Characteristics of Cardiac Abnormalities in Pediatric Patients With Acute COVID-19.

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is known to cause cardiac abnormalities in adults. Cardiac abnormalities are well-described in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, but effects in children with acute COVID-19 are less understood. In this multicenter study, we assessed the cardiac effects of acute COVID-19 among hospitalized children (<21 years) admitted to three large healthcare systems in New York City. Methods We performed a retrospective observational study. We examined electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, troponin, or B-type natriuretic peptides. Results Of 317 admitted patients, 131 (41%) underwent cardiac testing with 56 (43%) demonstrating cardiac abnormalities. Electrocardiogram abnormalities were the most common (46/117 patients (39%)), including repolarization abnormalities and QT prolongation. Elevated troponin occurred in 14/77 (18%) patients and B-type natriuretic peptide in 8/39 (21%) patients. Ventricular dysfunction was identified in 5/27 (19%) patients with an echocardiogram, all of whom had elevated troponin. Ventricular dysfunction resolved by first outpatient follow-up. Conclusion Electrocardiogram and troponin can assist clinicians in identifying children at risk for cardiac injury in acute COVID-19.

Prevention strategies of panic buying during disaster

Panic buying is arguably an (ir)rational human behavior that is observed at times of emergencies. Although the phenomenon has been noted across the globe, very little evidence has been identified to prevent it. We aimed to identify, assess, and categorize the prevention strategies of panic buying during disasters. Sensible media reporting, psychological measures (online group counseling measures, promotion of kinship), (de)marketing (rationing, avoiding price hike), public health authority measures (assurance of the stock, raising awareness, subsidized goods sales, reduction of import duty, monitoring and punishment, psychosocial support, direct, clear, and sensible communication to the people), and supply chain management (assurance of the stock, sustainable supply, import from an alternative source, product substitution, resilient e-commerce, rapid replenishment) were the major identified domains of prevention for panic buying. This chapter identified and discussed importantly and perhaps preliminary strategies for the prevention of panic buying relating them to the different phases of disaster. Preparedness for controlling the panic among the population during future outbreaks should have an emphasis on these identified domains of preventive strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Communication during disasters: Role in contributing to and prevention of panic buying

Panic buying usually happens before and during any environmental crisis or an adverse environmental stimulus at least such as a flood, sudden policy change (economic sanction), COVID-19 pandemic, or war. Mass behaviour is shaped by the disseminated message from various sources of mass media including social media platforms. Although the credibility of the contents has been challenged, it affects perception, modifies fear and anxiety, and potentiates group behaviour like panic buying and migration. Media depiction of short supply, uncertain conditions, long queues in front of the supermarkets, empty shelves, and inconsistent information about the primary disaster would disseminate panic buying behaviour. Messages ensuring the supply of staples, stable supply chain management, and adequate health literacy with direct, clear, and sensible communication would have a preventive role in panic buying during disasters. Here raises a big question, who will look after it during a pandemic or war? This chapter discusses the theoretical perspectives and practical suggestions on the communication pattern during an environmental disaster and how it affects panic buying behaviour. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Characteristics of panic buying during disaster: Pre-disaster, disaster, and post-disaster phase

Panic buying (PB) is a social and behavioral phenomenon in which an individual tends to procure large quantities of supplies from sellers which can cause unavailability, supply shortfall, and chain difficulties of necessary items to the vulnerable group of population, and is particularly observed during crisis situations including disaster and pandemic. Disaster can be natural, man-made, and hybrid. Disasters are usually divided into three phases: pre-disaster, disaster, and post-disaster phase. Although the characteristics of disasters might differ from one another, there exists one common element among disasters, i.e., its severity. As disasters are unavoidable completely, so it is necessary to learn to prepare, respond, recover, rehabilitate, and reintegrate for the impacts of disasters including PB and its consequences. Understanding PB during different phases of disasters helps us manage or even prevent the behavior. This chapter introduces characteristics and attributing factors of PB during different phases of disasters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The concept of and risk factors for panic buying

Panic buying (PB) is the excessive buying of goods more than necessary during times of crisis like environmental disasters and pandemics. It can lead to an actual shortage of goods during difficult times of a disaster. Panic buying has a long history and is seen in different environmental disasters and pandemics across the globe throughout the period. It has been a subject of discussion throughout the world as many episodes of PB have been reported throughout the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are different models like the causative model, forager consumption model, stimulus organism response and dual-system model, panic transmission model, and individual psychological model which tried to explain the behavior. It is affected by one's thought process and perception to stimuli. It is also affected by biological, psychological, and social factors of an individual which determines response to the various environmental situations. Understanding these factors helps us manage or even prevent the behavior. This chapter introduces panic buying as a concept and risk actors attributing the behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

A Rare Case of Guillain-Barré Syndrome following COVID-19 Vaccination.

