COVID-19 Vaccination status among Health care workers diagnosed with COVID-19 in a tertiary care institute of Uttarakhand: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Vaccines are considered as the one of the main pillars in halting and ending the presently on-going coronavirus disease (COVID-19 disease) pandemic which has spread globally since it was first detected in Wuhan, China in December 2019. In the absence of specific therapy, infection prevention practices and mass vaccination remains the mainstay in controlling the disease. Objectives: Objective of the study was to assess COVID-19 vaccination status, socio-demographic and clinical profile among healthcare workers diagnosed with COVID-19. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey from 1st March 2021 to 30th June 2021 among healthcare workers who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in a tertiary care institute of Uttarakhand, India was conducted, and universal sampling was used. Institutional Ethics Committee approved this study. Results: Total 662 healthcare workers were diagnosed with COVID-19. 429 (64.8%) of these COVID-19 diagnosed healthcare workers had received either single (129,30%) or both dose (300,70%) of COVID-19 vaccine while remaining 233 (35.2%) belonged to non-vaccinated group. History of exposure to COVID-19 positive patients was higher in vaccinated (66.4%) than in non-vaccinated group (55%) (p = 0.004). Hospitalisation was found to be higher among non-vaccinated (5.6%) than vaccinated group (2.3%) (p = 0.029). Conclusions: This study concludes that being vaccinated against COVID-19 disease provides protection against severe infection and reduces the need for hospitalization.

Immunological Response of the Respiratory Tract in the SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a contagious pathogen responsible for the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The pathogenesis and immunological responses of SARS-CoV-2 infection are poorly understood until now. Once a person gets infected by SARS-COV-2, both innate and adaptive immunity gets compromised, which further plays an important role in making the disease more severe. The host's innate immune system forms the first layer of defense for protection from viral infections and initiates activation of the adaptive immune system in order to give maximum protection. The respiratory tract maintains the balance of T cell, B cell pro-and anti-inflammatory responses in order to protect the tissue from damage and diseases. In this review, the current updates related to the involvement of the immune system in the antiviral defense against SARS-CoV-2 have been discussed. These novel insights within the immunological response in the respiratory tract would support the future development of vaccines and immunoregulatory therapy for SARS-CoV-2 infection.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

Impact of HRM practices on employee productivity in times of COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of various human resource management practices in contributing to employee productivity in remote work environment during the lockdown restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 pandemic. In order to achieve the objectives of our research, we have used descriptive research design and have used a survey method to collect responses of salaried employees working from home during lockdown period. The results of the study suggest that the human resource practices relating to job description, training and development, job security, equal opportunity, performance linked compensation, competence linked compensation, employee welfare all together had a significant positive effect on the maintenance and enhancement of the employee productivity. It helps the organisations to promote healthy communication, participative decision making and strategic planning for current and future growth. © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

ECG Abnormalities in Patients Affected with COVID-19: A Review

Cardiovascular inclusion has been accounted for in patients with serious intense respiratory condition Covid 2 contamination, which might be reflected by electrocardiographic changes. Cardiovascular injury is additionally connected with humanity, need for intensive care, and seriousness of illness in patients due to Coronavirus. Some case features cardiovascular contribution as an intricacy related with Coronavirus, even without indications and indications of interstitial pneumonia. Two Coronavirus incidents in our report displayed diverse ECG indications by means of the sickness caused decay. The main case introduced brief SI QIII TIII sound structure followed by changeable almost whole atrioventricular square, and the second exhibited ST-section height joined by choroidal ventricular tachycardiac. The hidden systems of these ECGs irregularities in the serious phase of Coronavirus might be ascribed to hypoxia and incendiary harm brought about by the infection. Since the scourge of Coronavirus pulled in the consideration, hearsays were encompassing ECG variations in the contaminated people. We pointed toward indicative dissimilar noticed ECG discoveries and talking about their experimental importance. This deliberate audit recommends that recognizing ECG designs that may be connected with Coronavirus is fundamental. Given that doctors don't perceive these examples, they may mistakenly hazard the existences of their patients. Moreover, significant medication instigated ECG changes give attention to the medical care laborers on the dangers of potential treatments. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.

