Creation of a pandemic memory by tracing COVID-19 infections and immunity in Luxembourg (CON-VINCE).

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic swift implementation of research cohorts was key. While many studies focused exclusively on infected individuals, population based cohorts are essential for the follow-up of SARS-CoV-2 impact on public health. Here we present the CON-VINCE cohort, estimate the point and period prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, reflect on the spread within the Luxembourgish population, examine immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination, and ascertain the impact of the pandemic on population psychological wellbeing at a nationwide level. METHODS: A representative sample of the adult Luxembourgish population was enrolled. The cohort was followed-up for twelve months. SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR and serology were conducted at each sampling visit. The surveys included detailed epidemiological, clinical, socio-economic, and psychological data. RESULTS: One thousand eight hundred sixty-five individuals were followed over seven visits (April 2020-June 2021) with the final weighted period prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection of 15%. The participants had similar risks of being infected regardless of their gender, age, employment status and education level. Vaccination increased the chances of IgG-S positivity in infected individuals. Depression, anxiety, loneliness and stress levels increased at a point of study when there were strict containment measures, returning to baseline afterwards. CONCLUSION: The data collected in CON-VINCE study allowed obtaining insights into the infection spread in Luxembourg, immunity build-up and the impact of the pandemic on psychological wellbeing of the population. Moreover, the study holds great translational potential, as samples stored at the biobank, together with self-reported questionnaire information, can be exploited in further research. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Trial registration number: NCT04379297, 10 April 2020.

Lineage replacement and evolution captured by 3 years of the United Kingdom Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey.

The Office for National Statistics Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey (ONS-CIS) is the largest surveillance study of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in the community, and collected data on the United Kingdom (UK) epidemic from April 2020 until March 2023 before being paused. Here, we report on the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 determined by analysing the sequenced samples collected by the ONS-CIS during this period. We observed a series of sweeps or partial sweeps, with each sweeping lineage having a distinct growth advantage compared to their predecessors, although this was also accompanied by a gradual fall in average viral burdens from June 2021 to March 2023. The sweeps also generated an alternating pattern in which most samples had either S-gene target failure (SGTF) or non-SGTF over time. Evolution was characterized by steadily increasing divergence and diversity within lineages, but with step increases in divergence associated with each sweeping major lineage. This led to a faster overall rate of evolution when measured at the between-lineage level compared to within lineages, and fluctuating levels of diversity. These observations highlight the value of viral sequencing integrated into community surveillance studies to monitor the viral epidemiology and evolution of SARS-CoV-2, and potentially other pathogens.

Coronavirus conspiracy suspicions, general vaccine attitudes, trust and coronavirus information source as predictors of vaccine hesitancy among UK residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy presents an obstacle to the campaign to control COVID-19. It has previously been found to be associated with youth, female gender, low income, low education, low medical trust, minority ethnic group membership, low perceived risk from COVID-19, use of certain social media platforms and conspiracy beliefs. However, it is unclear which of these predictors might explain variance associated with others. METHODS: An online survey was conducted with a representative sample of 4343 UK residents, aged 18-75, between 21 November and 21 December 2020. Predictors of vaccine hesitancy were assessed using linear rank-order models. RESULTS: Coronavirus vaccine hesitancy is associated with youth, female gender, low income, low education, high informational reliance on social media, low informational reliance on print and broadcast media, membership of other than white ethnic groups, low perceived risk from COVID-19 and low trust in scientists and medics, as well as (to a much lesser extent) low trust in government. Coronavirus conspiracy suspicions and general vaccine attitudes appear uniquely predictive, jointly explaining 35% of variance. Following controls for these variables, effects associated with trust, ethnicity and social media reliance largely or completely disappear, whereas the effect associated with education is reversed. CONCLUSIONS: Strengthening positive attitudes to vaccination and reducing conspiracy suspicions with regards to the coronavirus may have a positive effect on vaccine uptake, especially among ethnic groups with heightened vaccine hesitancy. However, vaccine hesitancy associated with age and gender does not appear to be explained by other predictor variables tested here.

Extracorporeal hemoadsorption in critically ill COVID-19 patients on VV ECMO: the CytoSorb therapy in COVID-19 (CTC) registry.

