Place of birth for unintended pregnancies in six former Soviet Union countries.

OBJECTIVE: This paper aims at exploring the association between unintended pregnancies and place of birth in six Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A secondary analysis of the latest cross-sectional Demographic and Health Surveys of six FSU countries from 2005 through 2012 was conducted. Prevalence of institutional births and unintended pregnancies was estimated by country and for the pooled population. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to measure the country and pooled association between pregnancy intention and institutional birth. RESULTS: Institutional births occurred in 90.4% of the overall study population and ranged from 78.2% in Tajikistan to 99.7% in Ukraine Demographic and Health Survey. Around one out of 10 pregnancies resulted unintended. In the pooled analysis, unintended pregnancies were significantly associated with giving births outside health facility (aOR1.2; 95% CI 1.0-1.6). CONCLUSION: Based on the study findings we suggest that increase awareness of benefit of skilled delivery care is needed among women with poor access to family planning.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 medical solid waste treatment: A need for efficient and effective strategies in low-resourced settings.

Understanding infections related to handling healthcare waste products is of critical importance and the application of simple and low-cost strategies remain a priority in low-income and middle-income countries to protect healthcare workers. We examined the potential effect of relative humidity (RH), air temperature and ultraviolet irradiation (UI) to establish an efficient and effective way to facilitate disposal of medical waste. Literature is emerging on the effect of high RH and high temperature, which would increase airborne mass deposition and decrease the viability of viruses in both airborne particles and on surfaces. On the other hand, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 has been proven to be susceptible to UI when suspended in air like other coronaviruses. An innovative approach utilizing environmental conditions might represent an effective and efficient way to ensure better and sustainable protection of the healthcare workers in low-resourced settings.

The forgotten sub-regional COVID-19 response layer. The case of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic have been driven by epidemiology, health system characteristics and control measures in form of social/physical distancing. Guidance, information and best practices have been characterized by territorial thinking with concentration on national health system and social contexts. Information was to a large extent provided from global entities such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others. This bipolar response mechanism came to the detriment of regional and sub-regional levels. The development of the global pandemic was evaluated in terms of the performance of single countries without trying to reflect on possible regional or sub-regional results of similar characteristics in health system and social contexts. To have a clearer view of the issue of sub-regional similarities, we examined the WHO, Eastern Mediterranean Region. When examining the development of confirmed cases for countries in the region, we identified four different sub-groups similar in the development of the pandemic and the social distancing measure implemented. Despite the complicated situation, these groups gave space for thinking outside the box of traditional outbreaks or pandemic response. We think that this sub-regional approach could be very effective in addressing more characteristics and not geographically based analysis. Furthermore, this can be an area of additional conceptual approaches, modelling and concrete platforms for information and lessons learned exchange.

A Case of Listeria monocytogenes ST-219 Meningo-Encephalitis.

Listeriosis is a foodborne disease characterized by high hospitalization and fatality rates, especially in vulnerable groups including elderly subjects, pregnant women, etc. We report on the first case of Listeria monocytogenes ST-219 meningo-encephalitis in a woman aged 83 years. An epidemiological and molecular investigation was performed to detect the source of infection and the virulence factors associated with L. monocytogenes invasiveness in this patient. All environmental- and clinical-associated isolates were found to belong to serotype 4b and ST-219 as well as possessing actA, prfA, hlyA, and rrn virulence genes. Antibiotic susceptibility testing also detected resistance to cotrimoxazole, clindamycin, erythromycin, and oxacillin in these isolates. Conventional and molecular surveillance of listeriosis cases, based on the systematic assessment of spatio-temporal trends, virulence genes, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing patterns, are key to preventing and controlling the emergence and spread of L. monocytogenes strains, including hypervirulent clones.