Briefings on e-waste hazard until COVID era in India

We are in the midst of a sensitive scenario of COVID-crisis due to the unregulated increase of waste products such as metals and plastic from electronic wastes, which is a result of the smart world that surrounds us with electronic gadgets. These electronic gadgets pose significant risks to the health of humans, animals, and the environment, and have the potential to have negative consequences for society and ecology. Electronic waste products have been very important in the issue of resource sustainability in recent years, owing to their increasing demand, consumption of essential resources, and difficulties in controlling the waste stream that results as a consequence (e-waste). As a result, the notion of circular economy, which aims to 'design out' waste via improved goods and processes, is considered to be very significant for e-products. In light of this, the purpose of this review is to investigate the possibility of incorporating lessons from behavioural sciences to assist in the management of macro and nano e-wastes being generated due to disposal or recycling issues. It provides an overview of major facts in the context of sustainable consumerism and pro-environmental actions. Finally, the article inclines for interventions in order to improve e-waste management and discusses possible prospects for improving the framework for a dangerous but yet essential electronic product which are now becoming necessity in a fast-growing economy, as well as the challenges that may arise by their disposal. © 2022

Developing public health capacities of Frontline Public Health Workforce in Uttarakhand

Recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of increase in the ability of public health workforce to detect and respond to the public health threats. For timely implementation of an adequate response and mitigation measure, the standardized and sustainable capacity building programme for frontline public health workforce is the need of hour. National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in partnership with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developed a three-month in-service Basic Epidemiology Training programme. This is a tailor-made programme for frontline public health workforce to strengthen epidemiological skills. This training was a practical interactive approach to field epidemiology for three months on the job training for frontline public health workforce that addressed the critical skills needed to conduct surveillance effectively at the local level while focusing on improving disease detection, reporting and feedback. The training also demonstrated the role of learning model in form of interaction between the mentor and the mentees. The importance of handhold support given by the mentors to the mentees in quality outbreak investigations and documentation. © 2022, Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine. All rights reserved.

Agents of mucormycosis outbreak associated with COVID-19

Mucormycosis is a life-threatening infection. Mucormycetes causes a wide range of diseases, including pneumonia, rhinosinusitis, internal organ spread, gastrointestinal tract involvement, and skin and soft tissue infection. It infects predominantly with hematological malignancies, transplantation, immunocompromised, and diabetes mellitus patients. The most severe type of the disease is a disseminated disease, which is linked to significant immunosuppression. Currently, this disease is more prevalent in the COVID-19 pandemic because of erroneous steroid use and untreated diabetes. However, there is a scarcity of study and information on the COVID-19 and mucormycosis connection. According to the latest research, mucormycosis cases are rising in developed and developing nations, and only a few therapies are available. The exact burden of mucormycosis is unclear;however, it is likely to be greater than recorded instances due to mucormycosis epidemiological changes. As a result of the delay in identifying this severe illness, appropriate antifungal medications are delayed, resulting in significant morbidity and death. A few drugs are underclinical trials for their efficacy. Other obstacles to treat patients are lack of reliable diagnostic non-invasive tests. This review article draws the attention of its readers and clinicians towards the agents of mucormycosis and discuss the various cases to manage this fungal infection.

Multiscale Fractal Shape Cues Support Hierarchical Maturation Of Podocytes Via Curvature induced Extracellular Matrix Patterning

Purpose/Objectives: Nature efficiently self-organizes cells and tissues into complex fractal forms. Whether fractal patterning contributes functionally to maturation, and how cells sense and interpret such shape cues, is not well understood. Methodology: Using kidney podocytes as a model system, bioinspired templating of glomerular histology was leveraged to design controlled fractal 21/2 -D surfaces for cell culture. Results: Microcurvature was associated with charge density gradients in space, found to direct extracellular matrix protein organization resulting in hierarchical assembly of cell structures and fractally-branching podocyte morphology in vitro, that was delineated clearly in vitro with a novel highresolution fluorescent assaying technique. Shape stimulation was uniquely associated with development of mature-like foot processes and organized ECM. In applications of drug testing, coronavirus infection, and a cells-as-sensors approach to patient serum diagnostics, fractally stimulated cells were more responsive than flat cultures. Conclusion/Significance: Fractal frameworks may thus provide a functional role in podocyte maturation and could serve to advance other bioengineered systems.

