World Health Organization Website Research Articles

A Systematic Review of Major Cardiovascular Risk Factors: A Growing Global Health Concern.

Cardiovascular disease has become a growing global and public health concern among non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The purpose of the study was to focus on the increasing prevalence of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), irrespective of age and gender, and its effect on public health worldwide. A literature search was done in the electronic database: Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and the World Health Organization (WHO) website, based on recent research and the prevalence of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, a manual search for published work has also been done. The coronary heart disease studies were not restricted during the search by sample size because of the limited numberof studies in selected countries. The study reviews the potential risk factors responsible for coronary heart disease globally. Smoking was highly prevalent among the United States and Pakistani populations, but hypertension and diabetes were more common in Tanzania and the United Kingdom. However, dyslipidaemia and obesity were common in almost all the selected countries. CVD risk factors are highly prevalent in some countries, varying socioeconomic, gender, and educational levels. Furthermore, there has always been a need for awareness in the public and educational programs for a healthy lifestyle, intake of nutritional food, and increased physical activity to improve health conditions and reduce the risk ofcardiovascular diseases.

Hypertension and Dyslipidaemia in Argentina: Patient Journey Stages.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) leads to one-third of all deaths in Argentina. To implement patient-centric strategies for reducing CVD burden, available data on hypertension and hypercholesterolemia patients at different stages of their journey: awareness, screening, diagnosis, treatment, adherence, and control were analysed. A semi-systematic review in peer-reviewed databases (EMBASE and MEDLINE) and unstructured sources such as Google Scholar, Argentine Ministry of Health, and World Health Organization websites was conducted till 06.07.2021 for hypertension and dyslipidemia. English articles published in 2010–2021, depicting patient journey data for hypertension or hypercholesterolemia of the nationally representative adult population of Argentina were included. Thesis abstracts, letters to the editor, editorials, and case studies were excluded. No limits were used for unstructured sources. Weighted or simple means were estimated for patient journey stages. Out of 296 and 1257 articles retrieved for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, respectively, five articles were retained for each of the conditions. The estimates for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, respectively, were 46.6% and 30.7% for prevalence, 61.6% and 37.3% for awareness, 97.5% and ≥80% for screening, 64.1% and 28.9% for diagnosis, and 49.7% and 36.6% for treatment, and 19.9% and 20% for overall control. Adherence data were not available for hypercholesterolemia, while the same for hypertension was 50.4%. Various determinants are responsible for low adherence such as patient-level barriers, physician-related barriers, and health system-related issues. The review reveals that hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are poorly controlled in Argentina. Although further studies with more accurate data are needed to confirm these results, they should alert the medical community and the public health institutions to take urgent corrective actions.

Review on Plant-Based Management in Combating Antimicrobial Resistance - Mechanistic Perspective.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes no longer respond to any pharmacological agents, rendering the conventional antimicrobial agents ineffective. AMR has been classified as one of the top 10 life-threatening global health problems needed multilevel attention and global cooperation to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) according to the World Health Organization (WHO), making the discovery of a new and effective antimicrobial agent a priority. The recommended treatments for drug-resistant microbes are available but limited. Furthermore, the transformation of microbes over time increases the risk of developing drug resistance. Hence, plant metabolites such as terpenes, phenolic compounds and alkaloids are widely studied due to their antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic effects. Plant-derived antimicrobials are preferred due to their desirable efficacy and safety profile. Plant metabolites work by targeting microbial cell membranes, interfering with the synthesis of microbial DNA/RNA/enzymes and disrupting quorum sensing and efflux pump expression. They also work synergistically with conventional antibiotics to enhance antimicrobial effects. Accordingly, this review aims to identify currently available pharmacological therapies against microbes and AMR, as well as to discuss the importance of plant and secondary metabolites as a possible solution for AMR together with their mechanisms of action. All the information was obtained from government databases, WHO websites, PubMed, Springer, Google Scholar and Science Direct. Based on the information obtained, AMR is regarded as a significant warning to global healthcare. Plant derivatives such as secondary metabolites may be considered as potential therapeutic targets to mitigate the non-ending AMR.

