Number Of COVID-19 Cases Research Articles

Psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australian nurses and midwives: a cross-sectional study

Objective: To investigate the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses and midwives working in acute care settings, specifically psychological distress, self-reported concerns, and perceived impact on their work and personal lives. Background: Little is known about the psychosocial impact of the pandemic on nurses and midwives in Australia, a country with a substantially lower number of COVID-19 cases and deaths than many others. Few studies investigating the prevalence of psychological distress among nurses during the pandemic have been conducted in more than one setting, especially in the Australian context. Study design and methods: Cross-sectional survey design (STROBE checklist). Nurses and midwives (n=1,611) at four metropolitan tertiary health services in Melbourne, Australia completed an anonymous online survey between 15 May and 31 August 2020, which assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21); concerns related to COVID-19; and other effects of COVID-19. Space was provided for free-text comments. Results: Approximately one fifth of respondents reported moderate to extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Fewer years of clinical experience were significantly associated with higher levels of psychological distress. More than half of the respondents were extremely/very concerned about passing COVID-19 on to family members and about their family's health, and almost half were concerned about caring for a patient who had confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Respondents reported that certain precautionary measures such as personal protective equipment (PPE) interfered with their ability to provide optimal patient care. Positive aspects of the pandemic were also reported including a sense of togetherness and cooperation among staff. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the psychological wellbeing and work and personal lives of nurses and midwives working in acute care settings in Melbourne, Australia, particularly those with less clinical experience. Implications for nursing and health services research, policy and practice: Nurses and midwives, particularly those with less clinical experience, would benefit from additional, targeted wellbeing and support initiatives. For those with less experience, initiatives could include being partnered with more experienced colleagues and educators who can provide practical and emotional support and monitor their stress levels. What is already known about the topic? Nurses and midwives have experienced more psychological distress than other healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most studies about the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses and midwives have been conducted in a single health service. Few studies have concurrently investigated the experiences of nurses and midwives from different health services during the COVID-19 pandemic especially in the Australian context. What this paper adds Despite the relatively low number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Australia, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the psychological wellbeing and work and personal lives of Australian nurses and midwives. About one in five of the nurses and midwives surveyed reported moderate to extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress during the first wave of the pandemic. Nurses and midwives with fewer years of clinical experience experienced higher levels of psychological distress than those with more experience.

CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKET TRANSFORMATION DURING PANDEMIC COVID-19

The pandemic and subsequent changes in various spheres of human activity have also transformed consumer behavior, particularly in the cryptocurrency market. The article is aimed at identifying the priority directions of transformations taking place in the cryptocurrency market in the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic under the influence of certain groups of factors. System and network approaches to understanding the cryptocurrency market have been identified. The cryptocurrency market is considered from a functional and institutional point of view. From a functional point of view, the cryptocurrency market is a set of economic relations in cyberspace regarding cryptocurrency mining, initial coin offering (ICO) and circulation of cryptocurrencies based on the laws of supply and demand. From an institutional point of view, the cryptocurrency market is a set of participants in the virtual currency schemes who carry out cryptocurrency transactions. The following signs of cryptocurrency market segmentation are justified such as those depending on the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency; on the nature of the crypto assets movement; on operations carried out on the market; on the region; on consumers of services. Factors which influence the functioning of the cryptocurrency market are systematized according to the following groups: macroeconomic, price, environmental, geographic, market, behavioral and technological. The influence of gold, oil prices, the daily number of Covid-19 cases and deaths from Covid-19, the MSCI ACWI global stock index, the iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan ETF, the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index on the Bitcoin exchange rate is revealed. The trends in the cryptocurrency market development in the post-war period are justified, namely the growth of investors’ interest in cryptocurrencies against the background of the initial coin offering collapse; growth of payments in cryptocurrencies; strengthening the regulatory landscape on a global and national scale; integration of the cryptocurrency market with traditional finance; attracting non-typical participants to the cryptocurrency business; expansion of participants in the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market due to the rapid cryptocurrency market development, in particular, due to the production of equipment for its operation.

