关键词： epidemiology   respiratory viruses   respiratory tract infections   COVID-19  

摘要： Background Respiratory viral infections affect millions of people worldwide and are life threatening for many of them. The viral seasonality leads to changes in the dynamics of respiratory infections and the importance of monitoring and surveillance of respiratory viruses becomes clearer. Objectives This study aims to analyze data from respiratory virus testing at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) to evaluate their epidemiology from 2018 to 2021, observing their occurrence and seasonality before and after the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Study design In this study, data analysis was divided into four time periods, corresponding to 2018 to 2021. Anonymized patients diagnosed with influenza virus (FLU), human parainfluenza virus (HPIV), human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), SARS-CoV-2 virus, or human adenovirus (HAdV) were included. We conducted chi-square goodness-of-fit tests for each virus by year, and a p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results All analyzed respiratory viruses presented reduced case numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, except FLU, which showed an increase of four cases in 2021 compared to 2019. For most viruses, the lowest incidence of confirmed cases was found in 2020. Furthermore, when excluding SARS-CoV-2, HRSV presented the most positive cases during the studied period, except in 2020. Besides SARS-CoV-2, the FLU was the only other respiratory virus that recorded deaths. It was also possible to observe that the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases reduced from April 2021. Conclusions We observed that most respiratory tract viral infections decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and this result may be associated with the public interventions for containing the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the reduction of these other viruses may have resulted from the measures for prevention conducted by HCPA.

摘要： Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of sepsis and meningitis in newborns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends to pregnant women, between 35 and 37 weeks of gestation, universal vaginal-rectal screening for GBS colonization, aimed at intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP). The latter is the only currently available and highly effective method against early onset GBS neonatal infections. Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the preventive measures implemented to mitigate the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection led to the reduction in the access to many health facilities and services, including the obstetric and perinatal ones. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of maternal GBS colonization, as well as use of IAP and incidence of episodes of neonatal GBS infection when antibiotic prophylaxis has not been carried out in colonized and/or at risk subjects, in a population of pregnant women during (years 2020–2021) and after (year 2022) the COVID-19 pandemic, also with the aim to establish possible epidemiological and clinical differences in the two subjects’ groups. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of pregnant women admitted to, and delivering, at the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Unit, Department of Sciences for Health Promotion and Mother and Child Care, of the University Hospital of Palermo, Italy, from 01.01.2020 to 31.12.2022. For each of them, we recorded pertinent socio-demographic information, clinical data related to pregnancy, delivery and peripartum, and specifically execution and status of vaginal and rectal swab test for GBS detection, along with eventual administration and modality of IAP. The neonatal outcome was investigated in all cases at risk (positive maternal swabs status for GBS, either vaginal or rectal, with or without/incomplete IAP, preterm labor and/or delivery, premature rupture of membranes ≥ 18 h, previous pregnancy ended with neonat

摘要： Infection control nurses’ job are crucial for patient and healthcare workers safety. However, effective infections prevention is based on the interdisciplinary team work, involving almost all hospital employees professionals. Difficulties in cooperation in such a team, especially prolonged ones, as well as crisis situations, may cause burnout. The aim of the study was to determine burnout among infection control nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of difficulties in cooperation with different professionals working in hospitals. The observational study was conducted between May and September 2021, using an online survey questionnaire consisting of two parts: describing difficulties in ICNs cooperation with different hospital professionals and Maslach Inventory Burnout scale, describing emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment rates (PA). Correctly completed online surveys were obtained from 177 participants. Most of the respondents (176 of 177) were women, working in public hospitals (81.48%). All respondents had considerable experience in work as nurses - the median was 30 years. However, the median experience in the ICNs position was 12 years. Median age of respondents was 51 years. The median level of EE was 31.0, w ith the range 23.0 to 39.0. For DP it was 5.0, with the range 3.0 and 11.5, while for PA – 24.0 (19.0–29.0). The highest values of EE were observed in the context of high level of difficulties with cooperation with management – the median was 36.0. DP was lowest among nurses declaring the lowest difficulties in cooperation with doctors. For PA the lowest level was observed in the group declaring high difficulties in the cooperation with doctors – median 22.0, with range 14.0–29.0. The surveyed ICNs had higher rates of EE and PA than nurses working with patients, both before and during the pandemic. The level of burnout found in the ICN study group reached a level correlating in other studies w

摘要： Long COVID is characterized by persistent that extends symptoms beyond established timeframes. Its varied presentation across different populations and healthcare systems poses significant challenges in understanding its clinical manifestations and implications. In this study, we present a novel application of text mining technique to automatically extract unstructured data from a long COVID survey conducted at a prominent university hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Our phonetic text clustering (PTC) method enables the exploration of unstructured Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) data to unify different written forms of similar terms into a single phonemic representation. We used n-gram text analysis to detect compound words and negated terms in Portuguese-BR, focusing on medical conditions and symptoms related to long COVID. By leveraging text mining, we aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of this chronic condition and its implications for healthcare systems globally. The model developed in this study has the potential for scalability and applicability in other healthcare settings, thereby supporting broader research efforts and informing clinical decision-making for long COVID patients.

