SARS-CoV-2 infection prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes among non-clinical-related service providers in a national healthcare system.

Health care workers (HCWs) may be at a variable risk of SARS-CoV2 infection. Regardless of their involvement in providing direct clinical treatment, most of the prior research had included all HCWs. Understanding infection rates, risk factors and outcomes among different subgroups of HCWs is crucial. From February 28, 2020 to January 1, 2022, we conducted a retrospective analysis encompassing all full-time non-clinical staff (NCS) subcontracted with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) facilities. To determine current or previous SARS-CoV2 infection, all personnel underwent RT-PCR and/or serology testing. To identify the demographic factors linked to the risk of infection, we utilized Cox-Hazard regression analysis. Herein 3158/6231 (50.7%) subcontracted NCS tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR or serology during the research period. The median age was 30 years (IQR 25,35), 69.8% of the population were males, 82.4% were from South Asia, 86.6% did not have any concomitant conditions. 6032 (96.8%) of the population lived in shared housing, while 4749 (76.2%) had low to median levels of education. While infection (PCR positive with or without seropositive results) was independently predicted by male gender, working in the catering, laundry, and security sectors and being intermediate (7-12 years of education), lower (0-6 years of education), higher (exposure to confirmed case), and having symptoms. Male gender, working in the security sectors and being intermediate (7-12 years of education) were independently associated with accidently detected cases (PCR negative and seropositive). 299 (4.8%) required hospitalization, of them 3 cases were severe pneumonia and one required ICU admission without mechanical ventilation, with no deaths reported. In conclusion Infection rates among NCS are high. The majority are asymptomatic and may contribute to ongoing illness spread in the public or in healthcare facilities. During a pandemic, routine screening of this population is crucial and may aid in containing the spread of infection.

Correlates of childhood caries: A study in Qatar.

BACKGROUND: The prevalance of dental caries in children in Qatar is high, which necessitates preventive efforts. AIM: To identify the sociodemographic and behavioural correlates of dental caries in the primary dentition of children 4- to 8-year-olds in Qatar. DESIGN: Weighted data from the Qatar Child Oral Health Survey 2017 were analysed for caries prevalence (dmft>0) and experience (dmft). Sociodemographic and behavioural variables were also drawn from the survey. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Among the 1154 children, caries prevalence was 69.3% (95%CI [63.4, 74.5]) and experience at 3.8 dmft (95%CI [3.3, 4.2]). The prevalence ratio (PR) 0.82 (0.72, 0.94) was lower among younger than in older children; those for non-Qatari nationality Arabic PR 0.91 (0.82, 1.00) and Other PR 0.75 (0.57, 0.99) than for Qatari nationality; those attending international kindergartens/schools PR 0.89 (0.80, 0.99) than independent schools; and whose parents had university-level education PR 0.85 (0.75,0.95) than did not. Caries prevalence was lower among those toothbrushing by age 3 years PR 0.88 (0.80,0.99) than later; children with low/intermediate sugar exposures PR 0.85 (0.74,0.97) and 0.89 (0.79,1.00) than those with high exposures; children with a dental check-up PR 0.68 (0.53,0.87) than those without; and children who drank bottled water with some fluoride PR 0.89 (0.80,0.99) than those who did not. Findings were similar for dmft. In conclusion caries prevalence varied but was high across sociodemographic correlates indicating vulnerablity. Interventions focusing on behaviours - such as toothbrushing, reducing sugar intake, check-up and encouraging intake of water with fluoride - are needed.

SARS-CoV-2 infection in 3,241 School working staffs: Impact of SARS CoV-2 variants of concern [Wild, B.1.1.7 and Omicron].

BACKGROUND: There is debate over whether physical attendance at school affects the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. METHODS: A cohort of personnel from several schools in Qatar provided nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR and rapid antigen testing. Each of them was monitored for infection until February 2022. RESULTS: In total, 3,241 employees gave samples for analysis. Prior to the start of the 2020-2021 academic year (Group I), 3.49% of samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Most of the positive PCR results were from male, senior, non-teaching staff members. Only 110 (3.39%) employees who had enrolled in face-to-face instruction before the B.1.1.7 variant's emergence (Group II), 238 (7.34%) after the B.1.1.7 variant's emergence (Group III), and 410 (12.65%) after the introduction of the Omicron variant (Group IV) had reported infection by PCR test. Most people who tested positive by PCR after enrolling in school were young, female teachers. In the Cox Proportional-Hazards Model, exposure to a confirmed case, the presence of symptoms in the two weeks prior to exposure in all groups-young age in Groups II and III, male gender in Groups I and IV, shared housing in Group III, and the presence of comorbidities in Groups II and III independently predicted SARS-CoV-2 infection in school staff. CONCLUSION: Critical information about the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in school workers during the whole pandemic is provided by our study. School operations in Qatar were made safer through initial and ongoing screenings, as well as widespread vaccination of school personnel.

A Systematic Literature Review of Virtual Reality Locomotion Taxonomies.

The change of the user's viewpoint in an immersive virtual environment, called locomotion, is one of the key components in a virtual reality interface. Effects of locomotion, such as simulator sickness or disorientation, depend on the specific design of the locomotion method and can influence the task performance as well as the overall acceptance of the virtual reality system. Thus, it is important that a locomotion method achieves the intended effects. The complexity of this task has increased with the growing number of locomotion methods and design choices in recent years. Locomotion taxonomies are classification schemes that group multiple locomotion methods and can aid in the design and selection of locomotion methods. Like locomotion methods themselves, there exist multiple locomotion taxonomies, each with a different focus and, consequently, a different possible outcome. However, there is little research that focuses on locomotion taxonomies. We performed a systematic literature review to provide an overview of possible locomotion taxonomies and analysis of possible decision criteria such as impact, common elements, and use cases for locomotion taxonomies. We aim to support future research on the design, choice, and evaluation of locomotion taxonomies and thereby support future research on virtual reality locomotion.