WHO Announcement Research Articles

COVID Pandemic Aftermath: Changing Dynamics on Cosmetic and Aesthetic Surgery Demands.

After the WHO's announcement of the pandemic, the quarantine process started in the country. Suspension of elective surgeries was part of these measures. Having most of its cases as elective operations, plastic and aesthetic surgery became one of the branches most affected by the pandemic process. According to the annual statistical reports of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2020 has been the first year in which a decline was experienced in the number of plastic surgery cases performed since the early 2000s. However, presumably, an increase in demand that occurred in the period after the restrictions was reported as well. In this study, we aim to analyze the role of the pandemic on this increased volume of cosmetic surgeries. Data about the number of cosmetic operations were collected from a multidisciplinary hospital, centrally located in Istanbul, Turkey. A prospective survey was conducted to question the sources of motivation of the patients who would undergo surgery. A total of 95 (out of 118) patients fully completed the questionnaires. The number of cosmetic operations in the plastic surgery department of the hospital increased by 49.4% in 2021, compared to 2020, and increased by 29.7% compared to 2019. The number of operations in all disciplines increased by 33.4% in 2021, compared to 2020, and increased by 13.3% compared to 2019. The six most marked motivations were evaluated separately according to the types of surgery. Despite the variation due to the type of the operations, "the desire to look better after the pandemic" was the leading reason for undergoing surgery with 46.3% (n = 44). It was also seen that the most significant motivation was "had cosmetic surgery before" with approximately 44.2% among the patients who had undergone cosmetic surgery. One of the branches most affected by the outcomes of COVID-19 in many aspects is plastic surgery. The wave of excessive demand following the great decline in the number of operations during the pandemic cannot be evaluated independently from the effects of the pandemic on individuals. Although some of the rules that the pandemic has brought to our lives have begun to lose their validity, social life virtualized and isolated by the 'new normal' will be affecting patients for years. At this point, it is of primary importance for plastic surgeons to understand the needs and concerns of patients in order to adapt to the changing patient demands. This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Psychological and behavioral responses to the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic: A comparative study of Hong Kong, Singapore, and the U.S.

What is the effect of declaring a pandemic? This research assesses behavioral and psychological responses to the WHO declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the U.S. We surveyed 3,032 members of the general public in these three regions about the preventative actions they were taking and their worries related to COVID-19. The WHO announcement on March 11th, 2020 created a quasi-experimental test of responses immediately before versus after the announcement. The declaration of the pandemic increased worries about the capacity of the local healthcare system in each region, as well as the proportion of people engaging in preventative actions, including actions not recommended by medical professionals. The number of actions taken correlates positively with anxiety and worries. Declaring the COVID-19 crisis as a pandemic had tangible effects–positive (increased community engagement) and negative (increased generalized anxiety)–which manifested differently across regions in line with expectancy disconfirmation theory.

Analisis reaksi pasar modal terhadap berbagai pengumuman kasus Covid-19 pada fase awal

The capital market is an investment place that is developing quite rapidly today. When investing in the capital market, investors are facing a trade off between return and risk. The purpose of this study is to analyze the reaction of the capital market to news related to the Covid-19 case in the early stages of the pandemic by using an event study, part of the theory of market efficiency. The announcements that were studied were the reactions: 1) Announcement of the initial appearance of Covid-19, 2). WHO announcement has declared Covid19 a global pandemic, 3). Announcement of spike in Covid-19 cases to reach 10,000. This study used stocks that join the LQ45 index as the population. Furthermore, the technique of determining the sample is a saturated sample. The results show that the capital market reacts to the 3 series of events studied. In addition, there is an abnormal return. This shows that the market is working efficiently in a semi-strong form. Furthermore, based on the paired sample T-test, there is no difference in TVA and transaction frequency before and after the event. For companies that are expected to develop strategies to minimize the occurrence of a significant decline in stock prices due to force majeure events. In terms of investors, this research provides information signals to them that force majeure events can affect market performance.

