The nursing students' experience of COVID-19 confirmation

This study was conducted to prepare the basic data for the development of practical nursing intervention programs for nursing college students who have been confirmed with COVID-19 since its outbreak in Korea. The subjects of this study were 70 nursing students at the University of Nursing located in Seoul, Gangwon-do, and Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongnam-do. The data were collected from April 1st through April 30th, 2022, and analyzed it using the content analysis method. The experience of the nursing students infected with COVID-19 was classified and analyzed to draw a total of 187 significant statements and 36 categories. When establishing an infectious disease prevention program for nursing students and developing a practical nursing intervention program, it is necessary to focus on the preventive activities that emphasize personal aspects such as infection control, health management, and self-management, and to strengthen social support systems and improve quality of life. © 2023 The Authors. Published by IASE.

A Cross-Sectional Study and Observational Assessment of Shoppers' COVID-19 Prevention Behaviors in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to observe the level of alcohol-based sanitizer, mask use, and physical distancing across indoor community settings in Guelph, ON, Canada, and to identify potential barriers to practicing these behaviors. METHODS: Shoppers were observed in June 2022 across 21 establishments. Discrete in-person observations were conducted and electronically recorded using smartphones. Multilevel logistic regression models were fitted to identify possible covariates for the 3 behavioral outcomes. RESULTS: Of 946 observed shoppers, 69% shopped alone, 72% had at least 1 hand occupied, 26% touched their face, 29% physically distanced ≥ 2 m, 6% used hand sanitizer, and 29% wore masks. Sanitizer use was more commonly observed among people who wore masks and in establishments with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) signage posted at the entrance. Mask use was more commonly observed during days without precipitation and in establishments with some or all touch-free entrances. Shoppers more commonly physically distanced ≥ 2 m when they were shopping alone. CONCLUSIONS: This supports evidence for environmental context influencing COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Intervention efforts aimed at visible signage, tailored messaging, and redesigning spaces to facilitate preventive behaviors may be effective at increasing adherence during outbreaks.

System for Evaluation of COVID-19 Prevention Guidelines Compliance

In a catastrophic medical situation caused by an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, it is very important to quickly determine who and where to be tested and supervised. The current COVID-19 screening test is conducted by identifying people with high probability of infection, such as who made direct or indirect contact with the confirmed person, by identifying the moving path of the confirmed person. Currently, various methods are being employed, such as interviewing or location tracking through cell phone forensics, to determine the moving path of the confirmed person. Mostly, however, these methods are time consuming, inaccurate, and easy to invade privacy while promptness, accuracy and anonymity are key values of epidemiological surveillance. There is still no preemptive management methods for a space where infection occurs are possible. Investigation and action on the area where the infection occurred are just carried out only after a confirmed person has been confirmed. In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to develop an automatic system for evaluating space for compliance of infectious disease prevention guidelines, or simply risk estimation system, using artificial intelligence and computer vision technology. In this paper, we discuss the system for evaluation of COVID-19 prevention guidelines compliance which has been researching and developing by ASSIST. © 2022 IEEE.

Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in BRI Countries

This book systematically assesses the risk of 21 major infectious diseases threatening BRI countries. It consists of 14 chapters. Chapter 1 is an overview. Chapter 2 introduces the history of health cooperation between China and other BRI countries. Chapters 3-14 introduce the prevalence of major infectious diseases threatening BRI countries such as cholera, vaccine preventable diseases (polio, measles, meningitis, Japanese encephalitis, diphtheria, hepatitis A), tuberculosis, influenza, and insect-borne diseases (Dengue fever, Zika virus disease, yellow fever, Chikungunya, Rift Valley fever), plague, malaria, Ebola virus disease, MERS, schistosomiasis, COVID-19 and AIDS, and risk factors, principles and cases of their prevention and control. It is a useful reference book in the research of infectious disease control and prevention, and provides historical experience and lessons learned. It also provides decision support for international cooperation among BRI countries in the field of epidemic prevention and control in the future. © People's Medical Publishing House, PR of China 2021, corrected publication 2021.

Candida auris as an Emergent Public Health Problem: A Current Update on European Outbreaks and Cases.

