Current status of probiotic and related health benefits

This review is aimed to explore the health beneficial effects of probiotics which are live microorganisms that provide a positive health influence on humans when taken in sufficient quantity. Lactic acid bacteria, bifidobacteria, and yeast are frequently used as probiotics. These health-beneficial bacteria could compete with pathogens and modulate the gut microbiota, and exhibit immunomodulatory, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer activities which are discussed in this review. Moreover, recent studies showed that probiotics could neutralize COVID-19 infections. Hence, probiotics have become an alternative to several drugs including antibiotics. In addition, probiotic efficacy also depends on the delivery system as the delivery agents help the bacteria to survive in the harsh environment of the human gut. Considering these health benefits of probiotics, now it has been applied to different food materials which are designated as functional food. This review explored a portrait of the beneficial effects of probiotics on human health.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s)

The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Meditation as an Intervention for Well-Being in the New Normal of COVID-19: A Review

The COVID pandemic has generated unprecedented discomfort and uncertainty among people all over the world (WHO, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020). It has affected work, family, and social life, devasted the physical and psychological well-being to an alarming degree. In this situation, our potent weapon is undoubtedly our mental capacity and strength. Strengthening the mind will endow us with the ability and conviction to deal with the current situation (Wu et al., CMAJ 192:E459–E460, 2020). At present, there are various techniques and tools available for this purpose like pranayama, physical exercise, music and, yoga and meditation (Torre et al., Journal of Clinical Medicine 9:1–13, 2020) depending upon one’s individual preferences. Today, meditation is considered as a useful tool to quieten the chattering mind, which is preferred by many individuals (Nalawade and Pradhan, 2016), and therefore, it is gathering momentum as a useful intervention in health care. Of the different types of meditation practices in use today, mindfulness meditation practice has originated from the Buddhist tradition and has been taught by the Buddha 2500 years ago to make the mind calm, focused, and strong. Being mindful means, being fully present in the present moment. Research has shown that being mindful reduces the tendency to be reactive and to become more equanimous and enables one to come out of suffering. Especially in the healthcare domain mindfulness interventions have proven to be effective in enhancing psychological and physical health. This literature review is focused on benefits of mindfulness practice as an intervention, which is cost-effective and non-intrusive in nature. For this purpose, a systematic review was conducted to understand and highlight advantages and applications of mindfulness. The literature review has reiterated the ability of mindfulness practice to help one handle trying situations with equanimity by modulating one’s behavior effectively (Antonova et al., 2020). This study highlights a few clinical case studies and discusses the scope for future studies and limitations faced by researchers in this area. Also, some of the cases where it has been implemented effectively in COVID-19 situations are enumerated with the hope that it will highlight the usefulness of this intervention in the trying and stressful situation at present as well as in future. The limitation of this study is the lack of the availability of long-term research data at present describing the benefits of mindfulness practice in the current pandemic situation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Impact of Vipassana Meditation on Ability to Cope with COVID-19 Pandemic

The upheaval caused by this pandemic and the uncertainty about life has triggered problems related to the psychological health of the community including healthcare professionals and simultaneously worsened the mental condition of those already suffering from psychiatric issues (Du et al., General Hospital Psychiatry 67:144–145, 2020;Fusar-Poli et al., Journal of Affective Disorders 275:78–79, 2020). A global effort is required to manage the mental health issues triggered by COVID-19. It is important to explore the resources that are conducive to mental health. One such tool is the ancient meditation technique, Vipassana Meditation (VM) taught by the Buddha to overcome universal ills. In this study, an attempt has been made to show case the impact of VM practice in coping with the current unprecedented situation by managing the stress effectively. For this purpose, the Stress Coping Behaviour Scale (SCBS) (Janghel, G. & Srivastava, The International Journal of Indian Psychology 4(3), No. 100, DIP 18.01.077/2017040) was administered online to 462 Vipassana meditators (Male 67%, Female 33%;Ages 20–65 years) who practised Vipassana regularly at least for one year. The responses were analysed by using ANOVA (SPSS v22.0) to highlight the variation in coping with stress due to regularity of practice and number of years of practice. The maladaptive and adaptive coping styles measured by SCBS indicated better coping results for meditators who meditated regularly. It indicated that they don’t get swayed by the external catastrophic situation and are able to remain equanimous. This empirical study showcases that VM can be practised as a measure to promote well-being by managing and preventing mental and psychological issues arising in a pandemic situation. In future, VM practice can be adopted to manage uncertainties created by COVID-19 or any other unprecedented stressful situation to help bring about a “New Normal”. One of the limitations of this study is that the conclusions could not be corroborated by conducting personal interviews with some of the meditator respondents. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

