ABSTRACT
Seasonal influenza vaccine (SIV) significantly reduces influenza-related illnesses among school-aged children, yet parental vaccine hesitancy remains a persistent challenge. Two types of SIV are available for children in Hong Kong and other locations: inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV), administered through intramuscular injection, and live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), administered via nasal spray. While injection or needle fears are important barriers to childhood vaccination uptake, little research has explored how vaccine hesitancy can shape parental preference for LAIV versus IIV, particularly amidst important public health events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive rollout of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. Our study employs a concurrent mixed-methods design to address this gap comprehensively. The quantitative part involves longitudinal surveys spanning three years, from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic periods, tracking parental vaccine hesitancy and preference for SIV types. The qualitative part involves 48 in-depth interviews, providing in-depth insights into parental preference for SIV types, underlying reasons, and corresponding values. Our quantitative analyses revealed an overall increase in parental vaccine hesitancy and preference for LAIV over IIV after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and especially after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Further logistic regression modelling based on the cohort data showed that higher vaccine hesitancy, coupled with the COVID-19 vaccination campaign rollout, predicts a greater preference for LAIV over IIV. The qualitative analysis complements these results, highlighting that LAIV’s non-invasive nature aligns with parental values of prioritizing natural immunity and concerns about overmedication. Consequently, hesitant parents perceive LAIV as less intrusive and more acceptable, emphasizing the need for future tailored risk communication. Leveraging the higher acceptability of LAIV compared to IIV among parents with high vaccine hesitancy could promote childhood vaccination uptake.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
China has implemented a series of long-term measures for the public in order to control spread of COVID-19,whether these measures will affect other chronic and acute respiratory infectious diseases and what kind of impact are unclear. Tuberculosis (TB) and scarlet fever (SF) as the representative of chronic and acute respiratory infectious diseases respectively,and China’s Guizhou was an area with high prevalence of TB and SF ,with about 40,000 TB and hundreds of SF cases were reported every year.To assess impact of COVID-19 prevention and control on TB and SF in China’s Guizhou, exponential smoothing method was used to establish a prediction model to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the number of TB and SF cases in Guizhou,and spatial aggregation analysis was used to describe the spatial changes of TB and SF before and after the outbreak of COVID-19.The parameters of TB and SF prediction models are R²=0.856, BIC=10.972;R²=0.714,BIC=5.325, respectively.TB and SF cases declined rapidly at the beginning of COVID-19 prevention and control,but SF cases number in decline for about 3-6 months,TB cases number remained in decline for 7 months after implementation for 11 months. Spatial aggregation of TB and SF did not change much before and after the COVID-19 outbreak but decreased significantly.Our fndings indicated that China's COVID-19 prevention and control measures also reduced TB and SF prevalence in Guizhou, these measures may lead to a long-term beneficial impact on TB, but a short-term on SF. Area with high TB incidence may benefit from COVID-19 experiences in the future.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Fever , Tuberculosis , Communicable DiseasesABSTRACT
Objective: To perform a bibliometric analysis of published research related to the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for the treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: Research documents related to the use of TCM for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 published up to September 19, 2021, were retrieved from the Web of Science database. Bibliometrix R 4.0 software package was used to analyze data, including countries of publication, research institutions, journals, citations, and keywords. Further analysis was conducted to identify co-occurrence of keywords in the documents, including their titles and abstracts. Cooperative network analyses of authors, institutions, and countries of publication were also conducted. The classification types were statistically analyzed and the research progress of key TCMs was reviewed. Results: A total of 417 documents were included in our analysis. Of these, 85.13% originated in China. Of the 417 documents, 148 (35.5%) were published in journals with impact factors in quartile 1 and 164 (39.3%) in journals in quartile 2. The documents were mainly published in journals categorized as Medicine. The results of network analysis showed close cooperation between institutions and countries. Excluding disease- and drug-related keywords, the top four keywords were 'Systematic review', 'Network pharmacology', 'Medicine' and 'Molecular docking'. Keyword co-occurrence analysis showed 4 main keywords association groups. Statistical analysis of the TCM studies showed that Lianhua Qingwen capsule, Qingfei Paidu decoction, Shufeng Jiedu capsules and ReDuNing injection were the most studied Chinese medicines. Lianhua Qingwen capsules, Qingfei Paidu decoction, ReDuNing injection, and Shufeng Jiedu capsules were used in clinical, bioinformatics, and basic research. Toujie Quwen granule, Jinhua Qinggan granule, Shuanghuanglian oral liquid, Tanreqing injection, and Xuanfei Baidu decoction were