Detection of coronaviruses in insectivorous bats of Fore-Caucasus, 2021.

Coronaviruses (CoVs) pose a huge threat to public health as emerging viruses. Bat-borne CoVs are especially unpredictable in their evolution due to some unique features of bat physiology boosting the rate of mutations in CoVs, which is already high by itself compared to other viruses. Among bats, a meta-analysis of overall CoVs epizootiology identified a nucleic acid observed prevalence of 9.8% (95% CI 8.7-10.9%). The main objectives of our study were to conduct a qPCR screening of CoVs' prevalence in the insectivorous bat population of Fore-Caucasus and perform their characterization based on the metagenomic NGS of samples with detected CoV RNA. According to the qPCR screening, CoV RNA was detected in 5 samples, resulting in a 3.33% (95% CI 1.1-7.6%) prevalence of CoVs in bats from these studied locations. BetaCoVs reads were identified in raw metagenomic NGS data, however, detailed characterization was not possible due to relatively low RNA concentration in samples. Our results correspond to other studies, although a lower prevalence in qPCR studies was observed compared to other regions and countries. Further studies should require deeper metagenomic NGS investigation, as a supplementary method, which will allow detailed CoV characterization.

Factors Associated With Highest Symptoms of Anxiety During COVID-19: Cross-Cultural Study of 23 Countries.

The COVID-19 restrictions have impacted people's lifestyles in all spheres (social, psychological, political, economic, and others). This study explored which factors affected the level of anxiety during the time of the first wave of COVID-19 and subsequent quarantine in a substantial proportion of 23 countries, included in this study. The data was collected from May to August 2020 (5 June 2020). The sample included 15,375 participants from 23 countries: (seven from Europe: Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Russia; 11 from West, South and Southeast Asia: Armenia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey; two African: Nigeria and Tanzania; and three from North, South, and Central America: Brazil, Canada, United States). Level of anxiety was measured by means of the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the 20-item first part of The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)-State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). Respondents were also asked about their personal experiences with COVID-19, attitudes toward measures introduced by governments, changes in attitudes toward migrants during a pandemic, family income, isolation conditions, etc. The factor analysis revealed that four factors explained 45.08% of variance in increase of anxiety, and these components were interpreted as follows: (1) personal awareness of the threat of COVID-19, (2) personal reaction toward officially undertaken measures and attitudes to foreigners, (3) personal trust in official sources, (4) personal experience with COVID-19. Three out of four factors demonstrated strong associations with both scales of anxiety: high level of anxiety was significantly correlated with high level of personal awareness of the threat of COVID-19, low level of personal reaction toward officially undertaken measures and attitudes to foreigners, and high level of presence of personal experience with COVID-19. Our study revealed significant main effects of sex, country, and all four factors on the level of anxiety. It was demonstrated that countries with higher levels of anxiety assessed the real danger of a pandemic as higher, and had more personal experience with COVID-19. Respondents who trusted the government demonstrated lower levels of anxiety. Finally, foreigners were perceived as the cause of epidemic spread.

Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Role of Empathy during COVID-19’s First Wave

The COVID-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world, and concerns about psychological, social, and economic consequences are growing rapidly. Individuals’ empathy-based reactions towards others may be an important resilience factor in the face of COVID-19. Self-report data from 15,375 participants across 23 countries were collected from May to August 2020 during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, this study examined different facets of empathy—Perspective-Taking, Empathic Concern, and Personal Distress, and their association with cross-cultural ratings on Individualism, Power Distance, The Human Development Index, Social Support Ranking, and the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index, as well as the currently confirmed number of cases of COVID-19 at the time of data collection. The highest ratings on Perspective-Taking were obtained for USA, Brazil, Italy, Croatia, and Armenia (from maximum to minimum);on Empathetic Concern, for the USA, Brazil, Hungary, Italy, and Indonesia;and on Personal Distress, from Brazil, Turkey, Italy, Armenia, Indonesia. Results also present associations between demographic factors and empathy across countries. Limitations and future directions are presented.

