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Intro: With the relentless waves of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), there is a need for widespread community adoption of infection prevention(IP) measures including hand hygiene, use of face masks, and staying at home when unwell. Understanding the profile of individuals who do not consistently practice IP can help target public health education. Method(s): We conducted a nationally-representative population survey from November 2020 to January 2021. Households were randomly selected from a proportionately stratified national census. The household member with the most recent birthday was invited to complete the survey. Three questions on a 5-point Likert-scale(never-rarely-occasionally-often-always) assessed IP behaviours(hand hygiene, face mask use when having a cough/cold, staying at home when having a cold/flu) before and during the pandemic. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to assess factors associated with the non- or inconsistent("never-rarely-occasionally") adoption of any of the three IP behaviours during the pandemic. Finding(s): Mean age of 2004 respondents was 44.5(SD 15.0) years, with 52% females and 65% being highly educated (diploma/degree holders). Although 12% reported consistently("often-always") adopting all 3 IP behaviours pre-pandemic, the majority(n=1752, 87%) reported doing so during the pandemic. After adjusting for age, educational level, and presence of chronic illness, males(AOR 1.71 [95%CI 1.30, 2.25], Chinese(AOR 1.48 [1.07, 2.05]), low-adopters of healthy lifestyle(AOR 1.59 [1.03, 2.45]) and those who did not or inconsistently adopted IP behaviours pre-pandemic(AOR 8.92 [3.28, 24.27]) were more likely not to or inconsistently adopt the 3 IP behaviours during the pandemic. Discussion(s): During the ongoing pandemic, educational messages and information channels on IP measures could be more targeted at males and Chinese. Additionally, the promotion of healthy lifestyle and consistent adoption of IP behaviours during non-pandemic times is critical for consistent adoption of IP behaviours during pandemics. Conclusion(s): Males, Chinese, and low-adopters of healthy lifestyle and IP behaviours pre-pandemic do not consistently practice IP during the pandemic.Copyright © 2023
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IntroductionTypically, LGBTQ + people sleep more poorly than their cisgender heterosexual (cishet) counterparts. However, there is a lack of literature investigating the impact of different lifestyle/psychosocial factors, outside of minority stress, on the negative relationship between being a sexual/gender identity minority and sleep quality. The current study aims to help fill critical gaps in the literature by looking at the effects generalized stress, COVID-19-related stress, social support, and sleep hygiene have on this relationship.MethodsTwo hundred and seventy-three participants (74 LGBTQ+;199 cishet), recruited online, completed a series of questionnaires assessing sleep quality, sleep hygiene, generalized stress, minority stress, COVID-19-related stress, and social support.ResultsAnalyses showed that LGBTQ + participants reported worse sleep quality, higher levels of generalized stress and COVID-19 stress, and smaller social networks than their cishet peers. Generalized stress fully mediated the relationship between sexual/gender identity and sleep while sleep hygiene partially mediated the relationship between generalized stress and sleep quality. Social support and COVID-19-related stress did not moderate the relationship between generalized stress and sleep.ConclusionWorse sleep quality in LGBTQ + than cishet adults is explained by differences in generalized stress and sleep hygiene. Stress management and sleep hygiene interventions may help prevent the negative associations between being LGBTQ + and poor sleep quality.
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Background Due to climate change, the likelihood of an extreme infectious disease events-similar to the COVID-19 pandemic-is very likely to increase. Anticipating and preparing for such events Is therefore essential. A setting of high risk in such an event are long-term care facilities (LTCF), which accounted for 30-60 % of all COVID-19 related deaths in most high-income countries (HIC). To prevent, mitigate, and avoid potential adverse consequences of future outbreaks of viral respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential (e.g., SARSCoV-2, SARS, MERS, influenza) in LTCFs, a systematic review will analyze which non-pharmacological interventions (NPI) are effective in LTCFs. Methods We conducted literature searches in Medline, Embase, CINAHL, and two comprehensive specialized registries focused on COVID-19-related literature. We included experimental, quasi-experimental, and specific observational studies assessing the effect of NPIs implemented in LTCFs regarding the outcomes: infections, outbreaks, hospitalizations and deaths due to the viral pathogens of interest and adverse consequences. Screening for eligibility and risk-of-bias (RoB) assessment was done in duplicate. For RoB assessment, we used the RoB2 and ROBINS-I tool. We synthesized findings narratively, focusing on the direction of effect. The certainty of evidence was evaluated using GRADE. Results We included 16 observational studies, 14 of which focused on intervention effectiveness. All were conducted in HIC and most focused on SARSCoV-2 (n = 14). There were serious concerns regarding RoB in almost all studies. We found low/very low certainty of evidence for the effectiveness of entry regulation measures (n = 1), regular testing of residents/staff (n = 5), combined outbreak control measures (n = 2), and for combinations of multiple NPIs (n = 3) in preventing outbreaks or mitigating their consequences. The evidence on the effectiveness of hand and surface hygiene interventions showed mixed results (n = 4). We found mixed results regarding adverse mental health outcomes due to visiting restrictions. Conclusion This review indicates a number of measures which could be effective in protecting residents and staff in LTCFs in upcoming extreme infectious disease epidemics, which are expected to become more likely in the future. Furthermore, we can point out several gaps in the evidence which require further research and specific study designs to improve pandemic preparedness in LTCFs.