COVID-19: impacts on fisheries and aquaculture in India

This article presents the implications of Covid-19 on the different fishery components in India which includes small scale fisheries, shrimp aquaculture, processing, and international and national markets.

A Longitudinal Study to Reexamine the Mental Health Impact on Radiation Oncology Health Care Workers with the Launch of COVID-19 Vaccination Strategies in India

Introduction The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) catastrophe caused significant mental threats to health care workers (HCW), especially during the first wave of the pandemic. India successfully implemented vaccination strategies in January 2021 that is likely to ameliorate the mental health impact of HCWs. The current survey aims to identify the change in impact following vaccination and address the issues affecting mental health. Objective The primary objective is to reevaluate the stress levels of radiation oncology HCWs with vaccine implementation and compare it with the mental health status at the onset of the pandemic. The secondary objective is to identify the current causative factors influencing mental health. Materials and Methods Health care workers who participated in the initial mental health impact survey at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic from May to July 2020 were included in this study. Two hundred eligible HCWs were reassessed of the total 363 initial assessments. The 7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and 22-item Impact of Events Scale-revised (IES-R) was again served for assessing anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The Mc Nemar test was used to evaluate the change and significance of the mental health impact. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done to identify the causative factors affecting mental health. Results The cohort's median age was 30 years (interquartile range [IQR]: 27-33). The incidence of moderate-to-severe level anxiety, depression, and stress significantly declined to 6.5% ( p = 0.031), 9% ( p = 0.01), and 19% ( p < 0.001) compared with 39.5, 40.5, and 30.5% during the pandemic onset. On further analysis, HCWs with affected family members had higher levels of stress ( p = 0.002). The rest of the parameters did not have significant impact on mental health outcomes. Conclusion With public education, awareness, and vaccination strategies, the second follow-up survey conducted after vaccine implementation demonstrated a significant number of HCWs in the radiation oncology community, exhibiting a decline in the incidence of anxiety, depression, and stress levels compared with the initial wave of the pandemic.

Seroprevalence of SARS CoV 2 immunoglobulin among first year medical students in a tertiary care hospital of Odisha: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: COVID-19 caused by SARS coronavirus two has halted life across the globe since its emergence in December 2019. Most of the infected persons are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms. Serosurvey is vital for the estimation of the burden of infection. In this context, our study objective is to estimate the Seroprevalence of SARS CoV 2 IgG among the first-year medical students after the first wave in February 2021. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the first-year medical students of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research. All the students were enrolled, and their data & serum sample was collected. Serum samples were tested for the presence of Anti-Spike IgG. Data were analyzed by using appropriate statistical tests.