Predictors of Anxiety in the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Global Perspective: Data from 23 Countries

Prior and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have resulted in substantial changes to everyday life. The pandemic and measures of its control affect mental health negatively. Self-reported data from 15,375 participants from 23 countries were collected from May to August 2020 during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two questionnaires measuring anxiety level were used in this study—the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). The associations between a set of social indicators on anxiety during COVID-19 (e.g., sex, age, country, live alone) were tested as well. Self-reported anxiety during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic varied across countries, with the maximum levels reported for Brazil, Canada, Italy, Iraq and the USA. Sex differences of anxiety levels during COVID-19 were also examined, and results showed women reported higher levels of anxiety compared to men. Overall, our results demonstrated that the self-reported symptoms of anxiety were higher compared to those reported in general before pandemic. We conclude that such cultural dimensions as individualism/collectivism, power distance and looseness/tightness may function as protective adaptive mechanisms against the development of anxiety disorders in a pandemic situation.

Medical mask as a means of personal and collective protection in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (cross-cultural aspects)

Using a medical mask is one of the ways to prevent the spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19. The willingness to use the mask in different countries depends on a number of factors - epidemiological experience, cultural norms and attitudes, economic and political conditions, public awareness, etc. The purpose of this study is to analyze the first reaction of the population to prescriptions or recommendations of authorities to use medical masks as a means of personal protection during COVID-19 in different countries. We used methods of semi-structured in-depth interviews, questionnaires, photo-fixation of elements of people's behavior during the pandemic, content analysis of the media. In total, 366 questionnaires were collected (51 males and 315 females) among Russian-speaking people who were living or staying abroad at the time of the outbreak and spreading of COVID-19, as well as among Russians from different regions of Russia since March 23 to April 10, 2020. An analysis of the data showed that the willingness to use a mask depends on the country of residence of the respondent, gender, social distance and trust in the authorities. The results of the study demonstrate the effect of official decisions on the real behavior of people - the more serious are measures on the part of the government, the more responsible are people about preventive measures and the better they implement them. The results were interpreted from the point of view of “Individualism-Collectivism” dichotomous classification of cultures. These results are the first step of the study and reveal the first stage of people's response to the restrictions. Understanding of socio-cultural and ethnic circumstances of population’s perception and implementation of sanitary-hygienic prescriptions can be used in choosing the most optimal ways of warning and developing efficient methods to encourage the population to adhere to restrictions. Использование медицинской маски- одна из профилактических мер по ограничению распространения респираторных инфекций, втом числе COVID-19. Частота использования маски вкаждой стране зависит от многих факторов, среди них- эпидемиологический опыт, культурные нормы и установки, экономическая и политическая ситуация, степень информированности населения и др. Цель данного исследования- изучение первичной реакции населения разных стран, охваченных пандемией COVID-19, на предписания или рекомендации властей по использованию медицинских масок вкачестве индивидуальной и коллективной защиты. Мы применяли методы полуструктурированного глубинного интервью, анкетирование, фотофиксацию элементов поведения. Всего было собрано 366 анкет респондентов (51 муж. и 315 жен.) среди русскоязычных граждан, проживающих или пребывающих вдругих странах на момент вспышки и распространения COVID-19, а также среди россиян из разных регионов России, за период с 23 марта по 10 апреля 2020 г. Анализ полученных данных показал, что частота использования масок зависит от таких параметров как страна нахождения респондента, пол, социальное дистанцирование и доверие к власти. Результаты исследования демонстрируют эффект транслируемых через государственные источники официальных решений на реальное поведение людей- при более серьезных мерах со стороны правительства, люди ответственнее относятся к вводимым мерам профилактики и лучше их исполняют. Интерпретация результатов рассмотрена с антропологической точки зрения согласно классификации культур «Индивидуализм-Коллективизм». Данные результаты являются первым срезом исследования впериод введения ограничений и отображают первую стадию реакции населения на принятые меры. Знание особенностей восприятия и исполнения населением санитарно-гигиенических предписаний может быть использовано при выборе наиболее оптимальных форм оповещения о санитарно-гигиенических рекомендациях и выработке действенных и эффективных методов побуждения к их исполнению населением.