used in clinical and bioinformatics research, although basic research on their mechanisms of action is lacking. Conclusion: Research intensity and recognition, as well as cooperation, in the field of Chinese medicine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 has increased. Research types are generally comprehensive, and investigated several TCM formulations that are specifically recommended by Chinese COVID-19 guidelines. However, comprehensive, in-depth research on their molecular mechanisms of action is still lacking. More basic research is thus needed to identify therapeutic mechanisms to standardize and validate the use of TCM in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous damage to social economy and people’s health. Some major issues fighting COVID-19 include early and accurate diagnosis and the shortage of ventilator machines for critical patients. In this work, we propose a closed-loop solution to deal with COVID-19: portable biosensing and wearable photoacoustic imaging for early and accurate diagnosis of infection and magnetically neuromodulation or minimally invasive electrical stimulation to replace the traditional ventilation. Proposed technique can guarantee ubiquitous and onsite detection, and electrical hypoglossal stimulator can be more effective in helping severe patients as well as reducing complications caused by ventilators.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Nonferrous metal markets are wildly discussed for their ultimate importance in industry production. However, the interactions among major international nonferrous metal futures, especially their extreme connectedness at different time frequencies (horizons), are rarely recognized. This paper investigates the normal and extreme interactions at various time frequencies among twelve major international nonferrous metal futures traded in LME and SHFE by proposing a new quantile-frequency connectedness measurement, which combines the quantile connectedness approach of Ando et al. (2018) and frequency connectedness method of Barunik and Krehlik (2018). The main empirical results show that, firstly, these major nonferrous metal futures maintain very tight total connectedness no matter in normal or extreme conditions, and the extreme left- and right-tail connectedness measures are larger than the one at normal case. Secondly, there is no clear difference between the extreme downside (left-tail) and upside (right-tail) total connectedness in both time and frequency domains. Thirdly, the total and net connectedness effects of these nonferrous metal futures are mainly centered in short-term frequency at both normal and extreme quantiles. Fourthly, the dynamic analysis indicates that the total connectedness among these futures are very stable throughout the data sample, even during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, these nonferrous metal futures play quite different roles in net connectedness effects across various quantiles and time frequencies.
ABSTRACT
Cytokine storm is a primary cause for multiple organ damage and death after severe infections, such as SARS-CoV-2. However, current single cytokine-targeted strategies display limited therapeutic efficacy. Here, we report that peritoneal M2 macrophages-derived extracellular vesicles (M2-EVs) are multi-target nanotherapeutics to resolve cytokine storm. In detail, primary peritoneal M2 macrophages exhibited superior anti-inflammatory potential than immobilized cell lines. Systemically administrated M2-EVs entered major organs and were taken up by phagocytes ( e . g ., macrophages). M2-EVs treatment effectively reduced excessive cytokine ( e . g ., TNF-α and IL-6) release in vitro and in vivo , thereby attenuated oxidative stress and multiple organ (lung, liver, spleen and kidney) damage in endotoxin-induced cytokine storm. Moreover, M2-EVs simultaneously inhibited multiple key proinflammatory pathways ( e . g ., NF-κB, JAK-STAT and p38 MAPK) by regulating complex miRNA-gene and gene-gene networks, and this effect was collectively mediated by many functional cargos (miRNAs and proteins) in EVs. In addition to the direct anti-inflammatory role, human peritoneal M2-EVs expressed angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a receptor of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, and thus could serve as nanodecoys to prevent SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection in vitro . As cell-derived nanomaterials, the therapeutic index of M2-EVs can be further improved by genetic/chemical modification or loading with specific drugs. This study highlights that peritoneal M2-EVs are promising multifunctional nanotherapeutics to attenuate infectious diseases-related cytokine storm.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 outbreak has an impact on the world. Activities in all walks of life have been suspended to avoid risks to the masses. School organizations are also facing a lot of changes and challenges. Previous studies have not yet discussed the work stress and insecurity of school staffs in response to the increased workload of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purposes of this study are to examine the relationships between work insecurity, work stress, and organizational commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study employed online survey method to collect data from staffs of universities in Kaohsiung and Pingtung and used structural equation modelling to analyse data. The results indicated that male has more work stress than female;the older and the longer the staff have higher organizational commitments;married staffs have higher organizational commitments than unmarried staffs. Work insecurity has significantly positive influences on work stress. Work insecurity and work stress have significantly negative influences on organizational commitment. This study provides suggestions for educational organizations and future research.
