Post-COVID-19 complications in home and hospital-based care: A study from Dhaka city, Bangladesh.

A cross-sectional survey was undertaken to understand the management patterns and post-COVID-19 complications among hospital and home-treated participants. Retrospective information was collected from four COVID-19 dedicated hospitals and four selected community settings. Using probability proportional sampling, 925 participants were selected. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis and the exact chi-square tests were utilized to analyze the association between the studied variables. A total of 659 participants responded (response rate 70.93%); 375 from hospitals and 284 from communities. About 80% of participants were mild cases, 75% were treated at home, and 65% of hospital-treated participants were referred after home treatment. Participants treated at home-to hospital and directly in the hospital had 1.64 and 3.38 times longer recovery time respectively than what home-based participants had. A significant increasing trend (p < 0.001) of co-morbidities was found among referred and hospital treated participants. Age, level of education, physical exercise, practicing preventive measures, exposure to sunlight, and intake of carbohydrate, additional liquid, food supplements, and avoidance of junk foods were significantly associated with place of treatment. Post-COVID-19 difficulties of all factors were statistically significant for home treatment participants, whilst only depression (p = 0.026), chest pain (p = 0.017), and digestive disorders (p = 0.047) were significant (p < 0.05) for hospital treated participants. The outcomes from this study provide insight into a range of post-COVID-19 difficulties relating to at home and in hospital treatment participants. There are clear differences in the complications experienced, many of which are statistically significant. The health care professionals, the community people and COVID-19 survivors will be benefitted from the study findings, and the policy level people may use the information for designing health education program on post COVID-19 complications.

Blood lead levels and health problems of lead acid battery workers in Bangladesh.

INTRODUCTION: Use of lead acid battery (LAB) in Bangladesh has risen with sharp rise of motor vehicles. As result, manufacture of LAB is increasing. Most of the lead used by these industries comes from recycling of LAB. Workers in LAB industry are at risk of exposure lead and thus development of lead toxicity. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to measure the blood lead concentration and to assess the magnitude of health problems attributable to lead toxicity among the LAB manufacturing workers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the workers of LAB manufacturing industries located in Dhaka city. RESULT: Mean blood lead level (BLL) among the workers was found to be high. They were found to be suffering from a number of illnesses attributable to lead toxicity. The common illnesses were frequent headache, numbness of the limbs, colic pain, nausea, tremor, and lead line on the gum. High BLL was also found to be related to hypertension and anemia of the workers. CONCLUSION: High BLL and illnesses attributable to lead toxicity were prevalent amongst workers of the LAB manufacturing industries, and this requires attention especially in terms of occupational hygiene and safety.

Efficacy of spirulina extract plus zinc in patients of chronic arsenic poisoning: a randomized placebo-controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Millions of people in Bangladesh, India, Taiwan, and Chile are consuming high concentration of arsenic through drinking water, and thousands of them have already developed chronic arsenic poisoning. There is no specific treatment. Some authors suggest the use of vitamins and minerals for more than 6 months. The present placebo-controlled double-blind study was conducted to evaluate effectiveness of spirulina extract plus zinc in the treatment of chronic arsenic poisoning. METHODS: Forty-one patients of chronic arsenic poisoning were randomly treated orally by either placebo (17 patients) or spirulina extract (250 mg) plus zinc (2 mg) (24 patients) twice daily for 16 weeks. Each patient was supplied with arsenic-safe drinking water by installing a locally made water filter at household level. Effectiveness of spirulina extract plus zinc was evaluated by comparing changes in skin manifestations (clinical scores), arsenic contents in urine and hair, between the placebo- and spirulina extract plus zinc-treated groups. RESULTS: The concentrations of total arsenic in water (without filtration) of placebo- and spirulina extract plus zinc-treated groups were 150.1 +/- 18.3 and 161.7 +/- 23.9 microg/l, respectively. Intake of these high concentrations of arsenic lead to increased excretion of arsenic in urine (72.1 +/- 14.5 microg/l in placebo-treated group and 78.4 +/- 19.1 microg/l in spirulina plus zinc-treated group). After 2 weeks of using filtered water, there were significant reduction of both arsenic intake through water and urinary arsenic excretion (8.3 +/- 3.6 microg/l and 18.4 +/- 7.3 microg/l in placebo group; 9.7 +/- 5.4 microg/l and 21.6 +/- 5.8 microg/l) in spirulina extract plus zinc-treated group. There was a sharp increase in urinary excretion of arsenic (138 +/- 43.6 microg/l) at 4 weeks following spirulina plus zinc administration and the effect was continued for another 2 weeks. Spirulina extract plus zinc removed 47.1% arsenic from scalp hair. Spirulina extract had no major adverse effect that required physician's attention. The clinical scores (median) for melanosis before and after treatment with placebo was not statistically significant (p > 0.05), whereas in spirulina extract plus zinc-treated group it was statistically significant (p < 0.01). In cases of keratosis, the median clinical scores before and after treatment was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) in placebo-treated group. In spirulina extract plus zinc-treated group, the clinical scores for keratosis before and after treatment was statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Results show that spirulina extract (250 mg) plus zinc (2 mg) twice daily for 16 weeks may be useful for the treatment of chronic arsenic poisoning with melanosis and keratosis.