Nigeria healthcare worker SARS-CoV-2 serology study: Results from a prospective, longitudinal cohort

Healthcare workers, both globally and in Nigeria, have an increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with the general population due to higher risk contacts, including occupational exposures. In addition, primary healthcare workers represent an important group for estimating prior infection to SARS-CoV-2 because they work at the first point-of-contact for most patients yet have not been included in prior COVID-19 seroepidemiology research in Nigeria. We sought to evaluate baseline seroprevalence, rates of seroconversion (IgG- to IgG+) and seroreversion (IgG+ to IgG-), change in IgG concentration at 3- and 6-month follow-up, and factors associated with seropositivity. From June 2020 to December 2020, we conducted a longitudinal seroepidemiology study among frontline health care workers in Nigeria using a validated dried blood spot assay. Among 525 participants, mean (SD) age was 39.1 (9.7) years, 61.0% were female, and 45.1% were community health workers. The six-month follow-up rate was 93.5%. Seropositivity rates increased from 31% (95% CI: 27%, 35%) at baseline to 45% (95% CI: 40%, 49%) at 3-month follow-up, and 70% (95% CI: 66%, 74%) at 6-month follow-up. There was a corresponding increase in IgG levels from baseline (median = 0.18 ug/mL) to 3-month (median = 0.35 ug/mL) and 6-month follow-up (median = 0.59 ug/mL, Ptrend < .0001). A minority of participants reported symptoms from February 2020 until baseline (12.2%) or during 3-month (6.6%) or 6-month (7.5%) follow-up. only 1 participant was hospitalized. This study demonstrated high baseline, 3-month and 6-month follow-up prevalence of IgG antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria among a cohort of unvaccinated frontline healthcare workers, including primary healthcare workers despite low symptomatology. These results may have implications in state- and national-level disease pandemic modeling. Trial registration:NCT04158154.

Strategies for optimizing learning activities during the pandemic and new normal

This study aimed to investigate the government's and parents' strategies for optimizing learning activities during the pandemic and the new normal in Langsa City, Indonesia, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country. Using a structural-functionalist methodology It was assumed that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered change in society as a whole—change in one part would affect other parts—and that in order for education to operate smoothly in society, the government and parents must adapt to the necessary change. To provide empirical data for the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with the head of the educational and cultural office, the head of the religious department, elementary through secondary school teachers, and parents. The government implemented strategies such as school closures and the introduction of online learning, internet quotas for students and teachers, home visits to areas with poor internet signals, and time shifting classes to prevent overcrowding. The government instituted competitions for best school, best teacher, best staff, and best student awards during the new normal in an effort to rekindle students' interest in learning and teachers' participation in class. Nonetheless, the pandemic had a positive effect on students' attitudes toward online learning and parents' attitudes toward their children's education. The study concluded that, in the face of a pandemic, government, teacher, and parent cooperation, as well as the ability to adapt to change, were the keys to the success of children's education under any circumstance. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Perception of Fourth year MBBS students regarding online learning during Covid-19 pandemic

Aim: To assess the perception of fourth year MBBS students regarding online learning during Covid 19 pandemic. Study Design: Cross sectional survey. Setting(s): Department of Community Medicine, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. Duration of study: Four months, from April to July, 2022. Study population: All students registered in fourth year MBBS. Methodology: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 154 study participants. It consisting of two sections. The first part consisted of background information of study participants. The second portion assessed the perception of students regarding online education during Covid 19.The data was recorded and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Data were described in the form of frequencies and percentages and presented as tables. Result(s): Study participants included 51% females, 57%-day scholars and 83% who had done FSc. Around 62% did not find online learning effective, 73% had communication difficulties, 75% liked self-directed approach of online learning but 74% thought that it was difficult to collaborate with each other, 71% found time management easy, though it was difficult to ask questions and receiving answers (59%). Around 78% of students perceived lack of satisfaction compared with class room learning, 66% preferred face to face learning and 73% found online education less comprehensible than class room activities. Among students, 53% recognised online learning as enjoyable and 34% wanted it to be done regularly, as 32%students never experienced any difficulty during online sessions. The main issues faced in online activities were absence of internet connection (85%), poor computer skills (73%), electricity breakdown (85%) and lack of concentration (80%). Practical implication: The present study highlighted that majority of fourth year MBBS students preferred classroom learning in comparison with online sessions. In light of pandemic, online education has proven valuable in managing sudden crisis, which is why it was important to understand the student perception regarding online education during covid-19 at Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. Conclusion(s): Compared with males, higher number of females complained of lack of internet access and having poor computer skills. Seminars and regular training must be undertaken by medical colleges for their staff and students to inculcate interest and highlight the importance of online education as one of the tools for learning. Online education must be made more interactive and student cantered to create interest and improve student concentration.Copyright © 2023 Lahore Medical And Dental College. All rights reserved.

