ABSTRACT
Introduction: To date, the focus on COVID-19 among children, especially in low- and middle-income countries, has been to address key issues including poor vaccination rates. However, the focus is changing with new variants and concerns regarding the development of hyperinflammatory syndromes. There have also been concerns with the overuse of antibiotics to treat patients with COVID-19, with the Indian Government developing guidelines, including those for children, to improve patient care. Consequently, a need to document the current management of children with COVID-19 in India and use the findings for future guidance. Materials and Methods: Pilot study assessing the management of children with COVID-19 among five hospitals in India using purposely developed case report forms, which had been piloted in Bangladesh. Results: Low numbers of children in hospital with COVID-19 (11.9% of in-patient beds). The majority were boys (58.3%) and between 11 and 18 years (55.5%). Reasons for admission were in line with previous studies and included respiratory distress/breathing difficulties. 69.4% of children with COVID-19 were prescribed antibiotics empirically, typically those on the Watch list, and administered parenterally, with only limited switching to oral therapy. A minority were prescribed antimalarials, antivirals and anti-parasitic medicines. There was appreciable prescribing of immune boosters and steroids. Conclusion: It was encouraging to see low hospitalisation rates. However, concerns with high empiric use of antibiotics and limited switching to oral formulations need to be addressed potentially, by instigating antimicrobial stewardship programmes. Similarly, other antimicrobials where these are not recommended.
ABSTRACT
Active participation in games and sports can aid with a variety of natural skills including jumping, running, and other powerful motions that are critical for improving performance. While sports performances mostly demands high lower limb fitness and strength, having strong legs can help correct muscle imbalances and accelerate the rate of recovery (Schlumberger, A., 2006). The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 6 weeks of online vinyasa training on explosive leg strength of school children during COVID-19, using the AARPHAD youth fitness test item, the standing broad jump (SBJ). The study included 30 students (ages 12 to 14) from public schools in North Delhi who had never received structured training before. The participants were subsequently subdivided and assigned to either an experimental (vinyasa) or a control group at random. The health-related fitness variable chosen for the study was explosive leg strength. The online vinyasa training session was given to the experimental group for six weeks as 30 min pieces of training for five days a week, while the control group continued only their prior active lifestyle routine. Further to assess the findings, data was collected twice during the pre and post-test before and after training. When the data was evaluated, it was discovered that the six-week online vinyasa training showed statistically significant impacts in the post-tests for explosive leg strength performances when compared to the pre-test results (P0.05). Furthermore, as compared to the control group's post-test results, the experimental group's explosive leg strength performances in the post-test were statistically significant in terms of more improvement (P0.05). The significant difference between the experimental and control groups was discovered by ANCOVA. ANCOVA revealed a significant difference in the experimental group after six weeks when compared to its baseline. The study showed that online vinyasa training programmes may be effective for improving health-related fitness via variable explosive leg strength. © 2021, Editura Universitatii din Pitesti. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background Loss of smell and/or taste have been described in COVID-19 patients. Studies have not been conducted to evaluate the loss of smell and/or taste in the context of Nepal. Objective To investigate the prevalence of Ear, Nose and Throat related symptoms and assess smell and taste disorders in laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 patients. Method This prospective cross-sectional study evaluated patients from September 2020 to March 2021 with preceding COVID-19 diagnosis from a tertiary centre in Kathmandu. COVID-19 positive patients visiting out-patient department, quarantined or admitted were included. Patients were given questionnaire consisting of demographic data, history of smoking and evaluation of presenting symptoms. Loss of smell and taste were subjectively tested and followed up via telephone for ten weeks to evaluate for recovery time and degree of recovery. Result A total of 226 patients participated in the study, 18-92 years old (mean age, 36.77 ± 15.23 years;53.5% males, 69% non-smokers). Majority of the patients had Myalgia (n = 128, 56.6%) as their presenting symptoms followed by fever (n = 122, 53.9%), loss of smell (n = 117, 51.7%), cough (n = 107, 47.34) and sore throat (n = 102, 45.1%). Loss of sense of smell and taste was reported in 51.8% and 42% respectively. The association between loss of sense of smell and taste was statistically significant (p < .001). All patients had some degree of recovery with 64.1% recovery of smell and 64.2% recovery of taste within 14 days of onset of symptoms. The mean recovery time for sense of smell and taste was 14.34 ± 9.82 days and 15.03 ± 10.06 days, respectively. Conclusion Olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions are cardinal features of COVID-19. They recover spontaneously along with other symptoms within few weeks. The absence of smell or taste in times of pandemic can be suggestive of potential COVID-19 infection and be used as a screening tool for early diagnosis and reduce transmission of the infection.