ABSTRACT
Background: Several studies suggest an association between serum Vitamin D levels and outcomes in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Prevention measures for COVID-19 continue to be one of the best strategies to combat the virus but identification of individuals at high risk will help clinician's direct preventative care to reduce infections and improve outcomes. This work assesses the vitamin D levels of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at one community hospital in central Pennsylvania. Method(s): This prospective study, conducted on adult, hospitalized patients under the care of clinical nutrition services between April 2021 and April 2022. Inclusion criteria included age >18 years, COVID-19 positive by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test with associated symptoms, and not receiving vitamin D supplementation prior to or during hospital admission (N = 122). Vitamin D 25 hydroxy laboratory values were obtained, and values were interpreted utilizing the recommended range categories: 25(OH)D level >= 30 ng/ml was representative of adequate vitamin D stores, while values between 21-29 ng/ml signified vitamin D insufficiency. A 25(OH)D value <20 ng/ml is indicative of vitamin D deficiency. Result(s): Over 77% (n = 95) of all patients included in study had vitamin D values below the recommended levels, with one half (n = 61) demonstrating vitamin D deficiency. Only 22.1% (n = 27) were found to have values consistent with a blood level deemed adequate. Conclusion(s): Many hospitalized patients with COVID-19 demonstrate vitamin D levels below acceptable ranges, many with vitamin D deficiencies. Identification of these individuals in the community will allow clinicians an opportunity to treat the vitamin insufficiency or deficiency with the goal of preventing infections and potential morbidity or mortality associated with the disease. (Figure Presented).
ABSTRACT
Coastal communities in South Louisiana and worldwide are increasingly impacted by climate-related events such as hurricanes, floods, and rising sea levels. In addition, they have recently faced the burden of a global pandemic that may also be a consequence of climate change. In many under-resourced communities, nongovernmental community-based organizations (CBOs) represent the backbone of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about the pandemic's impact on the efforts of these organizations to support and sustain individual and community resilience to this event and to the disruptive impacts of climate change-related weather events. Procedures embedded in the Rapid Assessment Procedure - Informed Community Ethnography methodology were used to analyze data collected from semi-structured interviews with 26 representatives of 24 different community-based programs in South Louisiana. The pandemic created numerous challenges to under-resourced community resilience by revealing the fragmented nature of community solidarity in adhering to public health guidelines;the lack of available social, political, and economic resources;and the influence of systemic racism and social determinants of health. To address these challenges, communities relied on social connections and support;prior experiences with climate-related disasters and adversity;and the resilience building, supporting, and sustaining efforts of CBOs. These organizations have responded to these challenges through provision of new services, expansion of existing services, providing access to training webinars, partnerships with other CBOs, and initiatives to address broader social issues, while balancing the disparity between increased demand and reduced supply of services and increased reliance on technology that is not uniformly accessible to all communities and residents. In responding to the pandemic, CBOs have played a major role in addressing the threats to individual and community resilience needed to prepare for and respond to natural disasters and other consequences of global environmental change in underserved communities. © Copyright 2021, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2021.
ABSTRACT
Introduction Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, curricular teaching is facing an immense challenge. The ENT block internship at the University Hospital Dresden was offered fully digital for the first time in summer semester 2020. The focus was on teaching and assessing psychomotor skills of ENT mirror examination. Methods 241 students were provided with a digital script, instructional videos about the standardized ENT mirror examination and a disposable ENT instrument set. 188 students also received a one-hour real-time teleteaching session with an ENT physician. 53 students received no teleteaching. The students had to submit a video of their standardized mirror examination and specify their individual practice time. The videos were evaluated using a checklist-based assessment (maximum 100 points). Results The average total score of all students is 86,1±0,09. Students with teleteaching achieve significantly (p=0,005) higher scores (87,0±0,09) than students without teleteaching (83±0,11). There is a positive and significant correlation between practice time and total score in the group with teleteaching. Conclusion Real-time teleteaching (digital presence teaching) has a significant influence on the psychomotor learning curves of students. A checklist-based evaluation is indispensable for establishing a digital assessment of psychomotor skills and for creating comparability between analog and digital teaching. Previous analyses showed that after the analog mirror course with 6 teaching units (45 min each) an average of 95.4 points was achieved. The total score achieved in digital teaching (86.1±0.09) is comparable to the score after 4 analog lessons (45 min each).