Global Health Systems Research Articles

Corona Virus (COVID-19) Vaccine: Challenges and Prospects in Nigeria: A Review

The emergence of the novel Corona virus disease (COVID-19) in Wuhan city, China, in December, 2019 ushered in changes in the state of events globally. The pandemic has shaken the global health system and economy to their bases.

Anthropological Engagements with Global Health

Epidemic infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, Ebola, and more recently COVID-19, have persistent and devastating impacts in human populations across the globe. In this Review essay, we consider together the monographs Epidemic Illusions (Richardson 2021) and Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds (Farmer 2020), as well as the documentary film Bending the Arc (Davidson and Kos 2017), Together, they demonstrate the history of transnational colonialism, the significance of structural violence as a contributor to global health inequity, and the increasing presence of co-occurring epidemics worldwide, topics which are often absent from discussions of global health systems. These three works discuss epidemics as pathologies of history and sociocultural patterns of colonial dispossession in global health systems; the inclusion of patient narratives in two of them, the film Bending the Arc and the book Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds, is pivotal in describing the intricacies of HIV infection and other infectious diseases, as well as the complexity of gaining control of syndemic diseases. Further, these three materials point to the importance of health education in communities and of access to healthcare by community members, and to the roles that health education and access play in health policy implementation.

Breaking down the cell wall: Still an attractive antibacterial strategy.

Since the advent of penicillin, humans have known about and explored the phenomenon of bacterial inhibition via antibiotics. However, with changes in the global environment and the abuse of antibiotics, resistance mechanisms have been selected in bacteria, presenting huge threats and challenges to the global medical and health system. Thus, the study and development of new antimicrobials is of unprecedented urgency and difficulty. Bacteria surround themselves with a cell wall to maintain cell rigidity and protect against environmental insults. Humans have taken advantage of antibiotics to target the bacterial cell wall, yielding some of the most widely used antibiotics to date. The cell wall is essential for bacterial growth and virulence but is absent from humans, remaining a high-priority target for antibiotic screening throughout the antibiotic era. Here, we review the extensively studied targets, i.e., MurA, MurB, MurC, MurD, MurE, MurF, Alr, Ddl, MurI, MurG, lipid A, and BamA in the cell wall, starting from the very beginning to the latest developments to elucidate antimicrobial screening. Furthermore, recent advances, including MraY and MsbA in peptidoglycan and lipopolysaccharide, and tagO, LtaS, LspA, Lgt, Lnt, Tol-Pal, MntC, and OspA in teichoic acid and lipoprotein, have also been profoundly discussed. The review further highlights that the application of new methods such as macromolecular labeling, compound libraries construction, and structure-based drug design will inspire researchers to screen ideal antibiotics.

Bioinformatics and systems-biology analysis to determine the effects of Coronavirus disease 2019 on patients with allergic asthma

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has posed a significant challenge for global health systems. Increasing evidence shows that asthma phenotypes and comorbidities are major risk factors for COVID-19 symptom severity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the association between COVID-19 and asthma are poorly understood. Therefore, we conducted bioinformatics and systems biology analysis to identify common pathways and molecular biomarkers in patients with COVID-19 and asthma, as well as potential molecular mechanisms and candidate drugs for treating patients with both COVID-19 and asthma.MethodsTwo sets of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the GSE171110 and GSE143192 datasets were intersected to identify common hub genes, shared pathways, and candidate drugs. In addition, murine models were utilized to explore the expression levels and associations of the hub genes in asthma and lung inflammation/injury.ResultsWe discovered 157 common DEGs between the asthma and COVID-19 datasets. A protein–protein-interaction network was built using various combinatorial statistical approaches and bioinformatics tools, which revealed several hub genes and critical modules. Six of the hub genes were markedly elevated in murine asthmatic lungs and were positively associated with IL-5, IL-13 and MUC5AC, which are the key mediators of allergic asthma. Gene Ontology and pathway analysis revealed common associations between asthma and COVID-19 progression. Finally, we identified transcription factor–gene interactions, DEG–microRNA coregulatory networks, and potential drug and chemical-compound interactions using the hub genes.ConclusionWe identified the top 15 hub genes that can be used as novel biomarkers of COVID-19 and asthma and discovered several promising candidate drugs that might be helpful for treating patients with COVID-19 and asthma.