OBJECTIVES: The CytoSorb therapy in COVID-19 (CTC) registry evaluated the clinical performance and treatment parameters of extracorporeal hemoadsorption integrated with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV ECMO) in critically ill COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and respiratory failure under US FDA Emergency Use Authorization. DESIGN: Multicenter, observational, registry (NCT04391920). SETTING: Intensive care units (ICUs) in five major US academic centers between April 2020 and January 2022. PATIENTS: A total of 100 critically ill adults with COVID-19-related ARDS requiring VV ECMO support, who were treated with extracorporeal hemoadsorption. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Baseline demographics, clinical characteristics, laboratory values and outcomes were recorded following individual ethics committee approval at each center. Detailed data on organ support utilization parameters and hemoadsorption treatments were also collected. Biomarker data were collected according to the standard practice at each participating site, and available values were compared before and after hemoadsorption. The primary outcome of mortality was evaluated using a time-to-event analysis. A total of 100 patients (63% male; age 44 ± 11 years) were included. Survival rates were 86% at 30 days and 74% at 90 days. Median time from ICU admission to the initiation of hemoadsorption was 87 h and was used to define two post hoc groups: ≤ 87 h (group-early start, GE) and > 87 h (group-late start, GL). After the start of hemoadsorption, patients in the GE versus GL had significantly shorter median duration of mechanical ventilation (7 [2-26] vs. 17 [7-37] days, p = 0.02), ECMO support (13 [8-24] vs. 29 [14-38] days, p = 0.021) and ICU stay (17 [10-40] vs 36 [19-55] days, p = 0.002). Survival at 90 days in GE was 82% compared to 66% in GL (p = 0.14). No device-related adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS: In critically ill patients with severe COVID-19-related ARDS treated with the combination of VV-ECMO and hemoadsorption, 90-day survival was 74% and earlier intervention was associated with shorter need for organ support and ICU stay. These results lend support to the concept of "enhanced lung rest" with the combined use of VV-ECMO plus hemoadsorption in patients with ARDS.

Barriers to Meeting Community Needs in New York State during COVID-19: Results From a Pilot Survey of Nongovernmental Population and Community Health Professionals.

Capacity building and training help empower the community and population health organizations to partner with local health departments and collaboratively design multisectoral interventions that account for the complexity of public health and health promotion challenges in the era of COVID-19 and beyond. Ideally, training programs should be informed by an understanding of the needs and priorities of the professionals for whom they are intended. This brief report focuses on the results of a pilot online survey conducted as part of a larger pilot study by the New York State Association of County Health Officials and the Region 2 Public Health Training Center among population and community health professionals (n = 27) from four counties in New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey participants included a diverse group of staff members from various large and small nonprofit organizations, federally qualified health centers, academic institutions, hospitals, and insurers. Survey findings provide preliminary insights into the extent to which these organizations have been involved in the COVID-19 response in partnership with LHDs, barriers they faced in responding to the needs of the populations they serve and adjusting their work routines/operations to COVID-19 guidelines, and their top emerging organizational and training needs. Lessons learned from conducting an online survey during a public health emergency and implications for future training interventions for population and community health professionals are also discussed within the context of promoting multisectoral collaboration with local health departments, solving complex public health problems, and advancing health equity.

Effect of coronavirus pandemic in changing the performance barriers for textile and apparel industry in an emerging market.

In the past two years, coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted global industries and altered market dynamics. The present study compares the challenges facing Indian textile and apparel industry before and after the coronavirus pandemic. The context of our study focuses on handloom industry, as the primary financial risk for handloom micro entrepreneurs lies in capital requirements for raw materials, equipment and their lack of formal management structures to tackle the pressure of uncertainty. Thus, studying and mitigating internal and external barriers of the traditional manufacturing micro entrepreneurs during and post pandemic remains crucial to frame policy decisions for sustainability of this vulnerable sector. We have employed a two-phase (before and after the onset of pandemic) successive exploratory mixed method, starting with the Delphi technique (qualitative phase) and concluding with multi-criteria decision-making. In Phase 2 analysis, seventeen key critical barriers identified in Phase 1reduced to twelve. Phase 1 modelling suggests that lack of effective government policies, demonetization, and tax policy implementation are the most significant barriers. Further, Phase 2 identifies the absence of effective government policies as the most significant obstacle to the performance of Indian handloom industry, especially after the pandemic. Additionally, lack of branding was found to be most critically linked between independent and dependent barriers.

Racial disparities in unemployment benefits among U.S. mortgage borrowers during COVID-19.

