Impact of diabetes on the severity of COVID-19 infection in pregnant women - A single-center descriptive study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Pregnant women have significant morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 infection. Pregnancy and diabetes are known risk factors for severe COVID 19 infection. Understanding the interactions between COVID-19 and diabetes in pregnancy is crucial in developing appropriate therapeutic approaches. India, like many other countries, has a very high prevalence of diabetes and COVID-19 infected cases. Such studies are minimal worldwide and none from India to the best of our knowledge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We did a retrospective cross-sectional study. 856 COVID-19 infected pregnant women were included in the study. We estimated the impact of diabetes on the severity of COVID-19 infected pregnant women and compared the outcomes with the non-diabetic group. RESULTS: Prevalence of diabetes in pregnancy in the present study was 15.43%(n = 132/856). Prevalence of diabetes in non-severe infection was 14%(n = 115/818), severe infection was 44.73%(n = 17/38), and in maternal deaths was 75% (n = 6/8). The age-adjusted odds ratio for diabetes for severe infection was 4.492 (95% CI = 2.277-8.865, p < 0.001). COVID-19 infected pregnant women with diabetes were at higher risk for Cesarean section (78.3%) and ICU admission for newborns (14.81%) CONCLUSION: Diabetes in pregnant women is strongly associated with the severity of COVID-19 infection. The prevalence of diabetes in pregnancy increases as the severity of COVID-19 infection increases. Diabetes is associated with more adverse outcomes in mothers and newborns. It is necessary to identify pregnant women with diabetes and prioritize them in public health interventions like vaccination.

Internet use: A boon or a bane during COVID-19

The lockdown has seen an increase in the use of Internet among the public. It has also emphasized the need to look into the factors related to excessive use as well as its management. The clinical interview was carried out to understand the pattern of Internet use among cases presented to tertiary specialty clinic for the management of technology use. The clinical interview revealed an increased use of Internet immediately after the lockdown. The increased use was attributed to the modality of passing time with limited options of entertainment as well as to cope up with negative emotions. It implicates the need for building awareness about excessive use of Internet during lockdown as well as strategies to promote healthy use of technology.

Doomsurfing and doomscrolling mediate psychological distress in COVID-19 lockdown: Implications for awareness of cognitive biases.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant increase in the consumption of the internet for work, leisure time activities, and has also generated substantial amounts of anxiety, and uncertainty, which has lead individuals to spend a lot of time surfing the internet for the latest news on developments in the COVID-19 crisis. This ends up as scrolling or surfing through a lot of pessimistic news items. This search for information during COVID-19 is apparently influenced by a number of cognitive biases as well as mediated by poor affect regulation skills. Thus, there is a need to address these cognitive biases and promote affect regulation strategies across health settings.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Neonatal Covid-19 Infection: A Single-Centre Observational Study.

Background: This study is to estimate the prevalence and to determine the risk factors for neonatal Covid-19 infection. Methods: Retrospective analysis of all deliveries in Covid-19-infected mothers in a tertiary care centre in North Kerala from 15 April 2020 to 15 October 2020. Results: Of the 350 Covid-19-positive pregnancies 223 delivered, two were intrauterine foetal demises. In total, 32 out of 221 newborns were Covid-19-positive (14.47%). The risk was more in vaginal delivery group (17.39%) compared to caesarean group (13.16%). The breastfeeding and rooming-in group (18.79%) had more infection than those babies who were not breastfed and separated from mother (1.78%).14 out of 86 (16.28%) babies delivered within 7 days of mothers turning negative became positive compared to 2 out of 23 (8.7%) babies delivered between 7 and 14 days of negative result (Odds ratio of 2.04). None of the babies delivered 14 days after negative result has become positive. Conclusions: The present study shows that neonatal Covid-19 infection is not rare. The risk is greater in vaginal delivery group and those babies who are breastfed and allowed to stay with mothers. Delaying delivery more than 7 days after mother becoming negative protects the newborn from getting infection.