Air Leak Syndrome in Critically Ill COVID-19 Cases

Aim and background: Air leak syndrome consists of pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema, or pneumothorax is rarely seen in viral pneumonia. The reported incidence of primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) and secondary spontaneous pneumothorax (SSP) is 16.7/100,000 for men and 5.8/100,000 for women, with corresponding mortality rates of 1.26/million and 0.62/million per annum, respectively. The development of air leak syndrome has a significant impact on the outcome of COVID-19 management, increasing morbidity and mortality. In this study, we tried to determine the prevalence of air leak syndrome and its outcome in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods: The study was planned as a retrospective study and the records of all patients who were critically ill with COVID-19 infection were included. The records of all patients who reported air leaks syndrome were analysed. Details like history, radiology, details of management of cases and, outcome were recorded. Results: Out of 300 cases of critically ill COVID-19, 20 [6.67%] cases developed air leak syndrome. This included four cases (20%) of right-sided pneumothorax, three cases (15%) of left-sided pneumothorax, four cases (20%) of subcutaneous emphysema, and five cases (25%) of pneumomediastinum. Four cases (20%) had multiple site involvement [lung, pneumomediastinum, and subcutaneous emphysema]. Among the 20 patients, 7 patients (35%) survived while 13 died (65%). The highest mortality was observed in patients with left-sided pneumothorax (100%) while isolated pneumomediastinum had the best outcome, where out of 5 patients 4 survived. The pneumomediastinum cases were managed conservatively. All 7 cases of isolated pneumothorax required intercostal drainage (ICD). The patients who had multiple site involvement also required ICD. All the cases of multiple site involvement air leak required ventilatory support (2 needed noninvasive ventilation while the other 2 needed invasive ventilation). Conclusion: In our study, we found air leak syndrome as an important predictor of increased morbidity and mortality. It also poses a challenge for the management of hypoxia and ventilation in the already compromised lungs.

The impact of a pandemic on knowledge sharing behavior: a COR perspective

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to look at the attitudes of the employees in terms of sharing knowledge during COVID-19 in an online environment and the various difficulties associated and to analyze knowledge sharing (KS) in a virtual office setting, using the conservation of resources theory. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was used by conducting face-to-face interviews online through GoogleMeet, Skype and Zoom. A total of 34 interviews from 14 multinational companies (or their subsidiaries), in a supervisory role, were conducted for the study. A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the responses. Findings: During a crisis, the tendency of employees to share knowledge at the individual, team and organizational level increases and is interlinked. The results of this study suggest that during the initial phases of lockdown, the creativity levels among employees were high;however, as the work from the office got postponed because of extended lockdowns, the creativity level of employees saw a dip. Furthermore, the findings of this study also highlighted that KS in remotely located teams was found to be dependent on the extent to which the team members knew each other, such that known teams were in a better position to share knowledge than a newly formed team with unknown or less known members. Research limitations/implications: This study has 34 respondents which is an acceptable number for a qualitative inquiry. However, the number of industries could be increased for generalization purposes. Responses were collected from a group of knowledge workers who were willing to correspond digitally, using social media channels of the authors, such as Linkedin. Responses collected personally could provide different results. Practical implications: This study provides insights into visible change in organizational processes. The conceptual model developed in this study has several implications which will help chief knowledge officers to understand why the various individual, team and organizational factors lead to KS, particularly with respect to COVID-19. Originality/value: This study has explored a contemporary phenomenon – KS during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in an online environment. This study depicts the extant literature on knowledge management during a pandemic, thus bridging the scholarly gap. This study tried to bring in a broader perspective by selecting respondents across continents, domains and varied age groups. Fourth, most studies analyzing KS/knowledge hiding in the extant literature, especially during the pandemic, have followed a quantitative approach. This study followed a qualitative approach to gain insights into the KS of the firm and the thoughts and practicalities behind it. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Teaching Process Simulators during COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis on the Digitalization of a Dry Laboratory

The global outbreak of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) gave rise to a sudden shift to the online education delivery system from the conventional in-person teaching method. Though instructions were moved to a virtual learning platform, it was a critical challenge to provide hands-on training to teach complex engineering software. This article discusses the experience of teaching blended online delivery mechanisms (synchronous and asynchro-nous) of two AspenONE process simulators, that is, Aspen Plus and Aspen Hysys, which were the part of a chemical engineering sophomore course: CHE 2033 - Introduction to Chemical Process Engineering. The course materials and instruction methodology were prepared through prerecorded videos, organizing individual virtual/ in-person conferences to assist students with the tedious software installation procedure, making them acquainted with the software, and assisting with homework problems. A self-assessment of students about the teaching methodology was done through an online survey. From the survey results, it was observed that approximately 88% of the enrolled students seemed to be satisfied with the course content, instructional approach, and learning outcomes. However, they highlighted working on more complex chemical engineering problems through homework or term projects. The key findings of this study are valuable while developing courses or laboratories that utilize complex engineering software or various process simulators.