Healthcare Workers' Worries and Monkeypox Vaccine Advocacy during the First Month of the WHO Monkeypox Alert: Cross-Sectional Survey in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Monkeypox virus re-surged in May 2022 as a new potential global health threat, with outbreaks bursting in multiple countries across different continents. This study was conducted in Saudi Arabia during the first month following the WHO announcement of the Monkeypox outbreak, to assess healthcare workers (HCWs) perceptions of, worries concerning, and vaccine acceptance for, Monkeypox, in light of the resolving COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A national cross-sectional survey was conducted between 27 May and 10 June 2022, in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected on: HCWs’ sociodemographic and job-related characteristics; COVID-19 infection status; and worries concerning Monkeypox, compared to COVID-19 and its sources; as well as their perceptions and awareness of, and advocacy for, supporting Monkeypox vaccination. Results: A total of 1130 HCWs completed the survey, of which 41.6% have already developed COVID-19. However, 56.5% were more concerned about COVID-19 compared to Monkeypox, while the rest were more worried about Monkeypox disease. The main cause for concern among 68.8% of the participants was the development of another worldwide pandemic, post-COVID-19, followed by their concern of either themselves or their families contracting the infection (49.6%). Most HCWs (60%) rated their level of self-awareness of Monkeypox disease as moderate to high. Males, and those who had previously developed COVID-19, were significantly less likely to worry about Monkeypox. The worry about Monkeypox developing into a pandemic, and the perception of Monkeypox being a severe disease, correlated significantly positively with the odds of high worry concerning the disease. The major predictors of participants’ advocacy for vaccination against Monkeypox disease were: those who had developed COVID-19 previously; and those who supported tighter infection control measures (than those currently used) to combat the disease. A total of 74.2% of the surveyed HCWs perceived that they needed to read more about Monkeypox disease. Conclusions: Approximately half of the HCWs in this study were more concerned about Monkeypox disease than COVID-19, particularly regarding its possible progression into a new pandemic, during the first month following the WHO’s Monkeypox international alert. In addition, the majority of participants were in favor of applying tighter infection prevention measures to combat the disease. The current study highlights areas requiring attention for healthcare administrators regarding HCWs’ perceptions and preparedness for Monkeypox, especially in the event of a local or international pandemic.

Monkeypox caused less worry than COVID-19 among the general population during the first month of the WHO Monkeypox alert: Experience from Saudi Arabia

BackgroundMonkeypox re-emerged in May 2022 as another global health threat. This study assessed the public's perception, worries, and vaccine acceptance for Monkeypox and COVID-19 during the first month of WHO announcement. MethodsA large-scale, cross-sectional survey was conducted between May 27 and June 5, 2022, in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, previous infection with COVID-19, worry levels regarding Monkeypox compared to COVID-19, awareness, and perceptions of Monkeypox, and vaccine acceptance. ResultsAmong the 1546 participants, most respondents (62%) were more worried about COVID-19 than Monkeypox. Respondents aged 45 years and above and those with a university degree or higher had lower odds of agreement with Monkeypox vaccination (OR 0.871, p-value 0.006, OR 0.719, p-value <0.001), respectively. Respondents with moderate to a high level of self and family commitment to infection control precautionary measures and those who expressed self and family worry of Monkeypox infection had significantly higher odds of vaccination agreement (OR 1.089 p-value = 0.047, OR1.395 p-value = 0.003) respectively. On the other hand, respondents who previously developed COVID-19 were significantly more worried about the Monkeypox disease (1.30 times more, p-value = 0.020). ConclusionWorry levels amongst the public are higher from COVID-19 than Monkeypox. Perception of Monkeypox as a dangerous and virulent disease, worry from contracting the disease, and high commitment to infection precautionary measures were predictors of agreement with Monkeypox vaccination. While advanced age and high education level are predictors of low agreement with vaccination.

Health Sector Sharia Shares Reaction to The Events of The 2019 Corona Virus Disease Distribution

