The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Teachers and Its Possible Risk Factors: A Systematic Review.

(1) Objective: The objective was to analyze the development of psychiatric pathologies/burnout syndrome and their possible risk factors in teachers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: A qualitative systematic review was carried out, according to the PRISMA protocol, in the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases using a combination of the following descriptors [MeSH]: "mental health", "mental disorders'', "covid-19" and "school teachers''. Articles selected were written in English, Portuguese and Spanish, published between November 2019 and December 2022. (3) Results: The most common psychiatric pathologies were generalized anxiety disorders and depression. Burnout syndrome was also quite prevalent. Of the 776 articles identified, 42 were selected after applying the eligibility criteria. Although there is variability among the analyzed studies, the risk factors most correlated with increased morbidity in teachers were: (i) being female; (ii) age below the fifth decade of life; (iii) pre-existence of chronic or psychiatric illnesses before the pandemic; (iv) difficulty in adapting to the distance education model; (v) family/work conflicts; (vi) negative symptoms caused by the pandemic. (4) Conclusions: Therefore, the COVID-19 impact on mental health appears to be more common in female teachers in their fifth decade of life and with pre-existing psychiatric comorbidities. However, prospective studies are needed to better map this situation.

Impacts of COVID-19 on children and adolescents: A systematic review analyzing its psychiatric effects.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the most relevant data from a systematic review on the impact of COVID-19 on children and adolescents, particularly analyzing its psychiatric effects. METHODS: This review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and included experimental studies (randomized-individually or pooled-and non-randomized controlled trials), observational studies with a group for internal comparison (cohort studies-prospective and retrospective-and case-control) and qualitative studies in the period from 2021 to 2022. RESULTS: The search identified 325 articles; we removed 125 duplicates. We selected 200 manuscripts, chosen by title and selected abstracts. We excluded 50 records after screening titles and abstracts, as they did not meet the inclusion criteria. We retrieved 150 records selected for a full reading. We excluded 90 text articles and we selected 25 records for the (n) final. Limitations: Due to the short period of data collection, from 2021 to 2022, there is a possibility of lack of relevant studies related to the mental health care of children and adolescents. In addition, there is the possibility of publication bias, such as only significant findings being published. CONCLUSION: The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of children and adolescents is of great concern to child and youth psychiatry. Situations such as fear, anxiety, panic, depression, sleep and appetite disorders, as well as impairment in social interactions caused by psychic stress, are punctual markers of pain and psychic suffering, which have increasing impacts on the mental health panorama of children and adolescents globally, particularly in vulnerable and socially at-risk populations.

COVID-19, mental health and Indigenous populations in Brazil: The epidemic beyond the pandemic.

The aim of this paper was to report on factors contributing to the deterioration of the mental health of Indigenous populations (IP) in Brazil. Five factors seem to have a direct impact on the mental health of IP in Brazil: (1) The absence of public policies; (2) Intellectual production; (3) Psychiatric medical care for remote areas (e.g., telemedicine) aimed at promoting the mental health of Brazil's IP, which causes a huge gap in the process of assistance and social, psychological, economic and cultural valorization of native peoples; (4) The dissemination of fake news, which exposed, above all, older IP to risk behaviors in the pandemic, such as refusal of vaccination; and (5) The violence carried out on IP lands due to economic interests with mining/agribusiness.

The impact of "the war that drags on" in Ukraine for the health of children and adolescents: Old problems in a new conflict?

The early months of 2022 have already included several distressing world events. From the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to protests against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Escalating conflict in Ukraine poses an immediate and growing threat to the lives and well-being of the country's 7.5 million children. Humanitarian needs are multiplying - and spreading by the hour. Children have been killed. Children have been wounded. They are being profoundly traumatized by the violence all around them. Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move, and family members are becoming separated from their loved ones.

COVID-19, liver dysfunction and pathophysiology: A conceptual discussion.