Candida auris is considered to be an emerging fungal pathogen and is related to high mortality rates, persistent candidemia, inconsistencies in susceptibility testing results and misidentification by available commercial identification systems. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) strains are increasingly detected. In Europe, hospital outbreaks caused by C. auris have been reported in the United Kingdom (UK), Italy and Spain; however, several cases have been sporadically detected in all European countries. C. auris is difficult to control despite enhanced control measures due to its ability to survive for a long time in environments and colonize patients for prolonged periods. An adequate laboratory diagnostic capacity and national surveillance are fundamental to rapidly detect new C. auris cases and to apply the correct measures to circumscribe them and prevent their spread. Our narrative review aims to highlight the primary C. auris outbreaks and case reports that have occurred in Europe.

Undocumented migrants’ citizenship in pandemic times: the South Korean case

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the citizenship of both nationals and non-nationals. We define citizenship as a contested membership among all populations within the territory of a state, encompassing the status, rights, and performativity of the people. We look at changes in the citizenship of non-nationals, particularly the most vulnerable: undocumented migrants. Despite long-standing discrimination against undocumented migrants, the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the South Korean government to reconsider its policies on their citizenship rights. The government provided free tests and treatments, and free vaccinations to the undocumented migrants who had long been ignored in South Korea. It also suspended immigration crackdowns and deportations. While these COVID-19 preventive measures were intended to address community safety, they also affected the multifaceted nature of citizenship by making everybody within the territory both the subject and object of quarantine. Do these measures indicate an expansion of South Korean citizenship to include undocumented migrants? We discuss what implications the South Korean government’s pandemic-response policies may have for citizenship. With the increasing elasticity of citizenship boundaries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we claim that territorial aspects have been given greater emphasis in the politics of South Korean citizenship. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Effectiveness of a Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention of "STOP touching your face" During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Avoiding touching the eyes, nose, and mouth (T-zone) is a strategy to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) named "STOP (Stop, Take a Breath, Observe, Proceed) touching your face" for reducing face-touching behavior. Methods: In this online-based, two-arm, wait-list, randomized controlled trial, eligible participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 545) or control group (n = 545). The results of 60-min self-monitoring of face-touching behavior were reported before and after the intervention. Reduction of the percentage of T-zone touching was the primary outcome, and reduction of face-touching frequency was a key secondary outcome. Outcomes were analyzed on an intention-to-treat (ITT) basis with a complete case analysis (CCA). Results: ITT analysis revealed that the percentage of T-zone touching was significantly reduced by 8.1% in the intervention group (from 81.1 to 73.0%, RR = 0.901, OR = 0.631, RD = - 0.081, p = 0.002), and insignificantly reduced by 0.6% in the control group (from 80.0 to 79.4%, p = 0.821). Fewer participants performed T-zone touching in the intervention group than in the control group (73.0% vs. 79.4%, RR = 0.919, OR = 0.700, RD = - 0.064, p = 0.015) after the intervention, and there was a greater reduction of T-zone touching frequency in the intervention group than in the control group [mean ± SD: 1.7 ± 5.13 vs. 0.7 ± 3.98, mean difference (95% CI): 1.03 (0.48 to 1.58), p < 0.001, Cohen's d = - 0.218]. The above results were further confirmed by CCA. Conclusions: This brief mindfulness-based intervention was potentially effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19 and could be further investigated as an intervention for preventing other infectious diseases spread by hand-to-face touching. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04330352. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-022-02019-x.

COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among people with chronic neurological disorders: A position paper.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Health risks associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection are undisputed. Moreover, the capability of vaccination to prevent symptomatic, severe, and fatal COVID-19 is recognized. There is also early evidence that vaccination can reduce the chance for long COVID-19. Nonetheless, the willingness to get vaccinated and receive booster shots remains subpar among people with neurologic disorders. Vaccine scepticism not only jeopardizes collective efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic but puts individual lives at risk, as some chronic neurologic diseases are associated with a higher risk for an unfavorable COVID-19 course. METHODS: In this position paper, the NeuroCOVID-19 Task Force of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) summarizes the current knowledge on the prognosis of COVID-19 among patients with neurologic disease, elucidates potential barriers to vaccination coverage, and formulates strategies to overcome vaccination hesitancy. A survey among the Task Force members on the phenomenon of vaccination hesitancy among people with neurologic disease supports the lines of argumentation. RESULTS: The study revealed that people with multiple sclerosis and other nervous system autoimmune disorders are most skeptical of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The prevailing concerns included the chance of worsening the pre-existing neurological condition, vaccination-related adverse events, and drug interaction. CONCLUSIONS: The EAN NeuroCOVID-19 Task Force reinforces the key role of neurologists as advocates of COVID-19 vaccination. Neurologists need to argue in the interest of their patients about the overwhelming individual and global benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. Moreover, they need to keep on eye on this vulnerable patient group, its concerns, and the emergence of potential safety signals.