P159 The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on invasive Candida auris infections in Kuwait

Poster session 2, September 22, 2022, 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM ObjectivesTo evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the incidence of Candida auris invasive infections at a national level.MethodsThis is a laboratory-based, three years-period retrospective study. The demographic and mycological data were obtained from the mycology reference laboratory (MRL) active surveillance system. The number of C. auris blood isolates was retrieved for the following years: 2019, 2020, and 2021. C. auris blood isolates from all hospitals were sent to the MRL as part of patient care. Species-level identification was confirmed by chromogenic media, VITEK 2 yeast identification system, and/or MALDI-TOF MS (VITEK MS). Antifungal susceptibility was performed using Etest according to manufacturer instructions. The following antifungal agents were tested: amphotericin B, fluconazole, voriconazole, and caspofungin. If the strain was resistant or intermediate to caspofungin, other echinocandins (micafungin or anidulafungin) were tested for confirmation. Since there were no established clinical breakpoints for C. auris, tentative minimum inhibitory concentrations were used based on experts’ opinions. Incidence rates of COVID-19 during the years 2020 and 2021 (COVID-19) were obtained from the World Health Organization website. All data were numerically coded and labelled for each variable using Microsoft Excel (Version 16.57, 2021), then analyzed by SAS 9.4 (SAS Institute., USA). P-value <.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsA total of 307 samples isolated from invasive infections were reported with C. auris in this study (50 in 2019, 102 in 2020, and 155 in 2021). The number of patients reported with C. auris invasive infection increased significantly (P <.05) from 50 in 2019 (pre-COVID-19) to 155 in 2021 (post-COVID-19). This was associated with the waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait. Of 307 C. auris isolates tested, all were resistant to fluconazole. Resistance to amphotericin B and caspofungin was 29/307 (9%) and 3/285 (1%) respectively.ConclusionPatients infected with COVID-19 are at considerable risk of invasive candidiasis especially critically ill patients staying in ICU. The significant increase in C. auris invasive infections as seen during this pandemic clearly demonstrates the great ability of this opportunistic pathogen to cause secondary lethal infections among COVID-19 patients. In addition, the spread of C. auris among patients in care facilities results in outbreaks, which further compromises the health care services and threatens patient safety. Therefore, a greater understanding of its epidemiology and awareness among healthcare staff about its identification methods, antifungal resistance profile and infection control measures are essential to improve outcomes and prevent further hospital transmission.

Quantitative tools and measurements for assessing the implementation of regulatory policies in reducing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms: A scoping review.

Implementation of alcohol control policy is a global priority as alcohol contributes to negative individual health and societal impacts. However, there are no available reviews that comprehensively provide tools and measurements for assessing the implementation of alcohol control policy. This study reviews tools and measurements for assessing alcohol policy implementation. Policies considered include alcohol pricing and taxation, alcohol marketing control, physical availability control and drink-driving policy. We conducted a scoping review from Scopus, Web of Science and the World Health Organization's website. We included studies on policy implementation for the four most effective prevention policies published worldwide between 2000 and 2021. The search yielded 11,654 articles and these were narrowed down to 39 included studies. Of these 39 studies, almost half assessed the implementation of a drink-driving policy (n=19), followed multipolicy (n=12) and physical availability control (n=8). There was no single study assessing policy implementation of pricing and taxation or alcohol marketing control. The majority of the studies were conducted in high-income countries (n=31). Globally, there is no standardised tool or guidelines for measuring the policy implementation of these four policies. The tools for measuring policy implementation mostly focused on a single policy, and few covered multiple policies. We recommend developing standardised tools and measurements to monitor policy implementation across multiple policies at country levels. This review highlighted a lack of comprehensive and standardised tools to assess policy implementation and the limited number of studies on alcohol policy implementation in low- and middle-income countries.

