(P<0.001)with all-cause mortality.CONCLUSION There is an increased incidence of fibrinolysis during the pandemic period,but it has no effect on the risk of all-cause mortality.The low-and middle-income status has a significant impact on the all-cause mortality rate and the incidence of fibrinolysis.

Deep Learning Based Face Mask Detection in Religious Mass Gathering During COVID-19 Pandemic

Notwithstanding the religious intention of billions of devotees,the religious mass gathering increased major public health concerns since it likely became a huge super spreading event for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2).Most attendees ignored preventive measures,namely maintaining physical distance,practising hand hygiene,and wearing facemasks.Wearing a face mask in public areas protects people from spreading COVID-19.Artificial intelligence(AI)based on deep learning(DL)and machine learning(ML)could assist in fighting covid-19 in several ways.This study introduces a new deep learning-based Face Mask Detection in Religious Mass Gathering(DLFMD-RMG)technique during the COVID-19 pandemic.The DLFMD-RMG technique focuses mainly on detecting face masks in a religious mass gathering.To accomplish this,the presented DLFMD-RMG technique undergoes two pre-processing levels:Bilateral Filtering(BF)and Contrast Enhancement.For face detection,the DLFMD-RMG technique uses YOLOv5 with a ResNet-50 detector.In addition,the face detection performance can be improved by the seeker optimization algorithm(SOA)for tuning the hyperparameter of the ResNet-50 module,showing the novelty of the work.At last,the faces with and without masks are classified using the Fuzzy Neural Network(FNN)model.The stimulation study of the DLFMD-RMG algorithm is examined on a benchmark dataset.The results highlighted the remarkable performance of the DLFMD-RMG model algorithm in other recent approaches.

Gestational diabetes mellitus and COVID-19:The epidemic during the pandemic

During the global coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic,people worldwide have experienced an unprecedented rise in psychological distress and anxiety.In addition to this challenging situation,the prevalence of diabetes mellitus(DM),a hidden epidemic,has been steadily increasing in recent years.Lower-middle-income countries have faced significant barriers in providing accessible prenatal care and promoting a healthy diet for pregnant women,and the pandemic has made these challenges even more difficult to overcome.Pregnant women are at a higher risk of developing complications such as hypertension,preeclampsia,and gestational diabetes,all of which can have adverse implications for both maternal and fetal health.The occurrence of gestational diabetes has been on the rise,and it is possible that the pandemic has worsened its prevalence.Although data is limited,studies conducted in Italy and Canada suggest that the pandemic has had an impact on gestational diabetes rates,especially among women in their first trimester of pregnancy.The significant disruptions to daily routines caused by the pandemic,such as limited exercise options,indicate a possible link between COVID-19 and an increased likelihood of experiencing higher levels of weight gain during pregnancy.Notably,individuals in the United States with singleton pregnancies are at a significantly higher risk of excessive gestational weight gain,making this association particularly important to consider.Although comprehensive data is currently lacking,it is important for clinical researchers to explore the possibility of establishing correlations between the stress experienced during the pandemic,its consequences such as gestational gain weight,and the increasing incidence of gestational DM.This knowledge would contribute to better preventive measures and support for pregnant individuals during challenging times.

COVID-19 pandemic in the intensive care unit:Psychological implications and interventions,a systematic review

BACKGROUND The coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic produced changes in intensive care units(ICUs) in patient care and health organizations. The pandemic event increased patients’ risk of developing psychological symptoms during and after hospitalisation. These consequences also affected those family members who could not access the hospital. In addition, the initial lack of knowledge about the virus and its management, the climate of fear and uncertainty, the increased workload and the risk of becoming infected and being contagious, had a strong impact on healthcare staff and organizations. This highlighted the importance of interventions aimed at providing psychological support to ICUs, involving patients, their relatives, and the staff;this might involve the reorganisation of the daily routine and rearrangement of ICU staff duties.AIM To conduct a systematic review of psychological issues in ICUs during the COVID-19 pandemic involving patients, their relatives, and ICU staff.METHODS We investigated the PubMed and the ClinicalTrials.gov databases and found 65 eligible articles,upon which we commented.RESULTS Our results point to increased perceived stress and psychological distress in staff, patients and their relatives and increased worry for being infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 in patients and relatives. Furthermore, promising results were obtained for some psychological programmes aiming at improving psychological measures in all ICU categories.CONCLUSION As the pandemic limited direct inter-individual interactions, the role of interventions using digital tools and virtual reality is becoming increasingly important. All considered, our results indicate an essential role for psychologists in ICUs.