A case series of drug induced liver injury leading to ACLF after complementary & alternative medicine over-use for COVID-19

Background and Aims: ACLF is a condition in which 2 insults to liver operate simultaneously, 1 being chronic, and other acute. Complementary & alternative medicine (CAM) are important causes for ACLF. India is the birth place of Ayurveda & CAM is considered safe by the common population with around 80% of the population relying on it. CAM consumption has increased in recent years. Due to the pandemic and the focus on improved immunity, the consumption of CAM has gone up. India has reported 4.8 lakh COVID 19 related deaths till December 2021. However, WHO has estimated 4.7 million deaths directly or indirectly related to COVID-19. We documented a case series of CAM related DILI-ACLF, with CAM being consumed for COVID prevention Methods: ACLF established with APASL defining criteria. USG was done to assess for features of CLD. Liver biopsy was done where feasible. Results: Case 1-39-year-old diabetic taking Giloy Kwath for 2 months for COVID prevention. Presenting with jaundice & ascites having MELD score 18 and CTP class B, he had NASH related cirrhosis on biopsy and is still on follow up. Case 2- f/u/c of CTP A alcoholic cirrhosis who consumed a crushed herb for protection against COVID given by a quack for 3 months, with no alcohol intake in 2 years. He presented with jaundice and encephelopathy, had MELD score 38 & CTP C & succumbed to illness. Case 3 49-year-old lady consuming Giloy Kwath for 4 months for COVID prevention. She was diagnosed with AIH type 1 with MELD score 39. She succumbed to illness with post-mortem liver biopsy showed features of AIH cirrhosis Conclusion: CAM is the most common cause of drug induced ACLF. CAM consumption increased during the pandemic and may have lead to increase in indirect COVID related deaths

VIVA VOCE AS AN AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT TOOL DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Viva voce is one of the traditional educational assessment tools which has lost its prominence in many disciplines over the years. We now see a resurgence of viva voce due to the need for remote examinations during the COVID-19 pandemic. During our experience of teaching business and entrepreneurial concepts to technology-focused students, we have implemented several oral assessment methods and now have used viva voce for over 1000 students. In our experience, the viva has given a more direct view of what students have or have not learnt throughout a semester. Our methods of applying viva voce and lessons learned are discussed in this practice paper. © Proceedings of the 2021 AIS SIGED International Conference on Information Systems Education and Research.

IMPACTS OF REMOTE LEARNING TO STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN NEPAL

The COVID-19 pandemic has immensely disrupted many aspects of human life. Education is not immune to it, rather affected drastically by urging to shift online immediately, wherever possible. Resource-constrained countries were more challenged by this crisis, as higher education institutions are predominantly operated in the traditional classroom settings. With such an abrupt transition to remote teaching and learning with limited resources, both teachers and students have accelerated in gaining new knowledge and adopted the technology gracefully. This study extends our previous work in exploring the facilitating and the inhibiting factors by teachers during remote learning processes to see how students at the receiving end, experienced the journey. By using a mixed method, students' experience during the remote learning is explored. While returning to the normal mode of teaching post-pandemic, this study suggested that students would prefer to continue some aspects of online tools and embrace blended learning. © Proceedings of the 2021 AIS SIGED International Conference on Information Systems Education and Research.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss and coronavirus disease 2019.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if otolaryngologists and audiologists of the American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery have noticed an increase in the incidence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. METHODS: A questionnaire was developed for the purpose of providing a cross-sectional descriptive analysis of perceived association between the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and an increase in the incidence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss. RESULTS: Of respondents, 63.0 per cent did not notice an increase in sudden sensorineural hearing loss during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. There was a weak positive correlation between patients identified with sudden sensorineural hearing loss and the percentage of coronavirus disease 2019 positive patients reported by each medical care provider (Spearman correlation = 0.20, 95 per cent confidence interval = 0.05-0.33). There was no association between geographical location and perceived increase in sudden sensorineural hearing loss (p = 0.38). CONCLUSION: The majority of respondents did not perceive an increase in the incidence of sudden sensorineural hearing loss during the coronavirus pandemic, regardless of geographical region.

