Implications of COVID-19 and "super floods" for routine vaccination in Pakistan: The reemergence of vaccine preventable-diseases such as polio and measles.

With multiple waves and variants, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected routine vaccination programs globally. Its impact is also visible in Pakistan as routine health services continue to be disrupted. Consequently, thousands of children have emerged as vulnerable in the face of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), which have already started causing outbreaks in the country. Infections with polio and measles have been significantly reported, especially during the last few years. This reemergence of both diseases is posing great challenges for the country at local, national, and global levels. These impacts are being multiplied by the 2022 flooding - called "super floods" - in the country. Hence, relevant stakeholders, such as the Pakistani government and the World Health Organization (WHO), need to revisit the entire vaccination program to address and resolve issues occurring at the management or local levels. It is highly important to pay attention to the context that provides a fertile ground to negatively affect vaccine uptake.

Experiences Of Covid-19 And Its Impact On Psychosocial Well-Being Of Families: A Cross-Sectional Study

Current research aims to analyze the experiences of families about their psycho-social well-being in the wake of COVID-19. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from the 557 households in Islamabad between the months of November & December 2021. Knowledge and practices to prevent COVID-19, self-efficacy and trust in the sources of information were assessed by using a self-administered structured questionnaire. The findings of the study illustrated that majority of the respondents were aware of the COVID-19 pandemic, its common symptoms, and formal and informal precautionary measures/treatment. However, COVID-19 has impacted their psychosocial well-being. Results indicated that psychological well-being is significantly affected by resilience and knowledge of COVID-19, whereas, self-efficacy and trust of sources has no significant impact on psychological wellbeing. The findings also highlighted the significant impact of resilience and self-efficacy on social wellbeing and self-efficacy also has a significant correlation with psychological wellbeing. The study concluded that COVID-19 has not only altered the routine life of families but also affected their psychosocial wellbeing irrespective of individuals affected or not affected by the infection. It is recommended that steps may be taken at the community and government level to mitigate the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families.

Global Agri-Food Sector: Challenges and Opportunities in COVID-19 Pandemic.

COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic for almost everything including the global economy. Among many sectors, the food and the agriculture sector was the worst hit following the immediate lockdown and market shutdowns. Though some stability was prevalent from supply side till date, however, the severe restrictions put in place to curb the spread of pandemic have endangered the supply of agricultural and food articles contemporaneously across borders and from field to fork. While the income decline due to price falland supplies chain disruptions due to pandemic have escalated the food shortages in several of developing and developed countries. Nevertheless the global demand for food items has remained more or less unchanged owing to their inelastic demand. Even within the global level, the scenario of food security and supply chain stability has been substantially deplorable for emerging and less developing countries due to their lack of insulation to the global shocks or pandemics. Notably, the technological backwardness, excessive know-how dependence and denied accessibility on several grounds lead to poverty and food hunger in these countries. At the policy level, a holistic approach specifically targeted towards the developing and less developed economies is highly warranted to ensure an appreciable progress towards the minimisation of sensitivity with regard to agriculture and food security. Apart from the measures to insulate them from global shocks, additional steps need to be taken to alleviate their technological backwardness and denied accessibility on certain socio-cultural norms.

Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19): a pandemic (epidemiology, pathogenesis and potential therapeutics).

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is highly pathogenic viral infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. Currently, COVID-19 has caused global health concern. It is assumed that COVID-19 has zoonotic origin based on the large number of infected people who were exposed to the wet market in Wuhan City, China. The phylogenetic analysis has revealed that SARS-CoV-2 has significant sequence similarity with severe acute respiratory syndrome-like (SARS-like) bat viruses, thus bats could be primary possible reservoir. The intermediate host and there subsequent transfer is not known yet, although human to human transfer is widely confirmed. The transmission of COVID-19 infection from one person to another resulted in the isolation of patients who were subsequently given a variety of treatments. To monitor the current outbreak, robust steps have been taken around the globe to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 infection particularly banning international and domestic flights, inducting lockdowns in vulnerable areas, social distancing etc. No clinically approved antiviral drug or vaccine against COVID-19 is reported yet. However, in clinical trials, few broad-spectrum antiviral drugs were evaluated against COVID-19 infection which resulted in clinical recovery. In this article emergence and pathogenicity of COVID-19 infection along with potential therapeutic strategies are analyzed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.