Analyzing self-evaluation capacity scores related to infectious disease control in International Health Regulations during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic

This study aimed to identify changes in the average score of countries' International Health Regulation (IHR) self-evaluation capacity (e-SPAR) in 2020 compared to 2019, and the factors associated with these changes. We collected the data from the World Health Organization (WHO) website in May 2021, then calculated the significant differences between the e-SPAR score in both years. Next, we conducted a test to identify the association between changes in member states' e-SPAR capacity scores and their COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR), Human Development Index, Civil Liberties, and Government Effectiveness. The results showed that the average e-SPAR scores in 2020 were significantly higher than in 2019. Among the 154 countries, we included in this study, the scores of 98 countries increased in 2020, of which 37.75% were lower-middle-income countries. Meanwhile, among the 56 countries whose scores did not increase, 26 (46.42%) were high-income countries. The COVID-19 CFR was significantly associated with the changes in e-SPAR scores of 154 countries (p < 0.01), as well as the countries whose scores increased (p < 0.05). In conclusion, we consider e-SPAR to still be a useful tool to facilitate countries in monitoring their International Health Regulation (IHR) core capacity progress, especially in infectious disease control to prepare for future pandemics.

Mapping research evidence on perinatal asphyxia within the sustainable development era in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol

BackgroundApproximately 45% of all under-five child deaths are among newborn infants, babies in their first 28 days of life, or the neonatal period every year in the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Region. To facilitate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.2, innovative interventions are needed to address this challenge. Thus, this scoping review aims to map research evidence on perinatal asphyxia among neonates in the WHO Africa Region.MethodsThis scoping review will be guided by the Arksey and O’Malley framework, Levac et al. recommendations, and the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for scoping reviews. Relevant published literature will be searched using a combination of keywords, Boolean terms, and Medical Subject Headings in the following databases: PubMed, SCOPUS, CINAHL, and Web of Science from January 2016 onwards. We will further search the World Health Organization and government websites, as well as the reference list of included studies for potentially eligible studies. This scoping review will include research evidence involving countries in the WHO Africa Region, with a focus on the burden of perinatal asphyxia, contributory/associated factors of perinatal asphyxia, clinical interventions for perinatal asphyxia, and interventions/strategies for the prevention of perinatal asphyxia in the SDGs era. Two reviewers will independently sort the studies to include and exclude, guided by the eligibility criteria. Also, the data from the included studies will be extracted and any discrepancies resolved using a third reviewer. Thematic analysis will be conducted, and the findings reported using both qualitative tables and figures. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) will be followed to report this study’s results. Quality appraisal of the included studies will be done utilising the mixed methods appraisal tool version 2018.ConclusionThis scoping review results may reveal research evidence gaps to inform future primary studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses; and possibly contribute towards the realisation of the SDG 3.2 by countries in the WHO Africa Region. The finding of this review will be disseminated using multiple channels such as workshops, peer review publications, conferences, and social media.

Primary Health Care Quality Assessment Frameworks: State of the Art Review

Context: Quality Assessment Frameworks (QAFs) are essential in monitoring progress in the primary health care (PHC) system. Different QAFs are used in countries to assess PHC quality. Objectives: This study aimed to review and compare the QAFs and highlight the most frequent quality indicators and dimensions. Methods: This state-of-the-art review was conducted on PHCQAFs. Required data were collected through search in Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases, World Health Organization and World Bank websites, and Ministry of Health websites up to January 2022. The main keywords were quality, “primary healthcare”, PHC, “primary care”, “primary health services”, “basic healthcare”, assessment, evaluation, monitoring, measurement, improvement, indicator, OR index, pattern, framework, and model. Comparative tables were used to compare the defined quality dimensions (QDs) and quality assessment indicators (QAIs). Results: Finally, 14 PHCQAFs were retrieved, containing 94 QDs and 785 QAIs. Three PHCQAFs were proposed at the international level and others at the national level. Accessibility, coordination, and safety were the most frequent QDs, and QAIs related to smoking, alcohol and substance abuse, diabetes care, vaccination, chronic heart disease care, respiratory/infectious disease care, hypertension care, population coverage, community participation, customer satisfaction, maternal and child health, adverse event, health information management, staff empowerment, referral system, and patient rights were the most frequent among PHCQAFs. Conclusions: The current study illustrates the similarities and differences between PHCQAFs and highlights important QDs and QIs in PHC. Also, it provides a ready way for health policymakers to address key quality aspects that can help countries accelerate progress in the quality of PHC.

Barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention interventions for reducing risky sexual behavior among youth worldwide: a systematic review

BackgroundInterventions aimed at reducing risky sexual behavior are considered an important strategy for averting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection among youth (15–24 years) who continue to be at risk of the disease. Enhancing intervention success requires a comprehensive understanding of the barriers and facilitators to interventions targeting youth. However, there is lack of a systematic review of both quantitative and qualitative studies to comprehensively identify and synthesize barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention interventions for reducing risky sexual behavior among youth worldwide. This review aimed to identify and synthesize barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention interventions for reducing risky sexual behavior among youth globally based on original peer-reviewed studies published in the last decade.MethodsThe Joanna Briggs Institute approach for mixed methods systematic reviews and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines were used to guide this review. Nine electronic databases, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and World Health Organization websites, and reference lists of included studies and systematic reviews on barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention interventions for reducing risky sexual behavior among youth were searched for eligible articles. Studies that met the inclusion criteria underwent quality appraisal and data extraction. Findings were analyzed using thematic synthesis and underpinned by Nilsen, 2015’s Determinant Framework.ResultsOverall 13 studies comprising of eight qualitative studies, four quantitative studies and one mixed methods study were included in the review. Several barriers and facilitators across the five Determinant Framework domains were identified. Most of the barriers fell under the characteristics of the context domain (e.g., gender-biased norms). The next important group of barriers emerged within the characteristics of the end users domain (e.g., fear of relationship breakdown). In terms of facilitators, the majority fell under the characteristics of the strategy of facilitating implementation domain (e.g., implementation of intervention with fidelity) and characteristics of the end users domain (e.g., fear of pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections). The next common set of facilitators appeared within the characteristics of the context domain (e.g., family support).ConclusionThis review identified several multi-level barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention interventions for reducing risky sexual behavior among youth. Multi-level and combination approaches are needed to address these factors and enhance intervention success.

Spatiotemporal analysis of the morbidity of global Omicron from November 2021 to February 2022.

The Omicron variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on November 24, 2021; this variant is spreading rapidly worldwide. No study has conducted a spatiotemporal analysis of the morbidity of Omicron infection at the country level; hence, to explore the spatial transmission of the Omicron variant among the 220 countries worldwide, we aimed to the analyze its spatial autocorrelation and to conduct a multiple linear regression to investigate the underlying factors associated with the pandemic. This study was an ecological study. Data on the number of confirmed cases were extracted from the WHO website. The spatiotemporal characteristic was described in a thematic map. The Global Moran Index (Moran's I) was used to detect the spatial autocorrelation, while the local indicators of spatial association (LISA) were used to analyze the local spatial correlation characteristics. The joinpoint regression model was used to explore the change in the trend of the Omicron incidence over time. The association between the morbidity of Omicron and influencing factors were analyzed using multiple linear regression. This study was an ecological study. Data on the number of confirmed cases were extracted from the WHO website. The spatiotemporal characteristic was described in a thematic map. The Global Moran Index (Moran's I) was used to detect the spatial autocorrelation, while the LISA were used to analyze the local spatial correlation characteristics. The joinpoint regression model was used to explore the change in the trend of the Omicron incidence over time. The association between the morbidity of Omicron and influencing factors were analyzed using multiple linear regression. The value of Moran's I was positive (Moran's I = 0.061, Z‐score = 3.772, p = 0.007), indicating a spatial correlation of the morbidity of Omicron at the country level. From November 26, 2021 to February 26, 2022; the morbidity showed obvious spatial clustering. Hotspot clustering was observed mostly in Europe (locations in High–High category: 24). Coldspot clustering was observed mostly in Africa and Asia (locations in Low−Low category: 32). The result of joinpoint regression showed an increasing trend from December 21, 2021 to January 26, 2022. Results of the multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that the morbidity of Omicron was strongly positively correlated with income support (coefficient = 1.905, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.354–2.456, p < 0.001) and strongly negatively correlated with close public transport (coefficient = −1.591, 95% CI: −2.461 to −0.721, p = 0.001). Omicron outbreaks exhibited spatial clustering at the country level worldwide; the countries with higher disease morbidity could impact the other countries that are surrounded by and close to it. The locations with High–High clustering category, which referred to the countries with higher disease morbidity, were mainly observed in Europe, and its adjoining country also showed high spatial clustering. The morbidity of Omicron increased from December 21, 2021 to January 26, 2022. The higher morbidity of Omicron was associated with the economic and policy interventions implemented; hence, to deal with the epidemic, the prevention and control measures should be strengthened in all aspects.

