Socioeconomic and demographic risk factors of autism spectrum disorder among children and adolescents in Bangladesh: Evidence from a cross-sectional study in 2022.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the assorted uneven conditions of the human brain that lead to developmental disabilities. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the substantial risk factors of ASD among children in Bangladesh. The data were collected using convenience sampling through a questionnaire filled up by the trained interviewers. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were applied as bivariate analysis, and generalized beta regression was performed to determine the significant risk factors of autism spectrum disorder. The odds ratio (OR) along with 95% confidence interval (CI) were the measuring parameters of the risk factors of ASD. The result revealed that later birth order children have more risk of ASD (OR = 1.13, CI: 1.014-1.264, p = 0.027) compared to the children whose birth order is first. Premature birth of the child (OR: 0.87, CI: 0.76-1.00, p = 0.05) and father's age (OR: 0.86, CI: 0.76-0.97, p = 0.020) substantially affects ASD. The maternal history of specific illness (diabetes, thyroiditis, and hypertension) during pregnancy also significantly affect ASD (OR: 1.34, CI: 1.14-1.61, p = 0.002). The results of this study would assist policymakers in taking necessary steps to reduce the incidence of this disorder by targeting the potential risk factors.

Impact of environmental factors on COVID-19 transmission: spatial variations in the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused enormous destruction to global health and the economy and has surged worldwide with colossal morbidity and mortality. The pattern of the COVID infection varies in diverse regions of the world based on the variations in the geographic environment. The multivariate generalized linear regression models: zero-inflated negative binomial regression, and the zero-inflated Poisson regression model, have been employed to determine the significant meteorological factors responsible for the spread of the pandemic in different continents. Asia experienced a high COVID-19 infection, and death was extreme in Europe. Relative humidity, air pressure, and wind speed are the salient factors significantly impacting the spread of COVID-19 in Africa. Death due to COVID-19 in Asia is influenced by air pressure, temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity. Air pressure and temperature substantially affect the spread of the pandemic in Europe.

There is a substantial variation of the impacts of environmental variables on the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in different parts of the world.Temperature and air pressure significantly impact the number of infections and death due to COVID-19 in Europe.Relative humidity, temperature, sky clearness, and wind speed posed significant positive effects on COVID-19 in AfricaThe spread of COVID-19 infection and death is maximum in low temperatures.The confounding effect of the maximum number of meteorological factors minimizes the transmission of the pandemic.

A case-control study to determine the risk factors of dengue fever in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

Objectives: In a tropical country like Bangladesh, where the climatic condition favors the growth of Aedes mosquito vectors, the success of dengue prevention depends largely on the proper identification and control of risk factors. Therefore this study was aimed to explore the potential risk factors and their association with dengue infection. Study design: A case-control study including 150 cases and 150 controls was conducted in Chattogram district of Bangladesh. Cases were confirmed dengue patients admitted in Chattogram medical college hospital and Bangladesh institute of tropical and infectious diseases during August and September 2019. On the other hand, controls were non-dengue patients admitted in other departments of the same hospitals through gender, age, and location matching. Methods: The questionnaire data were collected through telephone-based interviews, which included general demography, daily life activities, housing and surrounding environment of participants. Chi-square and binary logistic regression were performed to identify potential risk factors. Results: The study found that travel history to the high incidence area, staying most of the daytime in office (AOR = 18.10), living in 21-40 years old houses (AOR = 9.74), and the temporary residency in the city (AOR = 10.20) were statistically significant risk factors for getting dengue infection. However, day time sleep, house type and structure, number of family members, morning and evening walk, plant in resident, and junk yard around 250 m of the house were also showed a significant effect in chi square test. Conclusions: Results strengthen our understanding regarding the role of factors associated with daily lifestyle and living environment of people in the development of dengue and hence support the dengue control program in Bangladesh. The study will provide a basis for future extended research covering different parts of the country.

Knowledge and perception of breast cancer among women of reproductive age in Chattogram, Bangladesh: A cross-sectional survey.

Background and Aims: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide. The significantly higher mortality rate has been considered due to poor knowledge of women, delay in diagnosis, and initiation of treatment. Therefore, this hospital-based cross-sectional study aimed to understand the knowledge and perception of women with breast cancer in Bangladesh. Methods: Data was collected using a questionnaire-based interview from 357 women aged 15-49 years attending two tertiary care hospitals in Chattogram city of Bangladesh. Results: Neighbors (18.6%) and relatives (18.1%) were the leading sources of information on breast cancer. Among the total, 69.5% knew about breast cancer however, only 14% of them knew about screening tests and 61.5% were unaware of risk factors for developing breast cancer. Pain in the breast, painless lump, and nipple discharge were the most recognized clinical symptoms by the participants. Exercise and weight control, the practice of breastfeeding, and taking medicine were the three most known prevention practices. Women perceived wrong conceptions that Breast cancer is only found in older age (42.3%) and women (15.7%) and that it causes losing one's breast (3.1%). A significant correlation was found between the education level of participants and their knowledge of risk factors related to breast cancer. Conclusion: Although the majority of the participants have heard about breast cancer, they do not possess enough knowledge regarding the risk factor, symptoms, and preventive methods of breast cancer. We suggest interventions targeting a community-based awareness program.

