Comparing the Growth and Development of Six Months Infants between the Mothers With/Without Covid-19 during Their Pregnancy

Background: Viral infection during pregnancy induces pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases the level of IL-6, which as a measure of the inflammation of the mother's immune system is effective on the development of the brain of the fetus and increases the rate of mental disorders of the fetus. The possible effect of the mother's COVID-19 on children, if any, is still unknown. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating and comparing the consequences of neurodevelopment and growth at the age of 6 months in infants among mothers with/without exposure to COVID-19 during pregnancy in Birjand, 2021.Methods: A total of 161 pregnant women with PCR-positive coronavirus and 181 pregnant women without infection were selected by simple random sampling. Demographic characteristics including age, occupation, education, gender, nationality, sex of babies, along with data related to the neurodevelopmental status of infants by the use of ASQ questionnaire were extracted and entered into SPSS 16 software. For descriptive statistics, Mean, standard deviation, and frequency distribution tables were used, and inferential analyses were conducted by the use of Chi-square, t-test, and analysis of variance at a significance level of less than 0.05. The disturbance was equal / lower than 1 SD in each of ASQ-3 score domains.Results: In this cohort study, demographic characteristics in the exposed and unexposed groups were not significantly different. There was no statistically significant difference between the average score of the ASQ_3 questionnaires as well as the average score in the areas of communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and social personality among infants born from mothers with and without COVID-19. Also, there was no significant difference in the incidence of disorders in different fields of neurodevelopment, except for the field of establishing communication between the two groups of exposed and unexposed. On the other hand, cesarean delivery was significantly higher in pregnant mothers with COVID-19 during pregnancy. However, there was no significant relationship between the incidence of COVID-19 and the rate of premature delivery, and low birth weight neonates. In addition, the severity and time of the corona infection during pregnancy did not have any significant effect on the neurodevelopment of infants with intrauterine exposure to COVID-19.Conclusion: According to the results of the study, infection with COVID-19 does not increase the incidence of developmental disorders in 6-month-old infants. Furthermore, it does not increase low birth weight and premature delivery. Due to the limitations of the study, it is suggested to conduct a study with a larger number of pregnant mothers with a severe form of the disease, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy, and to follow up with the babies at an older age.

Effects of COVID-19 Financial and Social Hardships on Infants' and Toddlers' Development in the ECHO Program.

BACKGROUND: The financial hardships and social isolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic have been found to adversely affect children's developmental outcomes. While many studies thus far have focused on school-aged children and the pandemic-related impacts on their academic skills and behavior problems, relatively less is known about pandemic hardships and associations with children's development during their early years. Using a racially and economically diverse sample, we examined whether hardships experienced during the pandemic were associated with children's development with a particular focus on communication and socioemotional development. METHODS: Participants from eight cohorts of the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes program provided data on pandemic-related financial and social hardships as well as child developmental outcomes. Financial hardship was defined as at least one parent experiencing job loss or change, and social hardship was defined as families' quarantining from household members or extended family and friends. The development of children under 4 was assessed longitudinally, before and during the pandemic (N = 684), using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). The Generalized Estimating Equations, which accounted for within-child correlation, were used for analysis. RESULTS: Families from minority backgrounds and low socioeconomic status disproportionately experienced pandemic-related hardships. Male children had higher odds of experiencing negative changes in communication and personal social skills from pre- to during-pandemic visits (ORs ranged between 2.24 and 3.03 in analysis with binary ASQ outcomes and ranged from -0.34-0.36 in analyses with ASQ z-scores, ps = 0.000). Pandemic-related hardships in the social and financial areas did not explain within-individual changes in children's developmental outcomes. CONCLUSION: Negative developmental changes from pre- to during-pandemic were found in boys, yet we did not find any associations between increased experience of pandemic-related hardships and children's development. E how pandemic hardships affect development using a larger sample size and with longer follow-up is warranted.

Has passenger satisfaction at airports changed with the onset of COVID-19? The case of Seville Airport (Spain).

