Olfactory and taste dysfunction in COVID-19-incidence and recovery

Background Olfactory and taste dysfunctions have been identified as prominent signs of COVID-19 infection. The data on its prevalence, time of onset, and recovery is highly variable. Objective The study was aimed at establishing the incidence of and the factors influencing smell and taste disorders in COVID-19-affected patients. Methodology Telephonic interviews were used to collect data on the symptoms of COVID-19-positive patients, with an emphasis on smell and taste disorders. Patients have severe disease and a history of illnesses that may affect olfaction or taste, and those unwilling to participate were excluded. Results A total of 1488 COVID-19-positive patients were identified. A total of 772 were included and interviewed, and their data were analysed. A total of 242 (31.3%) patients developed symptoms related to smell and/or taste. Anosmia (149) and ageusia (152) were the most common. Younger patients were more commonly affected (p = 0.0016). The presence and degree of smell symptoms and taste symptoms showed a small positive correlation (r = .234, p < .001). A strong relationship was seen with fever (r = .825, p < .001) and a significantly moderate relationship with breathing difficulty. There was no significant difference based on age or sex for the recovery of smell or taste sensations. There was a significant correlation between taste recovery and smell recovery times (p < 0.00001). Conclusion Smell and taste disorders, as early clinical symptoms of COVID-19, may have a diagnostic as well as a prognostic value. Treatment protocols for these patients are yet to be defined. A positive association between these symptoms and breathing difficulty was found, and we recommend COVID-19 testing and monitoring of symptoms for all patients with new-onset OTD symptoms. A combination of active enquiry about these symptoms, along with objective testing when the patients present with COVID-19 symptoms may help in better understanding of the pathophysiology and timely initiation of treatment.

The global response: How cities and provinces around the globe tackled Covid-19 outbreaks in 2021.

Background: Tackling the spread of COVID-19 remains a crucial part of ending the pandemic. Its highly contagious nature and constant evolution coupled with a relative lack of immunity make the virus difficult to control. For this, various strategies have been proposed and adopted including limiting contact, social isolation, vaccination, contact tracing, etc. However, given the heterogeneity in the enforcement of these strategies and constant fluctuations in the strictness levels of these strategies, it becomes challenging to assess the true impact of these strategies in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Methods: In the present study, we evaluated various transmission control measures that were imposed in 10 global urban cities and provinces in 2021- Bangkok, Gauteng, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, London, Manila City, New Delhi, New York City, Singapore, and Tokyo. Findings: Based on our analysis, we herein propose the population-level Swiss cheese model for the failures and pitfalls in various strategies that each of these cities and provinces had. Furthermore, whilst all the evaluated cities and provinces took a different personalized approach to managing the pandemic, what remained common was dynamic enforcement and monitoring of breaches of each barrier of protection. The measures taken to reinforce the barriers were adjusted continuously based on the evolving epidemiological situation. Interpretation: How an individual city or province handled the pandemic profoundly affected and determined how the entire country handled the pandemic since the chain of transmission needs to be broken at the very grassroot level to achieve nationwide control. Funding: The present study did not receive any external funding.

Covid-19 and Ukrainian Crisis Exponentiates the Need for the Inclusion of Conflict and Disaster Medicine in Medical Curriculum.

Conflict medicine is an age-old branch of medicine which focuses on delivering healthcare services to the injured in the setting of conflicts, wars, disasters, and/or other calamities. The course in its purest form has been traditionally given only in military medical schools while civilian medical students are usually taught parts of the course in other overlapping subjects like surgery, infectious diseases, etc. However, in a crisis situation, civilian doctors are expected to double up as military doctors, which leads to emotional, mental, and physical stress for the civilian doctors along with logistical and organizational challenges. The current Covid-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict have highlighted once again the emergent need for the implementation of conflict medicine courses in regular medical curricula, so as to make the medical students situation-ready. With our present discussion, we aim to provide a brief overview of the course, its core modules, challenges to its implementation, and possible solutions. We believe that the complex management skills gained by this course are not only useful in conflict scenario but are also valuable in managing day-to-day medical emergencies.

European Countries Step-up Humanitarian and Medical Assistance to Ukraine as the Conflict Continues.

On the 24th of February 2022, the Russian Federation began an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, marking the biggest military attack in Europe since the second world war. Over 4 million people have fled their homeland within the first month of the war and have triggered a large refugee crisis with impacts far beyond the Ukrainian border. People in the neighboring countries have shown tremendous support by stepping forward to donate food, clothes, medications, money, and other essential supplies. The governments and other regional stakeholders have also been supportive in accommodating and easing regulations for the incoming refugees. Herein, we summarize the humanitarian measures and medical donations that have been made by European countries as they stepped up their efforts to provide refugees with all necessary basic services. We further highlight potential oncoming challenges in Ukraine and the host countries along with relevant solutions to these challenges. The current scenario highlights the need for multi-party and multi-level collaborations (both public and private) to tackle the emerging situation.

Google Trend Analysis and Paradigm Shift of Online Education Platforms during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The largest pandemic in history, the COVID-19 pandemic, has been declared a doomsday globally. The second wave spreading worldwide has devastating consequences in every sector of life. Several measures to contain and curb its infection have forged significant challenges for the education community. With an estimated 1.6 billion learners, the closure of schools and other educational institutions has impacted more than 90% of students worldwide from the elementary to tertiary level. Methods: In a view to studying impacts on student's fraternity, this article aims at addressing alternative ways of educating-more specifically, online education-through the analysis of Google trends for the past year. The study analyzed the platforms of online teaching and learning systems that have been enabling remote learning, thereby limiting the impact on the education system. Thorough text analysis is performed on an existing dataset from Kaggle to retrieve insight on the clustering of words that are more often looked at during this pandemic to find the general patterns of their occurrence. Findings: The results show that the coronavirus patients are the most trending patterns in word search clustering, with the education system being at the control and preventive measures to bring equilibrium in the system of education. There has been significant growth in online platforms in the last year. Existing assets of educational establishments have effectively converted conventional education into new-age online education with the help of virtual classes and other key online tools in this continually fluctuating scholastic setting. The effective usage of teaching tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, and WebEx are the most used online platforms for the conduction of classes, and whiteboard software tools and learning apps such as Vedantu, Udemy, Byju's, and Whitehat Junior have been big market players in the education system over the pandemic year, especially in India. Conclusions: The article helps to draw a holistic approach of ongoing online teaching-learning methods during the lockdown and also highlights changes that took place in the conventional education system amid the COVID pandemic to overcome the persisting disruption in academic activities and to ensure correct perception towards the online procedure as a normal course of action in the new educational system. To fill in the void of classroom learning and to minimize the virus spread over the last year, digital learning in various schools and colleges has been emphasized, leading to a significant increase in the usage of whiteboard software platforms.