A Cross-Sequential Study of the Effect of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on the Risk of Anxiety and Depression of Royal Flying Doctors Staff, an Australian Air Medical Organization.

OBJECTIVE: This cross-sequential study examines whether the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic affected the mental health of staff working at an Australian air medical service, the Royal Flying Doctors Service South Eastern (RFDSSE) Section. METHODS: The risk of anxiety and depression was measured using a prospective anonymized online survey using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, which was answered by 119 employees. This cross-sequential study was completed in December 2021 with reference to 2 time points: now and the beginning of the pandemic. A high risk of anxiety was defined using a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale score of 11 to 21 (low risk: 0-10). Chi-square testing was used to compare subgroups at single time points. McNemar testing was used to compare the risk of anxiety and depression between the beginning of the pandemic and December 2021. RESULTS: Employees recalled a higher risk of anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic (29%) compared with December 2021 (16%) (P = .012). At the beginning of the pandemic, nonoperational staff members were more anxious than operational staff (P = .019). One third (31%) of operational staff members were concerned about dying at the beginning of the pandemic. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate that RFDSSE employees recalled higher levels of anxiety at the beginning of the pandemic compared with their risk in December 2021. Operational and nonoperational staff have different mental health needs; anxiety experienced by nonoperational staff during a pandemic should not be underestimated. The overall prevalence of anxiety and depression is high, suggesting health care staff in an air medical service may require extra psychological support. Other air medical organizations may reflect on our study findings and plan how to better support their own staff as a result.

Loss of galectin-3 decreases the number of immune cells in the subventricular zone and restores proliferation in a viral model of multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently starts near the lateral ventricles, which are lined by subventricular zone (SVZ) progenitor cells that can migrate to lesions and contribute to repair. Because MS-induced inflammation may decrease SVZ proliferation and thus limit repair, we studied the role of galectin-3 (Gal-3), a proinflammatory protein. Gal-3 expression was increased in periventricular regions of human MS in post-mortem brain samples and was also upregulated in periventricular regions in a murine MS model, Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) infection. Whereas TMEV increased SVZ chemokine (CCL2, CCL5, CCL, and CXCL10) expression in wild type (WT) mice, this was inhibited in Gal-3(-/-) mice. Though numerous CD45+ immune cells entered the SVZ of WT mice after TMEV infection, their numbers were significantly diminished in Gal-3(-/-) mice. TMEV also reduced neuroblast and proliferative SVZ cell numbers in WT mice but this was restored in Gal-3(-/-) mice and was correlated with increased numbers of doublecortin+ neuroblasts in the corpus callosum. In summary, our data showed that loss of Gal-3 blocked chemokine increases after TMEV, reduced immune cell migration into the SVZ, reestablished SVZ proliferation and increased the number of progenitors in the corpus callosum. These results suggest Gal-3 plays a central role in modulating the SVZ neurogenic niche's response to this model of MS.