Determinants of Health Protocols Compliance on Office Workers

Abstract. The high number of Covid-19 cases contributed to office clusters. To reduce the spread of Covid-19, the government has implemented the 5M health protocol. However many people, especially office workers, violate this health protocol. One of the available approaches to analyze non-compliance behavior is by using the Health Belief Model (HBM). This study aims to determine the factors affecting office workers' compliance with the Covid-19 preventive health protocol, explained bythe Health BeliefModel (HBM) theory to develop health promotion programs which may contribute to the compliance level of the office workers. This research is a correlational quantitative study with a sample of 357 office workers in the Surakarta residency. The data were collected online by usings six scales uploaded in the Google Form, consisting of the perceived susceptibility scale, perceived severity scale, perceived barriers scale, perceived benefits scale, self-efficacy scale, and the Covid-19 prevention protocol compliance scale. The path analysis was carried out by using JASP 14.1 to analyze the collected data. The result shows that health protocols are greatly helped for workers by many cues/stimuli that will appear with the many perceived barriers in implementing health protocols but will increase with relevant facts. Self-efficacy plays a vital role in influencing health protocol compliance in office workers. Providing more intense education that focuses on providing solutions that workers can take when facing difficulties in implementing health protocols can be one way to further increase confidence in workers in implementing health protocols.Keywords: compliance; health belief model; health protocol; office worker

Psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australian nurses and midwives: a cross-sectional study

Objective: To investigate the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurses and midwives working in acute care settings, specifically psychological distress, self-reported concerns, and perceived impact on their work and personal lives. Background: Little is known about the psychosocial impact of the pandemic on nurses and midwives in Australia, a country with a substantially lower number of COVID-19 cases and deaths than many others. Few studies investigating the prevalence of psychological distress among nurses during the pandemic have been conducted in more than one setting, especially in the Australian context. Study design and methods: Cross-sectional survey design (STROBE checklist). Nurses and midwives (n=1,611) at four metropolitan tertiary health services in Melbourne, Australia completed an anonymous online survey between 15 May and 31 August 2020, which assessed symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress (DASS-21); concerns related to COVID-19; and other effects of COVID-19. Space was provided for free-text comments. Results: Approximately one fifth of respondents reported moderate to extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Fewer years of clinical experience were significantly associated with higher levels of psychological distress. More than half of the respondents were extremely/very concerned about passing COVID-19 on to family members and about their family's health, and almost half were concerned about caring for a patient who had confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Respondents reported that certain precautionary measures such as personal protective equipment (PPE) interfered with their ability to provide optimal patient care. Positive aspects of the pandemic were also reported including a sense of togetherness and cooperation among staff. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the psychological wellbeing and work and personal lives of nurses and midwives working in acute care settings in Melbourne, Australia, particularly those with less clinical experience. Implications for nursing and health services research, policy and practice: Nurses and midwives, particularly those with less clinical experience, would benefit from additional, targeted wellbeing and support initiatives. For those with less experience, initiatives could include being partnered with more experienced colleagues and educators who can provide practical and emotional support and monitor their stress levels.

Indonesian Community Risk Perception of COVID-19 in 2022

Introduction: In line with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases from July to early August 2022, this paper aimed to analyze the perception of COVID-19 among Indonesians. Methods: A cross-sectional online study on COVID-19 risk perception was conducted in the first week of July 2022. A questionnaire adapted from ECOM (Effective Communication in Outbreak Management for Europe) was distributed online through social media to obtain information about the respondents’ knowledge, behavior, and risk perceptions on COVID-19. Results: There were 775 respondents. Most of them were female (61.3%), lived in the eight most targeted areas (84.1%), were unmarried (52.5%), held a bachelor’s degree (38.5%), and were Muslims (80.8%). The percentages of respondents who had been infected with COVID-19 were (43.8%). Most participants believed that their knowledge level of the disease was average and above average (>91%). Of the respondents, 83.6% perceived the seriousness of COVID-19 as serious and very serious. However, the anxiety level among these respondents was moderate (slightly and quite anxious). This indicates that even though most respondents still see COVID-19 as a serious disease, their level of fear is decreasing. Compared to a previous study, most respondents in the current study were more confident of their ability to control the risks associated with the transmission of the virus. Nevertheless, they still believe that outdoor activity and not using a face mask can significantly increase the probability of getting infected. Conclusion: The risk perception of COVID-19 in Indonesian community among our study population was appropriate.

