Plasma zinc, copper and serum ceruloplasmin levels of autism spectrum disorder children in Bangladesh.

Neural and cognitive processes require zinc and copper homeostasis and a normal zinc/copper ratio. Ceruloplasmin, an intrinsic antioxidant protein, maintains copper homeostasis, which might also influence autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD children are frequently reported with altered levels of these elements with wide geographical variations. This study evaluated any alteration in plasma zinc, copper, zinc/copper ratio and serum ceruloplasmin levels in Bangladeshi ASD children with respect to healthy controls. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 67 children aged 2 to 9 years of both sexes. Among them, 35 had ASD, while 32 were age, sex and body mass index (BMI) matched apparently healthy children. Plasma zinc and copper levels were estimated by the flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. Serum ceruloplasmin levels were estimated by the immunoturbidimetric method. Zinc and zinc/copper ratio in the 2-9 years old ASD children group were significantly lower (p=0.032 and p=0.002 respectively). On the other hand, copper (p=0.020) and ceruloplasmin (p = 0.045) levels were significantly higher than those of apparently healthy children. ASD was significantly associated with zinc deficiency (p=0.000) and copper toxicity (p=0.05). All children were again divided into 2-5 and 6-9 years age groups according to laboratory reference values for zinc and copper. Copper toxicity was significantly associated with ASD in the 2-5 years old age group (p=0.011), with a significant difference in plasma copper levels (p=0.009) and zinc/copper ratio (p=0.001) but not serum ceruloplasmin levels (p=0.110) compared to healthy controls. Serum ceruloplasmin was positively associated with plasma copper in ASD children of all age groups. This study shows that ASD in Bangladesh can be associated with low plasma zinc and high plasma copper and serum ceruloplasmin levels.

Risk perception of sun exposure and knowledge of vitamin D among the healthcare providers in a high-risk country: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: High levels of vitamin D deficiency are commonly reported even in regions with abundant sunshine. This necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the determinants that influence sun exposure practices. As the primary source of health-related knowledge for the general public, the attitude of the healthcare professionals towards sunlight and their awareness related to vitamin D deficiency can be critical in this regard. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2,242 physicians, intern doctors, and senior medical students in Bangladesh from October 2019 to February 2020. A pre-tested structured questionnaire (containing twelve close-ended questions) was used. The perceptions of health risks due to sun exposure, and basic knowledge of the physiological and epidemiological aspects of vitamin D deficiency were tested. RESULTS: An overall negative attitude towards sunlight in the context of Bangladesh was highlighted - 68% participants thought regular sun exposure would be harmful or very harmful; 26% thought the level of UV radiation was very high; 44% recommended using sunscreen always; skin burns, heat stroke, and cancer were selected as potential consequences of regular sun exposure by 45%, 21%, and 30% respondents respectively. Overall knowledge regarding vitamin D deficiency appeared to be biased towards bone health; other symptoms and associated illnesses not having obvious link to Calcium-metabolism were identified much lesser frequently. Furthermore, 'sunrise to 10 am' was identified as the best time to get vitamin D by 69% participants; 60% believed < 30 min of weekly sun exposure would be sufficient for the Bangladeshi population; an only 33% identified that prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in Bangladesh would be 50% or more. Taking vitamin D-rich food was suggested by more respondents over regular sun exposure (43% vs. 33%) as more effective remedial strategy to curb vitamin D deficiency in Bangladesh. CONCLUSION: In addition to highlighting some crucial knowledge gaps, results from this study provides a comprehensive baseline dataset for knowledge and attitude regarding the public health aspects of vitamin D deficiency among the healthcare providers in Bangladesh, which would be generalizable to other countries with similar socio-demographic context, and will facilitate taking more effective policies worldwide.

Epidemic trend analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries using modified susceptible-infected-recovered predictive model.