The intra and extracellular pathways of hepatic injury by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are still being studied. Understanding them is important to treat this viral disease and other liver and biliary tract disorders. Thus, this paper aims to present three hypotheses about liver injury caused by COVID-19: (1) The interactions between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike protein and membrane receptors in the hepatocyte; (2) The dysbiosis and "gut-liver axis" disruption in patients with serious clinical presentations of COVID-19; and (3) The inflammatory response exacerbated through the production of interleukins such as interleukin-6. However, despite these new perspectives, the pathophysiological process of liver injury caused by COVID-19 is still complex and multifactorial. Thus, understanding all these variables is a challenge to science but also the key to propose individualized and effective patient therapies.

Domestic violence against Latin American women and female mental health during the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak.

We aimed to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the VAW scenario and how it affects women's mental health. The short communication from secondary data collected from the official websites of seven countries in Latin America was performed. The sample was non-probabilistic, for convenience. The collection took place in January 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased contact of the victim with the aggressor (if he/she is the spouse), deepening of economic disparities, stressful environment, and loss of social support mechanisms are some of the factors that explain the possible increase in VAW rates. VAW is a sociological phenomenon whose bases are rooted in historical, political, religious, and economic conditions. In addition to the biological dimension of the pandemic, it is necessary to reflect on the long-term impacts of this new social configuration, especially on more vulnerable groups such as women in underdeveloped countries.

Pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms of liver injury in severe forms of COVID-19: An integrative review.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: SARS-CoV-2 has primary pulmonary impairment, but other organs such as the liver can also be affected. This implies a worsening of patient's prognosis and an increase in morbidity and mortality. The metabolic pathways and molecular factors involved in the genesis of this injury are still unknown. Therefore, we aimed to carry out an integrative review about the pathophysiology and possible molecular mechanisms of liver injury by COVID-19. METHODS: We carried out an integrative literature review in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Embase from December 2020 to March 2021 using the following descriptors: # 1 "COVID-19" (MeSH) AND / OR # 2 "Liver injury" (MeSH) AND / OR # 3 "Pathophysiology" (MesH). RESULTS: The data were extracted and divided into two main themes, for heuristic purposes: "Hepatotropism and SARS-CoV-2", and "Pathophysiological hypotheses for liver injury associated with SARS-CoV-2". CONCLUSIONS: The virus seems to promote liver damage through five mechanisms: direct injury, humoral and cellular inflammatory response, hypoxemia caused by a decrease in the effective circulating volume, reinfection through the portal system, and use of drugs in the treatment. The literature also points out that the expression of the angiotensin-converting enzyme II and transmembrane serine protease 2 receptors is expressive in cholangiocyte and is present in hepatocytes, which is a risk factor for the virus to enter these cells. Finally, patients with previous liver disease appear to be more susceptible to liver injury by COVID-19.

The Impacts of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Suicide: A Lexical Analysis.

Background: Although COVID-19 is a public health emergency, its consequences for the mental health of the population are still scarce. Likewise, its impact on critical situations such as suicide is still poorly explored in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze in a pioneering way, through lexical and content analysis techniques, the possible impacts of the new COVID-19 pandemic on suicide behavior. Methods: A lexical analysis, whose sample (not probabilistic, i.e., for convenience) was made up of full-length papers (abstracts) and short communications, about suicide behavior in COVID-19 pandemic, in PubMed and Virtual Health Library (VHL) was carried out following a lexical and content analysis using the software IRaMuTeQ, version 0.7 alpha 2. Results: The most frequent active words were suicide behavior (n = 649), covid (n = 439), health (n = 358), mental (n = 268), and social (n = 220). Four lexical classes were found and organized into two large groups: the first group, formed by the classes 2 ("methods for psychological treatment") and 3 ("strategies to minimize the COVID-19 impacts"), was the most representative, totaling 50.6% of the text segments and second group formed by classes 1 ("signs of clinical depression") and 4 ("COVID-19 pandemic as a public health problem") with 49.4% of the text segments. Conclusion: Facing suicide behavior, the direct effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the negative feelings and trigger of previous psychiatric illnesses; the measures to deal with the pandemic such as social isolation, decrease in the number of professionals, the opening hours of health establishments, and decrease in the demand for medications; and competing phenomena such as the spread of fake news and lack of empathy are aggressive and potentiating factors of suicidal ideation.