Stock market reaction to covid-19: Evidence from Vietnam

This paper examines the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic on stock market returns. In particular, COVID-19 is determined through the number of confirmed cases and the number of deaths. The research data sample was collected in Vietnam, which is an emerging country with a nascent but rapidly developing stock market during the past time. For the analytical method, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method is used to estimate the research model. The estimation results indicate that the stock market reacts negatively in both the short and long term to the information about the number of COVID-19 cases. In other words, stock market returns decline when the number of COVID-19 cases increases. However, the impact of COVID-19 deaths on stock market returns is negligible. This shows that the stock market usually reacts as soon as the number of COVID-19 cases is confirmed. Regarding COVID-19 deaths, it usually takes a certain time to update the number of COVID-19 deaths since the number of COVID-19 cases is confirmed. Moreover, Vietnam has treated COVID-19 cases quite well. Therefore, stock market investors often react insignificantly to the number of COVID-19 deaths. In addition, this study also finds the negative impact of inflation and interest rates on stock market returns. The results of this study are significant empirical evidence for Vietnam, especially in COVID-19 control and stock market development.

Global landscape of SARS-CoV-2 mutations and conserved regions

BackgroundAt the end of December 2019, a novel strain of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19) has been identified in Wuhan, a central city in China, and then spread to every corner of the globe. As of October 8, 2022, the total number of COVID-19 cases had reached over 621 million worldwide, with more than 6.56 million confirmed deaths. Since SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences change due to mutation and recombination, it is pivotal to surveil emerging variants and monitor changes for improving pandemic management.Methods10,287,271 SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence samples were downloaded in FASTA format from the GISAID databases from February 24, 2020, to April 2022. Python programming language (version 3.8.0) software was utilized to process FASTA files to identify variants and sequence conservation. The NCBI RefSeq SARS-CoV-2 genome (accession no. NC_045512.2) was considered as the reference sequence.ResultsSix mutations had more than 50% frequency in global SARS-CoV-2. These mutations include the P323L (99.3%) in NSP12, D614G (97.6) in S, the T492I (70.4) in NSP4, R203M (62.8%) in N, T60A (61.4%) in Orf9b, and P1228L (50.0%) in NSP3. In the SARS-CoV-2 genome, no mutation was observed in more than 90% of nsp11, nsp7, nsp10, nsp9, nsp8, and nsp16 regions. On the other hand, N, nsp3, S, nsp4, nsp12, and M had the maximum rate of mutations. In the S protein, the highest mutation frequency was observed in aa 508–635(0.77%) and aa 381–508 (0.43%). The highest frequency of mutation was observed in aa 66–88 (2.19%), aa 7–14, and aa 164–246 (2.92%) in M, E, and N proteins, respectively.ConclusionTherefore, monitoring SARS-CoV-2 proteomic changes and detecting hot spots mutations and conserved regions could be applied to improve the SARS‐CoV‐2 diagnostic efficiency and design safe and effective vaccines against emerging variants.