The changes that have come about at airports in recent decades in the areas of security, deregulation, and technological advances have affected both airport management and the passenger experience at airport facilities. In addition, all around the world, the airport sector has been struck by the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021. Using a broad sample of data taken from Airport Service Quality (ASQ) surveys and robust econometric methodology, specifically, an Ordered Logit model with Principal Component Analysis, this paper seeks to cover the gap in the academic literature regarding the effect of a worldwide pandemic on passenger satisfaction at airports during the 2015-2021 period, while taking into consideration the passenger profile and journey and airport attributes. It takes as its reference a Spanish regional airport, which had been experiencing a strong expansion process prior to the pandemic. With respect to the variables linked to the passenger profile, a differential behavior is observed in satisfaction depending on nationality, motive for travel, and destination. In addition, the four facility- and airport process-related dimensions are significant, with cleanliness and comfort standing out above all others. These are even more important in a health emergency scenario such as is currently being experienced. Lastly, 2021 is shown to cause a downturn in the positive passenger satisfaction with the airport that had been observed during the first year of the pandemic. Therefore, more long-term management is required alongside the initial rapid and efficient action taken by airports, with up-to-date information for passengers to internalize the inconveniences associated with this long-drawn-out period of uncertainty.

How has airport service quality changed in the context of COVID-19: A data-driven crowdsourcing approach based on sentiment analysis.

Airport service quality (ASQ) is a competitive advantage for airport management in today's airport market. Since the COVID-19 health crisis has unprecedentedly influenced airport regulations and operations, effective measurement of ASQ has become crucial for airport administrations. Surveying travelers' attitudes is useful for ASQ assessment but collecting responses could be time-consuming and costly. Therefore, this paper adopts a data-driven crowdsourcing approach to study ASQ during the COVID-19 pandemic by investigating Google Maps reviews from the 98 busiest U.S. airports. To do so, this study develops a topical ontology of keywords regarding ASQ attributes and uses a sentiment tool to derive passengers' attitudes. Through sentiment analysis, Google Maps reviews show more positive sentiment toward environment and personnel but remain constant about facilities during COVID-19. The lexical salience-valence analysis (LSVA) is then applied to explain such changes by tracking the sentiment of frequent words in reviews. Through correlation and regression analysis, this study demonstrates that rating is significantly related to check-in, environment, and personnel in pre-and post-COVID periods. Additionally, the effect of access, wayfinding, facilities, and environment on rating significantly differs between the two periods. The findings illustrate the effectiveness of leveraging online reviews and offer practical implications for what matters to air travelers, especially in the COVID-19 context.

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection During Pregnancy on Infant Neurobehavioral Development: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Previous studies on the pneumonia outbreak caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have focused on the general population and pregnant women, while little is known about the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on retardation during and after pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential influence of SARS-CoV-2 on infant neurobehavioral development. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Wuhan Maternal and Child Health Hospital, China. Nine pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 infection and 9 controls matched by maternal age, parity, and status of chronic disease were included. Infantile neurobehavioral development was assessed through the Ages and Stages Questionnaires Edition 3 (ASQ-3). Results: The majority of pregnant women with SARS-CoV-2 experienced cesarean section (7 of 9), which was higher than the control group (5 of 9). The throat swabs of all newborn were negative. We found that compared with the control group, neonates of mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy had lower scores in communication, gross movement, fine movement, problem solving, and personal-social domains; but only fine movement domain yielded statistical significance (P = 0.031). Conclusion: Infection with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy may have a certain impact on infant neurobehavioral development. Further studies with larger sample size are warranted for validation.

Sleep quality and insomnia during the COVID-19 lockdown among the Saudi public: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the Saudi population's sleep quality during the lockdown of COVID-19. METHODS: An internet-based questionnaire that was performed during the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic among the Saudi population over 2 weeks from April 1 to April 15, 2020. We used the instant messaging application WhatsApp and Twitter to reach the targeted population. Saudi citizens and non-Saudi residents who can read and understand the questionnaire were recruited. Data were analyzed using Stata and SPSS. RESULTS: A total of 790 responses were included. The majority of participants were the Saudi population 735 (92.9%). The prevalence of insomnia and poor sleep quality were 54.4% and 55.5%, respectively. Saudi citizenship was associated with longer sleep duration (p=0.031). Female gender and being married were associated with worse global PSQI, sleep quality, sleep distribution, sleep latency, and daytime dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Our findings showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Saudi population had a high prevalence of insomnia and poor sleep quality. Routine monitoring of the psychological impact of life-threatening outbreaks and the adoption of effective early mental health actions should be considered.