An update on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic public awareness on cancer patients' COVID-19 vaccine compliance: Outcomes and recommendations

Background:Aside from the pandemic's negative health effects, the world was confronted with public confusion since proper communication and favorable decisions became an ongoing challenge. As a result, the public's perceptions were influenced by what they knew, the many sources of COVID-19 information, and how they interpreted it. With cancer patients continuing to oppose COVID-19 vaccines, we sought to investigate the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine sources of this information in adult cancer patients, which either helped or prevented them from taking the vaccine. We also assessed the relevance and impact of their oncologists' recommendations in encouraging them to take the vaccine.MethodsFrom June to October 2021, an online survey was conducted at King Hussein Cancer Center. A total of 441 adult cancer patients took part in the study. Patients who had granted their consent were requested to complete an online questionnaire, which was collected using the SurveyMonkey questionnaire online platform. Descriptive analysis was done for all variables. The association between categorical and continuous variables was assessed using the Pearson Chi-square and Fisher Exact.ResultsOur results showed that 75% of the patients registered for the COVID-19 vaccine, while 12% refused vaccination. The majority of participants acquired their information from news and television shows, whereas (138/441) got their information through World Health Organization websites. Because the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were made in such a short period, 54.7 % assumed the vaccines were unsafe. Only 49% of the patients said their oncologists had informed them about the benefits of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.ConclusionsWe found that SARS-CoV-2 vaccine hesitancy in cancer patients might be related to misinformation obtained from social media despite the availability of supportive scientific information on the vaccine's benefits from the physicians. To combat misleading and unreliable social media news, we recommend that physicians use telehealth technology to reach out to their patients in addition to their face-to-face consultation, which delivers comprehensive, clear, and high-quality digital services that guide and help patients to better understand the advantages of COVID-19 vaccines.

Evaluation of dental students' knowledge, attitudes and behaviors regarding COVID-19 infection: a cross-sectional survey.

This study aimed to determine the differences between preclinical and clinical dental students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A cross-sectional study was carried out among 303 undergraduate dental students (107 clinical students and 196 preclinical students). Questionnaires were given to the participants using an online data collection platform. The online questionnaire covered the dental students' socio-demographic information and their knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of Coronavirus disease. More frequently than preclinical students, clinical students benefited from the latest information about the COVID-19 outbreak obtained from television, internet news sites, and the World Health Organization website (P<0.05). The use of other protective equipment other than gloves and goggles has changed from "No" before the pandemic to "Yes" onset of the pandemic (P<0.001). The knowledge level of infection control in dentistry increased significantly more for clinical students than for preclinical students (P<0.001). Although dental students show reasonable knowledge, attitudes and behavior about COVID-19, attention should be taken to provide education on infectious diseases, starting from preclinical classes, and to make real information resources provided by global and national health authorities accessible to students.