Diagnosis for global health: Threats of infectious disease and why we continue to ignore them.

In a matter of several weeks, an unknown infectious agent spread over the entire globe; it infected over 2.2 million people and killed at least 150,000 (as of April 2020). This infectious agent has been identified as a novel coronavirus and is now known as COVID-19. In 2007, Cheng et al. warned us of the reemerging ability of coronaviruses and the “ticking time bomb” that awaits. In 2008, Talbot et al. also warned that SARS was only the tip of the iceberg with regards to coronaviruses. There has been an endless amount of information available about how to prevent and minimize the risk of future outbreaks. We knew the importance of implementing these strategies 16 years ago; nonetheless, the number of people infected by COVID-19 are climbing each day. SARS was not the only infectious disease we could have learned from: a more recent example is Ebola. In 2015, Bill Gates discussed the impact of Ebola, warned that “if anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war”, and made suggestions to invest in stronger public health systems. We had the time to implement these suggestions made over the years, yet they were not taken seriously and for the current pandemic, it is too late to use preventative measures as we are managing the consequences. Hopefully, in the world post-COVID-19, these important lessons will finally be applied and our global health system will become stronger.

Acceptance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines among healthcare workers: A meta-analysis.

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed increasing challenges to global health systems. Vaccination against COVID-19 can effectively prevent the public, particularly healthcare workers (HCWs), from being infected by this disease.ObjectivesWe aim to understand the factors influencing HCWs' acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase and Web of Science to collect literature published before May 15, 2022, about HCWs' acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. The Newcastle–Ottawa quality assessment scale was used to assess the risk of bias and the quality of the included studies. We utilized Stata 14.0 software for this meta-analysis with a random-effects model, and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported. This meta-analysis was conducted in alignment with the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) guideline.ResultsOur meta-analysis included 71 articles with 93,508 HCWs involved. The research showed that the acceptance of vaccines had significantly increased among HCWs compared to non-HCWs (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.16–3.12). A willingness to undergo COVID-19 vaccination was observed in 66% (95% CI: 0.61–0.67) of HCWs. Among the HCWs involved, doctors showed a generally increased intention to be vaccinated compared with nurses (OR = 2.22, 95% CI: 1.71–2.89). Additionally, males were found to hold more positive attitudes toward vaccination than females (OR = 1.81, 95% CI: 1.55–2.12). When the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines was improved, the vaccination acceptance of HCWs was greatly increased accordingly (OR = 5.03, 95% CI: 2.77–9.11). The HCWs who were willing to vaccinate against seasonal influenza showed an increased acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines (OR = 3.52, 95% CI: 2.34–5.28). Our study also showed that HCWs who were willing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 experienced a reduced rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.66–0.92).ConclusionsOur analysis revealed that the five factors of occupation, gender, vaccine effectiveness, seasonal influenza vaccines, and SARS-CoV-2 infection presumably affected the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines among HCWs. It is essential to boost the confidence of HCWs in COVID-19 vaccines for the containment of the epidemic.

Challenge of New Norms: Obesity amid COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic aggravated the global public health system, which is already overwhelmed by the increasing statistics of comorbidities and burden due to obesity. The number of individuals with obesity and obesity-associated diseases are rising in many regions that could attribute to the growing obesogenic environment and the lockdown implemented to curb COVID-19. This review focuses on the aspects of the obesity epidemic, chronic inflammatory effects of obesity, positive outcomes of obesity interventions and the worsening effects observed in obese COVID-19 patients. The chronic inflammatory effects of obesity are apparent by the increase of pro-inflammatory signals by immune cells in the adipose tissue and reactive species populations. The reduction of antioxidants exacerbates the effects of oxidative stress on genomic and tissue levels. The public must be made aware of the importance of practising a healthier lifestyle, even more now as we are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture Environments: Unravelling the Complexity and Connectivity of the Underlying Societal Drivers.