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The purpose of this study was to determine the reaction of ISSI-listed health stocks to Covid-19 which was divided into three events, namely the lockdown of the city of Wuhan, the announcement of the President of the Republic of Indonesia regarding the Covid-19 case, and the WHO announcement about the virus pandemic. This study uses a quantitative approach with the event study method. Market reaction is measured by the abnormal return variable and trading volume activity. Meanwhile, the Market model is used to find the expected return with a simple linear regression analysis technique, which is then carried out by the one-sample Kolmogorov Smirnov test for normality and one sample t-test for hypothesis testing. The results of the study found that the manufacturing and service sectors were not affected by the Wuhan lockdown. Because the indicators AAR, CAAR and ATVA do not show significant results. Meanwhile, the announcement of the President of the Republic of Indonesia regarding the Covid-19 case and the announcement of the WHO pandemic virus showed that there was an influence on the manufacturing sector and health services. Because the indicators AAR, CAAR and ATVA show significant results. The results of the study found that the manufacturing and service sectors were not affected by the Wuhan lockdown. Meanwhile, the announcement of the President of the Republic of Indonesia regarding the Covid-19 case and the announcement of the WHO pandemic virus showed that there was an influence on the manufacturing sector and health services.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Enhancing the Protective Immune Response to Administration of a LIVP-GFP Live Attenuated Vaccinia Virus to Mice.

Following the WHO announcement of smallpox eradication, discontinuation of smallpox vaccination with vaccinia virus (VACV) was recommended. However, interest in VACV was soon renewed due to the opportunity of genetic engineering of the viral genome by directed insertion of foreign genes or introduction of mutations or deletions into selected viral genes. This genomic technology enabled production of stable attenuated VACV strains producing antigens of various infectious agents. Due to an increasing threat of human orthopoxvirus re-emergence, the development of safe highly immunogenic live orthopoxvirus vaccines using genetic engineering methods has been the challenge in recent years. In this study, we investigated an attenuated VACV LIVP-GFP (TK-) strain having an insertion of the green fluorescent protein gene into the viral thymidine kinase gene, which was generated on the basis of the LIVP (Lister-Institute for Viral Preparations) strain used in Russia as the first generation smallpox vaccine. We studied the effect of A34R gene modification and A35R gene deletion on the immunogenic and protective properties of the LIVP-GFP strain. The obtained data demonstrate that intradermal inoculation of the studied viruses induces higher production of VACV-specific antibodies compared to their levels after intranasal administration. Introduction of two point mutations into the A34R gene, which increase the yield of extracellular enveloped virions, and deletion of the A35R gene, the protein product of which inhibits presentation of antigens by MHC II, enhances protective potency of the created LIVP-TK--A34R*-dA35R virus against secondary lethal orthopoxvirus infection of BALB/c mice even at an intradermal dose as low as 103 plaque forming units (PFU)/mouse. This virus may be considered not only as a candidate attenuated live vaccine against smallpox and other human orthopoxvirus infections but also as a vector platform for development of safe multivalent live vaccines against other infectious diseases using genetic engineering methods.

The Response of the Stock Market to the Announcement of Global Pandemic

ABSTRACT This research aims at investigating the response of the stock market to the WHO announcement on 11th of March 2020 which officially declares the spread of the COVID-19 virus as a global pandemic. A total of 77 countries’ major indices have been examined by this research. The results show that (1) the pandemic announcement provides considerable negative shock on the global stock market; (2) country with different income presents a different response to the announcement. In general, the stock market in higher-income country tends to be overreacted at the beginning and bounds back more rapidly than lower-income country.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Stock Markets: An Event Study

Purpose: This study aims to empirically examine the immediate reaction of affected countries' stock market indices to COVID-19. Approach/Methodology/Design: The study applies an event study methodology using daily data series of stock price indices. Findings: Evidence from eleven global stock market indices shows that the first confirmed COVID-19 case announcement has had a significant negative impact on the returns. Moreover, these effects were more substantial following the WHO announcement of COVID-19 as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Practical Implications: The rapidly developing outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has depressed the affected countries' economies and caused turmoil in global financial markets. The results presented in this paper shed some light on the potential economic and social cost of COVID-19 concerns policymakers and other stock market stakeholders. Originality/value: The results suggest that stock markets have captured investors' expectations over potential adverse economic consequences of COVID-19. Moreover, there is evidence for an underreaction to the pandemic's announcement, as shown by the delayed response of stock markets in terms of significant CARs. These findings leave a wish list of topics for future research.