Cost benefit analysis of alternative testing and quarantine policies for travelers for infection control: A case study of Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Border control mitigates local infections but bears a heavy economic cost, especially for tourism-reliant countries. While studies have supported the efficacy of border control in suppressing cross-border transmission, the trade-off between costs from imported and secondary cases and from lost economic activities has not been studied. This case study of Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic aims to understand the impacts of varying quarantine length and testing strategies on the economy and health system. Additionally, we explored the impact of permitting unvaccinated travelers to address emerging equity concerns. We assumed that community transmission is stable and vaccination rates are high enough that inbound travelers are not dissuaded from traveling. The number of travelers was predicted considering that longer quarantine reduces willingness to travel. A micro-simulation model predicted the number of COVID-19 cases among travelers, the resultant secondary cases, and the probability of being symptomatic in each group. The incremental net monetary benefit (INB) of Singapore was quantified under each border-opening policy compared to pre-opening status, based on tourism receipts, cost/profit from testing and quarantine, and cost and health loss due to COVID-19 cases. Compared to polymerase chain reaction (PCR), rapid antigen test (ART) detects fewer imported cases but results in fewer secondary cases. Longer quarantine results in fewer cases but lower INB due to reduced tourism receipts. Assuming the proportion of unvaccinated travelers is small (8% locally and 24% globally), allowing unvaccinated travelers will accrue higher INB without exceeding the intensive care unit (ICU) capacity. The highest monthly INB from all travelers is $2,236.24 m, with 46.69 ICU cases per month, achieved with ARTs at pre-departure and on arrival without quarantine. The optimal policy in terms of highest INB is robust under changes to various model assumptions. Among all cost-benefit components, the top driver for INB is tourism receipts. With high vaccination rates locally and globally alongside stable community transmission, opening borders to travelers regardless of vaccination status will increase economic growth in the destination country. The caseloads remain manageable without exceeding ICU capacity, and costs of cases are offset by the economic value generated from travelers.

Reflections on food security and smart packaging.

Estimating the number of COVID-19 cases in 2020 exacerbated the food contamination and food supply issues. These problems make consumers more concerned about food and the need to access accurate information on food quality. One of the main methods for preserving the quality of food commodities for export, storage, and finished products is food packaging itself. In the food industry, food packaging has a significant role in the food supply which acts as a barrier against unwanted substances and preserves the quality of the food. Meanwhile, packaging waste can also harm the environment; namely, it can become waste in waterways or become garbage that accumulates because it is nonrenewable and nonbiodegradable. The problem of contaminated food caused by product packaging is also severe. Therefore, to overcome these challenges of safety, environmental impact, and sustainability, the role of food packaging becomes very important and urgent. In this review, the authors will discuss in more detail about new technologies applied in the food industry related to packaging issues to advance the utilization of Smart Packaging and Active Packaging.

Spatial Analysis to Identify Hotspots of Covid-19 Incidence in Jambi Municipality Indonesia

Jambi Municipality is the epicenter of the Covid-19 case in Jambi Province and occupies the first position as the district/city with the highest number of cases and deaths. Identification of the pattern of spatial distribution of Covid-19 cases can assist policy makers in determining the most appropriate location to provide health interventions as an effective effort to prevent and control Covid-19.This study aims to determine the spatial pattern of the distribution of Covid-19 cases at the sub-district level in Jambi City from January to December 2021. The number of Covid-19 cases by month and sub-district in Jambi City was obtained from the surveillance section of the Jambi Provincial Health Office and Jambi Municipality. This study analyzes aggregated data from 62 sub-districts in Jambi Municipality. Thematic maps of the distribution of cases and maps of hotspots were made using the free Quantum GIS 3.22 application using the Getis Ord G* method. The total cases of Covid-19 during 2021 were 8,384 cases with a tendency for cases to decrease. The results of the study showed that during the 12-month study period the pattern of distribution of cases in clusters (hotspots) was found to be consistent in Alam Barajo, Telanaipura, and Kota Baru Districts.

Delay in seeking health care from community residents during a time with low prevalence of COVID-19: A cross-sectional national survey in China.