A comparison of COVID-19 epidemiological indicators in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.

Aims: To compare the early impact of COVID-19 infections and mortality from February to July 2020 across the Nordic nations of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland through available public data sources and conduct a descriptive analysis of the potential factors that drove different epidemiological outcomes, with a focus on Sweden's response. Methods: COVID-19 cases, deaths, tests, case age distribution, and the difference between 2020 all-cause mortality and the average mortality of the previous 5 years were compared across nations. Patterns in cell phone mobility data, testing strategies, and seniors' care home deaths were also compared. Data for each nation were based on publicly available sources as of July 31, 2020. Results: Compared with its Nordic peers, Sweden had a higher incidence rate across all ages, a higher COVID-19-related death rate only partially explained by population demographics, a higher death rate in seniors' care, and higher all-cause mortality. Sweden had approximately half as much mobility change as its Nordic neighbours until April and followed similar rates as its neighbours from April to July. Denmark led its Nordic peers in testing rates, while Sweden had the highest cumulative test-positivity rate continuously from mid-March. Conclusions: COVID-19 pushed Sweden's health system to its capacity, exposed systemic weaknesses in the seniors' care system, and revealed challenges with implementing effective contact tracing and testing strategies while experiencing a high case burden. Looser government restrictions at the beginning of the outbreak are likely to have played a role in the impact of COVID-19 in Sweden. In an effort to improve epidemic control, Sweden has increased testing rates, implemented more restrictive prevention measures, and increased their intensive care unit bed capacity.

Design and preliminary application of regional control and prevention auxiliary information system under the attack of COVID-19 infectious disease / 中华医学科研管理杂志

Objective@#To propose the concept of a novel regional control and prevention (RCP) system for the outbreak of COVID-19 infectious disease, design an emergency epidemic prevention information system based on the existing network architecture and information system in the region, and a remote intelligent medical consultation and remote office platform, research and develop the technology of risk assessment and early warning for people in the region, and improve the regions’prevention and control ability facing emergency of major infectious diseases.@*Methods@#Taking colleges, affiliated (teaching) hospitals, and cloud applications as typical RCP regional units, the existing local area network interaction methods between the cloud and universities and affiliated (teaching) hospitals are established to realize remote work in the network environment, remote medical imaging, psychological and ethical consultation and interaction; applying multi-agent propagation model based on complex network, combining Global Positioning System (GPS), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), and electronic fence technology, to realize the risk classification and early warning of units and personnel in the area.@*Results@#In the RCP, a system architecture combining campus network, affiliated (teaching) hospital intranet, and the Internet is used. Dynamic connection is made using distributed technology and cloud storage. The data buffer mechanism of the intermediary database in the network realized telemedicine consultation and telecommuting. Relying on the platform, multi-agent propagation model based on complex network and cellular automaton model are used to realize the score and early warning of population exposure risk in the region by using GPS, RFID and electronic fence technology.@*Conclusions@#In the epidemic phase of major infectious diseases, the construction of RCP can improve the response speed of wartime epidemic prevention, provide reasonable data-based warnings and risk ratings, and reduce the exposure risk of susceptible people. The design and development of RCP is a systematic project that needs to combine regional structural and functional characteristics, and the foundation of the early informatization work in the region and the level of the emergency development team determine the development progress, maintenance, and actual application effects. It is recommended to establish a peacetime and wartime combined RCP mode and incorporate it into the government's disease control system to improve the national and regional level of prevention and control of major infectious diseases.