Combating COVID-19 with Proficiency and Precision

It has been two years since the first case of Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) was detected in India in the state of Kerala in March 2020. (1) The Government and the citizens of India have united together to combat the virus since then. India is the largest democracy in the world and the second highest populous country with an estimated 1.36 billion population. The country has witnessed three major waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in the past 3 years, the second being the worse. In the month of June 2022, India has reported a cumulative total of approximately 4.34 crore confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 511,903 deaths. The state of Maharashtra has been the worst effected in all three waves. Presently the recovery rate from COVID-19 in India has crossed 98%. (2). © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

A perspective on Master of Public Health (MPH) Graduates in India: Current role and way head

The public health sector of any country deals on the forefront and utilizes the multidisciplinary approach. In India the Masters of Public Health graduates are trained in unstandardized manner and lack a regulatory body. The gap created in serving the unserved can easily be fulfilled by utilization of this workforce in systematic manner, The emerging competition in the field, undervalued sector in terms of monitory benefits, poor demand and limited training institutions for MPH graduates along with the contribution of MPH during COVID 19 pandemic has been emphasized in the article. The perception of those working in the field has been highlighted with the way ahead of MPH program in India.

Convolution Filter-Based Deep Neural Networks for Timely Diagnosis of COVID-19 Disease with Chest Radiographs

COVID-19 is a deadly disease that spreads in the lungs and may result in damaging both the lungs. This infection may be life threatening if not detected in time. In this work, chest radiographs after preprocessing were provided to the various pre-trained CNN models to extract the essential features. Once these features were extracted, the scans were provided to several classifiers for the classification of images as COVID-19 infected or normal chest radiographs. The result shows an accuracy of 99.5% and was obtained by using the VGG19 model and logistic regression (LR) classifier. The obtained values verify that the work conducted in this paper will be very useful in the timely analysis of COVID-19 infection to provide in-time treatment to the patients. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Diagnosis of Oral and Maxillofacial Malignancies: A Retrospective Study

Objectives: The aims of this study were to characterize the type and frequency of oral and maxillofacial malignancies in an outpatient oral pathology service and to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the diagnosis of such malignancies by dentists in Ontario, Canada. Study Design: Our study included 775 malignancies submitted to an outpatient oral pathology service. Demographic and diagnostic data, including age, sex, submitting clinician type, anatomic site and diagnosis, were collected and analyzed for 2 periods, 2015-2019 and 2020. Results: Malignancies represented 2% of total submissions to our biopsy service. Oral surface epithelial malignancies were the most common, followed by hematologic and salivary gland malignancies. During the period in which dental offices were restricted (April-May 2020), 59% fewer malignancies were submitted compared with the preceding 5 years. Despite this reduction, total malignant submissions for 2020 and post-lockdown (July-September 2020) were significantly elevated compared with previous years (p = 0.0006 and p = 0.0008, respectively). Conclusion: Our study reaffirms the important role that dentists play in the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial malignancies. Our assessment of 2020 data highlights the impact of dental office closures on the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial malignancies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on education and health of students

Covid-19, an ongoing global pandemic, is one of the major reasons for the current disruption in the field of health and education. Although the Covid-19 led to a plethora of problems for students and negatively impacted the health and education of students, on the brighter side, it also exposed every country's weakness and vulnerability to this situation and forced them to deal with the pandemic in innovative ways all the while ensuring the safety of their people. Schools were required to shift to an online platform, students and teachers were involuntary asked to adapt and adopt the same rapidly. At the same time, students observed fewer physical activities and both their mental and physical health were adversely affected. The present study focuses on ascertaining the impact of this Covid-19 Pandemic on the health and education of students, as well as propose solutions to tackle any challenges in the future. © 2021 IEEE.

COVID 19 Co-infection with HIV and Hepatitis C

Background:The COVID-19 has been a severe pandemic all around the world. During this pandemic, very few cases of SARS-CoV-2 co-infected with HIV and Hepatitis C are reported. Here we report two rare cases of SARS-CoV-2 co-infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. According to the limited literature available, HIV patients co-infected with COVID-19 have a high mortality rate and poor clinical outcomes, but we report special cases of SARS -COV-2/HIV and SARS-COV2/ Hepatitis C, both cases were already on antivirals and had good clinical outcome. Methods:CASE 1: 58 year old male, known case of HIV diagnosed two years ago with normal CD4+T cell count. Present- ed with chief complaints of cough and shortness of breath. On examination had respiratory rate of 28/min and spo2 89 % on room air and was hemodynamically stable. CASE 2: 50 year old male, known case of Hepatitis C diagnosed one year ago presented with chief complaints of cough and shortness of breath. On examination had respiratory rate of 26/ min and spo2 91 % on room air and was hemodynamically stable. His liver function tests were mildly deranged. Sus- pecting COVID 19 pneumonitis in both the cases, samples were sent and both patients were found to be SARS -CoV-2 positive using real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Both patients were already on antivirals, at the time of admission. There was no co-morbidity in both the cases and X-ray showed bilateral pneumonitis, typical of COVID 19 and CT scan showed ground glass opacities bilaterally in basal areas. Routine investigations for COVID 19 were sent and were started on i/v Remdesivir, steroids and routine treatment was given. Results:Present study supports that SARS- COV-2/HIV and SARS-COV-2/Hepatitis C co-infected patients have a favorable prognosis and less severe clinical presentation of COVID 19 when already under treatment with anti-viral therapies. Conclusions:Same as results