The pandemic of COVID-19 has significant implications on health resources allocation and health care delivery. Patients with non-COVID illness may have to change their care seeking behaviors to mitigate the risk of infections. The research aimed to investigate potential delay of community residents in seeking health care at a time with an overall low prevalence of COVID-19 in China. An online survey was conducted in March 2021 on a random sample drawn from the registered survey participants of the survey platform Wenjuanxing. The respondents who reported a need for health care over the past month (n = 1,317) were asked to report their health care experiences and concerns. Logistic regression models were established to identify predictors of the delay in seeking health care. The selection of independent variables was guided by the Andersen's service utilization model. All data analyses were performed using SPSS 23.0. A two-sided p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. About 31.4% of respondents reported delay in seeking health care, with fear of infection (53.5%) as a top reason. Middle (31-59 years) age (AOR = 1.535; 95% CI, 1.132 to 2.246), lower levels of perceived controllability of COVID-19 (AOR = 1.591; 95% CI 1.187 to 2.131), living with chronic conditions (AOR = 2.008; 95% CI 1.544 to 2.611), pregnancy or co-habiting with a pregnant woman (AOR = 2.115; 95% CI 1.154 to 3.874), access to Internet-based medical care (AOR = 2.529; 95% CI 1.960 to 3.265), and higher risk level of the region (AOR = 1.736; 95% CI 1.307 to 2.334) were significant predictors of the delay in seeking health care after adjustment for variations of other variables. Medical consultations (38.7%), emergency treatment (18.2%), and obtainment of medicines (16.5%) were the top three types of delayed care, while eye, nose, and throat diseases (23.2%) and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases (20.8%) were the top two conditions relating to the delayed care. Self-treatment at home was the most likely coping strategy (34.9%), followed by Internet-based medical care (29.2%) and family/friend help (24.0%). Delay in seeking health care remained at a relatively high level when the number of new COVID-19 cases was low, which may present a serious health risk to the patients, in particular those living with chronic conditions who need continuous medical care. Fear of infection is the top reason for the delay. The delay is also associated with access to Internet-based medical care, living in a high risk region, and perceived low controllability of COVID-19.

Prevalence of Insomnia and Sleep Habits during the First and Second Wave of COVID-19 in Belgium.

Belgium has one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases per 1 million inhabitants. The pandemic has led to significant societal changes with repercussions on sleep and on mental health. We aimed to investigate the effect of the first and the second wave of COVID-19 on the sleep of the Belgian populationWe launched two online questionnaires, one during the first lockdown (7240 respondents) and one during the second (3240 respondents), to test differences in self-reported clinical insomnia (as measured by the Insomnia Severity Index) and sleep habits during the two lockdowns in comparison with the pre-COVID period. The number of persons with clinical insomnia rose during the first lockdown (19.22%) and further during the second (28.91%) in comparison with pre-lockdown (7.04-7.66%). Bed and rise times were delayed and there was an increased time in bed and sleep onset latency. There was further a decrease in total sleep time and in sleep efficiency during both confinements. The prevalence of clinical insomnia quadrupled during the second wave in comparison with the pre-lockdown situation. Sleep habits were most altered in the younger population, indicating a greater risk for this group to develop a sleep-wake rhythm disorder.

Prevalence of COVID-19 in Kidney Transplant Patients in Relation to Their Immune Status after Repeated Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination.

The prospective study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of COVID-19 in kidney transplant patients in relation to their immune status after three doses of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine during one post-pandemic year based on the experience of one center-Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences. Thirty-three patients were invited for a follow-up visit 3 to 6 weeks after anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and were obliged to report having COVID-19 during the one-year post-pandemic period. Forty-two percent of patients developed antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 after the third dose of the vaccine. The number of COVID-19 cases during the post-pandemic period did not differ significantly between seropositive and seronegative patients. However, only seronegative patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titer in seropositive patients correlated with a relative number of CD3+ cells (R = 0.685, p = 0.029). The CD8+/CD38+ ratio in this group increased 2-fold after the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Higher antibody response to the COVID-19 vaccine was associated with better kidney function. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody titer relation with the components of cellular immunity (CD3+ cells and CD8+/CD38+ ratio) shows a role of both chains during the response to the anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in kidney transplant patients.

The COVID-19 impact on crowdfunding performance: evidence from a peer to-peer lending platform

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 impact on global poverty dragged another 97 million people into poverty in 2020. Nonetheless, there is scant evidence reporting on the impacts on alternative means of financing designed to enable the poor during this global health crisis. This paper addresses this gap of funding impoverished entrepreneurs by studying the changes in their successfully funded campaigns on the largest crowdfunding microfinance platform prior and during COVID-19. After collecting data from January 2018 to November 2021 for a total of 767,112 campaigns, we report that the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacts on the funding success of the crowdfunding campaigns. However, rises in the daily number of COVID-19 cases negatively associate with campaigns getting fully funded. The odds of campaigns being fully funded decrease by 4.4% for a one thousand increase in new cases.