SPRINGING FORWARD: THE INFLUENCE OF DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ON TEAM PERFORMANCE IN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL

Introduction: Daylight Savings Time (DST) has been a well-studied occurrence in United States society. Past literature has documented numerous detriments related to cardiovascular and mental health, as well as heightened accident risk (e.g., traffic, construction, healthcare) due to this time shift. Given the scant research in pro-fessional sports though, the current study examines the impact of DST among National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. Methods: Following the 2011-12 lockout-shortened season, data for all games played during the 2012-13 to 2019-20 NBA sea-sons were collected from the publicly-available sports database, Basketball-Reference. Data from the 2020-21 season were ex -cluded due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this period, data from 8,843 games were obtained, with 65 of these games being played the same day as DST. We investigated the influence of DST on points scored, points allowed, and game outcomes for both the home and visiting teams using mixed-winning percentage. Specifically, we compared team performance for games immediately following DST with season averages. Results: For both home and visiting teams, our regression models revealed no meaningful variations in performance between games played following DST and season averages. There were no stat-istically significant differences across points scored (pHome = .98, R2Marginal = .21, R2Conditional = .29;pVisiting = (pHome = .84, R2Marginal = .34, R2Conditional = .42;pVisiting = .44, R2Marginal = .22, R2Conditional = .33), and game outcomes (pHome = .77, R2Marginal = .11, R2Conditional = .11;pVisiting = .71, R2Marginal = .10, R2Conditional = .18). Conclusion: The present analysis offers preliminary evidence that DST may not produce any observable effects on the selected in-dicators of team performance. However, our results could be explained by organizational and athlete sensitivity toward potential compromised performance during games played following DST. Furthermore, our study did not consider other variables that could impact teams (e.g., actual sleep schedules and travel), and was limited by a relatively small sample size of games played on DST. We suggest that future studies examine additional metrics impli -cated in team performance, such as shooting percentages, rebound rates, turnovers, among others.

Assessment of variation in air quality over Delhi and neighbouring cities of Noida and Greater Noida

The main objective of this study is to recognize the limitations of available data, its usefulness to regulate pollution sources across National Capital Region (NCR) and create winter profiles of every region. Within a network of each air quality monitoring station in Delhi-NCR winters [2019 December-2020 January (Pre-Covid), and 2020 December-2021 January (Post-Covid)], daily-averaged PM10 and PM2.5, NOx, O-3, SO2, CO and NH3 levels were found to be very consistent across Delhi and the NCR. The bivariate polar plots revealed that local sources dominate PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations across all monitoring locations in Delhi-NCR. The importance of the local source's superiority aids in the measurement of concentrations. We examined the various pollutants found during the winter season across Delhi-NCR for 2019-2020-2021. Plotting bivariate polar plots can reveal the relationship between air contaminants and meteorological conditions. This technique identified the concentration level and also helps in prediction. The preliminary results also suggested that the air pollutants considerably reduced in post-covid period as compared to the pre-covid period due to the restriction of traffic and commercial activities.

QoS Enhancement of Hospital e-Healthcare Management using IoT

Hospital e-healthcare management is one of the important and challenging application domains of Internet of Things (IoT). During the pandemic period of Covid-19, government advices the people through media, only come to the hospital if any urgency and to take the opportunities of e-service from the hospital to control the infection. Internet plays an important role during this crucial period. The important problems are the network problem and effective way to handle e-healthcare service. Efficient management of e-healthcare possible by using IoT based 5G mobile technology. The latest technology improves the quality of e-healthcare service and efficient management of the application. Healthcare management depends on patient's satisfaction, service quality and customer experience etc. In this paper we proposed a model on Patient Relationship Management (PRM) which improves the quality of e-healthcare facilities by using the new technologies like RFID, IoT and 5G. Comparisons are shown between 3G/4G ICT based system and 5G ICT-RFID-IoT enabled system. The PRM parameters cost, accuracy and satisfaction are taken into consideration and how these parameters significantly perform better in healthcare sector with the advent of newer technologies in is main the focus of the paper. © 2021 IEEE.