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Background and purpose: Adherence to the principles of personal protection and commitment to health guidelines and principles of prevention perform important roles in controlling COVID-19 in a community. In this re3search we studied necessary measures to prevent COVID-19 in university dormitories at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, 2021. Materials and methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 114 students in active dormitories during the COVID-19 pandemic participated in an online survey and their views and knowledge about COVID-19 preventive measures in the dormitories were examined. The samples were recruited using census method and data were analyzed in SPSS. Results: The results of the Chi-square test showed a significant relationship between adherence to preventive measures and educational level (P=0.015). Following personal hygiene was found to be significantly different according to being a local student, having underlying diseases, and the number of students at rooms (P<0.05). Findings showed that physical distancing and screening had no significant relationship with any of the variables studied (P>0.05). Conclusion: The study showed that among the four areas investigated, personal hygiene practices and following the principles of prevention of COVID-19 were in a good condition, while physical distancing and screening were not satisfying. Therefore, university authorities should make serious changes to improve these issues at dormitories. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (JMUMS) is the property of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences 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 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 . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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There are many unknowns surrounding COVID-19 and the ongoing pandemic. Standard epidemiological methods helped to determine the initial and ongoing distribution of COVID-19 in time and space, with unprecedented global coverage in almost real-time, and the forecasting methods used already had a reasonable predictive ability. Cumulative incidence and other complex epidemiological estimators have been widely disseminated via the media and are becoming lay terms thanks to persistent use, but their thresholds to determine public health interventions are yet to achieve consensus. The natural history of SARS-CoV-2, the interplay of risk factors and the effectiveness of mitigating factors in subpopulations remain unmet challenges. Establishing standard definitions of COVID-19 and its consequences is essential to the implementation of research. Pending widespread vaccine coverage, the world is experiencing unleashed community transmission in many countries, and the COVID-19 endgame is a distant goal. Several characteristics differentiate the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 from other viruses, making COVID-19 much more difficult to control with universal hygiene interventions. Epidemiology remains a necessary discipline to help end the COVID-19 pandemic;economic, social and health policy decision-making analysis are also needed.Copyright © ERS 2021.
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Outdoor food markets represent important locations where foodborne illnesses and other infectious diseases can spread. Countries in Africa face particular challenges given the importance of these markets in food supply and low rates of access to safely managed water and sanitation. We undertook a scoping review of evidence related to disease transmission in food markets in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and identified 46 papers for data extraction and synthesis. Vendor behaviour or awareness was reported in the majority of papers and about half reported on market infrastructure. Fewer studies have been reported on regulatory environments or food contamination. Studies on water supply, sanitation and handwashing facilities focused on the presence of services and did not evaluate quality, thus conclusions cannot be drawn on service adequacy. Studies of vendor behaviour were primarily based on self-reporting and subject to bias. Most studies reported high levels of vendor awareness of the need for hygiene, but where observations were also conducted, these showed lower levels of behaviours in practice. Our findings suggest that there are limited studies on environmental hygiene in outdoor food markets and this is an area warranting further research, including into the quality of services and addressing methodological weaknesses.
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Airborne exposure has been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic as a probable infection route. This experimental study investigates different protection methods at an office workstation, where the concentration characteristics are studied under the mixing ventilation conditions. The protection methods were the room air purifier, personal air purifier, face mask, and workstation partition panels. In experiments, the breathing machine, nebulizer, and syringe pump was used to generate an aerosol distribution of paraffin oil into the room. The breathing thermal manikin and the thermal dummy simulated the exposed and infected person, respectively. The concentration characteristics were measured from the manikin breathing zone. The temporal concentration characteristics were measured from zero concentration to steady-state conditions. The study provides insights into the effects of different protection methods for occupational health and safety decision-making for office indoor environments. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.