Effects of COVID-19 era on a subtropical river basin in Bangladesh: Heavy metal(loid)s distribution, sources and probable human health risks.

The COVID-19 era has profoundly affected everyday human life, the environment, and freshwater ecosystems worldwide. Despite the numerous influences, a strict COVID-19 lockdown might improve the surface water quality and thus provide an unprecedented opportunity to restore the degraded freshwater resource. Therefore, we intend to investigate the spatiotemporal water quality, sources, and preliminary health risks of heavy metal(loid)s in the Karatoya River basin (KRB), a tropical urban river in Bangladesh. Seventy water samples were collected from 35 stations in KRB in 2019 and 2022 during the dry season. The results showed that the concentrations of Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, and Cr were significantly reduced by 89.3-99.7 % during the post-lockdown period (p < 0.05). However, pH, Fe, Mn, and As concentrations increased due to the rise of urban waste and the usage of disinfectants during the post-lockdown phase. In the post-lockdown phase, the heavy metal pollution index, heavy metal evaluation index, and Nemerow's pollution index values lessened by 8.58 %, 42.86 %, and 22.86 %, respectively. Besides, the irrigation water quality indices also improved by 59 %-62 %. The total hazard index values increased by 24 % (children) and 22 % (adults) due to the rise in Mn and As concentrations during the lockdown. In comparison, total carcinogenic risk values were reduced by 54 % (children) and 53 % (adults) in the post-lockdown. We found no significant changes in river flow, rainfall, or land cover near the river from the pre to post-lockdown phase. The results of semivariogram models have demonstrated that most attributes have weak spatial dependence, indicating restricted industrial and agricultural effluents during the lockdown, significantly improving river water quality. Our study confirms that the lockdown provides a unique opportunity for the remarkable improvement of degraded freshwater resources. Long-term management policies and regular monitoring should reduce river pollution and clean surface water.

Delays and Financial Implications of COVID-19 for Contractors in Irrigation Projects

Construction project delays are costly to stakeholders. Therefore, extensive research has been carried out in various countries covering different types of construction projects to identify delay factors and mitigation strategies. However, the literature has not documented the impact of a once-in-a-century event such as the COVID-19 pandemic on construction projects' schedules and costs. The present study uses a case study approach to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on three lift irrigation projects' construction programs and the financial implications for the contractor in the Indian construction industry. The findings reveal that the main factors responsible for delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic were fear of an outbreak, imposition of a nationwide lockdown, late return of workers, resource shortages, and changes in operating procedures. Furthermore, the study found that the contract conditions and government directives allowed for time extensions in construction projects by recognizing the pandemic as a force majeure. However, such provisions did not protect contractors' financial interests. This study evaluates the financial implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the contractor in terms of worker compensation during the lockdown, idling of resources, overhead costs, cost escalation, and liquidity. © 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers. Practical Applications The public health crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic led to a series of preventive measures from the government and organizations worldwide that caused severe disruptions in construction projects and disturbed the construction supply chain. This study recommends rethinking the scope and coverage of force majeure and excusable delay clauses in standard construction contracts beyond provisions for an extension of time to protect the financial interests of different stakeholders. The vagueness in assessing and compensating for the losses from unprecedented events such as the COVID-19 pandemic could expose construction organizations to significant financial risks and threaten their existence in a highly competitive industry. Therefore, construction organizations should carefully review the contract provisions of future projects for proper risk allocations to accommodate unprecedented events and pandemics to help them recover successfully from various disruptions and associated financial losses. Moreover, proper communication and negotiation, a supportive and collaborative project culture, and early government interventions are crucial in dealing with such events and avoiding disputes among project stakeholders. © 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood donations and transfusions in Nigeria - A multi-facility study of 34 tertiary hospitals.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected blood supplies globally. Mobile blood drive campaigns halted, and voluntary blood donations reduced, challenging available blood supplies. Furthermore, fears of virus transmission led to deferrals of elective surgeries and non-urgent clinical procedures with noticeable declines in blood donations and transfusions. Aims: We aimed to assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of blood donations and transfusions across the country by blood product type across various hospital departments. Materials and Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood services in 34 tertiary hospitals in Nigeria, comparing January to July 2019 (pre-COVID-19) to January to July 2020 (peri-COVID-19). Data were collected from the country's web-based software District Health Information System, Version 2 (DHIS2). Results: A 17.1% decline in numbers of blood donations was observed over the study period, especially in April 2020 (44.3%), a 21.7% decline in numbers of blood transfusions, especially in April 2020 (44.3%). The largest declines in transfusion were noted in surgery department for fresh frozen plasma (80.1%) [p = 0.012] and accident and emergency department transfusion of platelets (78.3%) [p = 0.005]. The least decline of statistical significance was observed in internal medicine transfusions of whole blood (19.6%) [p = 0.011]. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the numbers of blood donations and transfusions in Nigeria. Strengthening blood services to provide various blood components and secure safe blood supplies during public health emergencies is therefore critical.

