ABSTRACT
Medical wastes are generated in healthcare facilities and hospitals, and they include discarded materials that are contaminated with blood or infectious materials, used syringes, gloves, etc. Medical wastes are hazardous;hence, they require a special attention. The objective of this chapter is to introduce medical waste constituents, medical waste regulations, and conventional and advanced methods of medical waste management and control. This chapter discusses waste management techniques such as segregation, labeling, separation, and waste minimization methods, in addition to medical waste treatment methods including landfilling, autoclaving, chemical disinfection, microwave disinfection, plasma gasification, and pyrolysis. Furthermore, medical waste management and control during COVID-19 pandemic is examined through recent case studies. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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
Background: Currently world is within the clutches of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, COVID-19 virus has evolved to human-to-human spread . COVID-19 infection can cause fever, fatigue, dry cough, severe pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome and in some instances death. Release of cytokine is the main process by which COVID-19 affects human system. High level of chemokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines has been observed among the patients with COVID-19. Methodology: 100 COVID-19 positive patients with cytokine storm and100 COVID-19 positive patients without cytokine storm with 18+ age and both gender were included after their formal consent. Interleukin-6, interleukin-8 and Vitamin-D were determined by their respective ELISA kits. SPSS software was applied for statistical analysis. Results: the results of current study showed the raised levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin 8 in case group as compared to controls. Levels of Vit D were compromised in case of Covid patients with cytokine storm than controls respectively. Conclusion: it was concluded that increased oxidative stress and lacking anti-oxidants may add to the development and advancement of cytokine storm in corona virus positive patients.