Food production environments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are recognized as posing significant and increasing risks to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the greatest threats to global public health and food security systems. In order to maximize and expedite action in mitigating AMR, the World Bank and AMR Global Leaders Group have recommended that AMR is integrated into wider sustainable development strategies. Thus, there is an urgent need for tools to support decision makers in unravelling the complex social and environmental factors driving AMR in LMIC food-producing environments and in demonstrating meaningful connectivity with other sustainable development issues. Here, we applied the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) conceptual framework to an aquaculture case study site in rural Bangladesh, through the analysis of distinct social, microbiological, and metagenomic data sets. We show how the DPSIR framework supports the integration of these diverse data sets, first to systematically characterize the complex network of societal drivers of AMR in these environments and second to delineate the connectivity between AMR and wider sustainable development issues. Our study illustrates the complexity and challenges of addressing AMR in rural aquaculture environments and supports efforts to implement global policy aimed at mitigating AMR in aquaculture and other rural LMIC food-producing environments.

The US Food and Drug Administration Sentinel System: a national resource for a learning health system.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) created the Sentinel System in response to a requirement in the FDA Amendments Act of 2007 that the agency establish a system for monitoring risks associated with drug and biologic products using data from disparate sources. The Sentinel System has completed hundreds of analyses, including many that have directly informed regulatory decisions. The Sentinel System also was designed to support a national infrastructure for a learning health system. Sentinel governance and guiding principles were designed to facilitate Sentinel's role as a national resource. The Sentinel System infrastructure now supports multiple non-FDA projects for stakeholders ranging from regulated industry to other federal agencies, international regulators, and academics. The Sentinel System is a working example of a learning health system that is expanding with the potential to create a global learning health system that can support medical product safety assessments and other research.

From War to Change, from Resistance to Resilience: Vicariance, Bricolage and Exaptation as New Metaphors to Frame the Post COVID-19 Era

In complex societal contexts, resilience seems the only way to survive and prosper. This is even truer when considering the present COVID-19 pandemic and its detrimental effects on global health systems and on every aspect of life. The impact was so deep that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency on 30 January 2020. Accordingly, governments declared border closures, travel restrictions, and quarantines in the world’s largest economies, also giving rise to socio-economic recessions. There is wide literature on the pandemic’s impacts on people’s minds and societies, yet still few studies have investigated this topic holistically, examining how language shapes both human and social sides of COVID-19’s impacts. To fill this gap, this work discusses the need for new metaphorical clusters—bricolage, vicariance, and exaptation—as social sense makers to reframe a positive socially resilient response after COVID-19.

"The reputation premium": does hospital ranking improvement lead to a higher healthcare spending?

Global health systems have often disclosed hospital quality and performance information via hospital ranking or rating programs over the last 20years. This study aims to examine the relationship between hospital ranking and healthcare spending. Using the Basic Medical Insurance claims data from a big city in central China and the hospital ranking data from the Fudan Chinese Hospital League Table from 2016 to 2018, this study exploits the variation of hospital reputable ranking across hospitals and periods to employ the difference-in-differences (DiD) design. To alleviate the self-selection bias emerging from inpatients' selection of hospitals and the extrapolation bias emerging from the potential mis-specification of our linear model, we combine the DiD design with the 3-to-1 optimal Mahalanobis metric matching method. This study finds that ceteris paribus one hospital ascending from the Regional Famous Hospital Group to the National Famous Hospital Group significantly increases inpatients' total healthcare costs, reimbursement costs, and out-of-pocket costs by 5.9%, 6.2%, and 4.0%, respectively. Mechanism analysis reveals that it should be attributed more to physician moral hazard than patient willingness-to-pay. Leads and lags (event study) analysis validates our DiD identification framework and shows that the impact materializes slowly but significantly. In the robustness check, we transfer the outcome variables from the log value to the level value and control five digits of ICD-10 for the disease fixed-effects. The results are highly robust.

