Perceptions regarding child care and perinatal depression during COVID-19 pandemic - A cross-sectional community-based survey from Uttar Pradesh.

Background: High levels of stress among pregnant women have been reported during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic because of various infection-related and lockdown measures. Concerns about safe delivery, breastfeeding, and child care may increase the risk of depression in vulnerable women during the perinatal period. Aim: To study the perceptions regarding child care and prevalence of perinatal depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted among 750 lactating mothers post delivery between September 2020 and February 2021 in 51 districts of Uttar Pradesh. A convenient purposive sampling technique was used. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the socio-demographic details and perceptions regarding child care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessment of depression symptoms was performed with the help of patient health questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). Results: A total of 440 participants were suffering from some form of depression symptoms; the majority had mild depression. Depression was found to be higher among homemakers and young mothers (age <25 years). Depression was found in more than 40% of the respondents who felt fear of COVID infection during breast feeding and hospital stay. Similarly, more than 50% of the respondents who feared unavailability of timely health services and social ignorance had depression. More than 60% of the mothers who did not have any knowledge about safe breast-feeding and child care practices had some form of depression, and the results were statistically significant. Conclusions: Perinatal depression is highly prevalent during the ongoing pandemic. Hence, regular screening, psychoeducation, awareness regarding safe breast feeding, and child care practices are recommended.

The 2022 outbreak and the pathobiology of the coxsackie virus [hand foot and mouth disease] in India.

Outbreaks of HFMD in children aged <5 years have been reported worldwide and the major causative agents are Coxsackievirus (CV) A16, enterovirus (EV)-A71 and recently CVA6. In India, HFMD is a disease that is not commonly reported. The purpose of the study was to identify the enterovirus type(s) associated with large outbreak of Hand, foot, and mouth disease during COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. Four hundred and twenty five clinical samples from 196-suspected cases were collected from different parts of the country. This finding indicated the emergence of CVA6 in HFMD along with CVA16, soon after the gradual easing of non-pharmaceutical interventions during-pandemic COVID-19 and the relevance of continued surveillance of circulating enterovirus types in the post-COVID pandemic era.

Mismatch Negativity Responses to Different Auditory Attributes in Normally Developing Infants and Children.

Introduction Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a change-specific component of the event-related potentials that is elicited by an irregularity in repetitive auditory stimulation. As it is developmentally stable and can be measured in the absence of the participant's attention, it can be a valuable method for assessing auditory discrimination in infants and young children. The classic MMN paradigm involves tone frequency as the mismatching attribute. Multi-feature MMN paradigms which involve different auditory attributes can assess discrimination abilities in a wider group of disorders. The study aimed to report standardised MMN values obtained with MMN paradigms including several auditory attributes to extend the clinical applicability of the test in infants and young children. Methods MMN responses were recorded in 42 normal infants and young children (2 months to 5 years) with multi-feature MMN paradigms. MMN variables in different trials were compared by one-way ANOVA. Pearson's correlation coefficient and independent sample t-test were performed for finding an association with the age and gender of the participants respectively. P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results MMN amplitude exhibited statistically significant differences in different MMN paradigms (p<0.05). An increase in the degree of standard and deviant differences and double deviant responses also resulted in larger MMN. MMN latency variation in the trials was not statistically significant. The age and gender of the participants did not influence the MMN variables with statistical significance. Conclusion MMN paradigms with different auditory attributes report significant amplitude variations. Multi-feature MMN paradigms can optimize the clinical applicability of the test and can determine the profile of different auditory discrimination abilities.