A review of the impact of environmental factors and pollutants on covid-19 transmission.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused an unprecedented loss of life with colossal social and economic fallout over 237 countries and territories worldwide. Environmental conditions played a significant role in spreading the virus. Despite the availability of literature, the consecutive waves of COVID-19 in all geographical conditions create the necessity of reviewing the impact of environmental factors on it. This study synthesized and reviewed the findings of 110 previously published articles on meteorological factors and COVID-19 transmission. This study aimed to identify the diversified impacts of meteorological factors on the spread of infection and suggests future research. Temperature, rainfall, air quality, sunshine, wind speed, air pollution, and humidity were found as investigated frequently. Correlation and regression analysis have been widely used in previous studies. Most of the literature showed that temperature and humidity have a favorable relationship with the spread of COVID-19. On the other hand, 20 articles stated no relationship with humidity, and nine were revealed the negative effect of temperature. The daily number of COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 4.86% for every 1 °C increase in temperature. Sunlight was also found as a significant factor in 10 studies. Moreover, increasing COVID-19 incidence appeared to be associated with increased air pollution, particularly PM10, PM2.5, and O3 concentrations. Studies also indicated a negative relation between the air quality index and the COVID-19 cases. This review determined environmental variables' complex and contradictory effects on COVID-19 transmission. Hence it becomes essential to include environmental parameters into epidemiological models and controlled laboratory experiments to draw more precious results.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Common Practices of Livestock and Poultry Veterinary Practitioners Regarding the AMU and AMR in Bangladesh.

Current evidence indicates that more than half of all antimicrobials are used in the animal food-producing sector, which is considered a significant risk factor for the development, spread, and existence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pathogens in animals, humans, and the environment. Among other factors, clinical etiology and the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of veterinarians are thought to be responsible for inappropriate prescriptions in the animal-source protein production sector in lower-resource settings like Bangladesh. We performed this cross-sectional study to assess factors associated with veterinarians' antimicrobial prescription behavior and their KAP on antimicrobial use (AMU) and AMR in Bangladesh. Exploratory and multivariate logistic models were used to describe an association between knowledge, attitudes, and practices of AMU and AMR and demographic characteristics of veterinarians. The results demonstrated that when selecting an antimicrobial, there was no to minimal influence of culture and susceptibility tests and patients' AMU history but moderate to high influence of the farmer's economic condition and drug instructions among the veterinarians. The results also demonstrated that more than half of the veterinarians had correct KAP regarding AMU and AMR, while the rest had moderate or lower levels of KAP. The factor score analysis revealed that age, level of education, years of experience, gender, and previous training on AMU and AMR were the key influencing factors in their level of KAP. Adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that respondents' age, current workplace, and previous training on AMU and AMR had a positive association with increased KAP. Considering the results, it is imperative to include AMR issues on vet curricula, and to provide post-education training, awareness campaigns, easy access to, and dissemination of AMR resources. Increasing the veterinary services to the outreach areas of the country and motivating veterinarians to follow the national AMR guidelines could be some other potential solutions to tackle the over-prescriptions of antimicrobials.

Determination of antibiotic residues in milk and assessment of human health risk in Bangladesh.

Consumption of milk contaminated with antibiotic residues above the maximum residue limit (MRL) causes toxicity to humans and the development of superbugs that leads to the failure of antibiotic therapy and threatens human life. Moreover, long-duration exposure might alter the nature of gut microflora, resulting in the enhancement of many diseases. Therefore, our study aims to find out the residues level of selected antibiotics in milk and assessments of humans health risks. We examined 300 raw and processed milk samples using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) methods against five veterinary antibiotics and assessed the health risk for consumers in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Risk analysis was done by using a hazard quotient based on 165 ml per capita milk consumption. We found a total of 7 % prevalence of antibiotic residues in raw milk, which were higher (8 %) in individual milk samples than the pooled samples (4 %). However, we did not find any antibiotic residues in processed milk. The mean concentration of oxytetracycline residue was detected at 61.29 µg/l, and amoxicillin was 124 µg/l in individual milk samples. Risk analysis showed that, the hazard quotient values are 0.0056 for oxytetracycline and 0.0017 for amoxicillin residues. This result implied no significant health risks associated with the consumption of milk produced and marketed in the study area. Our study might fill up the gaps of knowledge in measuring the safety status of milk regarding public health issues.

Effect of COVID-19 on the livestock sector in Bangladesh and recommendations.

COVID-19 and its accompanying effects have severely affected an estimated 0.3 million dairy farms and 65-70 thousand commercial poultry farms in Bangladesh. Many of them closed down or halted productions due to the burden of continuous losses. Reports showed that about 12-15 million liters of milk have remained unsold, which has caused a daily loss of 570 million Bangladeshi Taka (6.7 million USD) in the dairy sector only. Furthermore, the poultry sector has also encountered a loss of a minimum of 115 billion Bangladeshi Taka (1.35 billion USD) within just two weeks from March 20 to April 4, 2020. The situation might accelerate the arising food crisis due to the collapse of the livestock sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and turn it into a humanitarian catastrophe. Hence, the government should retaliate through the provision of financial assistance to livestock farmers, and the proclamation of emergency veterinary services on the earliest basis. In addition to that, the government could develop long-term, sustainable strategies and projects through multi-sectoral engagement to ensure further capacity building of farmers and other stakeholders.