This article describes racial and ethnic differences in mortgage payment difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines whether disparities exist in the benefits of the unemployment insurance (UI) program. The sample consisted of 80,797 jobless mortgage borrowers who received or waited for UI benefits between August 2020 and May 2022. Considering individual- and state-level variables in multilevel logistic regressions, we examined rates of mortgage delay in the last month and payment concerns about the next month by racial and ethnic group. Minority borrowers were more likely to have a difficulty in paying mortgage than White borrowers. UI recipients-regardless of race and ethnicity-were less likely to experience mortgage difficulties, but the positive unemployment benefit was reduced disproportionately among Blacks. Blacks were also at a higher risk of mortgage difficulties compounded by other pandemic-induced hardships-loss of household, lack of food, and mental illness-even after the receipt of UI. Findings on the intersection between race and ethnicity and UI suggest that pandemic policy interventions should be race conscious and consider the longstanding and systematic barriers experienced by minority mortgage borrowers. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10901-022-10006-w.

A scoping review of persistent symptoms after COVID infection at different follow-up periods.

The clinical entity termed as long COVID has gained importance in the recent past. As this phenomenon is still evolving, it is important to document the magnitude of the syndrome during different time periods. This scoping review attempts to synthesize evidence generated from longitudinal studies which have follow-up periods beyond 3 months, up to 12 months. The review also documents the reported prevalence of long COVID for the different regions of the World Health Organization. Longitudinal studies published till March 2022 were systematically searched on PubMed, Google Scholar, and medRxiv. Among the identified 594 studies, 48 were included in this review. Data from selected studies were synthesized. The overall pooled prevalence of long COVID was 49% (40%-58%). The pooled estimates after 3 months, 4-6 months, 7-9 months, and 10-12 months were 44% (32%-57%), 50% (43%-57%), 49% (37%-62%), and 54% (46%-62%), respectively. Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) had the highest pooled prevalence of 63% (34%-92%] and the South East Asian Region (SEAR) had the least pooled estimate of 15% (10%-21%). The study brings out the high prevalence of long COVID even after 12 months of follow-up. It also shows the regional differences in the reported prevalence of the syndrome. This review highlights the need for well-planned follow-up studies, especially in developing nations to understand the magnitude and the pattern of long COVID-related symptoms as they emerge.

Perspectives on cyberlearning: A case study by students, about students.

This paper reports on a study conducted by college students at a private university in Saudi Arabia. The research examines the online learning experiences of their peers during the first wave of the coronavirus covid-19 pandemic. Many assumptions exist about online learning and its impact in higher education, but these are mainly based on the views of instructors and leaders of institutions. Hitherto, the perspectives of those meant to be beneficiaries of digital technologies have been given little consideration even though students use cyberspace for academic work and beyond. To address this silence, a group of student-researchers conducted a case study to examine students' views of cyberlearning. The research used a qualitative analysis approach to address the following questions: (1) What were the cyberlearning experiences of students at our university during the first two semesters of lockdown? (2) What are students' understandings of cyberlearning? (3) What are their aspirations for cyberlearning? Data were collected through an online survey administered to the entire student body at the university. Responses were received from 3574 students. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. The research participants perceive cyberlearning to be the same as online learning and see it as a viable educational option. They reported that the dominant mode of instruction in online classrooms is instructors delivering information. Respondents also highlighted the need for improved online teaching pedagogies and curbing academic dishonesty in online classrooms. Students' aspirations for cyberlearning were clearly articulated. Respondents suggested that increasing online learning opportunities would have a positive impact on their academic progress. Through this research students demonstrate a sense of agency and provide opportunities for equity strategies at their university. The results show that serious attempts should be made to include cyberlearning as part of everyday educational activity in an attempt to increase student engagement.

A Review of Sublingual Sufentanil Tablet (SST) and its Utility as an Analgesic Agent for Pain Procedures.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Sedation for pain medicine procedures provides a unique challenge for proceduralists. Many patients dealing with pain are on chronic opioids and require higher doses of sedation for adequate procedural comfort. Chronic pain patients have various comorbidities including depression, neuropsychiatric disorders, peripheral vascular disease, and renal impairment, among others [1]. These confounding variables make the overall treatment of their pain condition much more challenging. RECENT FINDINGS: For patients requiring intravenous (IV) sedation for their pain procedures, the constant need for access may render them a "difficult stick" over time. Another factor to consider is the increasing requirements by the hospital system needing IV sedatives and analgesics in the intensive care unit and operating rooms during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sublingual sufentanil (SST) provides an excellent analgesic option for patients undergoing interventional pain procedures. The use of SST allows hospitals to preserve IV agents for more critical areas and mitigates the difficulty of obtaining IV access in patients.

The Relationships Between Socioeconomic Status, COVID-19 Risk Perceptions, and the Adoption of Protective Measures in a Mid-Western City in the United States.

