Depression and anxiety among College Students in Slovakia - Comparison of the Year 2018 and during COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression and anxiety among university students during the peak of COVID­19 pandemic in the Slovak Republic in December 2020. The secondary goal was to compare results with a study from 2018 at the same university. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional study was administered at the Comenius University in Bratislava. The final sample consisted of 1,786 participants (approx. 80 % females) with the mean age and standard deviation of M=21.15 and SD=3.53. An online battery of self-report measures of depression, anxiety, perceived stress, loneliness, and resilience was administered. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of moderately severe to­severe depression and anxiety were 34.3 % and 20.1 %, respectively. Depression and anxiety were associated with younger age, higher perception of stress, higher loneliness, and lower resilience. In comparison with 2018, we found a two-fold increase in depression and anxiety. The increase was present across most of the depression and anxiety symptoms. CONCLUSION: The result of the study revealed elevated rates of depression and anxiety during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia. Various demographic and psychological factors were associated with more severe depression and anxiety among university students. Some subgroups of students are at the higher risk of mental health problems (Tab. 4, Ref. 26).

Prevalence and correlations of depression and anxiety among Slovak college students.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to evaluate prevalence of depression and anxiety among college students studying at Comenius University in Bratislava. The secondary aim was to evaluate the impact of depression and anxiety on various domains of social functioning. METHODS: The data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey. The sample consisted of 1,331 students. We administered scales measuring the depression, anxiety, satisfaction with life, and social functioning as part of a larger survey. RESULTS: When using a customary cut­off score for PHQ-9 and GAD-7, a proportion of 35.5 % and 25.5 % of students were above the threshold for depression and anxiety, respectively. When using more stringent criteria, the prevalence rates for depression and anxiety were 16.4 % and 9.3 %, respectively. Both conditions co­occur in 6.8 % of students. Symptom domains were related to satisfaction with life and social functioning. CONCLUSION: Depression and anxiety are prevalent among college students. We found that symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders were associated with lower satisfaction with life and lower level of functioning at school as well as in social and family lives. The implications for mental health policies at universities are discussed (Tab. 2, Ref. 27).

Haemoflagellates: commercially available liquid media for rapid cultivation.

The successful cultivation of a variety of haemoflagellates in three different liquid media is reported. These media include medium 199, Grace's insect tissue-culture medium and Schneider's drosophila medium, each in combination with 30% (v/v) foetal calf serum. These media were used to cultivate Old and New World species of visceral and cutaneous human Leishmania, as well as Leishmania species isolated from sandflies, rodents, and reptiles. Four strains of Trypanosoma cruzi, an isolate of T. R-angeli and and an isolate of T. lewisi have also been cultivated in these media. One or more of these media have been used to cultivate 121 strains of haemoflagellates, including at least 14 different species (11 Leishmania and 3 Trypanosoma) and many geographic isolates or strains. The Leishmania include L. braziliensis, L. peruviana, L. mexicana, L. tropica, L. donovani, L. chagasi, L. enriettii, L. hertigi, L. hoogstraali, L. adleri, and L. agamae. Using the Schneider's based medium, we have obtained primary isolates of both cutaneous and visceral Leishmania of man and of experimentally infected laboratory rodents and canines. Freeze-dried preparations of the Schneider's based medium that were reconsituted with distilled water after 24 months of storage at ambient temperature have proven to be suitable cultivation media. This feature makes the media valuable field tools. The various species of human Leishmania cultivated in these media have in our experience demonstrated no differences in growth rate, viability after liquid nitrogen preservation, or infectivity for laboratory animals and tissue-culture cells compared with promastigotes derived from blood-agar cultivation.

Differences in biological characteristics of three Leishmania isolates from patients with espundia.

Two recent Leishmania isolates from nasal lesions involving the mucosa, one from an autochthonous case from Texas and one from a case from eastern Peru, were compared with a reference strain of Leishmania braziliensis from Brazil for the biological characteristics which distinguish the L. braziliensis complex from L. mexicana. The characteristics of in vitro growth, pathogenesis in the hamster, and position of the promastigotes in the gut of vector sandflies were determined and compared with the reference strain from Brazil. In spite of the nasal involvement which resembled the clinical picture considered characteristic of L. braziliensis infection, the Texas isolate was clearly L. mexicana. It is considered that the atypical clinical feature was the result of the patient's altered immune state due to neoplastic disease and subsequent radiation therapy. The Peru isolate constitutes the first example of a "fast growing" strain isolated directly from a patient with espundia, but otherwise it demonstrated the characteristics of Leishmania braziliensis.