An efficient deep neural network framework for COVID-19 lung infection segmentation

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2020, it has significantly affected the global health system. The use of deep learning technology to automatically segment pneumonia lesions from Computed Tomography (CT) images can greatly reduce the workload of physicians and expand traditional diagnostic methods. However, there are still some challenges to tackle the task, including obtaining high-quality annotations and subtle differences between classes. In the present study, a novel deep neural network based on Resnet architecture is proposed to automatically segment infected areas from CT images. To reduce the annotation cost, a Vector Quantized Variational AutoEncoder (VQ-VAE) branch is added to reconstruct the input images for purpose of regularizing the shared decoder and the latent maps of the VQ-VAE are utilized to further improve the feature representation. Moreover, a novel proportions loss is presented for mitigating class imbalance and enhance the generalization ability of the model. In addition, a semi-supervised mechanism based on adversarial learning to the network has been proposed, which can utilize the information of the trusted region in unlabeled images to further regularize the network. Extensive experiments on the COVID-SemiSeg are performed to verify the superiority of the proposed method, and the results are in line with expectations.

Gender equality in the 21st century: Overcoming barriers to women's leadership in global health.

The purpose of this manuscript is to provide an overview of the significant role that women play in providing global health care, barriers encountered to achieving gender equality in global health leadership, and to propose key recommendations for advancing gender equality in global health decision-making through the integration of gender mainstreaming, gender-based analysis, and gender transformative leadership (GTL) approaches. Data were evaluated to determine the participation rate of women in global health care and social sector roles in comparison to men. Gender equality data from the United Nations, World Health Organization, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Labour Organization, and other resources were analyzed to assess the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on gender equality with an emphasis on women in global health leadership positions, the health care and social sector, and gender equality measures for girls and women throughout the world. The literature was examined to identify persistent barriers to gender equality in global health leadership positions. Additionally, a review of the literature was conducted to identify key strategies and recommendations for achieving gender equality in global health decision-making; integrating gender mainstreaming; conducting gender-based analysis; and adopting GTL programs, incentives, and policies to advance gender equality in global health organizations. Women represent 70% of the health and social care sector global workforce but only 25% of senior global health leadership roles. Since 2018, there has been a lack of meaningful change in the gender equality policy arenas at global health organizations that has led to significant increases in women serving in global leadership decision-making senior positions. During the pandemic in 2020, there were nearly 100 open vacancies-one-quarter of CEO and board chair positions-at global health organizations, but none were filled by women. Women disproportionately provide caregiving and unpaid care work, and the pandemic has increased this burden with women spending 15 hoursa week more on domestic labor than men. A lack of uniform, state-sponsored paid parental leave and support for childcare, eldercare, and caregiving, which is overwhelmingly assumed by women, serve as major barriers to gender parity in global health leadership and the career advancement of women. The pandemic has adversely impacted women in global health care and social sector roles. During the pandemic, there has been a widening of the gender pay gap, a lack of gains for women in global health leadership positions, an increase in caregiving responsibilities for women, and more women and girls have been pushed back into extreme poverty than men and boys. Globally, there is still resistance to women serving in senior leadership roles, and social and cultural norms, gender stereotypes, and restrictions on women's rights are deeply intertwined with barriers that reinforce gender inequality in global health leadership. To ensure comprehensive human rights and that equitable workforce opportunities are available, the concept of gender equality must be expanded within the global health community to consistently include not only women and girls and men and boys, but also persons who identify as nonbinary and gender nonconforming. Efforts to eliminate remnants of systemic and structural gender discrimination must also incorporate gender mainstreaming, gender-based analysis, and gender transformative approaches to achieve gender equality throughout global health systems and organizations.