COVID-19 Translated Messages: Arabic Speakers’ Acceptability of Lexical Choices

Worldwide, there is an increased reliance on COVID-19-related health messages to curb the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, it is vital to provide a well-prepared and authentic translation of English-language messages to reach culturally and linguistically diverse audiences. However, few studies, if any, focus on how non-English-speaking readers receive and linguistically accept the lexical choices in the messages translated into their language. The present study tested a sample of translated Arabic COVID-19-related texts that were obtained from the World Health Organization and Australian New South Wales Health websites. This study investigated to that extent Arabic readers would receive translated COVID-19 health messages and whether the translation would affect their preparedness to easily accept and their ability to fully comprehend the messages in terms of the used lexical items. The survey-based research also explored the translation process and methods that would best ensure the messages would reach the target audience with the least loss of meaning. The study concluded that some acceptability issues and comprehensibility failure were detected in the available translated versions as a result of improper word selection, which could be attributed to adopting a literal translation method and uncommon collocations of certain medical terminologies. Therefore, this study recommends that effective translation of COVID-19-related health messages will be achieved by adopting a two-tier translation process, preferably involving a medical specialised translator.

The COVID-19 effects on automation, remote working and labor productivity in Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the threat of future pandemics, has shifted the focus of automation technology, forcing many firms to migrate to remote working in order to boost productivity. The goal of this study is to investigate the COVID-19 effect on automation-related jobs, remote work, and labor productivity in Nigeria. The data collected for this research paper was cumulative monthly data from March 2020 to April 2021 via world health organization website for Nigeria confirmed cases of COVID-19 while other data are automation related jobs, remote working and labor productivity in Nigeria. This study uses empirical analysis such as the Johansen co-integration test to assess whether the series are co-integrated, implying the usage of a vector error correction model (VECM) and indicating that the variables have a long-term relationship. A causality test was also carried out, which revealed that COVID-19 had a considerable impact on automation, remote work, and labor productivity in Nigeria. In the meantime, COVID-19, automation-related professions, remote working, and labor productivity are all linked in the short and long run, according to the Johansen cointegration, vector auto regression (VAR), and vector error correction models (VECM). Granger causality demonstrates that COVID-19 occurrences in Nigeria have a causal effect on the risk of automation-related professions, distant work, and labor productivity, demonstrating the study's value.

Forecasting epidemic diseases with Arabic Twitter data and WHO reports using machine learning techniques

Twitter is one of the essential social media tools used by many people because they express their views, daily problems, and what they suffer from the health aspects. On Twitter, we can detect and track the spread of the most serious diseases like flu; by analyzing people's tweets and collecting reports from health organizations. In this paper, the data from Twitter was collected in the Arabic language related to the spread of influenza using many Arabic keywords. Then, we applied several machine learning algorithms, which are random forest, multinomial naïve bayes, decision tree, and voting classifier. We also found the correlation between the collected tweets and the reports collected from the World Health Organization (WHO) website according to three experiments. These experiments are: i) between the tweets and reports based on the 13 countries regardless of the time, ii) between the tweets and reports based on the Arab regions that depend on these countries' dialects irrespective of the time, iii) between all tweets and all reports based on the week number. The results from these experiments show that there is a strong correlation between the tweets and the reports, which means that the tweets and the WHO reports can together detect the flu outbreaks in the Arab world.

Delay in Vaccine Access in ASEAN Countries.