An individual's perception of risk plays an influential role in the behaviors they engage in, which could reduce or increase exposure or transmission of a certain disease. Since risk perceptions vary by social identities (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, age) they are believed to influence the interpretation and likelihood of following guidance from risk-communication efforts. This study aims to understand how COVID-19 risk perceptions vary by social identity (with an emphasis upon socioeconomic factors), how such identities influence behavior adoption through risk-communication pathways, and how findings can be practically applied in messaging. Previous studies have investigated the role of social factors on risk perceptions, but SES has not been modeled as the main factor. Guided by the Health Belief Model and Social Determinant of Health Frameworks, findings from our 326 participants suggest those with high-risk COVID-19 perceptions identified as higher income and held more advanced educational degrees, suggesting a positive relationship between risk perceptions and SES. Individuals with high-risk perceptions more frequently reported practicing protective behaviors against COVID-19 and reported greater severity, susceptibility, barriers, benefits, trust, confidence, and health literacy in adopting behavior changes against the virus. When applying such findings to create a local risk-communication plan (logic model), it was found that messaging should be culturally relevant, in-plain language, and consistent to improve health literacy. In addition to using the most trusted and frequently used communication sources self-identified by residents, we recommend uniting trusted formal and informal community leaders to provide information in diverse pathways and formats.

Review of the impact of COVID-19 on male reproduction, and its implications on assisted reproductive technology services.

The announcement in 2019 of a new coronavirus disease that quickly became a major pandemic, is an exceptional challenge to healthcare systems never seen before. Such a public health emergency can largely influence various aspects of people's health as well as reproductive outcome. IVF specialists should be vigilant, monitoring the situation whilst contributing by sharing novel evidence to counsel patients, both pregnant women and would-be mothers. Coronavirus infection might adversely affect pregnant women and their offspring. Consequently, this review paper aims to analyse its potential risks for reproductive health, as well as potential effects of the virus on gamete function and embryo development. In addition, reopening fertility clinics poses several concerns that need immediate addressing, such as the effect of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on reproductive cells and also the potential risk of cross-contamination and viral transmission. Therefore, this manuscript summarizes what is currently known about the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 infection on medically assisted reproductive treatments and its effect on reproductive health and pregnancy.

Lessons learnt from transitioning to online mentoring and learning at university during COVID-19 for adults with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 influenced education delivery worldwide. The Up the Hill Project (UTHP), a university mentoring program in Australia for people with intellectual disability, transitioned from a face-to-face to online format during 2020. RESULTS: The experience of transitioning online for one semester (12-week period) had positives and challenges associated with it. The UTHP Coordinator reported initial doubts for the online mode and identified the importance of at home support. However, the experience has opened up avenues for future program practices, such as intake processes and increased flexibility. From the participants' perspective, the online experience supported participants to develop new technology skills. However, challenges were that participants needed support, and missed face-to-face contact. CONCLUSION: Online mentoring in the UTHP had challenges, but has also supported continuation of university programs. Lessons learnt will influence the development of the UTHP in some capacity into the future.

Eliciting positive emotion through strategic responses to COVID-19 crisis: Evidence from the tourism sector.

While social media are effective means of communicating with adverse customer emotions during a crisis, it remains unclear how tourism organisations can respond to pandemic crisis on social media to prevent negative aftermaths. Using a set-theoretical approach, we investigate how COVID-19 response strategies and linguistic cues of responses are intertwined to evoke positive emotions among consumers. This study entails a qualitative content analysis of tourism organisations' COVID-19 announcements and a social media analytics approach that captures consumers' emotional reactions to these announcements via their Twitter replies. Our results extend some well-established findings in the tourism crisis literature by suggesting that combining innovative response strategy, argument quality, and assertive language can reinforce positive emotions during the COVID-19 crisis. Taking organisational characteristics into consideration, we suggest that young established hotels utilise innovative response strategies, whereas retrenchment response strategies for all types of restaurants should be avoided during the COVID-19 crisis.

Disparities in food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic: A two-year analysis.

While the overall level of food insecurity in the United States has remained stable during the COVID-19 pandemic, certain individuals and regions have fared worse than others. This study examines state-level variables affecting individual- and household-level food insecurity during the recent two years of the pandemic beginning in 2020 by utilizing the Household Pulse Survey, a new nationally representative dataset developed by the United States Census Bureau. The results of this study suggest a set of statewide factors, such as pandemic-driven market conditions, COVID-19 prevalence, and the implementation of federal programs, are associated with the level of food insecurity that individuals have experienced during the pandemic over the past two years. The associations varied by household income levels, indicating a strong relationship between higher-income households and market conditions, as well as the importance of federal programs and state policies in alleviating food insecurity among lower-income households. The food insecurity indices also overlapped with different socioeconomic and health hardships caused by the pandemic, such as employment income loss, housing instability, and mental health problems. The findings of this study highlight state-level contexts, particularly the role of state governments, in responding to pandemic-related food insecurity.

