ABSTRACT
Objectives: To assess perceptions of parents regarding vaccinating their children against COVID-19 and to assess the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy as compared to routine childhood vaccinations. Study Design: Analytical, cross-sectional, quantitative study Place and Duration of Study: Study was conducted in Rawalpindi/Islamabad Pakistan, from Nov 2021 to Apr 2022. Methodology: Parents having children of either gender, 12 to 18 years of age, residents of Rawalpindi/Islamabad Pakistan were included in the study. Study was conducted online using Google forms. Sample size of 303 was taken and participants were enrolled through non probability convenience sampling. Modified Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (VHS) was used. Parental attitudes towards routine childhood vaccinations versus COVID-19 vaccines were compared using paired sample T test. Results: Among 303 parents, 196(64.5%) were willing to vaccinate their child with COVID-19 vaccine. Reasons for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy included insufficient vaccine safety information (16.8%), avoidance of vaccines/ medications in general (8.9%), inconvenient / painful vaccine administration (7.9%), perceiving child as not at high risk of developing complications of he gets infected by COVID-19(6.3%) and concerns of getting COVID-19 through the vaccine (4.6%). An encouraging attitude was seen among parents for routine childhood vaccination as compared to COVID-19 vaccination with higher mean VHS 2.68±0.44 vs. 2.52±0.43 respectively (p<0.001). Conclusions: A large proportion of parents were hesitant regarding the COVID-19 vaccine as compared to routine childhood vaccines. Relying on the national authorities regarding the immunization information is a much better option to l imit hesitancy. © 2022, Army Medical College. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
During the COVID-19 pandemic, technology stocks, such as FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google), attracted the attention of global investors due to the vast use of technology in daily business. However, technology stocks are generally considered risky stocks;hence, efficient risk management is required to construct an optimal portfolio. In this study, we investigate the volatility spillovers and dynamic conditional correlations among the daily returns of FAANG company stocks, gold, and sharia-compliant equity to construct the optimal portfolio weights and hedge ratios during the COVID-19 pandemic period by utilizing a multivariate GARCH framework. The dynamic conditional correlations reveal that both gold and sharia-compliant equities exhibit lower correlations with FAANG stocks during the COVID-19 pandemic, implying opportunities for portfolio diversification. The findings indicate that gold and shariah-compliant equity are good candidates to hedge FAANG stocks. These findings are highly relevant for international investors, asset managers, hedgers, and portfolio managers.
ABSTRACT
The current quantitative research paper intends to investigate students' and teachers’ experiences and opinions about virtual learning and testing and how remote learning has affected their teaching and learning and assessments during the pandemic. To find out the effects of the online platform on classes and assessments, two sets (one for students and the other for teachers) of questionnaires were formulated comprising three sections;first, about demographic information of the participants, second (variables, 1-8) about online classes and third (variables, 9-17) about online assessments. The questionnaires were administered among 150 participants-90 students and 60 teachers from five countries: Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, England and Canada. SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)-version 26.0 was used to analyze the data statistically. The results showed that both students and teachers faced challenges in adopting online teaching, yet they had to do so out of necessity because they did not experience online teaching especially online assessment up to the standard of face-to-face (in person in classrooms). Moreover, the research findings did not show much significant difference between teachers’ and students’ experiences and opinions towards online classes and assessment across all five countries. Furthermore, the study offers some implications based on the findings. The researchers see that blended learning might be the future of education. Unified online curricula and learning management systems, competency in using various digital tools/platforms, availability of stable Internet connection, innovative and engaging teaching strategies and proctored exams and a variety of formative/summative assessments are required in order to maintain the quality of learning and testing, and prepare educational institutions and teachers to meet any challenge in this unpredictable world. © Italian e-Learning Association.
ABSTRACT
Background and Objective: COVID-19 can cause severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. With deteriorating disease, most of the patients may require intensive care admission. This study was carried out to determine and evaluate the response of Tocilizumab with special reference to C-reactive protein (CRP) in critically ill patients presented to Farooq Hospital, West Wood Lahore. Methods: This retrospective study included the data of 55 critically ill COVID-19 patients (respiratory rate ≥30, SpO2<93%, oxygen requirement ≥5L/min, PaO2/FiO2 ≤300 mmHg) admitted in Corona unit of Farooq Hospital West Wood Lahore, who were being treated with Tocilizumab alongwith standard treatment protocol between April 27 and June 21, 2020. The data has been retrieved from hospital records after taking appropriate permission and consent. Demographic, clinical features and serum CRP were recorded for each of them, before and after administration of Tocilizumab. Data analysis was done by Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 and expressed as frequency and percentages. Results: Out of 55 patients who were administered Tocilizumab, 72.7% survived whereas 27.3% died. There was higher median reduction of CRP levels in patients who survived (77.5 to 34.9 mg/L) as compared to those who died (65.5 to 45.3 mg/L). There was a statistically significant difference between CRP levels at the time of admission, 72 hours after Tocilizumab was administered (P<0.0001). Conclusion: Tocilizumab administration might be helpful in reducing the complications of cytokine storm in patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. © 2020, Biomedica. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) also known as COVID19, is a newly discovered virus that has been recently isolated from humans. A number of researches with special emphasis on its clinical and epidemiological parameters are being carried out in various parts of the world. Aim: To analyze and evaluate the clinical, laboratory and chest x ray findings of Covid-19 cases, admitted at a recently established Corona Unit of Farooq Hospital West Wood Lahore, Pakistan. Study Design: Retrospective study Methods: The current study included a total of 105 COVID-19 positive cases from 9th April to 27th May 2020. 94 cases were confirmed on the basis of laboratory values whereas 11 were diagnosed based on their clinical characteristics. Results: Of all 105 patients admitted, 94(89.50%) were detected as laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia with nasopharyngeal swab samples that were positive for SARS-CoV-2, whereas 11 (10.50%) were confirmed on clinical grounds. The mean age was 48.18 that ranged from 12 to 78 years. Majority were male patients (78.1%). Only 3 (2.9%) patients had recent travel history of abroad. The most common comorbidities were Hypertension (49.39%) and Diabetes Mellitus (43.37%). The most common symptoms (fever, dry cough, and tiredness) were observed in 29.5%, serious symptoms (shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, and loss of speech or movement) in 40% and only few cases with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The mean systolic blood pressure recorded was 122.8 +/- 12.85 mm Hg and mean diastolic blood pressure 79.29 +/- 9.96. The mean oxygen saturation levels were 94.30 +/- 5.063. The mean value for chest x ray scoring was 7,50 +/- 5.6. The laboratory values were taken into account and elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were reported in 65.75% and procalcitonin levels in 58% of the patients. Higher polymorph leukocytes count was observed in 34 (33%) whereas 40 cases (38.83%) of COVID-19 patients had lymphopenia. D-dimers, AST, ALT levels were raised in 79.68%, 47.2% and 58.3% of patients, respectively. Higher levels of serum ferritin were seen in 61.4% of cases. Conclusion: The clinical, laboratory and radiological findings may play pivotal role in early detection of positive COVID-19 cases and thus help in timely therapeutics management.