Background: The introduction of new vaccines has been delayed in some countries in the Asia-Pacific region, which has led to delays in accessing vaccines for target patients. However, the approval lag of vaccines in the Asia-Pacific region has not been assessed. The objective of this study is to assess the availability and approval lag of vaccines in Asia-Pacific countries and compare them among Asia-Pacific countries, the United States (US), and Europe (EU). Methods: The information on vaccines prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO) between 2010 and 2019 was obtained primarily from the WHO website. The date of approval of the WHO prequalified vaccine in Australia, India, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, and EU was retrieved from the official website of national regulatory agencies. The vaccines were divided into two groups based on their first approval pathway, that is, vaccines that were first approved by SRA (Stringent Regulatory Authority including the US, EU, and WHO) and those that were first approved by non-SRA. The absolute approval lag represented the availability of the vaccine. Relative approval lag represented the lag time between the approval date of the country of interest and the first global approval date and was measured as the median approval lag. A Mann–Whitney U test was used to examine statistical differences between relative approval lag between the SRA first and the non-SRA first groups. Results: A total of 92 vaccines were prequalified by the WHO between 2010 and 2019, but only 61 vaccines were included in the analysis. Over 50% of vaccines were first licensed by non-SRAs. Of all the WHO-prequalified vaccines, the median approval lag in the ASEAN countries in this study was longer than those in the US and EU, with a median of 30 months in Australia, 15 months in South Korea, 52 months in Thailand, and 23 months in Singapore, compared to 0 months in the US and EU. The differences in approval lags between SRA first vaccines and non-SRA first vaccines were statistically significant in South Korea and Thailand (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The approval lag of vaccines was observed in the Asia-Pacific region, indicating a gap between the Asia-pacific region and the US and EU in regard to access to new vaccines. Future studies need to analyze the background factors related to the gap in availability and vaccine approval lag in the Asia-Pacific region and assess the impact of vaccine approval lag in the region.

Evaluating Voice Assistants' Responses to COVID-19 Vaccination in Portuguese: Quality Assessment.

BackgroundVoice assistants (VAs) are devices that respond to human voices and can be commanded to do a variety of tasks. Nowadays, VAs are being used to obtain health information, which has become a critical point of analysis for researchers in terms of question understanding and quality of response. Particularly, the COVID-19 pandemic has and still is severely affecting people worldwide, which demands studies on how VAs can be used as a tool to provide useful information.ObjectiveThis work aimed to perform a quality analysis of different VAs’ responses regarding the actual and important subject of COVID-19 vaccines. We focused on this important subject since vaccines are now available and society has urged for the population to be rapidly immunized.MethodsThe proposed study was based on questions that were collected from the official World Health Organization website. These questions were submitted to the 5 dominant VAs (Alexa, Bixby, Cortana, Google Assistant, and Siri), and responses were evaluated according to a rubric based on the literature. We focused this study on the Portuguese language as an additional contribution, since previous works are mainly focused on the English language, and we believe that VAs cannot be optimized to foreign languages.ResultsResults showed that Google Assistant has a better overall performance, and only this VA and Samsung Bixby achieved high scores on question understanding in the Portuguese language. Regarding the obtained answers, the study also showed the best Google Assistant overall performance.ConclusionsUnder the urgent context of COVID-19 vaccination, this work can help to understand how VAs must be improved to be more useful to the society and how careful people must be when considering VAs as a source of health information. VAs have been demonstrated to perform well regarding comprehension and user-friendliness. However, this work has found that they must be better integrated to their information sources to be useful as health information tools.

Standards and quality of care for older persons in long term care facilities: a scoping review

BackgroundCaring for older persons has become a global necessity to ensure functional ability and healthy ageing. It is of paramount importance that standards of care are monitored, especially for older persons who live in long term care facilities (LTCF). We, therefore, scoped and summarised evidence relating to standards and the quality of care for older persons in LTCFs in gerontological literature globally.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review using Askey and O’Malley’s framework, including Levac et al. recommendations. PubMed, CINAHL, Health Sources, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched with no date limitation up to May 2020 using keywords, Boolean terms, and medical subject headings. We also consulted the World Health Organization website and the reference list of included articles for evidence sources. This review also included peer-reviewed publications and grey literature in English that focused on standards and quality of care for older residents in LTCFs. Two reviewers independently screened the title, abstract, and full-text of evidence sources screening stages and performed the data extraction. Thematic content analysis was used, and a summary of the findings are reported narratively.ResultsSixteen evidence sources published from 1989 to 2017 met this study’s eligibility criteria out of 73,845 citations obtained from the broader search. The majority of the studies were conducted in the USA 56% (9/16), and others were from Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Norway, Israel, Japan, and France. The included studies presented evidence on the effectiveness of prompted voiding intervention for urinary incontinence in LTCFs (37.5%), the efficacy of professional support to LTCF staff (18.8%), and the prevention-effectiveness of a pressure ulcer programme in LTCFs (6.3%). Others presented evidence on regulation and quality of care (12.5%); nursing documentation and quality of care (6.3%); medical, nursing, and psychosocial standards on the quality of care (6.3%); medication safety using the Beer criteria (6.3%); and the quality of morning care provision (6.3%).ConclusionThis study suggests most studies relating to standards and quality of care in LTCFs focus on effectiveness of interventions, few on people-centredness and safety, and are mainly conducted in European countries and the United States of America. Future studies on people-centerdness, safety, and geographical settings with limited or no evidence are recommended.