Implementasi Pendidikan Agama Islam Di Masa Covid-19 (Studi Kasus Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran Pai Di SMK Islamic Qon Gresik)

Qon Gresik Islamic Vocational School is a school that was established under the auspices of the AlQanaah Islamic Boarding School foundation. Qon Gresik Islamic Vocational School is a school located on Jalan Rantau Gang Masjid No.1 GKB, Manyar District, Gresik Regency, East Java Province. The large number of COVID-19 cases has hampered the learning process in schools, so the government through the ministry of education and culture issued a policy through circular letter number 4 of 2020. As stated in the second point, it was stated that the implementation of online learning was carried out to provide a learning experience. meaningful for students, without being burdened with the demands of completing all curriculum achievements for grade promotion and graduation. The change of the learning system into an online learning system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in its implementation has many obstacles, some students have difficulty, especially students whose homes are far from the reach of internet signals, coupled with the lack of mastery of technology from students' parents. thus resulting in learning delays.The purpose of this study was to find out how the implementation of Islamic religious education during the covid-19 period, and the obstacles and solutions in the implementation process. The author conducted research at Islamic Vocational School Qon Gresik by visiting the school and conducting interviews and observations. The sources in the interviews conducted by the author were the principal of the Qon Islamic Vocational School, the deputy head of the Qon Islamic Vocational School curriculum, the Islamic Religious Education subject teacher at Islamic Qon Gresik Vocational School.

Implementasi Pendidikan Agama Islam Di Masa Covid-19 (Studi Kasus Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran Pai Di SMK Islamic Qon Gresik)

: Qon Gresik Islamic Vocational School is a school that was established under the auspices of the AlQanaah Islamic Boarding School foundation. Qon Gresik Islamic Vocational School is a school located on Jalan Rantau Gang Masjid No.1 GKB, Manyar District, Gresik Regency, East Java Province. The large number of COVID-19 cases has hampered the learning process in schools, so the government through the ministry of education and culture issued a policy through circular letter number 4 of 2020. As stated in the second point, it was stated that the implementation of online learning was carried out to provide a learning experience. meaningful for students, without being burdened with the demands of completing all curriculum achievements for grade promotion and graduation. The change of the learning system into an online learning system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in its implementation has many obstacles, some students have difficulty, especially students whose homes are far from the reach of internet signals, coupled with the lack of mastery of technology from students' parents. thus resulting in learning delays.The purpose of this study was to find out how the implementation of Islamic religious education during the covid-19 period, and the obstacles and solutions in the implementation process. The author conducted research at Islamic Vocational School Qon Gresik by visiting the school and conducting interviews and observations. The sources in the interviews conducted by the author were the principal of the Qon Islamic Vocational School, the deputy head of the Qon Islamic Vocational School curriculum, the Islamic Religious Education subject teacher at Islamic Qon Gresik Vocational School.

Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and methotrexate are associated with decreased COVID-19-related hospitalization: Follow up of “Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients taking tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and methotrexate”

Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and methotrexate are associated with decreased COVID-19-related hospitalization: Follow up of “Clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in patients taking tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and methotrexate”

An Investigation for Future Practice of Elective Hip and Knee Arthroplasties during COVID-19 in Romania.

Background and Objectives: Elective arthroplasty in Romania has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effects are not quantified so far. The aim of this paper is to determine the impact of COVID-19 on arthroplasty interventions and how they varied in Romania. Materials and Methods: We performed a national retrospective analysis of patients who underwent primary and revision elective hip and knee interventions at the 120 orthopedic-traumatology hospitals in Romania that are registered in the National Endoprosthesis Registry from 1 January 2019 to 1 September 2022. First, we examined the monthly trend in the number of surgeries for seven categories of arthroplasties. We calculated the percentage change in the average number of cases per month and compared them with other types of interventions. We then examined the percentage change in the average monthly number of arthroplasty cases, relative to the number of COVID-19 cases reported nationwide, the influence of the pandemic on length of hospital stay, and the percentage of patients discharged at home who no longer follow recovery protocols. Finally, we calculated the impact of the pandemic on hospital revenues. Results: There was an abrupt decrease in the volume of primary interventions in hip and knee patients by up to 69.14% with a low degree of patient care, while the average duration of scheduled hospitalizations increased. We found a 1-2-day decrease in length of hospital stays for explored arthroplasties. We saw an increasing trend of home discharge, which was higher for primary interventions compared to revision interventions. The total hospital revenues were 50.96% lower in 2020 compared to 2019, and are currently increasing, with the 2022 estimate being 81.46%. Conclusions: The conclusion of this study is that the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the volume of arthroplasty of the 120 hospitals in Romania, which also had unfavorable financial implications. We proposed the development of new procedures and alternative clinical solutions, as well as personalized home recovery programs, to be activated if necessary, for possible future outbreaks.