Post-pandemic urban design: The equilibrium between social distancing and social interactions within the built environment.

The previous arguments in respect to the COVID-19 pandemic tend to support the lockdown and closure policy in order to prevent widespread infection of the epidemic within urban spaces. Using semi-structured interviews, the present study identifies that there are some serious consequences by adopting this policy due to the indispensable social interactions and uncooperative attitude of the general public to the harsh isolation approaches. These negative impacts on people's psychological health are partly caused by the inflexible urban design of the built environment in the pre-pandemic period. To create a balance between social distancing and social interactions within urban spaces, the paper proposes a general framework of post-pandemic street furniture design. It provides an innovative approach using a grid-based method, which can be applied to other cities across the world in order to deal with the potential analogous pandemic perils in the future.

How are children coping with COVID-19 health crisis? Analysing their representations of lockdown through drawings.

Spain is one of the European countries most affected of COVID-19, and also the one with the most stringent restrictions for children. This study aims to explore how COVID-19 lockdown affects children by analysing 151 drawings from children in lockdown. Findings were represented in four main categories: (1) Activities; (2) Emotions; (3) Socialization; and (4) Academic. The results indicate the need to manage the lockdown situation taking into account also children's voices and by placing greater emphasis on social and inclusive policies to help alleviate the possible effects of the pandemic and the lockdown on them.

Turkish validity and reliability of coronavirus anxiety scale.

The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) was developed to differentiate individuals who were functionally impaired by anxiety about COVID-19 from those anxious, but not disabled by their emotional reactions to the disease. The aim of the present study is to validate the Turkish version of the CAS. The study was carried out in two stages. In the first phase, the validity and reliability study of the scale was conducted with 95 people. The single-factor structure of the scale was confirmed with exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis results. Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient was found to be 0.86. In the second stage; the data were collected using the Turkish version of CASand Herth Hope scale. The scales were applied to 720 people. It was determined that there was a statistically significant relationship between total CAS scores and the Herth Hope Index. These findings revealed that the CAS was a valid and reliable measurement tool for evaluating the anxiety levels of individuals.

Use of the Hayami diffusive wave equation to model the relationship infected-recoveries-deaths of Covid-19 pandemic.

Susceptible S-Infected I-Recovered R-Death D (SIRD) compartmental models are often used for modelling of infectious diseases. On the basis of the analogy between SIRD and compartmental models in hydrology, this study makes mathematical formulations developed in hydrology available for modelling in epidemiology. We adapt the Hayami model solution of the diffusive wave equation generally used in hydrological modelling to compartmental I-R-D models in epidemiology by simulating the relationships between the number of infectious I(t), the number of recoveries R(t) and the number of deaths D(t). The Hayami model is easy-to-use, robust and parsimonious. We compare the empirical one-parameter exponential model usually used in SIRD models to the two-parameter Hayami model. Applications were implemented on the recent Covid-19 pandemic. The application on data from 24 countries shows that both models give comparable performances for modelling the I-D relationship. However, for modelling the I-R relationship and the active cases, the exponential model gives fair performances whereas the Hayami model substantially improves the model performances. The Hayami model also presents the advantage that its parameters can be easily estimated from the analysis of the data distributions of I(t), R(t) and D(t). The Hayami model is parsimonious with only two parameters which are useful to compare the temporal evolution of recoveries and deaths in different countries based on different contamination rates and recoveries strategies. This study highlights the interest of knowledge transfer between different scientific disciplines in order to model different processes.

Psychological and neuropsychiatric implications of COVID-19.

COVID-19 infections have spread quickly, resulting in massive healthcare burden to societies worldwide. The most urgent interventions needed in the present climate include epidemiological measures to reduce the spread of infection, efficient treatment of patients with severe illness to reduce mortality rates, as well as development of diagnostic tests. Alongside this, the acute, medium, and long-term mental-health consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak for patients, their family members, medical professionals, and the public at large should not be underestimated. Here, we draw on evidence from previous coronavirus outbreaks (i.e., SARS, MERS) and emerging evidence from China, Europe, Asia and the US to synthesize the current knowledge regarding the psychological and neuropsychiatric implications of the COVID-19 pandemic.