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Intro: The need for re-use of gloves as an alternative to single use was raised in times of resource shortages because during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, marked increase in healthcare associated infection was reported, which might owing to shortage of personal protective equipment. we aimed to evaluate the risk of microbial transmission by comparing residual microorganism after multiple patient contact according to with or without gloves in clinical practice. Method(s): Three researchers made rounds of patients while touching the same area successively followed by alcohol-based hand rub: one with bare hands, one with single gloves, and one with double gloves. Hand imprints were obtained before and after rounds, and cultured to count colony-forming units (CFU). The number of colonies was compared between groups in a semi-quantitative manner by hand area. Finding(s): Mean CFU counts after round were 10.06 for bare hands, 31.22 for single-gloved hands, and 49.67 for double-gloved hands (p=0.084). The most commonly identified microorganism after rounding was coagulase-negative Staphylococci (77.8%, 42/54), followed by Bacillus species (62.9%, 34/54). Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii was confirmed from a pair of double-gloved hand specimens after the rounds. That round included a patient with the same organism with the same antibiotic susceptibility results. More microorganisms were remained after alcohol-based hand rub on gloved hands than on bare hands. Conclusion(s): From our results, the possibility of microbial transmission seems more likely in gloved hands than in bare hands even after alcohol-based hand rub. Therefore, we do not recommend the re-use of gloves after alcohol-based hand hygiene.Copyright © 2023
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Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an integral component of the reproductive health and hygiene of adolescent girls. Despite being a vital issue that has a multifaceted effect on the well-being of girls, it is often overlooked in the household and community environment. In a disaster-prone zone, the situation further aggravates at the time of emergency situation. The first section of the chapter examines the knowledge, perception, and practices of MHM prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The second section explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and annual flood on menstrual hygiene practices. The first phase of extensive primary survey using mixed sampling method was done in Biswanath district of Assam in 2019. Furthermore, the second phase of the survey was conducted in 2020 to investigate the impact of a biological and climatic disaster. Poor menstrual hygiene practices are the outcome of knowledge gap, unfavorable cultural milieu, and inadequate resources. In general, menstrual hygiene needs of adolescent girls are neglected in rural settings. Respondents' ability to deal with their menses is severely altered during unprecedented crisis situation. Humanitarian agencies also overlook gender-specific needs of hygiene and sanitation facilities, thus amplifying existing vulnerabilities in the relief camps. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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The demand for hygiene products has increased worldwide since the outbreak of global COVID-19. As the hygiene products market is expanding, it is necessary to manage microbial contamination in wet towels and wet wipes. This study evaluated pretreatment methods for microbial recovery from wet towels and wipes and microbial contamination levels in wet towels and wipes with the pretreatment method. Escherichia coli (NCCP14038 and NCCP14039), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923 and ATCC29213), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (NCCP10250 and NCCP11229) were inoculated on five fabric materials of wet towels and wet wipes. The recovery rates of the bacteria from wet towels and wet wipes using three pretreatment methods (pummeling, hand shaking, and portion cutting method) were investigated. Using the selected pretreatment method, the contamination levels of E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa were evaluated for 238 wet towels and 244 wet wipes, which were collected in April to August, 2019. The presence of toxA and antibiotic resistance of P. aeruginosa isolated from wet towels were evaluated. The overall recovery rates of the pummeling method and hand shaking method were higher than the portion cutting method. Considering the convenience, the pummeling method was used to investigate the microbial contamination in the wet towels and wet wipes. P. aeruginosa was detected in two wet towels at an average of 9.9x102 CFU/towel. E. coli and S. aureus were not detected in both wet towels and wipes. P. aeruginosa isolates showed no resistances to piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, aztreonam, and gentamicin, but had toxA. The results indicate that the pummeling method is the most appropriate pretreatment method for the recovery of microorganisms, and microbial analysis showed that this method could be useful in monitoring microbial contamination in wet towels and wet wipes.
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In the hospital nursery, a 4-week-old boy has creamy white patches on his lips, right and left buccal mucosa, palate, and tongue. He had been admitted to the nursery intensive care unit (NICU) 2 days ago. His mother brought him to the pediatric emergency department because he refused to feed and felt warm. Seven days previously, his mother received a diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. He had a sepsis work-up and was started on intravenous (IV) antibiotics.
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On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the new coronavirus COVID-19 to be epidemic. Adherence to infection control methods is strongly affected by an individual's knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). The study aimed to evaluate medical students' understanding, and attitudes toward COVID-19 at the Kirkuk Medical College in Iraq. From October 16 to October 26, 2020, a cross-sectional online study was conducted, among a sample of students in Kirkuk Medical College, one of the Iraqi governorates. A total of 214 students were included in this research, and the age varied between 20-25 years. The questionnaire was divided into demographic data, knowledge, attitudes, and practices, modified from an online questionnaire regarding COVID-19 previously used. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were conducted. Among the study sample (n=214), age ranged between 20-25 years, 72.9% were females, and 86.9% resided in urban areas. The learning questionnaire's total accuracy rate was 96.3%. 98.1% of the students know that the virus is spreading by respiratory droplets from infected individuals, 30.4% have a good attitude towards COVID-19, and 100% have good practice dodging crowded places and practicing appropriate hand hygiene. The majority of students are knowledgeable of disease transference prevention and good practices. Female gender and urban residency play a positive role in knowledge and practice in respect to COVID-19 but not in what concerns the attitude. It is recommended to continue health education programs to correct the negative attitude among students, especially those who reside in rural areas.Copyright © 2023, Codon Publications. All rights reserved.
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This study investigated the association between area deprivation level and performance of handwashing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korean adults. This study used data from the 2015 Population and Housing Census data to measure area deprivation level. The 2020 Korea Community Health Survey was used for all other variables, including hand hygiene behavior (August through November 2020). The association between area deprivation level and practice of handwashing behavior was examined using multilevel logistic regression analysis. The study population comprised 215,676 adults aged 19 years or above. Compared to the least area deprived group, the most deprived group was more likely to not wash hands after using the restroom (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.13-1.82), after coming home (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.43-2.39), and using soap (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.29-1.84). The findings suggest the importance of considering area deprivation in implementing policies that promote handwashing, particularly during a pandemic.