Individuals with a previous symptomatic COVID-19 infection have altered heart rate and blood pressure variability during acute exercise.

Introduction: As the number of COVID-19 cases begin to diminish it is important to turn our attention to any long-term issues that may be associated with a prior infection. Cardiovascular defects have been noted following prior SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, less is known about how a previous infection alters the cardiovascular response to exercise. Further, differences may exist during exercise between previously SARS-CoV-2 positive individuals who had symptoms (symptomatic) relative to those who did not have symptoms (asymptomatic). We hypothesized that previously symptomatic (S) COVID-19 recoveries have an altered cardiovascular response to acute exercise relative to both control (CON; never infected), and previously COVID-19 positive asymptomatic (AS) individuals. Methods: Twenty-seven subjects (CON = 9; AS = 9; S = 9) underwent 30min of submaximal treadmill exercise. During exercise, blood pressure was recorded on the brachial artery every 5min and 3-lead electrocardiography was measured continuously. Indirect indicators of autonomic nervous system health: heart rate variability and blood pressure variability were measured during each session. Baseline mean arterial pressure (MAP) was taken prior to exercise in seated, standing and supine positions. Results: Blood pressure was similar (p > 0.05) amongst all three groups. There were no differences between average heart rate (HR; CON = 104 ± 4 BPM vs AS = 118 ± 6 BPM vs. S = 112 ± 3 BPM), mean arterial pressure (MAP; CON = 108 ± 4mmHg vs. AS = 105 ± 13mmHg vs. S = 108 ± 7mmHg) or oxygen consumption (VO2) between groups during a bout of exercise. However, the standard deviation of the inter beat intervals of normal sinus beats, a measure of heart rate variability (HRV) (CON = 138 ± 2.8m vs. AS = 156 ± 6m vs. S = 77.7 ± 11m; p < 0.05) and blood pressure variability (BPV; CON = 5.18 ± 1.1 vs. AS = 12.1 ± 0.88mmHg vs. S = 10.2 ± 10.7mmHg; p < 0.05) were different in our S group. Further, when HRV was assessed in the frequency domain the very low frequency was different during exercise in the S group relative to the other groups. Discussion: Collectively, these data suggest that a previous symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection may alter heart rate and blood pressure regulation during exercise.

Comparing COVID-19 vaccine passports attitudes across countries by analysing Reddit comments

Topic mining and sentiment polarity analysis together can adequately represent the topics and attitudes of users. The goal of this article is to use Reddit’s location-based subreddits to look at country-level differences in attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine passports. We used sentiment analysis and latent topic modelling on textual data obtained from 18 Reddit communities concentrating on COVID-19 vaccine passports from 1 January 2021 to 28 February 2022 to study COVID-19 vaccine passports–related discussion on Reddit. To discover changes in sentiment and latent topics, 11,168 comments were aggregated and examined by month. The number of comments on postings from country-specific subreddits was positively proportional to the number of new COVID-19 cases reported each day. The more subjective expressions and positive/negative interpretations occurred after July 2021. Communities indicated more positive sentiment than negative sentiment towards vaccine passports–related topics, according to polarity analysis. Topic modelling found that community members were concerned about a variety of concerns related to their socioeconomic status. Throughout the topic modelling, keywords suggesting people’s privacy concerns and acceptance of various COVID-19 control methods were found. The use of public opinion and topic modelling to analyse vaccine passports could help with important global health informatics concerns associated with their socioeconomic status.