Hospitalizations for alcoholic liver disease during the COVID-19 pandemic increased more for women,especially young women,compared to men

BACKGROUND Alcoholic liver disease(ALD)remains one of the major indications for liver transplantation in the United States and continues to place a burden on the national healthcare system.There is evidence of increased alcohol consumption during the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic,and the effect of this on the already burdened health systems remains unknown.AIM To assess the trends for ALD admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic,and compare it to a similar pre-pandemic period.METHODS This retrospective study analyzed all admissions at a tertiary health care system,which includes four regional hospitals.ALD admissions were identified by querying a multi-hospital health system’s electronic database using ICD-10 codes.ALD admissions were compared for two one-year periods;pre-COVID-19 from April 2019 to March 2020,and during-COVID-19 from April 2020 to March 2021.Data were analyzed using a Poisson regression model and admission rates were compared using the annual quarterly average for the two time periods,with stratification by age and gender.Percent increase or decrease in admissions from the Poisson regression model were reported as incident rate ratios.RESULTS One thousand three hundred and seventy-eight admissions for ALD were included.80.7%were Caucasian,and 34.3%were female.An increase in the number of admissions for ALD during the COVID-19 pandemic was detected.Among women,a sharp rise(33%)was noted in those below the age of 50 years,and an increase of 22%in those above 50 years.Among men,an increase of 24%was seen for those below 50 years,and a 24%decrease in those above 50 years.CONCLUSION The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread implications,and an increase in ALD admissions is just one of them.However,given that women are often prone to rapid progression of ALD,this finding has important preventive health implications.

Mental Health Intervention in the Workplace amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this project is to examine why the mental health of employees should be prioritized in the workplace. Most employees have likely experienced a visible illness or injury at some point during their careers. It is easier to identify these physical ailments that may adversely affect an employee’s performance at work, such as a broken leg or the common cold. However, there are conditions that are much less visible that negatively impact employees every day, and mental health is one of them. A person’s mental health is a significant factor in their work life that should not be ignored. While it may be difficult to recognize when someone is struggling with depression, anxiety, or another form of mental illness on the surface, employers should not automatically assume their entire staff is okay. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with an increase in civil unrest in society, employers must reevaluate the way they conduct business, starting with the treatment of their employees. To aid employers with prioritizing mental health at work, this paper’s objectives are to address the stigma associated with mental health issues/illness, develop recommendations for inclusive work environments, increase an employer’s investment in mental health, reduce employee turnover, and normalize respect in the workplace. The findings are discussed, and recommendations are provided. Employers who intentionally prioritize and invest in their employees’ mental health will significantly reduce the costs associated with attracting and recruiting new staff due to high turnover rates. Additionally, their reputation as a preferred employer will increase.

Applications of time series analysis in epidemiology: Literature review and our experience during COVID-19 pandemic

Time series analysis is a valuable tool in epidemiology that complements the classical epidemiological models in two different ways:Prediction and forecast.Prediction is related to explaining past and current data based on various internal and external influences that may or may not have a causative role.Forecasting is an exploration of the possible future values based on the predictive ability of the model and hypothesized future values of the external and/or internal influences.The time series analysis approach has the advantage of being easier to use(in the cases of more straightforward and linear models such as Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average).Still,it is limited in forecasting time,unlike the classical models such as Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Removed.Its applicability in forecasting comes from its better accuracy for short-term prediction.In its basic form,it does not assume much theoretical knowledge of the mechanisms of spreading and mutating pathogens or the reaction of people and regulatory structures(governments,companies,etc.).Instead,it estimates from the data directly.Its predictive ability allows testing hypotheses for different factors that positively or negatively contribute to the pandemic spread;be it school closures,emerging variants,etc.It can be used in mortality or hospital risk estimation from new cases,seroprevalence studies,assessing properties of emerging variants,and estimating excess mortality and its relationship with a pandemic.