Corona-Like Illness: Did we get it before WHO Announcement of the Disease? A Cross-sectional Survey

Background: In Wuhan, cases with pneumonia of unknown etiology were reported in December 2019 and Coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2 was detected in the lower respiratory tract samples of these patients. WHO has declared the infection a Pandemic on March 11, 2020. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 were fever, dry cough, fatigue, and dyspnea, myalgia. The aim of the study: To determine the frequency of people who assume they got, “Corona-like illness” before WHO announcement of the disease. Describe their demography and character of the disease. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional web- based anonymous survey study included participants who were fulfilling online designed questionnaire. Results: Most of the individuals that fill the questionnaire were in the age group (31-40 years old), most of them were from Egypt 91.5%, 10.7% were smokers, 6.7% of them with cardiac – hypertension and myocardial ischemia, 47.9% of them with allergic rhinitis and 23.4% with asthma. In total, 55.2% of those who fill the questionnaire have the experience of symptoms like coronavirus symptoms in October, November and early December. About 25.9% need to be admitted to ER. Conclusion: Many people may have experienced the disease before the announcement of WHO, especially that the new virus spreads as easily as “Flu”. This may explain the spread of the disease among the families as it is very difficult to stop influenza transmission. The antibodies testing would allow us to check blood samples for antibodies against coronavirus to tell whether remote immunity is found in the population or not.

COVID-19: stock market reactions to the shock and the stimulus

ABSTRACT Using the WHO announcement on 11 March 2020 and the Federal Reserve Bank announcement on 9 April 2020 as two events that represent the shock and the stimulus, this study finds that COVID-19 caused a negative shock to the global stock markets, especially in emerging markets and for small firms. We find that the US stock market experienced positive abnormal returns from the Fed stimulus compared to other developed countries and emerging markets. We find that the positive abnormal returns from the stimulus were garnered by the US large firms instead of the small firms.

COVID-19: Stock Market Reactions to the Shock and the Stimulus

Using the WHO announcement on March 11, 2020 and the Federal Reserve Bank announcement on April 9, 2020 as two events that represent the shock and the stimulus, this study finds that COVID-19 caused a negative shock to the global stock markets, especially in emerging markets and for small firms. We find that the US stock market experienced positive abnormal returns from the Fed stimulus compared to other developed countries and emerging markets. We find that the positive abnormal returns from the stimulus were garnered by the US large firms instead of the small firms.

PREVENTION AND CONTROL MEASURES IN DENTISTRY UNDER COVID-19 CONDITIONS

Introduction: Given the worldwide spread of acute respiratory disease COVID-19, the WHO announcement of a pandemic and unprecedented quarantine restrictions in March 2020, the problem of organizing measures to prevent the emergence and spread of COVID-19 becomes particularly relevant and undergoes significant additions and improvements. It should be noted that the risk of transmission of coronavirus disease during dental procedures is defined as extremely high, due to close doctor-patient contact, the use of specific equipment (turbine tip, ultrasonic scaler, airflow, etc.), interaction with biological fluids, including saliva and tissues. At the same time, acute conditions in patients require emergency dental care. In such conditions, it is necessary to comply with anti-epidemic measures, use sterilization procedures for all categories of instruments, as well as the introduction of additional convenient and modern measures to prevent cross-contamination in dental institutions, including checklists, questionnaires and so on. Purpose: Based on the analysis of theoretical and clinical aspects of the problem of asepsis in the face of new challenges, we aimed to develop an author's "case" of standardized checklists to ensure dental care in the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Methods: Theoretical analysis of literature sources and results of modern research presented in electronic scientific publications included in scientometric databases, such as PubMed, Index Copernicus, Ulrich's Periodicals, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, Medline, etc.; generalization of knowledge and practical experience gained during training on the basis of the Dental Medical Center of the National Medical University named after O. O. Bogomolets; survey of respondents using Google forms. Results. In the context of dental care, the features of dangerous infectious diseases (routes of transmission, resistance, etc.) and appropriate preventive measures were analyzed. The clinical aspects of сoronavirus disease (COVID-19) were considered in detail. As additional anti-epidemic measures (control measures), the author's "case" of checklists was presented: "Assessment of urgency of dental care," "Assessment of risks of possible infection with Covid-19" (to be completed before and 24 hours after treatment). Conclusions: General and specific precautions are crucial for minimizing the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus disease. Additional solutions are important, including a thorough preliminary examination of patients, including the use of the proposed "case" of checklists (77.4% of respondents from 53 practicing dentists noted the relevance of such questionnaires in their practice) and enhanced asepsis, especially if treating patients with confirmed COVID-19 will be necessary. The main preventive measures aim to prevent other infections (HIV, hepatitis, etc.), the risk of transmission of which increases in the dental office. Keywords dental care, prevention, coronavirus disease (COVID-19), checklist.