Various vaccines against COVID-19 have been developed since SARS-CoV-2 emerged at the end of 2019. Their emergency administration in healthcare settings has been accompanied by numerous adverse effects. A case of Guillain-Barré syndrome following vaccination with Covishield is presented here to highlight this possible adverse condition. LEARNING POINTS: Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is a very rare complication after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2.The key concepts related to the understanding, management and outcomes of patients with GBS are discussed.

Strain in children with MIS-C and acute COVID-19.

Context: Cardiac injury has been described in both acute COVID-19 and the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Echocardiographic strain has been shown to be a sensitive measure of systolic function. Aims: We sought to describe strain findings in both the groups on initial presentation and follow-up. Settings and Design: A retrospective study analyzing echocardiograms of all patients presenting with acute COVID-19 infection and MIS-C at our institution between March 2020 and December 2020 was performed. Subjects and Methods: TOMTEC software was used for strain analysis in both the study groups (COVID-19 and MIS-C) and age-matched healthy controls. Strain was correlated with LV ejection fraction (EF) and serum troponin levels. Results: Forty-five patients (34 - MIS-C and 11 - COVID-19) met the inclusion criteria. There was a statistically significant decrease in LV longitudinal strain (P < 0.001), LV circumferential strain (P < 0.001), and left atrial strain (P = 0.014) in the MIS-C group when compared to the control group. There was a statistically significant decrease in LV longitudinal strain (P = 0.028) in the acute COVID-19 group. All patients with abnormal left ventricular EF (LVEF) had abnormal strain. However, 14 (41%) patients in the MIS-C group and 3 (27%) in the acute COVID-19 group had preserved LVEF but abnormal strain. There was a significant correlation with LV longitudinal strain (P = 0.005) and LVEF (P = 0.002) and troponin in patients with MIS-C. Abnormal strain persisted in one-third of patients in the MIS-C and acute COVID-19 groups on outpatient follow-up. Conclusions: Patients with MIS-C and acute COVID-19 can develop myocardial dysfunction as seen by abnormal strain. LV longitudinal strain correlates with cardiac injury as measured by serum troponin in patients with MIS-C. Strain may provide an additional tool in detecting subtle myocardial dysfunction. It can be routinely employed at diagnosis and at follow-up evaluation of these patients.

Left to their own devices? Antecedents and contingent effects of workplace anxiety in the WFH selling environment

Purpose>The main purpose of this research is to understand how the sudden shift to work from home (WFH) after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has caught several sales organizations underprepared and ill-equipped to combat emergent challenges. In this research, the authors provide initial evidence into how the WFH arrangement impacts salespeople and sales organizations. Specifically, this research is guided by two objectives: to understand how the shift to WFH environment is affecting salespeople, and to explore how organizations can mitigate dysfunctional effects of the shift to WFH practices and enhance salespeople's commitment toward this new reality.Design/methodology/approach>The authors did preliminary in-depth interviews with 13 executives operating in the business-to-business (B2B) space to identify themes that reflected the reality faced by B2B sales organizations when transitioning to WFH. The authors then conducted a quantitative study involving a survey with 130 B2B salespeople.Findings>The findings from the qualitative research suggested that the WFH situation is quite different from the more traditional remote selling situations that B2B salespeople are used to. More specifically, salespeople experienced more anxiety because of the WFH situations. This finding was supported in the empirical study done by the authors where stress associated with WFH and job insecurity had a significant impact on salesperson anxiety.Research limitations/implications>The study primarily used subjective responses of salespeople with no objective measures. Furthermore, this study is cross-sectional in nature. Future research should build on the present work to understand the long-term consequences of WFH and factor in customer responses to the same. The impact of increased use of technology in the sales process will need further attention, including the sales management implication for the same.Originality/value>Given the unforeseen nature of the COVID pandemic and how unprepared salespeople and sales organizations were to deal with it, this study is one of the first studies that documents the impact of WFH situations on salespeople.