Blockchain-based Platform for Secure Sharing and Validation of Vaccination Certificates

The COVID-19 pandemic has recently emerged as a worldwide health emergency that necessitates coordinated international measures. To contain the virus's spread, governments and health organisations raced to develop vaccines that would lower Covid-19 morbidity, relieve pressure on healthcare systems, and allow economies to open. Following the COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccination certificate has been adopted to help the authorities formulate policies by controlling cross-border travelling. To address serious privacy concerns and eliminate the need for third parties to retain the trust and govern user data, in this paper, we leverage blockchain technologies in developing a secure and verifiable vaccination certificate. Our approach has the advantage of utilising a hybrid approach that implements different advanced technologies, such as the self-sovereignty concept, smart contracts and interPlanetary File System (IPFS). We rely on verifiable credentials paired with smart contracts to make decisions about who can access the system and provide on-chain verification and validation of the user and issuer DIDs. The approach was further analysed, with a focus on performance and security. Our analysis shows that our solution satisfies the security requirements for immunisation certificates. © 2021 IEEE.

Assessment of gap between knowledge and practice of PPES among healthcare professionals during Covid-19"

Objective: To assess the gap between knowledge and practice of PPEs among healthcare professionals during COVID-19. Study design: Cross-Sectional study. Study setting: Sheikh Zayed Medical College/Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. Study Duration: May-August 2020. Methodology: A total of 214 Healthcare professionals (including medical and paramedical staff) were included in this study using convenient sampling technique. Data was collected on pre-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire included information regarding age, sex, job title, working station, etc. then data was entered in and analyzed by using SPSS Version. 21. Numerical variables like age was presented as mean ± standard deviation. Categorical variables like sex, job title, working station were shown as percentages. Results: Our study included the subjects with 88 (41.1%) males and 126 (58.9%) females. Mean age of study subjects came out to be 26.6±3.954 years. It is observed that only 95 (44.4%) of the subjects have PPEs;only 85 (39.7%) were provided PPEs from their respective healthcare authorities and 137 (64%) can afford purchasing PPEs on their own. And there is a major gap seen between the knowledge about PPEs/appreciation of their effectiveness and the practice of PPEs by these healthcare professionals. Regarding PPEs (which include gown, surgical mask, N-95 mask, gloves, goggles, head cover, shoe cover, social distancing, hand sanitizer and hand washing), this lag is seen majorly among the healthcare professionals working in general wards;less among emergency staff and least among the subjects working at flu filter clinic or isolation wards. Conclusion: Majority of healthcare professionals appreciate the effectiveness of PPEs against corona virus but don't bring them into practice;either due to non-availability of PPEs or they have some attitude problem towards it.

A Decentralised Authentication and Access Control Mechanism for Medical Wearable Sensors Data

Recent years have seen an increase in medical big data, which can be attributed to a paradigm shift experienced in medical data sharing induced by the growth of medical technology and the Internet of Things. The evidence of this potential has been proved during the recent covid-19 pandemic, which was characterised by the use of medical wearable devices to help with the medical data exchange between the healthcare providers and patients in a bid to contain the pandemic. However, the use of these technologies has also raised questions and concerns about security and privacy risks. To assist in resolving this issue, this paper proposes a blockchain-based access control framework for managing access to users' medical data. This is facilitated by using a smart contract on the blockchain, which allows for delegated access control and secure user authentication. This solution leverages blockchain technology's inherent autonomy and immutability to solve the existing access control challenges. We have presented the solution in the form of a medical wearable sensor prototype and a mobile app that uses the Ethereum blockchain in a real data sharing control scenario. Based on the empirical results, the proposed solution has proven effective. It has the potential to facilitate reliable data exchange while also protecting sensitive health information against potential threats. When subjected to security analysis and evaluation, the system exhibits performance improvements in data privacy levels, high security and lightweight access control design compared to the current centralised access control models. © 2021 IEEE.