A tailored COVID-19 vaccination pathway for children 5 to 11 years in Victoria, Australia

Background Procedural anxiety was anticipated in children 5 to 11 years during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Victoria, Australia, as children in this age group receive few routine vaccines. Therefore, the Victorian state government designed a tailored, child-friendly vaccine program. This study aimed to assess parental satisfaction with elements of the bespoke vaccination pathway. Methods The Victorian government and state-run vaccination hubs in Victoria facilitated an online immunisation plan to help parents identify their child's support needs, and utilised experienced paediatric staff and additional supports for children with severe needle distress and/or disability. All parents/guardians of children 5-11 years who received a COVID-19 vaccine in a vaccination hub were sent a 16-item feedback survey via text message. Results Between 9 February and 31 May 2022 there were 9203 responses;865 children (9.4%) had a first language other than English, 499 (5.4%) had a disability or special needs, and 142 (1.5%) were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Most parents (94.4%;8687/9203) rated their satisfaction with the program as very good or excellent. The immunisation plan was used by 13.5% (1244/9203) of respondents, with usage more common for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children (26.1%;23/88) or families with a first language other than English (23.5%;42/179). The child-friendly staff (88.5%, 255/288) and themed environment (66.3%, 191/288) were the most valued measures for vaccination. Additional support measures were required by 1.6% (150/9203) of children in the general population and 7.9%, (17/261) of children with a disability and/or special needs. Conclusion A tailored COVID-19 vaccination program for children 5 to 11 years, with additional support for children with severe needle distress and/or disability, had high parental satisfaction. This model could be utilised for COVID-19 vaccination in pre-school children and for routine childhood vaccination programs to provide optimal support to children and their families.

A tailored COVID-19 vaccination pathway for children 5-11 years in Victoria, Australia.

BACKGROUND: Procedural anxiety was anticipated in children 5-11 years during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Victoria, Australia, as children in this age group receive few routine vaccines. Therefore, the Victorian state government designed a tailored, child-friendly vaccine program. This study aimed to assess parental satisfaction with elements of the bespoke vaccination pathway. METHODS: The Victorian government and state-run vaccination hubs in Victoria facilitated an online immunisation plan to help parents identify their child's support needs, and utilised experienced paediatric staff and additional supports for children with severe needle distress and/or disability. All parents/guardians of children 5-11 years who received a COVID-19 vaccine in a vaccination hub were sent a 16-item feedback survey via text message. RESULTS: Between 9 February and 31 May 2022 there were 9203 responses; 865 children (9.4%) had a first language other than English, 499 (5.4%) had a disability or special needs, and 142 (1.5%) were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Most parents (94.4%; 8687/9203) rated their satisfaction with the program as very good or excellent. The immunisation plan was used by 13.5% (1244/9203) of respondents, with usage more common for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children (26.1%; 23/88) or families with a first language other than English (23.5%; 42/179). The child-friendly staff (88.5%, 255/288) and themed environment (66.3%, 191/288) were the most valued measures for vaccination. Additional support measures were required by 1.6% (150/9203) of children in the general population and 7.9%, (17/261) of children with a disability and/or special needs. CONCLUSION: A tailored COVID-19 vaccination program for children 5-11 years, with additional support for children with severe needle distress and/or disability, had high parental satisfaction. This model could be utilised for COVID-19 vaccination in pre-school children and for routine childhood vaccination programs to provide optimal support to children and their families.

The outcome of COVID-19 positive patients in a COVID dedicated ICU, associated with comorbid diseases: a cross-sectional study

Background: Patients with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) have a significant death rate due to comorbid diseases. As a result, identifying risk factors associated with poor outcomes in COVID-19 patients is important.

Challenges and Opportunities of Growing Performance of Online Animal Selling in Bangladesh During COVID-19 Situation

Online animal transaction has become a popular growing technique in the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Bangladesh. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the function of physical, socio-religious, and marketing challenges that accelerated online animal selling in the pandemic situation. Using stratified random sampling in randomized block design, a response to a survey questionnaire has been collected from 200 respondents in Chattogram, Bangladesh via E-mail to know their opinion. The Structure Equation Model (SEM) shows that the Personal challenge factor, Market challenge factor, and Price challenge factor have a significant effect on the performance of online satisfaction animal transactions in the COVID-19 situation. But Social–Religious challenge factor has no significant effect on the performance of online satisfaction animal transactions. It is further observed that the online selling experience group shows high satisfaction than the online buying experience group. There is no significant difference in the performance of online satisfaction for all types of online animal transactions. It is also observed that the online bKash/Rocket/Nagad payment methods have significantly higher satisfaction of performance than cash on delivery and online banking payment method for the animal transaction. The Performance of the online satisfaction factor has a positive significant effect on creating online opportunities in the COVID-19 situation. The result will be used to develop the planning and utilization strategy for smooth and high-quality online animal transactions for ensuring sound health in the future © 2022. Shahnur Azad Chowdhury, Shahabuddin, Mohammad Shyfur Rahman Chowdhury, Mohammad Nazmul Hoq, Mustafa Manir Chowdhury, Shahidul Islam and Farah Israt Tania. This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license

Early identification of COVID-19 patients susceptible to rapid deterioration using the rothman index

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 patients have a recognized susceptibility to rapid and severe deterioration. Early identification of patients at risk of deterioration is a clinical challenge. Characteristics associated with COVID-19 risk, including age and comorbidity, are crude predictors of ICU utilization and mortality risk. Real-time predictive models may aid in determining appropriate patient placement and care plans. We assess whether the Rothman Index (RI) acuity model can predict mortality risk and distinguish between high and low-risk COVID-19 patients at the time of admission. METHODS: We conducted an IRB approved study of 1,453 COVID-19 patients discharged from Yale New Haven Health System's New Haven, Bridgeport, and Greenwich hospitals from 4/1/2020 - 4/28/2020. The initial RI score on admission was used to predict risk of ICU utilization, mechanical ventilation, and in-hospital mortality, and corresponding AUC values were computed. We also compared patient age, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and RI on admission as indicators of in-hospital mortality risk and calculated predictive performance for each. Precision and recall curves for mortality prediction using initial RI thresholds were determined and performance at selected operating points evaluated. RESULTS: As a direct measure of acuity the RI was a substantially better predictor of COVID-19 in-hospital mortality than age or comorbidity (AUC values of 0.87, 0.78, 0.70, respectively). The RI computed at the time of admission provided a high degree of discrimination to differentiate COVID-19 populations into high and low-risk groups. At selected RI cut-points, the high-risk segment constituted 18- 27% of COVID-19 patients with a mortality rate of 39-46%. The low-risk segment constituted 48%-58% of patients with a mortality rate of 1%-3%. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 patients exhibit elevated mortality compared to non-COVID-19 patients and may be subject to rapid deterioration following hospital admission. The RI is an excellent predictor to stratify COVID-19 patient risk at the time of admission. In particular we find that COVID-19 patients who present with raised but unremarkable acuity may be flagged as high risk for physiological deterioration. This can aid providers in aligning level of care decisions at admission with hospital and ICU capacity constraints.

Genome Sequence of a SARS-CoV-2 Strain from a COVID-19 Clinical Sample from the Khagrachari District of Bangladesh.

This study describes the genome sequence of a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strain detected in the nasopharyngeal swab sample of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient from the southeastern Khagrachari District of Bangladesh.