Accurate Prognosis Of Covid-19 Using Ct Scan Images With Deep Learning Model And Machine Learning Classifiers

The Covid-19 disease is caused by coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2 has wrecked havoc globally. This epidemic severely impacted the economy of most of the countries across the world and has taken away many lives. To control the pandemic situation many researchers, organizations, and institutes have come up with the pathogenesis and developing vaccines to decimate this disease. Out of the several techniques, one of the techniques use image patterns on Computed Tomography (CT) to detect whether a patient is Covid-19 positive or not. In this work, the SARS-COV-2 dataset has been used for the detection of Covid-19 images and normal images. These dataset images have been fed to various deep learning models for extracting the features and finally passed to various ML classifiers which classify the images as Covid-19 or normal images. The results have established that the VGG19 model along with Logistic Regression (LR) classifier gives the maximum AUC and accuracy of 98.5% and 94.6% © 2021. Indian Journal of Radio and Space Physics.All Rights Reserved.

Fluoride Content in Asian Produced Green Teas

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to characterize the type and frequency of oral and maxillofacial malignancies in an outpatient oral pathology service and to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the diagnosis of such malignancies by dentists in Ontario, Canada. STUDY DESIGN: Our study included 775 malignancies submitted to an outpatient oral pathology service. Demographic and diagnostic data, including age, sex, submitting clinician type, anatomic site and diagnosis, were collected and analyzed for 2 periods, 2015-2019 and 2020. RESULTS: Malignancies represented 2% of total submissions to our biopsy service. Oral surface epithelial malignancies were the most common, followed by hematologic and salivary gland malignancies. During the period in which dental offices were restricted (April-May 2020), 59% fewer malignancies were submitted compared with the preceding 5 years. Despite this reduction, total malignant submissions for 2020 and post-lockdown (July-September 2020) were significantly elevated compared with previous years (p = 0.0006 and p = 0.0008, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our study reaffirms the important role that dentists play in the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial malignancies. Our assessment of 2020 data highlights the impact of dental office closures on the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial malignancies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Automatic Diagnosis of Covid-19 Using Chest X-ray Images Through Deep Learning Models

Since December 2019, Covid-19 has impacted the daily life of people across the World. There are presently 24,495,193 active cases and they are still increasing. The only available solution to cope up with the pandemic is efficient monitoring of the infected people. Techniques like RT-PCR that rely on checking the genetic expression of coronavirus are time-consuming. An automated early diagnosis method for a Covid-19 patient is of utmost requirement. In this work, the radiographic images along with prevalent Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods especially Deep Learning (DL) methods have been used in priority, to detect Covid-19. In this work, DL-based automated techniques are employed to process the chest X-ray images for the detection of Covid-19. The authors investigated the capabilities of the three pre-trained CNN models, that is, VGG16, VGG19, Inception V3 for extracting the features from Covid-19 positive, pneumonia, and normal chest X-rays. Lastly, various ML classifiers are used to classify the Covid-19 positive images. The results obtained important biomarkers related to coronavirus disease. The accuracy of 97% is obtained using VGG16 and Inception V3. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

From Farm to Fork: Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Food Supply Chain

COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread global disruptions. While much is being discussed about the health and economic impacts, there has been a limited focus on the immediate food sector shocks and their related social implications in developing countries, especially when the farmer surveys cannot be conducted due to mobility restrictions in many countries. To overcome these challenges, this study uses news mining and content analysis of media articles published from February to April 2020, to assess the early impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food supply chain and farm distress in India. It also presents the media perception of the impact of the pandemic and resulting policy measures using sentiment analysis, in addition to the cross-tabulation of results that show differential impacts across food supply chain components among different commodity groups and regions. The results show wide-scale impacts across different components of the food supply chain ranging from crop harvesting and processing, distribution and logistics to disruptions across food markets, as represented by 22, 11 and 30% of total articles, respectively. The impacts are also differentiated by commodity groups, with animal products having more trade and demand-side issues, logistic bottlenecks in fruits and vegetables and crops showing problems in labor availability and harvesting. Sentiment analysis of news items shows a spike in the negative sentiment immediately post the national lockdown, with relatively less negativity in subsequent weeks due to large-scale policy and community action. Sentiment classification along different indicators shows the highest negative sentiment for animal products (85%) in commodity groups, western states of India (78%) among different regions, and food supply (85%) and markets (83%) among supply chain components. Further, extreme weather analysis (using excess rainfall events) shows that farmers faced compound risks from the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather events in many parts of the country. The results highlight the importance of building resilient food systems, especially when the biotic and abiotic shocks are projected to increase globally due to many drivers including biodiversity loss and climate change.

TRANSFUSION-RELATED ACUTE LUNG INJURY ASSOCIATED WITH BANLAMIVIMAB INFUSION

TOPIC: Lung Pathology TYPE: Medical Student/Resident Case Reports INTRODUCTION: Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) is a well-known risk of intravenous infusions, but the true incidence is poorly defined. With the arrival of COVID-19, a new intravenous medication, Banlamivimab, may be associated with TRALI. We present a unique case of Banlamivimab TRALI from COVID-19 treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: A 69-year-old female presented to the Emergency Department with complaints of fevers, generalized weakness, nausea, vomiting, and dyspnea on exertion. She was febrile to 101.2 Fahrenheit and maintaining a normal oxygen saturation level on ambient air. Laboratory tests were positive for SARS-COV-2, elevated CRP, and troponin up to 1.37 ng/mL. Complete blood count and chemistry were both normal. Chest x-ray was unremarkable. Initially, she was set to be discharged home. Infectious Disease was consulted regarding her COVID infection and recommended Banlamivimab infusion prior to discharge. Approximately 45 minutes after starting the infusion, the patient experienced sudden onset shortness of breath and rigors. She was hypoxic to 85% on ambient air, tachypneic, febrile to 102.9 Fahrenheit, hypertensive and in acute respiratory distress. She had no evidence of an allergic reaction nor anaphylaxis. The infusion was stopped immediately and she was given Solumedrol and Benadryl. Her troponin increased to 3.23 ng/mL, white blood cell count rose to 19,300/mL and her lactic acid was 6.8. Chest x-ray showed new pulmonary edema. Echocardiogram showed normal systolic and diastolic function. She was diagnosed with transfusion related lung injury and fully recovered with supportive treatment. DISCUSSION: Banlamivimab is an investigational medicine used in patients who are considered high risk for being hospitalized or progressing to severe COVID-19 infection. Although TRALI is a well-defined risk factor of blood transfusions, there is insufficient data related to transfusion related lung injuries caused by Banlamivimab infusion or other human monoclonal antibodies. When treating COVID-19 patients with Banlamivimab, TRALI must be a side effect taken into consideration due to the possibility of causing a second hit to COVID-19 damaged lungs. As highlighted by the acuity of our patient's illness, it is feasible that such an event could increase patient mortality. CONCLUSIONS: This case uniquely demonstrates the possibility of TRALI with Banlamivimab infusions and highlights the importance of early recognition and management. Furthermore, clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for TRALI in patients receiving not only blood transfusions, but also any human monoclonal antibody infusions. REFERENCE #1: (2021, March 18). FACT SHEET FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION (EUA) OF BAMLANIVIMAB AND ETESEVIMAB. Eli Lilly and Company. Retrieved April 30, 2021, from https://www.covid19.lilly.com/bam-ete/getting-started REFERENCE #2: Petraszko, T. (2019, February 26). Transfusion-related acute lung Injury (trali). Retrieved April 30, 2021, from https://professionaleducation.blood.ca/en/transfusion/publications/transfusion-related-acute-lung-injury-trali REFERENCE #3: Kleinman, S., MD. (n.d.). Transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI). Retrieved April 30, 2021, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/transfusion-related-acute-lung-injury-trali#H1588910 DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Pankaj Aggarwal, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Jenna Dumovich, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Justin Haloot, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Jane O'Rorke, source=Web Response