A novel coronavirus causing the severe and fatal respiratory syndrome was identified in China, is now producing outbreaks in more than 200 countries around the world, and became pandemic by the time. In this article, a modified version of the well-known mathematical epidemic model susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) is used to analyze the epidemic's course of COVID-19 in eight different countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). To achieve this goal, the parameters of the SIR model are identified by using publicly available data for the corresponding countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Based on the prediction model, we estimated the epidemic trend of COVID-19 outbreak in SAARC countries for 20, 90, and 180 days, respectively. A short-mid-long term prediction model has been designed to understand the early dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in the southeast Asian region. The maximum and minimum basic reproduction numbers (R 0 = 1.33 and 1.07) for SAARC countries are predicted to be in Pakistan and Bhutan. We equate simulation results with real data in the SAARC countries on the COVID-19 outbreak, and predicted different scenarios using the modified SIR prediction model. Our results should provide policymakers with a method for evaluating the impacts of possible interventions, including lockdown and social distancing, as well as testing and contact tracking.

Prediction of dengue incidents using hospitalized patients, metrological and socio-economic data in Bangladesh: A machine learning approach.

Dengue fever is a severe disease spread by Aedes mosquito-borne dengue viruses (DENVs) in tropical areas such as Bangladesh. Since its breakout in the 1960s, dengue fever has been endemic in Bangladesh, with the highest concentration of infections in the capital, Dhaka. This study aims to develop a machine learning model that can use relevant information about the factors that cause Dengue outbreaks within a geographic region. To predict dengue cases in 11 different districts of Bangladesh, we created a DengueBD dataset and employed two machine learning algorithms, Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Support Vector Regression (SVR). This research also explores the correlation among environmental factors like temperature, rainfall, and humidity with the rise and decline trend of Dengue cases in different cities of Bangladesh. The entire dataset was divided into an 80:20 ratio, with 80 percent used for training and 20% used for testing. The research findings imply that, for both the MLR with 67% accuracy along with Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 4.57 and SVR models with 75% accuracy along with Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 4.95, the number of dengue cases reduces throughout the winter season in the country and increases mainly during the rainy season in the next ten months, from August 2021 to May 2022. Importantly, Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, will see the maximum number of dengue patients during this period. Overall, the results of this data-driven analysis show that machine learning algorithms have enormous potential for predicting dengue epidemics.

Global landscape of COVID-19 vaccination progress: insight from an exploratory data analysis.

The next big step in combating the COVID-19 pandemic will be gaining widespread acceptance of a vaccination campaign for SARS-CoV-2. This study aims to report detailed Spatiotemporal analysis and result-oriented storytelling of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign across the globe. An exploratory data analysis (EDA) with interactive data visualization using various python libraries was conducted. The results show that, globally, with the rapid vaccine development and distribution, people from the different regions are also getting vaccinated and revealing their positive intent toward the COVID-19 vaccination. The outcomes of this exploration also established that mass vaccination campaigns in populated countries including Brazil, China, India, and the US reduced the number of daily COVID-19 deaths and confirmed cases. Overall, our findings contribute to current policy-relevant research by establishing a link between increasing immunization rates and lowering COVID-19's rising curve.

Exploring Epidemiological Behavior of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak in Bangladesh.

Globally, there is an obvious concern about the fact that the evolving 2019-nCoV coronavirus is a worldwide public health threat. The appearance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in China at the end of 2019 triggered a major global epidemic, which is now a major community health issue. As of August 13, 2020, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Bangladesh has reported 269,095 confirmed cases between 8 March and 13 August 2020, with > 1.30% of mortality rate and > 57% of recovery rate. COVID-19 outbreak is evolving so rapidly in Bangladesh; therefore, the availability of epidemiological data and its sensible analysis are essential to direct strategies for situational awareness and intervention. This article presents an exploratory data analysis approach to collect and analyze COVID-19 data on epidemiological outbreaks based on the first publicly available COVID-19 Daily Dataset of Bangladesh. Various publicly open data sources on the outbreak of COVID-19 provided by the IEDCR, World Health Organization (WHO), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW) of Bangladesh have been used in this research. Visual exploratory data analysis (V-EDA) techniques have been followed in this research to understand the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 outbreak in different districts of Bangladesh between 8 March 2020 and 13 August 2020 and these findings were compared with those of other countries. In all, this is extremely important to promptly spread information to understand the risks of this pandemic and begin containment activities in the country.

Correction to: Exploring Epidemiological Behavior of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak in Bangladesh.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s42399-020-00477-9.].