Recent advances in clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-based detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2

严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2(SARS-CoV-2)导致的新冠肺炎(COVID-19)迅速蔓延全球,给全球公共卫生系统带来了挑战。由于逆转录-定量聚合酶链反应(RT-qPCR)和抗原测试的普遍适用性和灵敏度较差,并且具有不同突变的SARS-CoV-2变体持续的出现,给疫情防控带来了更大的挑战,因此,高灵敏度、无需设备并且能够区分SARS-CoV-2变体的诊断方法亟须发展。基于成簇的规则间隔短回文重复序列(CRISPR)的诊断对设备要求低,具有可编程性、灵敏性和易用性,已经发展出多种核酸检测工具用于传染病的诊断,其在临床上具有巨大的应用潜力。文章聚焦于近期发表的基于CRISPR实现SARS-CoV-2检测和变体区分的最新技术,总结其特点并对其发展进行了展望。

Traumatic Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: Correlation of Imaging Findings with Neurological Outcome

Abstracts Background Traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) is extremely costly to the global health system. Due to the significant frequency rate of traumatic cervical spinal cord injuries (TCSCI), the possible association between imaging findings and clinical outcome is not yet clear. In this study, we quantified maximum spinal cord compression and maximum cord swelling following TCSCI and determined the relevance of imaging findings to clinical outcome in patients. Materials and Methods This retrospective cohort comprises 20 patients with TCSCIs (C3-C7), classified as complete, incomplete, and no SCI, who were treated at the Poursina Hospital, Iran, from 2018 to 2020, and underwent spinal surgery. Patients with penetrating injuries and multiple trauma were excluded. Imaging findings revealing spinal cord compression, swelling, and canal stenosis, based on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale (AIS) grades of patients from hospital admission (up to 48 hours after injury) and improvement of postoperative neurological symptoms (6–12 months) were evaluated. Results Cord compression (p = 0.05) and cord swelling (p = 0.02) were significantly related to predictive neurological outcomes in all cases. Evaluation with AIS at hospital admission and at 6 to 12 months postoperatively showed significant correlation with fracture type (p = 0.05) and the longitudinal length of the intramedullary lesion (IML); p = 0.01, respectively. Conclusion According to the results obtained in this study, it may be concluded that there is a significant association between cervical spinal cord compression and swelling, and clinical outcomes in patients with complete, incomplete, and no SCI.

Global Shortage of Nurses Continues

Nurses play an important role in providing healthcare to individuals, families, and communities. One of the major challenges that global health systems face is a nursing workforce shortage. Various factors such as job dissatisfaction, intention to leave, and burnout are some of the predictors of nurse turnover. Another significant concern is whether the profession will be able to attract enough nurses to care for populations in the future. To ensure a healthy population, governments and health policymakers around the world must invest in nursing and healthcare and pay attention to the needs of health systems. To avoid a shortage among nurses, the government and relevant policymakers should pay highly on this issue as it may impact our future healthcare systems.

SARS-CoV-2 and Skin: New Insights and Perspectives.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has disrupted global health systems and brought the entire globe to its knees. Although born as a disease of the respiratory system, COVID-19 can affect different parts of the body, including the skin. Reports of ongoing skin manifestations of COVID-19 have gradually multiplied, pushing researchers to investigate the etiopathogenic mechanisms underlying these phenomena in more depth. In an attempt to investigate the possible association between SARS-CoV-2, ACE2, TMPRSS2 and skin manifestations, we performed immunohistochemical investigations of the ACE2 receptor and TMPRSS2 in nine skin samples from SARS-CoV-2-positive patients compared to a cohort of healthy controls. Furthermore, after consulting public databases regarding ACE2 mRNA expression in various cell populations resident in the skin, we conducted a literature review aimed at outlining the current state of this topic. We did not find statistically different immuno-expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 between the group of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients (nine skin biopsies) and the control group. Regarding ACE2, major immunolabeling was present in the epidermal keratinocytes and, rarely, in the fibroblasts and in the adenomeres of the eccrine sweat glands. Regarding the immune expression of TMPRSS2, we found no significant differences between the two groups, with a weak immune staining only in some skin cytotypes. From the review of the literature, we isolated 35 relevant articles according to the inclusion criteria adopted. ACE2 appears to be a target of SARS-CoV-2, although, other receptor molecules may potentially be implicated, such as TMPRSS2. Future studies with large cases and different molecular investigative methods are needed to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying the skin manifestations of SARS-CoV-2.