摘要： COVID-19 pandemic led to a decline in voluntary blood donations posing a risk of under-transfusion. This study aimed to evaluate and analyze the root causes of challenges from patients’ perspectives, helping blood centers achieve adequate blood supply during pandemics and catastrophes. The questionnaire included 15 questions, 10 of which were option-based. The first part collected demographic data and information on the type of blood component transfused. The second part evaluated the patient's thalassemia status, blood requirements, and how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their needs. A response was considered valid if 80% of questions were answered. 280 thalassemia patients responded to the questionnaire receiving regular blood transfusions. During the pandemic, 217 patients needed transfusions less than once a month, 33 (12.5%) saw a decrease in transfusion frequency due to fears of infection, lack of transportation, and reduced needs. However, 7 (2.65%) saw an increase in transfusion frequency. The waiting time for blood also increased for 63.88% patients, by less than two hours for most. COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted thalassemia patients' routine activities, with only 12.5% of patients experiencing reduced transfusion visits due to fear of infection and limited transportation services. Blood donations decreased, but reduced elective surgeries helped balance out. Workforce shortages at blood centers and pandemic management diversions caused delays for some patients. Looking into the past catastrophe from the perspective of the sufferers, especially in thalassemia patients, will enable the policy makers to prepare an organogram to intercept any such future setback.

关键词： COVID-19 vaccines   Immunization   Public Health   Prevention   Primary Care  

摘要： Objective Pediatric COVID-19 vaccination rates remain low in rural areas. A strong clinician recommendation improves vaccine uptake, but the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine recommendation practices of rural primary care clinicians have not been reported. Our objectives were to describe, among rural Colorado pediatric clinicians: 1) recommendation practices for COVID-19 vaccine compared to influenza and school-entry required vaccines, and 2) personal attitudes. Methods From July to October 2023, surveys were distributed to clinicians in rural Colorado identified as pediatric vaccine providers in counties designated as rural through the Colorado Immunization Information System using mail and email. Results Of 89 survey respondents, 37% of clinicians strongly recommended COVID-19 vaccines for children 6 months – 5 years old, compared to 79% for influenza ( p =0.05) and 92% for school-entry required vaccines ( p =0.04). For children 6 –11 and 12 – 17 years old, 43% and 44% of clinicians strongly recommended COVID-19 vaccines, respectively, compared to 71% and 70% for influenza ( p <0.01), and 91% for school-entry required vaccines ( p <0.01). 44% of clinicians agreed that COVID-19 vaccines are important for pediatric patients. The most common clinician-perceived challenges to discussing pediatric COVID-19 vaccines included a lack of parent interest in more information (76% “somewhat” or “strongly” agree), lack of ability to change parents’ minds (71%), and concerns that the vaccines are too political (40%). Conclusions Most rural Colorado clinicians do not strongly recommend pediatric COVID-19 vaccines compared to influenza and school-entry required vaccines. Efforts to improve pediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake should aim to strengthen clinicians’ recommendations of these vaccines.

摘要： The COVID-19 pandemic has become a significant challenge to humanity, especially marginalized groups such as indigenous people. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19 prevention among the indigenous population in Lipis district, Pahang, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among the indigenous population and the data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a validated questionnaire. The mean score of knowledge, attitude, and practice were 2.35 (SD 1.104), 32.84 (SD 4.756), and 9.64 (SD 3.227), respectively. In the bivariable analysis, the younger the age (p < 0.001), and the higher the education level (p = 0.001) of the participants, the higher the knowledge score on COVID-19. Meanwhile, the female participants (p = 0.043) and the higher the household income, the higher the attitude score of the participants (p = 0.006). Factors that contributed to a higher score of practice towards COVID-19 prevention were younger age (p = 0.013), female (p < 0.001), no religion (p = 0.026), unemployed (p < 0.001), and higher household income (p = 0.012). There was a positive correlation between knowledge score and practice score (p = 0.001) and a positive correlation between attitude score and practice score (p < 0.001), respectively. Multivariable regression analysis showed that the younger age (p < 0.001) was significantly associated with a higher knowledge score. Furthermore, female (p = 0.018), unemployed (p = 0.001), higher knowledge score (p < 0.001), and higher attitude score (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with a higher score of practice towards COVID-19 prevention among the participants, respectively. Indigenous people in Malaysia have a good knowledge, attitude, and practice towards COVID-19. However, strategic planning and programmes related to preventive practices against infectious disease outbreaks need to be conducted continuously to reduce the outbreaks in the future.

关键词： Project   group work   artificial data   BETA REGRESSION  

摘要： The use of group work projects is common in introductory statistics courses, including projects where students collect their own data. However, the COVID-induced lockdown at the start of 2020 meant that data collection was compromised. In this study, we examine a situation where students were permitted to use artificial (made-up) data for their project during the COVID lockdown. We examine features of these project reports and the data the students used before, during and after the lockdown. We find evidence that during-COVID projects (based on artificial data) were more likely to study people but less likely to involve interaction with people, and were less likely to require t-tests for analysis. We also found that the artificial data were less likely to include outliers, but no evidence that the artificial data were contrived to produce 'small' p values.

摘要： To better understand the impact of Long COVID on an individual, we explored changes in daily wearable data (step count, resting heart rate (RHR), and sleep quantity) for up to one year in individuals relative to their pre-infection baseline among 279 people with and 274 without long COVID. Participants with Long COVID, defined as symptoms lasting for 30 days or longer, following a SARS-CoV-2 infection had significantly different RHR and activity trajectories than those who did not report Long COVID and were also more likely to be women, younger, unvaccinated, and report more acute-phase (first 2 weeks) symptoms than those without Long COVID. Demographic, vaccine, and acute-phase sensor data differences could be used for early identification of individuals most likely to develop Long COVID complications and track objective evidence of the therapeutic efficacy of any *** Registration:https://***/ct2/show/NCT04336020.