ABSTRACT
Objective: The objective of the study was to find out the sociodemographic profile and psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the key caregivers of COVID-19 patients. Methods: The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic was measured using DASS-21 scale in a sample of 100 caregivers of corona-positive patients admitted in Guru Nanak Dev Hospital under Govt. Medical College. Results: In our study, majority of the family caregivers of corona-positive patients in the hospital setting were male (76%), belonged to 21–40 years age group (58%), wedded (64%), Sikh by religion (69%), employed (58%), and from rural region (56%). Caregivers showed extremely severe depression (30.58±6.521), extremely severe anxiety (29.34±7.130), and severe stress (29.14±5694). Participants with increasing age showed higher levels depression, anxiety, and stress scores but significant association was seen only with mean anxiety scores with increasing age (p<0.05). A significant association was seen between mean scores of stress and education status (p<0.05). A significant association was also seen between mean scores of anxiety and stress scores and nuptial status (p<0.05). No significant associations were seen between gender of caregivers, employment status, religion, family type, and mean depression, anxiety, and stress scores (p>0.05). Conclusion: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of family caregivers of COVID-19 cases is significant.
ABSTRACT
The current impact of COVID-19 on global health and the economy is enormous. Considering pandemic severity, there is an urgent need to develop a smart biosensor that can provide early detection of SARS-CoV-2 viruses with robust and reliable results. In this work, we have systematically developed a plasmonic-based biosensor chip for the early detection of the COVID-19 virus by providing fast and reliable results. The label-free plasmonic sensor utilizes light and detects the resonance oscillation of surface-bound free conduction electrons in the presence of the target analyte biomarker (virus), resulting in binding and affinity incidents at the surface of plasmonic gold (Au) material, causing a shift in the resonance wavelength. The results show the ability of biosensor to exhibit an increased shift in the resonance wavelength upon binding of the COVID-19 virus because of the change in the optical property, i.e., the refractive index of the medium in the vicinity of the Au film. This study further demonstrated the fabrication and performance optimization of the plasmonic biosensor for the potential point-of-care testing device. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children is a recently described complication in the late phase of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection involving systemic hyperinflammation and multiorgan dysfunction. The extent of its clinical picture is actively evolving and has yet to be fully elucidated. While neurologic manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 are well-described in the adult population, reports of neurologic complications in pediatric patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection are limited. We present a pediatric patient with SARS-CoV-2 infection with development of multisystem inflammatory syndrome and acute encephalopathy causing delirium who was found to have a cytotoxic lesion of the corpus callosum on neuroimaging. Cytotoxic lesions of the corpus callosum are a well-known, typically reversible entity that can occur in a wide range of conditions, including infection, seizure, toxins, nutritional deficiencies, and Kawasaki disease. We hypothesized that the cytotoxic lesion of the corpus callosum, in the index case, was secondary to the systemic inflammation from SARS-CoV-2 infection, resulting in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.