The simultaneous crises of dengue and COVID-19 in Pakistan: a double hazard for the country's debilitated healthcare system.

Dengue fever is an arthropod-borne viral illness caused by four dengue virus serotypes (DENV 1-4), spread by Aedes mosquitos. Common symptoms of dengue include high peak temperature, headache, myalgia, and malaise following infection, with a rash emerging after 3 to 4 days. More than half of the world's population lives in dengue-endemic areas. Every year, around 100 million dengue cases are reported, with Southeast Asia comprising the majority. Nearly every day, there is a breakout of dengue infections in many areas of Pakistan, in addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, combating the dual burden of dengue and COVID-19 is difficult for the nation's healthcare system. Misdiagnosis owing to overlapping symptoms with COVID-19, overburdening of the healthcare system, and a lack of appropriate vaccination are some of the obstacles for dengue infection management. The government of Pakistan is pursuing a variety of measures to combat dengue fever outbreaks, including, The Pakistan Red Crescent Society was asked by the Department of Malaria Control Program to aid in promoting awareness and organizing clean-up campaigns in polluted regions and stagnant water for vector control.

How to avoid fake COVID-19 vaccine passports as a travel requirement?

The Philippines has recently eased its local travel restrictions among fully vaccinated individuals. Filipinos who wish to travel locally will only need to present their vaccination cards as their passports for interzonal and intrazonal movement within the country. However, a few days after the release of the new resolution pertaining to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination card as a travel requirement, the Department of Health suggested to review the latest policy since many local government units expressed their disapproval in the new protocol. One of the issues raised is the authenticity of COVID-19 vaccination cards. These cards vary per local government and most of them do not have machine-readable codes nor security features. Thus, they can be easily falsified and counterfeited. In addition, the local governments do not have access to the national database of the COVID-19 vaccination status of every individual, which can be extremely challenging for them. In this correspondence, recommendations were provided to avoid fake COVID-19 vaccination cards as passports for travel purposes.

Emergence of highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 variants in Bangladesh: the need for systematic genetic surveillance as a public health strategy.

Bangladesh, a low-middle-income country in South Asia is facing one of its worst public health emergencies due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in the number of cases from the disease, since the second half of March 2021, can potentially cause the health system overload, and has, as one of the main reasons, the non-compliance with measures of social distance and the emergence of the variants of concern in the country. This increase in the contagion curve can also provide a favorable environment for the occurrence of more mutations in the structure and genome of the virus. Therefore, there is an urge to carry out genomic surveillance programs in order to identify, monitor and characterize these variants, and understand whether the vaccines currently used are effective against them.

Strengthening Virology Research in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Preparing for Future Pandemics.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region is known to be a global hotspot to viral outbreaks because of many factors. To limit the impact of future outbreaks, it is crucial for the ASEAN governments to strengthen regional virology research capacity. The ASEAN governments have collaborated in several virology initiatives, with the most recent being the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Center for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases. However, several challenges, including technology disparities, nationalistic tendencies, and the lack of public acceptance toward virus sharing, need to be addressed to maximize the region's collaboration potential in virology research. We recommend the governments to 1) prioritize the strengthening of research capacities; 2) develop stronger cooperation and possible centralization of efforts on top of national capacities; 3) develop an equitable and secure research framework; and 4) improve the public awareness regarding the importance of regional public health responses.

Kumbh Mela Religious Gathering as a Massive Superspreading Event: Potential Culprit for the Exponential Surge of COVID-19 Cases in India.

The Kumbh Mela is a significant religious gathering of millions of Hindu devotees in India. It is celebrated on certain auspicious days in the Hindu calendar and attracts millions of pilgrims across the country. Despite the religious intention of millions of Hindu devotees, it raised public health concerns as it became a massive superspreading event for COVID-19. Being the second most populous country, India became the second most affected country during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the arrival of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants and the presence of the double mutated variant, which was first identified in India, the Kumbh Mela probably aggravated the country's COVID-19 situation which resulted in an uncontrollable second wave. Several cases of COVID-19 across India had been contact-traced to returnees from the event who acted as a nidus to help spread the infection. As a consequence, India's healthcare system was severely challenged as a result of the overwhelming hospitalizations and increasing fatalities resulting in an acute manpower shortage in healthcare along with the depletion of drugs and medical supplies despite being one of the largest pharmaceutical hubs globally. Leaders and governments around the world should learn from India's experience and thereby take preventive measures to manage potential superspreading events to curb the spike of COVID-19 cases.

COVID-19 and mucormycosis syndemic: double health threat to a collapsing healthcare system in India.

In addition to the overwhelming and uncontrollable second wave of COVID-19 in India, the country is also dealing with an outbreak of mucormycosis, a deadly fungal infection, which is affecting thousands of COVID-19 patients. With the increasing number of cases of mucormycosis and a fatality rate of 50%, many Indian states and union territories have declared an epidemic of black fungus due to its unprecedented emergence, which has adversely affected the already debilitated health system of the country. The advent of the new fungal epidemic in the country is due to the overdosage, panic and injudicious use of corticosteroids among COVID-19 patients, as well as their pre-existing medical history of diabetes, given that India is the diabetes capital of the world. Thus, there is an urgent need to address this public health concern by having nationwide surveillance, diagnostic and management system of the disease, along with public awareness and education to combat the syndemic of COVID-19 and mucormycosis in the country.

Employing medical anthropology approach as an additional public health strategy in promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Bhutan.

Bhutan has been commended for their COVID-19 vaccination campaign, in which the country became the fastest in the world to inoculate nearly all of its adult population in just a few weeks. As a profoundly religious Buddhist kingdom in South Asia, the country successfully utilized a very unique strategy in promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance nationwide. Bhutan incorporated religion, culture, and tradition in their campaign wherein the royal government collaborated with the Zhung Dratsang, the country's central monastic body, in deciding the most auspicious day for the launch of their vaccination rollout by avoiding the one-month long Dana, selecting the first person to be vaccinated in accordance to the Buddhist astrology, and leading the country in chanting the Sangay Menlha, a mantra believed by many as a powerful prayer in warding off diseases. The launch turned out as a feast for all Bhutanese since it seemingly marked the beginning of the last phase of their COVID-19 struggle. Incorporating medical anthropology in public health approaches can greatly influence the public, especially when the people are deeply rooted in folk beliefs. This unique strategy can be emulated by many localities with strong influence of cultural traditions and folk beliefs.

Demographic, gadget and internet profiles as determinants of disease and consequence related COVID-19 anxiety among Filipino college students.

In the context of the nationwide shift to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its possible effect on mental health, this study investigated the relationship between demographic, gadget and Internet profiles, and disease and consequence related COVID-19 anxiety among Filipino college students. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study. A total of 952 students participated in the online survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to draw insights from the data. Findings suggest that majority of the student respondents had high levels of disease and consequence related COVID-19 anxiety. Students from poorer households, who do not own laptops and desktop computers, and those with limited Internet connection exhibited higher levels of disease-related COVID-19 anxiety. Younger, poorer, female students who were enrolled in lower year levels, do not own laptops or tablets, and have limited or borrowed Internet connectivity demonstrated higher levels of consequence-related COVID-19 anxiety.