Potential for Further Mismanagement of Fever During COVID-19 Pandemic: Possible Causes and Impacts.

Fever remains an integral part of acute infectious diseases management, especially for those without effective therapeutics, but the widespread myths about "fevers" and the presence of confusing guidelines from different agencies, which have heightened during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and are open to alternate interpretation, could deny whole populations the benefits of fever. Guidelines suggesting antipyresis for 37.8-39°C fever are concerning as 39°C boosts the protective heat-shock and immune response (humoral, cell-mediated, and nutritional) whereas ≥40°C initiates/enhances the antiviral responses and restricts high-temperature adapted pathogens, e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), strains of influenza, and measles. Urgent attention is accordingly needed to address the situation because of the potential public health consequences of the existence of conflicting guidelines in the public domain. We have in this article attempted to restate the benefits of fever in disease resolution, dispel myths, and underline the need for alignment of national treatment guidelines with that of the WHO, to promote appropriate practices and reduce the morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.

Prevention strategies of panic buying during disaster

Panic buying is arguably an (ir)rational human behavior that is observed at times of emergencies. Although the phenomenon has been noted across the globe, very little evidence has been identified to prevent it. We aimed to identify, assess, and categorize the prevention strategies of panic buying during disasters. Sensible media reporting, psychological measures (online group counseling measures, promotion of kinship), (de)marketing (rationing, avoiding price hike), public health authority measures (assurance of the stock, raising awareness, subsidized goods sales, reduction of import duty, monitoring and punishment, psychosocial support, direct, clear, and sensible communication to the people), and supply chain management (assurance of the stock, sustainable supply, import from an alternative source, product substitution, resilient e-commerce, rapid replenishment) were the major identified domains of prevention for panic buying. This chapter identified and discussed importantly and perhaps preliminary strategies for the prevention of panic buying relating them to the different phases of disaster. Preparedness for controlling the panic among the population during future outbreaks should have an emphasis on these identified domains of preventive strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Communication during disasters: Role in contributing to and prevention of panic buying

Panic buying usually happens before and during any environmental crisis or an adverse environmental stimulus at least such as a flood, sudden policy change (economic sanction), COVID-19 pandemic, or war. Mass behaviour is shaped by the disseminated message from various sources of mass media including social media platforms. Although the credibility of the contents has been challenged, it affects perception, modifies fear and anxiety, and potentiates group behaviour like panic buying and migration. Media depiction of short supply, uncertain conditions, long queues in front of the supermarkets, empty shelves, and inconsistent information about the primary disaster would disseminate panic buying behaviour. Messages ensuring the supply of staples, stable supply chain management, and adequate health literacy with direct, clear, and sensible communication would have a preventive role in panic buying during disasters. Here raises a big question, who will look after it during a pandemic or war? This chapter discusses the theoretical perspectives and practical suggestions on the communication pattern during an environmental disaster and how it affects panic buying behaviour. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Characteristics of panic buying during disaster: Pre-disaster, disaster, and post-disaster phase

Panic buying (PB) is a social and behavioral phenomenon in which an individual tends to procure large quantities of supplies from sellers which can cause unavailability, supply shortfall, and chain difficulties of necessary items to the vulnerable group of population, and is particularly observed during crisis situations including disaster and pandemic. Disaster can be natural, man-made, and hybrid. Disasters are usually divided into three phases: pre-disaster, disaster, and post-disaster phase. Although the characteristics of disasters might differ from one another, there exists one common element among disasters, i.e., its severity. As disasters are unavoidable completely, so it is necessary to learn to prepare, respond, recover, rehabilitate, and reintegrate for the impacts of disasters including PB and its consequences. Understanding PB during different phases of disasters helps us manage or even prevent the behavior. This chapter introduces characteristics and attributing factors of PB during different phases of disasters. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The concept of and risk factors for panic buying

Panic buying (PB) is the excessive buying of goods more than necessary during times of crisis like environmental disasters and pandemics. It can lead to an actual shortage of goods during difficult times of a disaster. Panic buying has a long history and is seen in different environmental disasters and pandemics across the globe throughout the period. It has been a subject of discussion throughout the world as many episodes of PB have been reported throughout the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are different models like the causative model, forager consumption model, stimulus organism response and dual-system model, panic transmission model, and individual psychological model which tried to explain the behavior. It is affected by one's thought process and perception to stimuli. It is also affected by biological, psychological, and social factors of an individual which determines response to the various environmental situations. Understanding these factors helps us manage or even prevent the behavior. This chapter introduces panic buying as a concept and risk actors attributing the behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Hyperglycemia and steroid use increase the risk of rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis regardless of COVID-19 hospitalization: Case-control study, India.

