ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a major threat to public health in the present century. In this situation, adherence to preventive behaviors seriously impacts the prevention of viral diseases. The present study aims to investigate adherence to public health preventive instructions in patients infected with COVID-19 before contracting the disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2020 to March 2021 in Fars province. 3242 patients infected with COVID-19 were selected via multistage sampling. Data were collected using a demographic information form and a researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed by Stata v. 14 using the chi-square test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The average age of participants was 38.45±13.07 years. 48.80% had a high rate, 47.90% had a moderate rate, and only 3.30% had a low compliance rate with COVID-19 preventive instructions. The patients' main reason for not following preventive behaviors was having to be present in busy places (41.1%). There was a significant correlation between the participants' age, gender, place of residence, occupation, education, history of underlying diseases (P≤0.001), marital status (P=0.041), and use of masks with a rate of adherence to preventive behaviors(P≤0.001). In the random forest, the job represents 36.75% compliance with COVID-19 preventive guidelines. Conclusion: Therefore, by raising public awareness, healthcare policymakers and administrators can enhance the public's observance of the COVID-19 prevention instructions and consequently control the spread of the infection and improve public health during the current crisis caused by the pandemic. © 2022 by the Author(s).
ABSTRACT
This case study includes three pregnant women with COVID-19 diagnosed during pregnancy or delivery between March 28 and May 13, 2020. All cases were confirmed by a positive pharyngeal reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and one case by computed tomography scan (CT Scan) in addition to the (RT-PCR). Clinical and laboratory information was extracted from hospital records during pregnancy and delivery. The adverse effects during pregnancy and after the birth of the newborn, the possibility of vertical transmission from positive pregnant mothers to the neonates were investigated.Of the three women with COVID-19 infection, one patient was diagnosed two weeks before delivery and two were diagnosed during delivery and hospitalization. No adverse effects including preeclampsia, gestational hypertension, rupture of the amniotic sac during pregnancy and premature delivery were observed but one of the patients suffered from intrauterine fetal death (IUFD). in this study, adverse pregnancy outcome was not observed in pregnant women with Covid-19 infection based on hospital observations. No vertical transmission was observed following vaginal delivery or cesarean section and during pregnancy. As the effect of the virus on different people in society varies according to their individual characteristics, our conclusion in this study on pregnant women is also affected by these individual differences, which requires further studies in this field with more samples.
ABSTRACT
The new pandemic lifestyle advocates new rules for sport at all levels, from amateur to elite. Consequently, it has transformed the ways in which sports are performed and consumed, provoking demand for new technologies and/or the development of existing ones. This paper aims to identify, describe, and visualize the process of sport transformation as radical internal and external industry changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is intended to qualitatively explain the current 'metamorphoses' in the field and subsequently answer the question of how the COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed all aspects of sports and physical culture. The literature and empirical dataset (qualitative open-ended written interviews, N = 147) were analysed in the spirit of grounded theory, referring to the holistic approach. The results demonstrated that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on sports by touching on all aspects, levels, and stakeholders. The paper also outlines challenges and opportunities for the industry in these extraordinary times. The key dimensions of transformation are identified and explained. The findings of this research have significant implications for the understanding of how COVID-19 gave rise to the transformation of sports in different aspects. This study adds to the growing body of research on the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 on sports, new technologies demand, and the transformation of sports.
ABSTRACT
Background & Objective: COVID-19 is a serious disease with different symptoms and risk factors infecting and killing many people around the world. This study was performed to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 suspects referred to the hospitals and coronavirus treatment centers of Shahroud, Iran. Materials & Methods: Upon the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in Shahroud, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences launched a project to systematically record the demographic, clinical, and medical data of all suspects referred to the Corona Center. In this study, the data of 3945 suspected people collected during 5 months were analyzed. The RT-PCR test was used as the criterion for diagnosing the disease. Results: Among 3945 suspected cases, 24.4% had positive RT-PCR test. The mean age of confirmed cases was 52.16 years. Dry cough and fever in addition to anorexia were reported as the most common symptoms. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that people over 60 years with heart disease reduce the risk, while people over 60 years, diabetics, and obese people increase the risk of infection. Conclusion: These results necessitate further lines of research into different symptoms and risk factors to help identify COVID-19 cases earlier and start faster treatment. © 2022, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The emergence of a rapidly spreading and highly infectious coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak by a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has caused a global pandemic with unprecedented social and economic dimensions. Therefore, the development of effective strategies is urgent to control the COVID-19 outbreak. According to recent investigations, cell entry of coronaviruses relies on binding of the viral spike glycoprotein to the host cellular receptors. Therefore, the present study aimed to predict immunogenic epitopes in silico by analysing the spike protein. In parallel, by screening the immunogenic SARS-CoV-2 spike-derived epitopes provided in the literature, we chose a set of epitopes that we believed would induce immunogenic response. Next, provided with the epitopes selected by using both approaches, we performed immunoinformatic analysis that mapped identically to the antigen regions and antigenic properties. Finally, after selecting a screened set of epitopes, we designed a novel virus-like particle vaccine optimized to be produced in plants by using molecular farming biotechnology techniques. Our assay may be used as a starting point for guiding experimental efforts towards the development of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to estimate the basic reproduction number (R0) of COVID-19 in the early stage of the epidemic and predict the expected number of new cases in Shahroud in Northeastern Iran. The R0 of COVID-19 was estimated using the serial interval distribution and the number of incidence cases. The 30-day probable incidence and cumulative incidence were predicted using the assumption that daily incidence follows a Poisson distribution determined by daily infectiousness. Data analysis was done using 'earlyR' and 'projections' packages in R software. The maximum-likelihood value of R0 was 2.7 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.1-3.4) for the COVID-19 epidemic in the early 14 days and decreased to 1.13 (95% CI 1.03-1.25) by the end of day 42. The expected average number of new cases in Shahroud was 9.0 ± 3.8 cases/day, which means an estimated total of 271 (95% CI: 178-383) new cases for the period between 02 April to 03 May 2020. By day 67 (27 April), the effective reproduction number (Rt), which had a descending trend and was around 1, reduced to 0.70. Based on the Rt for the last 21 days (days 46-67 of the epidemic), the prediction for 27 April to 26 May is a mean daily cases of 2.9 ± 2.0 with 87 (48-136) new cases. In order to maintain R below 1, we strongly recommend enforcing and continuing the current preventive measures, restricting travel and providing screening tests for a larger proportion of the population.