Correlation analysis of smell and taste loss with COVID-19 outbreak trend based on big data of internet

Objective: To analyze the correlation between loss of smell/taste and the number of real confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide based on Google Trends data, and to explore the guiding role of smell/taste loss for the COVID-19 prevention and control. Methods: "Loss of smell" and "loss of taste" related keywords were searched in the Google Trends platform, the data were obtained from Jan. 1 2019 to Jul. 11 2021. The daily and newly confirmed COVID-19 case number were collected from World Health Organization (WHO) since Dec. 30 2019. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 23.0 software. The correlation was finally tested by Spearman correlation analysis. Results: A total of data from 80 weeks were collected. The retrospective analysis was performed on the new trend of COVID-19 confirmed cases in a total of 186 292 441 cases worldwide. Since the epidemic of COVID-19 was recorded on the WHO website, the relative searches related to loss of smell/taste in the Google Trends platform had been increasing globally. The global relative search volumes of "loss of smell" and "loss of taste" on Google Trends was 10.23±2.58 and 16.33±2.47 before the record of epidemic while 80.25±39.81 and 80.45±40.04 after (t value was 8.67, 14.43, respectively, both P<0.001). In the United States and India, the relative searches for "loss of smell" and "loss of taste" after the record of epidemic were also much higher than before (all P<0.001). The correlation coefficients between the trend of weekly new COVID-19 cases and the Google Trends of "loss of smell" in the global, United States, and India was 0.53, 0.76, and 0.82 respectively (all P<0.001), the correlation coefficients with Google Trends of "loss of taste" was 0.54, 0.78, and 0.82 respectively (all P<0.001). The lowest and highest point of loss of smell/taste search curves of Google Trends in different periods appeared 7 to 14 days earlier than that of the weekly newly COVID-19 confirmed cases curves, respectively. Conclusions: There is a significant positive correlation between the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and the amount of keywords, such as "loss of smell" and "loss of taste", retrieved in Google Trends. The trend of big data based on Google Trends might predict the outbreak trend of COVID-19 in advance.

Some Recommendations to Change Lifestyle Against Covid-19 Disease Based on Recently Proven Effects of the Disease: A Mini-Review

Background: Some studies identified the health effects of COVID-19 disease, but they are not sufficient to control it. This study was designed to recommend some possible useful acts in daily life to protect people against COVID-19) based on the various effects of the disease on human life, which have been proven in previous studies. Method: Google Scholar, PubMed, and World Health Organization (WHO) website databases in the English language were used without any time limit to collect data. Result: COVID-19 disease could induce adverse effects on biological health, psychosocial health, working, and economic life directly or indirectly, all of which affect each other. Based on previous studies, this study proposed some control strategies to reduce some of the harmful effects of COVID-19 disease on the individual and social life of humans. Increasing work shifts, reducing risky behaviors, improving psychological well-being, and using more natural and home-cooked meals are some suggested control strategies for COVID-19 disease. This study determined different effects caused by COVID-19 and recommended some solutions to prevent and control COVID-19 disease. Conclusion: The current study showed that applying prevention methods in lifestyle could be more effective than regarding COVID-19 disease.