BACKGROUND: In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an increased incidence of ROCM was noted in India among those infected with COVID. We determined risk factors for rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) post Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among those never and ever hospitalized for COVID-19 separately through a multicentric, hospital-based, unmatched case-control study across India. METHODS: We defined cases and controls as those with and without post-COVID ROCM, respectively. We compared their socio-demographics, co-morbidities, steroid use, glycaemic status, and practices. We calculated crude and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) through logistic regression. The covariates with a p-value for crude OR of less than 0·20 were considered for the regression model. RESULTS: Among hospitalised, we recruited 267 cases and 256 controls and 116 cases and 231 controls among never hospitalised. Risk factors (AOR; 95% CI) for post-COVID ROCM among the hospitalised were age 45-59 years (2·1; 1·4 to 3·1), having diabetes mellitus (4·9; 3·4 to 7·1), elevated plasma glucose (6·4; 2·4 to 17·2), steroid use (3·2; 2 to 5·2) and frequent nasal washing (4·8; 1·4 to 17). Among those never hospitalised, age ≥ 60 years (6·6; 3·3 to 13·3), having diabetes mellitus (6·7; 3·8 to 11·6), elevated plasma glucose (13·7; 2·2 to 84), steroid use (9·8; 5·8 to 16·6), and cloth facemask use (2·6; 1·5 to 4·5) were associated with increased risk of post-COVID ROCM. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperglycemia, irrespective of having diabetes mellitus and steroid use, was associated with an increased risk of ROCM independent of COVID-19 hospitalisation. Rational steroid usage and glucose monitoring may reduce the risk of post-COVID.

Panic buying research: A bibliometric review.

Background: Panic buying has been reported during a period of crisis when people buy an extra amount of essential commodities and hoard them anticipating their future utility. As a newer entity, a bibliometric analysis would reveal the research gaps for further studies. We aimed to do a bibliometric analysis of researches published on panic buying over the past two decades. Methods: A literature search was conducted in the SCOPUS database using the keyword "panic buying". All published research in the English language between 1st January 2001 to 1st August 2021 was included in the analysis of this study. Results: We identified a total of 142 articles on panic buying published over the past two decades. There is an exponential increase in the publication on this topic during the COVID-19 pandemic (n=127). Majority of the articles were published from the United States (n=23), followed by the United Kingdom (n=20), and China (n=20). The Frontiers in Public Health and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services published the highest number of articles (eight each). Arafat SMY published the highest number of publications as a single author (n=10) and Enam Medical College and Hospital, Bangladesh has the highest number of papers as an institution (n=10). Among all the publishers, Elsevier has published the maximum number of papers (n=38). Conclusion: There is an exponential growth of panic buying research during 2020-21. The global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has been attributed to the recent rise in panic buying research.

Higher BCG-induced trained immunity prevalence predicts protection from COVID-19: Implications for ongoing BCG trials.

Endeavors to identify potentially protective variables for COVID-19 impact on certain populations have remained a priority. Multiple attempts have been made to attribute the reduced COVID-19 impact on populations to their Bacillus-Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination coverage ignoring the fact that the effect of childhood BCG vaccination wanes within 5 years while most of the COVID-19 cases and deaths have occurred in aged with comorbidities. Since the supposed protection being investigated could come from heterologous 'trained immunity' (TI) conferred by exposure to Mycobacterium spp. (i.e., environmental and BCG), it is argued that the estimates of the prevalence of TI in populations currently available as latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) prevalence would be a better variable to evaluate such assertions. Indeed, when we analyze the European populations (24), and erstwhile East and West Germany populations completely disregarding their BCG vaccination coverage, the populations with higher TI prevalence consistently display reduced COVID-19 impact as compared to their lower TI prevalence neighbors. The TI estimates of the populations not the BCG coverage per se, negatively correlated with pandemic phase-matched COVID-19 incidences (r(24): -0.79 to -0.57; p-value < .004), mortality (r(24): -0.63 to -0.45; p-value < .03), and interim case fatality rates (i-CFR) data. To decisively arrive at dependable conclusions about the potential protective benefit gained from BCG vaccination in COVID-19, the ongoing or planned randomized controlled trials should consciously consider including measures of TI as: (a) all individuals immunized do not respond equally, (b) small study groups from higher background TI could fail to indicate any protective effect.