Knowledge and Preventive Practice during COVID-19 Pandemic in Bagmati Province, Nepal

Introduction: COVID-19 has become a global public health concern. In Nepal, the government has imposed lockdown, school closures, non-pharmacological interventions, isolation, and quarantine. People were asked to accept self-care interventions. However, the effectiveness of these preventive measures depends on the knowledge and practice of an individual. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between knowledge and practice among Bagmati province residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online Google Form questionnaire. A total of 296 participants completed the surveys on social media, particularly Facebook. To assess the factors associated with knowledge and practices toward COVID-19, logistic regression analysis was applied. Results: The total scores of knowledge and practice were 7.62 ± 2.06 and 11 ± 1.91, respectively. Results showed that education, people having a medical background, and occupation were significantly associated with knowledge. While urban residence, older age, and living in a rental with a shared room were significantly associated with practice. Conclusions: People with higher education, medical backgrounds, and household workers had high knowledge about COVID-19;however, knowledge was not associated with practice. There was a gap between knowledge and practice.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Management Course of Paediatric Rheumatic Diseases in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Bangladesh

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on every aspect of life. Like other chronic diseases, pediatric rheumatic diseases (PRDs) also faced unique challenges during the pandemic, including limited access to care, concerns regarding infection risk, drug shortages and social isolation. Objective: The objective of the study was to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management course of children with rheumatic diseases. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of paediatrics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka from April 2021 to March 2022. Two hundred and twenty patients were enrolled. A predesigned questionnaire was completed which included socio-demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters. Disease activity was assessed clinically and from laboratory profile. Data were calculated manually and by using SPSS version 22. Z-proportion test and chi square test were done when applicable. Results: Among the enrolled PRD cases 87.7% were Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA), 7.7% were Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and 4.6% were other cases. Irregular follow-ups were found in 69.9% JIA cases, 82.4% SLE cases and 60% other PRD cases. Poor drug compliance was present in 18.2% of cases. A significant number of patients had higher disease activity or flare during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: During COVID-19 pandemic most (70.5%) of the PRD patients were irregular in their follow-ups. Poor drug compliance was also more than in the pre-COVID period. Disease activity status significantly worsened during this period.

Huu S. TIEU’s Predicting Outcome of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Preparing the Treatment for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and Other Viral Pandemics

This project paper is to give a prediction for the future of other viral pandemics and to provide recommendations for preparing therapies that could help in the success of effective treatments and benefits for patients in life-threatening situations. The theory of prediction was proposed by Huu S. TIEU on March 25, 2019, and he hypothesized that any malfunctioning cell in the body could have a damaging effect. This paper discusses the prediction that Localized Oxygen Deprivation could be a contributing factor for a future epidemic or other viral pandemics that could affect body function. This paper is based on opinion and does not have sufficient evidence to support the claims made. Therefore, further in-depth study is needed to prove the findings. The author cites Hypoxia to support his idea, but he is not claiming that Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF) has worked on his predictions. The author also tested a theory using cow blood curd for body function, but this test was not a structured test and the findings were not supported by other evidence. To further prove the idea or theory, further study into the subject should be conducted.

Semantic Changes and Translation of Chinese Buzzwords of COVID-19 Pandemic

As a unique cultural product of the pandemic era,the COVID-19 pandemic buzzwords fully reflect the characteristics of the time.The paper applies the prototype theory to classify the semantic changes of the pandemic prevention buzzwords into two types:semantic evolution and semantic variation,and briefly discusses the implications of the prototype theory for translating the pandemic prevention propaganda slogans based on understanding the semantic changes to help people further understand the pandemic buzzwords as well as related social realities.