ABSTRACT
To manage the COVID-19 outbreak, the WHO recommends adult and child vaccination. Vaccine skepticism has been a major worldwide health concern for decades, and the situation is worsening. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate parental willingness to vaccinate their children (aged 5 to 11 years) against COVID-19 and to describe its relationship with attitude, barriers, facilitators, and sources of knowledge regarding the vaccine. Methods: From February to March 2022, a community-based cross-sectional survey was undertaken among the parents of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. We employed a convenient sampling procedure to gather the required sample. Using the Raosoft sample size calculator, a minimum sample size of 385 was determined based on a 95% confidence level, a 5% margin of error, and a 5% precision level. The data were analyzed using version 26 of SPSS. A p-value less than 0.05 was judged statistically significant. The Chi-square test and likelihood ratio were utilized to describe the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, driving factors, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy associated factors were identified using multivariate binary logistic regression. A total of 528 replies were received. The majority of respondents were mothers (77.7%), aged 26 to 40 years (67.8%), married (91.5%), Saudi nationals (96.2%), college graduates (70.6%), with a monthly family income of more than SAR 10,000 (46.4%), non-healthcare professionals (84.7%), employed in the government sector (33.7%), with three children (23.3%), and children aged 5 to 11 years (88.7%). A little more than half of the parents (55.7%) exhibited considerable vaccination hesitancy. About 16.28% of parents were willing to vaccinate their children as soon as possible, compared to 38.44% who had no interest whatsoever in vaccination. A greater proportion of mothers and unemployed parents were unwilling to vaccinate their children. Parents with a higher monthly income (above SAR 10,000), who worked as healthcare professionals, and whose children suffered from chronic conditions were significantly more ready to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Parents who were aware of anti-vaccination campaigns and who vaccinated their children with required childhood vaccines were also much more likely to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. Most parents (66.9%) obtained information on COVID-19 via the Saudi Ministry of Health website, followed by social media (48.1%). The vaccine's novelty and the dearth of reliable information about its safety (65%) and insufficient information about its effectiveness (36.2%) were the primary reasons for not vaccinating children against COVID-19, whereas preventing children from contracting COVID-19 (55.9%) and government mandate (38.8%) were the primary reasons for vaccinating children against COVID-19. Conclusions: There was significant parental hesitancy to immunize their children against COVID-19. To involve and educate parents, multi-component interventions must be developed and implemented.
ABSTRACT
Various protein/receptor targets have been discovered through in-silico research. They are expanding rapidly due to their extensive advantage of delivering new drug candidates more quickly, efficiently, and at a lower cost. The automation of organic synthesis and biochemical screening will lead to a revolution in the entire research arena in drug discovery. In this research article, a few fungal metabolites were examined through an in-silico approach which involves major steps such as (a) Molecular Docking Analysis, (b) Drug likeness and ADMET studies, and (c) Molecular Dynamics Simulation. Fungal metabolites were taken from Antibiotic Database which showed antiviral effects on severe viral diseases such as HIV. Docking, Lipinski's, and ADMET analyses investigated the binding affinity and toxicity of five metabolites: Chromophilone I, iso; F13459; Stachyflin, acetyl; A-108836; Integracide A (A-108835). Chromophilone I, iso was subjected to additional analysis, including a 50 ns MD simulation of the protein to assess the occurring alterations. This molecule's docking data shows that it had the highest binding affinity. ADMET research revealed that the ligand might be employed as an oral medication. MD simulation revealed that the ligand-protein interaction was stable. Finally, this ligand can be exploited to develop SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic options. Fungal metabolites that have been studied could be a potential source for future lead candidates. Further study of these molecules may result in creating an antiviral drug to battle the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Self-medication (SM) is a customary practice around the globe. Appropriate SM comes with many advantages, yet irrational SM is a concern and could lead to adverse drug events and poor health outcomes. METHODS: This college-based cross-sectional study was carried out from January to March 2021 among Najran University undergraduate medical students to investigate the prevalence and practice of, and attitudes towards SM. Data were collected using a bilingual self-administered online questionnaire, which was categorized into sections, such as socio-demographic details, attitude towards SM, and practice of SM during the last six months, along with students' opinions and suggestions regarding SM. The three-item scale was used to assess the students' attitude. IBM SPSS was used to perform the cross-tabulation, chi-squared test, and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Overall, 205 undergraduate medical students (58.6%) responded to the survey. The overall prevalence of SM was 60%, of which 25% used antibiotics as SM drugs. Headache (65.9%), fever (30.2%), cold/flu (31.2%), and gastric acidity (28.3%) were common illnesses for which SM was sought, using analgesics and NSAIDs (52.7%), antipyretics (13.7%), and antacid (12.7%) medications. Among the reasons for SM, the illness being minor and quick relief were frequently reported. To rationalize and improve the practice of SM, about half (48.3%) of the students suggested spreading awareness and education regarding the implications of SM and dispensing the medications with prescriptions (46.8%). CONCLUSION: Overall, the attitude towards SM was satisfactory. The prevalence of SM during the last six months was 60%, and antibiotics were used by 25% of students. A significant negative correlation was observed between attitudes towards and practice of SM. Although medical students of Najran University displayed responsible behavior towards SM, efforts should be made to educate them about the adverse consequences of SM, especially with antibiotics.
ABSTRACT
Communities play an important and active role in preventing and controlling the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Reduction of COVID-19-related barriers and threats perceived by the public should be the top priority in promoting positive preventive behaviors among people. This cross-sectional study aimed at identifying the barriers and threats perceived by public university students in the southwestern part of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The students were recruited through a snowball sampling technique, and data were collected using a web-based questionnaire. Data on socio-demographic aspects, perceived barriers, and perceived threats were collected. Perceived barriers were estimated using the Health Belief Model (HBM) questionnaire, and perceived threats were estimated using the patient threat perceptions in the emergency department scale. This study was conducted between March and June 2020. Approximately 50% of the study participants had a high level of perceived barriers and a moderate level of total perceived threats. Notable factors associated with participants' perceived barriers and threats were age, college type, and monthly income. Perceived barriers, participants' residence location, and sex were also significantly related to each other. Moreover, perceived barriers were significantly correlated with perceived threats. COVID-19-related perceived barriers and threats ranged from a moderate level to a high level among most of the participating students. Perceived barriers were associated with some of the demographic variables. The findings from this study may help the government in formulating strategies for planning interventions to reduce COVID-19 pandemic propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Pure & Applied Microbiology is the property of Dr. M. N. Khan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed various stresses on individuals and communities. Coping with sudden, tense, demanding situations during an infectious disease outbreak requires self-efficacy. Increasing the public's self-efficacy for preventive and control measures is important in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was aimed at evaluating the self-efficacy and associated factors of students at a public university in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a cross-sectional study, and a snowball sampling method was used to recruit participants. Data were collected from the beginning of April to the end of June 2020 using an online questionnaire. A total of 761 students were included in the study. The participants' demographic data were collected, and self-efficacy was analyzed using the General Self-efficacy Scale. The results showed that self-efficacy for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic was moderate in almost half of the students but was low in approximately 25% of the participants. There were statistically significant associations between self-efficacy regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and gender, college type, marital status, and family income (p < 0.05). However, the participants' self-efficacy was not associated with age, residence, or history of chronic illness. In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, most students had either moderate or low self-efficacy. Certain demographic variables were positively associated with self-efficacy as perceived by the students. These findings provide data central to the development of self-efficacy initiatives. They may also be useful for the effective implementation of public health preventive behavior programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Pure & Applied Microbiology is the property of Dr. M. N. Khan and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)