Ophthalmology practice in COVID-19 pandemic: Performance of rapid antigen test versus real time-reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in a tertiary eye care institute in South India.

Purpose: To assess the rapid antigen test (RAT) against the gold standard reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to screen COVID-19 infection in asymptomatic patients undergoing ophthalmic procedures. Methods: This was a retrospective hospital-based study. Point-of-care (PoC) RAT was performed using nasopharyngeal swab, while RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was performed using both nasopharyngeal and throat swabs. Results: A total of 629 patients were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by using both RAT and RT-PCR. Only one patient had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 with both RAT and RT-PCR, while two patients had tested positive with RT-PCR after an initial negative RAT. The positivity rate for RAT was 0.15% (1/629), and that for RT-PCR was 0.47%. Percent agreement or proportion of agreement observed between the two tests was 99.68%, while Cohen's kappa coefficient value was 0.49. The sensitivity of RAT in comparison to RT-PCR was 33.33%, specificity was 100%, positive predictive value was 100%, and negative predictive value was 99.68%. Conclusion: The sensitivity and Cohen's kappa coefficient in our study were low but that can be attributed to the overall low positivity rates with both RAT and RT-PCR. However, percent agreement observed between the two tests was very high. Therefore, we recommend initial screening of all the patients for COVID-19 symptoms followed by RAT before performing any ophthalmic surgical procedure to ensure the safety of the health care professionals as well as the patients.

Modified Bain's Circuit as an Alternate to Non-invasive Ventilation in COVID 19.

Introduction COVID-19 is a pandemic that severely affects the lungs. Symptomatically affected individuals often become severely hypoxic, requiring non-invasive ventilation. The scarcity of resources in resource-compromised countries like India led to the adoption of novel strategies like using Bain's circuit for assisting spontaneous ventilation. This study compares the outcome when a standard circuit is replaced with a shortened Bain's circuit. Aims and objectives To compare shortened Bain's circuit and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) in spontaneously ventilated COVID 19 patients with regards to effects on hemodynamic stability and efficacy of ventilation using blood gas analysis. Methodology Twenty-four COVID patients aged between 35-70 years, requiring non-invasive ventilation but not tolerating BiPAP or not improving on BiPAP were enrolled in the study. Baseline heart rate and arterial blood gases (ABG) were recorded. Patients were then ventilated using shortened Bain's circuit. Heart rate and ABG were then recorded two hours after ventilation. Results Hemodynamic and blood gas parameters were comparable between the two groups at baseline and on BiPAP. Group A showed better hemodynamic and blood gas profiles compared to group B, but the difference was not statistically significant because of small sample size. Conclusion Shortened Bain's circuit may be a viable alternative to non-invasive ventilation in spontaneously breathing hypoxic patients with efficacy comparable to a standard Bain's circuit and reduced chances of carbon dioxide retention. Studies with a larger sample size are needed to further validate the conclusion.

Potential for Further Mismanagement of Fever During COVID-19 Pandemic: Possible Causes and Impacts

Fever remains an integral part of acute infectious diseases management, especially for those without effective therapeutics, but the widespread myths about “fevers” and the presence of confusing guidelines from different agencies, which have heightened during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and are open to alternate interpretation, could deny whole populations the benefits of fever. Guidelines suggesting antipyresis for 37.8–39°C fever are concerning as 39°C boosts the protective heat-shock and immune response (humoral, cell-mediated, and nutritional) whereas ≥40°C initiates/enhances the antiviral responses and restricts high-temperature adapted pathogens, e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), strains of influenza, and measles. Urgent attention is accordingly needed to address the situation because of the potential public health consequences of the existence of conflicting guidelines in the public domain. We have in this article attempted to restate the benefits of fever in disease resolution, dispel myths, and underline the need for alignment of national treatment guidelines with that of the WHO, to promote appropriate practices and reduce the morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.