Search results for "Pandemics"
showing 10 items of 522 documents
Elena+ care for COVID-19, a pandemic lifestyle care intervention : intervention design and study protocol
2021
Background: The current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is an emergency on a global scale, with huge swathes of the population required to remain indoors for prolonged periods to tackle the virus. In this new context, individuals' health-promoting routines are under greater strain, contributing to poorer mental and physical health. Additionally, individuals are required to keep up to date with latest health guidelines about the virus, which may be confusing in an age of social-media disinformation and shifting guidelines. To tackle these factors, we developed Elena+, a smartphone-based and conversational agent (CA) delivered pandemic lifestyle care intervention. Methods: Elena+ utilizes varie…
Differences in Stress and Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Families With and Without Children With Developmental Disorders or Chronic Conditions
2021
Objectives: To compare COVID-19-induced stress and coping in families with and without children diagnosed with developmental disorders or chronic conditions.Methods: In this mixed-method design study, an online survey collected information on parental stress levels before and during COVID-19, sources of stress, and coping strategies using open-ended questions. Qualitative answers were categorized thematically. Multiple linear regression models were built for the association between changes in stress levels (during-before COVID-19) and sources of stress for parents of children of both groups.Results: Answers of 1,827 parents were analyzed; of these, 186 (9.75%) had children with diagnosed pr…
Factors mediating the psychological well-being of healthcare workers responding to global pandemics: A systematic review
2020
The worldwide outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the likelihood of future pandemics has raised the attention to the effects of pandemics on the psychological well-being of individuals. Given their indispensable role in such situations, healthcare workers are at greater risk of mental health issues. This paper aimed to review the mediators of psychological well-being among healthcare workers responding to global pandemics. After registration on PROSPERO, a systematic review was performed in four databases. Following study selection (PRISMA guidelines), inclusion criteria and analysis methods were assessed. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the EPHPP criteri…
An Interaction Path of Mothers’ and Preschoolers’ Food-and Physical Activity-Related Aspects in Disadvantaged Sicilian Urban Areas
2021
Background: The relationship between mothers and their children’s lifestyle is still unclear, especially in disadvantaged areas. Consequently, the study aims to identify a path explaining the extent to which maternal eating habits and physical activity (PA) level predict food-related aspects, PA practice and Quotient of Gross Motor Development (QGMD) in preschoolers from disadvantaged urban areas. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 79 dyads of mothers and children were recruited from kindergartens. Information related to family socio-demographic aspects, mothers’ and children’s dietary intake frequencies and PA/sedentariness, mothers’ weight and height, mothers’ perception o…
Lead Discovery of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors through Covalent Docking-Based Virtual Screening
2021
During almost all 2020, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has constituted the major risk for the worldwide health and economy, propelling unprecedented efforts to discover drugs for its prevention and cure. At the end of the year, these efforts have culminated with the approval of vaccines by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) giving new hope for the future. On the other hand, clinical data underscore the urgent need for effective drugs to treat COVID-19 patients. In this work, we embarked on a virtual screening campaign against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Mpro chymotrypsin-like cysteine pro…
Europe’s War against COVID-19: A Map of Countries’ Disease Vulnerability Using Mortality Indicators
2020
Specific and older age-associated comorbidities increase mortality risk in severe forms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We matched COVID-19 comorbidities with causes of death in 28 EU countries for the total population and for the population above 65 years and applied a machine-learning-based tree clustering algorithm on shares of death for COVID-19 comorbidities and for influenza and on their growth rates between 2011 and 2016. We distributed EU countries in clusters and drew a map of the EU populations&rsquo
Covid-19 Pandemic: What Changes for Dentists and Oral Medicine Experts? A Narrative Review and Novel Approaches to Infection Containment
2020
The authors performed a narrative review on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome- CoronaVirus-2 ( SARS-CoV-2) and all infectious agents with the primary endpoints to illustrate the most accepted models of safety protocols in dentistry and oral medicine, and to propose an easy view of the problem and a comparison (pre- vs post-COVID19) for the most common dental procedures. The outcome is forecast to help dentists to individuate for a given procedure the differences in terms of safety protocols to avoid infectious contagion (by SARS-CoV-2 and others dangerous agents). An investigation was performed on the online databases Pubmed and Scopus using a combination of free words and Medical Subject H…
Blood Donations and Transfusions during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: Impact According to Autonomous Communities and Hospitals
2021
Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decline in blood donations, between 30% and 70% in some of the most affected countries. In Spain, during the initial eight weeks after the State of Emergency was decreed on 14 March 2020, in the weekly reports of the Health Ministry, an average decrease of 20% was observed between 11 and week 25 compared with the 2018 donation. We aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood donations and blood distribution in four autonomous communities, and to explore the evolution of the consumption of blood components (BCs) in ten hospitals of six autonomous communities. We performed a prospective study of grouped cohorts on the donation…
The patient-doctor relationship: new insights in light of the current Ministerial recommendations regarding Phase 2 of the COVID-19 pandemic
2020
Following the publication of the italian Ministerial recommendations relating to dentistry in Phase 2 of the coViD-19 pandemic (focusing on operational protocols for all dental staff), we believe that the patient/dentist relationship should increasingly take into account the heightened fears and anxious thoughts of patients. this particularly regards patients who are about to undergo dental work. Moreover, dentists should also pay close attention to recent events, which have determined the new recommendations regarding SarS-coV-2 biocontainment. Furthermore, the authors of this paper consider it appropriate to make suggestions and develop interventionist techniques regarding the interface w…
Chloroquine for COVID-19: rationale, facts, hopes
2020
The tragedy of the pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to a desperate search for effective treatments. Chloroquine (CQ), an aminoquinoline used for many years for the prophylaxis and therapy of malaria and autoimmune diseases, has been put forward as a treatment option. The fact that CQ is not patented and has been in clinical use for years is a major advantage. CQ has been shown to have antiviral effects in SARS, MERS, Ebola, and HIV infections, but without data showing clinical effectiveness [1, 2]. Does the current level of evidence suffice for prescribing CQ for COVID-19?