Reducing the Psychological Impact of Quarantne due to the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children in Saudi Arabia

Before the WHO announcement of the novel corona virus COVID-19 as a pandemic on May 11th 2020, many countries have undertaken quarantine measures to reduce the disease transmission. Although adults can understand the high risk virus imposes, and the importance of the quarantine, children cannot; hence their psychological status can be signifcantly affected. In light of this, the healthcare transformation team at the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia had launched a series of online webinars during the quarantine using different types of arts aiming at reducing the psychological consequences and stresses imposed on quarantined children. This short article describes the Saudi experience in using Health Edutainment to reduce the psychological impact of quarantine on children during the COVID-19 pandemic and supports it based on evidence from the literature.

Understanding Fear of Zika: Personal, Interpersonal, and Media Influences.

Fear of infectious disease often motivates people to protect themselves. But, it can also produce negative bio-social-psychological effects whose severity is on par with those of the disease. The WHO declaration of Zika as a world health crisis presented an opportunity to study factors that bring about fear. Beginning nine days after the WHO announcement, data were gathered from women aged 18-35 living in the southern United States (N = 719). Respondents reported experiencing fear of Zika at levels akin to those reported following other significant crises/disasters (e.g., the terrorist attacks of 9/11). Fear increased as a function of (1) personal, but not other-relevance, (2) frequency of media exposure, but not media content, and (3) frequency of interpersonal exposure and interpersonal content. It is argued that media and interpersonal message sources may be innately predisposed to amplify, rather than attenuate, risk.

The war on tuberculosis must continue

“Practices for the management of individual patients in settings with a high tuberculosis burden are not sufficient to prevent the emergence, amplification, and spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis” is one of the key messages from our latest Commission published in this issue, led by Keertan Dheda from the University of Cape Town. The Commission focuses on multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant, and incurable tuberculosis, and highlights the growing burden of disease, its implications for patient management, as well as social and legal aspects. The authors also provide practical solutions for tackling emerging resistant cases—an exponentially increasing concern in high-burden countries. When going to press with this Commission, its timeliness was highlighted by the WHO announcement on Feb 27, 2017, of its list of bacteria for which new antibiotics are urgently needed; a list that tuberculosis did not make. This has prompted José Luis Castro, Executive Director of The Union, to send a letter of protest to Margaret Chan at WHO saying that the exclusion of tuberculosis is “completely unjustified” and suggests a deprioritisation of tuberculosis research. We hope that the Commission will remind key stakeholders to keep this devastating disease at the forefront of research and development. The epidemiology, pathogenesis, transmission, diagnosis, and management of multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant, and incurable tuberculosisGlobal tuberculosis incidence has declined marginally over the past decade, and tuberculosis remains out of control in several parts of the world including Africa and Asia. Although tuberculosis control has been effective in some regions of the world, these gains are threatened by the increasing burden of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. XDR tuberculosis has evolved in several tuberculosis-endemic countries to drug-incurable or programmatically incurable tuberculosis (totally drug-resistant tuberculosis). Full-Text PDF

Crying wolf? Biosecurity and metacommunication in the context of the 2009 swine flu pandemic

This article explores how the 2009 pandemic of swine flu (H1N1) intersected with issues of biosecurity in the context of an increasing entanglement between the spread of disease and the spread of information. Drawing on research into metacommunication, the article studies the rise of communication about ways in which swine flu was communicated, both globally and locally, during the pandemic. It examines and compares two corpora of texts, namely UK newspaper articles and blogs, written between 28 March and 11 June 2009, that is, the period from the start of the outbreak till the WHO announcement of the pandemic. Findings show that the interaction between traditional and digital media as well as the interaction between warnings about swine flu and previous warnings about other epidemics contributed to a heightened discourse of blame and counter-blame but also, more surprisingly, self-blame and reflections about the role the media in pandemic communication. The consequences of this increase in metacommunication for research into crisis communication are explored.

DDT is back: let us spray!

DDT is back: let us spray!

WHO announcement

WHO announcement

WHO Announcement

WHO Announcement