Coping strategies and health promotion through teaching-service integration in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

In the current situation related to 2019-nCoV ß-coronavirus, the National Health Authorities have determined the elaboration of contingency plans (CP) that minimize the contagion and allow the functioning of essential activities. The CP presented defines a set of guidelines that allow the adequacy of the response of a public university in Northeast of Brazil linked to the Programa Mais Médicos para o Brasil. Descriptive and qualitative study, type of comment, from the analysis of the data of the CP for the definition of strategies for coping with public health emergencies. The CP consists of ten measures that include assistance via applications/social networks;monitoring of physicians who are at risk;screening of suspected/confirmed cases;production of guides/protocols;24h psychological/technical assistance to physicians working at primary health care and provision of online courses. The methodology proposed provides different models from those trivially presented in academia and is essential to promote health education. En la situación actual relacionada con el coronavirus ß-nCoV 2019, las Autoridades Nacionales de Salud han determinado la elaboración de planes de contingencia (PC) que minimizan el contagio y permiten el funcionamiento de actividades esenciales. El PC presentado define un conjunto de pautas que permiten la adecuación de la respuesta de una universidad pública en el noreste de Brasil vinculada al Programa Mais Médicos para o Brasil. Estudio descriptivo y cualitativo, tipo de comment, a partir del análisis de los datos de la PC para la definición de estrategias para hacer frente a emergencias de salud pública. El PC consta de diez medidas que incluyen asistencia a través de aplicaciones/redes sociales;monitoreo de médicos en riesgo;detección de casos sospechosos/confirmados;producción de guías/protocolos;Asistencia psicológica/técnica las 24 horas a los médicos que trabajan en atención primaria de salud y provisión de cursos en línea. La metodología propuesta proporciona modelos diferentes de los presentados trivialmente en la academia y es esencial para promover la educación sanitaria Na atual situação relacionada ao 2019-nCoV ß-coronavirus, as Autoridades de Saúde Nacionais determinaram a elaboração de planos de contingência (PC) que minimizem o contágio e permitam o funcionamento das atividades essenciais. O PC apresentado define um conjunto de orientações que permitem a adequação da resposta de uma universidade pública do Nordeste do Brasil vinculada ao Programa Mais Médicos para o Brasil. Estudo descritivo e qualitativo, tipo comment, da análise dos dados do PC para a definição de estratégias para o enfrentamento de emergências de saúde pública. O PC consiste em dez medidas que incluem assistência via aplicativos/redes sociais;monitoramento dos médicos que estão em risco;triagem de casos suspeitos/confirmados;produção de guias/protocolos;24 horas de assistência técnica e psicológica para os médicos trabalhando na assistência primária à saúde e fornecimento de cursos online. A metodologia proposta oportuniza modelos diferentes daqueles trivialmente apresentados na academia e é essencial para promover a educação em saúde.

A non-central beta model to forecast and evaluate pandemics time series.

Government, researchers, and health professionals have been challenged to model, forecast, and evaluate pandemics time series (e.g. new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19). The main difficulty is the level of novelty imposed by these phenomena. Information from previous epidemics is only partially relevant. Further, the spread is local-dependent, reflecting a number of social, political, economic, and environmental dynamic factors. The present paper aims to provide a relatively simple way to model, forecast, and evaluate the time incidence of a pandemic. The proposed framework makes use of the non-central beta (NCB) probability density function. Specifically, a probabilistic optimisation algorithm searches for the best NCB model of the pandemic, according to the mean square error metric. The resulting model allows one to infer, among others, the general peak date, the ending date, and the total number of cases as well as to compare the level of difficult imposed by the pandemic among territories. Case studies involving COVID-19 incidence time series from countries around the world suggest the usefulness of the proposed framework in comparison with some of the main epidemic models from the literature (e.g. SIR, SIS, SEIR) and established time series formalisms (e.g. exponential smoothing - ETS, autoregressive integrated moving average - ARIMA).