Clinico-virological-epidemiological characteristics in Covid positive clusters among frontline Health care workers and non-health care workers – A Hospital based study

Background:Ample of studies have been carried out on the causative agent, pattern of illness, treatment options which mainly concern regarding the patients and general population affected from COVID -19, however few studies have fo- cused on its adverse effects on front line health care workers ( HCW ) and other employees of health care facilities. The present retrospective study was planned to analyse the clinico-viro-epidemiological profile of different covid clusters in HCWs and non-health care employees of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. Methods:A hospital based retrospective study was carried out on the HCWs and other employees of AIIMS, Bhubanes- war, who tested positive SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR test. The clinical and demographic information were analysed with corresponding virological data of the patient. Results:Of the 671 employees of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, 92 were from eight clusters that could be traced. The eight clusters involved 4 clusters each from both the HCWs group containing 66 individuals and non-HCWs group with 32. Male to female ratio was 2.5:1. Maximum 55(59.7%) individuals belonged to 20 -30yrs age group followed by 30-40yrs 28(30.4%) and least 3(3.2%) in 50-60yrs. Asymptomatic COVID positive individuals were more as compared to symptomatic in all the age groups. All the individuals with cycle threshold value (CT) ≤ 20 were symptomatic;of the 21 persons with CT value 21-30, seven were symptomatic and 14 were asymptomatic. Majority with >30 CT value (35/44) were asymptomatic. Conclusions:Frontline HCWs are constantly at increased risk of getting infection, but the disease burden and post -covid stigma can be substantially decreased among non-HCWS if COVID appropriate behaviour are strictly implemented and followe

DMart: driving growth in a changed business environment

Learning outcomes: The learning outcomes of this paper are as follows: to comprehend the unique features of the DMart business model, to understand the dynamics of the Indian food and grocery market, to analyse the reasons for the success of DMart, to analyse the financial health of a business by using financial ratios and to appreciate the effect of business and operating strategy on financial statements. Case overview/synopsis: In September 2020, the management team of Pegasus Consulting (PS) – a boutique strategy consulting firm headquartered in Mumbai, India had convened a meeting to evaluate business options for future growth. Post the COVID −19 pandemic outbreak in India in March 2020;many industry sectors had been experiencing a general slowdown in business. Retail was one such sector identified, which had faced a slowdown. A recent Edelweiss report suggested a 39% dip in revenues of DMart stores that were owned and operated by Avenue Supermarts Limited (ASL). The PS team had been following the impressive growth story of DMart since 2017 when they had made a historic market debut with the initial public offering. Over the years the company had grown and emerged as one of the most valued listed retailers in the Indian retail space in the fiscal year 2019–2020. However, much had changed, as the imposition of the countrywide lockdown in March 2020. Based on the Government of India and local government directives nearly 50% of the stores had to be temporarily shut. The case highlights the dynamics of the Indian retail market with multiple players and formats and the changes in consumer behaviour. ASL had used its DMart Ready online app and DMart on Wheels to service the needs of its customers during the period of the lockdown. The PS team wanted to make a business consulting pitch to DMart to help them revive their growth trajectory. What could be the best advice that the PS team could offer to DMart in their pitch? Complexity academic level: The case has been written with the objective of enabling the students to understand the dynamics of a rapidly changing emerging market. It is structured for use at a Master’s level course and an MBA audience in the subject of business strategy and/or retail strategy. Supplementary materials: Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Subject code: CSS 11: Strategy. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

COVID-19 pandemic and role of behavior change communication

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, various public health interventions have been employed due to the lack of an effective vaccine or treatment against the disease. Despite various global and national initiatives, there is still a lack of compliance among the general public. Hence, there is a need for behavior change communication (BCC) for individuals as well as communities to effectively combat the disease spread. This article attempts to address the issues in implementing public health measures and the role of BCC in controlling the pandemic situation.