An Extensive Review on the Development of Plant-Based Vaccines against SARS-Cov-2 and Respiratory Disorders Using Plant Biotechnology Platform

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most recent of numerous pathogenic viral pandemics that have posed risks to global health. Its exponentially expanding global transmission is placing pressure on the global health system. There are currently a large number of COVID-19 candidate vaccines on the market, and there is fierce worldwide competition to obtain the most vaccinations for each nation. The main objective among several nations during the exceptional COVID-19 epidemic has been to build herd immunity through the planning of large-scale vaccination efforts. However, the availability of vaccines has been a challenge for developing countries. However, there are strains in the world's vaccine manufacturing as a result of the high demand. This international effort aims to develop plant-based heterologous expression systems, virus-like particles (VLPs)-vaccines, antiviral drugs, a rapid supply of antigen-antibodies for detecting kits, and plant-origin bioactive compounds that boost immunity and provide tolerance to fight against virus infection, also includes the use of a plant biotechnology-based expression system for vaccine production. Due to possible benefits including low cost, high manufacturing volume, and physicochemical characteristics, the idea of a plant-based vaccination has gained more and more momentum in recent years. By utilising local commodities, we suggest plant-based vaccines as an appealing alternative to widespread and inexpensive vaccination methods against COVID-19 in this review. Additionally, we discussed the processes of action, necessary standards, and prospects for applying unique biotechnology tools in near future.

Bodies in peril: Healthcare workers on the frontlines of global maternal health interventions

ABSTRACT Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in maternity settings in Tanzania and Pakistan, we argue that ‘bodywork’ condenses all politically and practically at stake for maternal healthcare providers. Our research confronts how global health programmes expect paramedical providers working on the frontlines of obstetrics to implement interventions without also attending to violent everyday realities of providing care amidst structural constraint and precarity. We demonstrate this approach's dire aftermaths. Healthcare workers’ bodies evidence risks and injuries not only attendant on care in lower-resource settings, but which unfold specifically from their efforts to meet the onerous demands of global health systems. Toxic hospital environments represent a paradox of care – medicine exposes patients and providers to greater risks than if medicine were not involved – but this inherent riskiness barely registers. Elisions of healthcare providers’ experiences of harm are telling; they reveal global health’s neglect of occupational risk and a racialised under-attention and under-valuing of the risks carried by bodies of colour, and women especially. We trace and corroborate providers’ experiences of threats to their wellbeing while enacting global health agendas. We conclude with a provocation that social scientists’ bedside witnessing must result in actionable evidence if a more sustainable global health is to prevail.

Predict psychological vulnerability based on the pathological personality traits and uncertainty intolerance of COVID-19 ward nurses

Introduction: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has challenged the global health system and put much psychological pressure on nurses who are responsible for providing primary health services. Aim: The present study aimed to predict psychological vulnerability based on the pathological personality traits and uncertainty intolerance of COVID-19 ward nurses. Method: The present research was a descriptive correlational study. The statistical population consisted of 153 nurses working in the COVID-19 wards in Tohid, Kowsar, and Be’sat hospitals in Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran, within winter 2020 to spring 2021 using convenience sampling. The Psychological Vulnerability Scale, Pathological Personality Traits Scale and Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale were used to collect the data. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used to analyze the data using SPSS-22 software. Results: The results of correlation analysis showed that the psychological vulnerability variable was significantly associated with pathological personality traits and uncertainty intolerance in nurses (P<0.01). Additionally, based on the results of regression analysis, 59% of the variance of the psychological vulnerability variable was predictable with the help of predictor variables (i.e., pathological personality traits and uncertainty intolerance) (P<0.01). Conclusion: Pathological personality traits and uncertainty intolerance play an essential role in the psychological vulnerability of nurses during COVID-19. It is recommended to provide nurses with necessary psychological training to strengthen their positive emotions and improve uncertainty tolerance.