ABSTRACT
Background：Hypofractionated whole breast irradiation (HF-WBI) can achieve the same treatment effect as conventional fractionated whole breast irradiation (CF-WBI) within limits , without increasing adverse reactions. Because of its characteristics of reducing the number of radiation therapy (RT) during the COVID-19 Pandemic, it is recommended as the first choice of treatment for patients with early breast cancer after breast conserving surgery. However, the choice of RT is still under exploration. Here, we conducted a network meta-analysis to evaluate the problem comprehensively using data from new randomized trials. Methods: We analyzed data from eligible studies for published events for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), distant metastasis, total deaths, and non-breast cancer-related deaths. Statistical analysis was performed using a fixed-effects or random-effects model in cases of low and high heterogeneity, respectively. Network meta-analysis was conducted using a node-splitting model for two-category data among three RTs based on a Bayesian approach.Results: 16 studies with 23,418 patients were included. For IBTR, pairwise comparison showed that CF-WBI was significantly better than PBI, and HF-WBI was similar to CF-WBI. HF-WBI was superior to PBI, but the difference was not significant. However, indirect comparison of three RTs by network meta-analysis showed that HF-WBI was significantly better than PBI (OR=0.67, CI95%: 0.46–0.95). Paired and network meta-analyses found no significant differences in other endpoints among three radiotherapies. Conclusion: This meta-analysis demonstrated PBI was associated with increased IBTR compared with HF-WBI or CF-WBI in early-stage breast cancer patients.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Breast NeoplasmsABSTRACT
The outbreak of new viruses, such as serve acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as the emerging of drug-resistance viruses highlight the urgent need for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. Herein, we report the discovery of a plant-derived small molecule, 6,8-dihydroxy-9-isobutyl-2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-7-(3-methylbutanoyl)-4,9-dihydro-1H- xanthene-1,3(2H)-dione (rhodomyrtone, RDT), which exhibited potent broad-spectrum antiviral activities against several RNA and DNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). RDT can significantly suppress viral gene expression and show the low possibility to elicit drug-resistant variants. Mechanistic study implied that RDT inhibited viral infection by disturbing the cellular factors that essential for viral gene expression. Our results suggested that RDT might be a promising lead compound for the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.
Subject(s)
Sarcoma, KaposiABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate and analyze the incidence rate, clinical features and risk factors of lower extremity thrombosis in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
ABSTRACT
Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) broke out in Wuhan, China and has spread throughout the country. affecting many countries around the world. Because there is no etiological treatment for COVID-10. it is very urgent to find effective antiviral drugs to control the rapid spread of this disease. Remdesidr is a nucleotide prod rug that has broad-spectrum antiviral activity. It can interfere with viral RNA synthesis and play an antiviral role. This article reviews the pharmacological effects of remdesivir some animal trials. in vitro and in vivo experiments. and clinical trials.