scholarly journals Adherence to COVID-19 Mitigation Measures among Kilifi and Mombasa Residents - An Observational Study in Coastal Kenya

Author(s):  
Judy Mwai ◽  
Ismail Ahmed ◽  
Jarim Omogi ◽  
Mohamed Abdi ◽  
Diana Nyole ◽  
...  

Aim: Corona Virus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic led countries into engaging public health guidelines as a strategy towards preventing infections. Hand washing, social distancing and masking remains key measures for infection control and prevention of the COVID-19. Strict adherence to public health infection control and prevention protocols is necessary to contain the spread at the community stage of the virus. National and County governments in Kenya directed efforts and resources in implementing numerous infection control and prevention measures in public places and institutions. The study assessed adherence to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) guidelines among the residents of Kilifi and Mombasa County in combating COVID-19 infections. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted between 25th November and 4th December 2020 in ten sub-counties in Mombasa and Kilifi counties, Kenya. Data was collected using Open Data Kit (ODK) mobile application. Results: Forty observations were done in Kilifi (45 percent) and Mombasa (55.0 percent). More than a third (37.5 percent) of the observations were done at the household level, followed by public buildings (30.0 percent), market/shopping centers (30.0 percent) and bus terminus (2.5 percent). More than half of the occupants in both Kilifi 55.6 percent and Mombasa 68.2 percent observed physical distancing of 1.5 meters, however, low screening of temperature at the entrance was noted. The general observation shows only 55.6 percent of the premises visited had a hand-washing station in Kilifi while 68.2 percent in Mombasa County. Most of the hand washing stations had running water and people did proper handwashing in both Counties. Only 30.0 percent of the hand station at Kilifi County had soaps. Conclusion: COVID – 19 will continue to pose serious public health challenges as many premises still don’t adhere to some of the guidelines. Multi-sectoral feasible approaches towards ensuring further adherence on all the public health guidelines should be given priority to control and prevent COVID-19 infection

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S313-S314
Author(s):  
Marilou Corpuz ◽  
Ruchika Jain ◽  
Gregory Weston ◽  
Priya Nori ◽  
Priya Nori ◽  
...  

Abstract Background COVID infections in inpatient psychiatry units present unique challenges during the pandemic, including behavioral characteristics of the patients, structural aspect of the unit, type of therapy for the patients. We present COVID outbreaks in psychiatry units in two hospitals in our medical center in Bronx, NY, and describe our mitigation strategies. Methods Hosp A: In the early period of the pandemic in NY, 2 patients in the inpatient psychiatry unit tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 PCR. The unit was temporarily closed to new admissions. Hosp B: On 4/1, one of the patients in a 22 bed Psych unit, admitted since 3/10/20, developed fever, cough and tested positive for COVID-19 PCR. Two of her close contacts tested positive for SARS-COV-2 PCR. Results Hospital A: In total, 5 of the 29 patients (17.2%) in the unit were SARS-CoV-2 positive, all of whom were asymptomatic. Hospital B: Testing of the remaining patients showed positive PCR in 10/14. PCR tests of healthcare workers (HCW) were positive in 13/46. Except for the index patient, all the patients were asymptomatic but 32/46 HCW reported symptoms. One negative patient subsequently turned positive. Infection control and prevention strategies instituted in both hospitals were the same with subtle differences due to dissimilar burden of infection and structure of the units. Table 1 shows the timing of the outbreak and the rapid institution of preventive measures in each of the hospitals. There was still difficulty with patients regarding adherence. Some of the patients refused to stay in isolation and would roam. Compliance with masking and hand hygiene was problematic. Communication was of paramount importance. Multiple meetings were held between the Psychiatry staff, Infection Control and Prevention team, executive leadership of the hospital. Environmental Services and Engineering were also involved. Communications with the NY State Department of Health occurred frequently. Conclusion Strategies for management of COVID-19 patients in inpatient psychiatric units depends on the density of infected patients in the hospital and in the community. The implementation of practice change may need to be rapidly adjusted depending on the situation and available resources. Contingency plans should be formulated early on. Disclosures Gregory Weston, MD MSCR, Allergan (Grant/Research Support)


Author(s):  
Eliza Lai-Yi Wong ◽  
Kin-Fai Ho ◽  
Dong Dong ◽  
Annie Wai-Ling Cheung ◽  
Peter Sen-Yung Yau ◽  
...  

Background: Standard precautions prevent the spread of infections in healthcare settings. Incompliance with infection control guidelines of healthcare workers (HCWs) may increase their risk of exposure to infectious disease, especially under pandemics. The purpose of this study was to assess the level of compliance with the infection prevention and control practices among HCWs in different healthcare settings and its relationship with their views on workplace infection control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Nurses in Hong Kong were invited to respond to a cross-sectional online survey, in which their views on workplace infection and prevention policy, compliance with standard precautions and self-reported health during pandemics were collected. Results: The respondents were dissatisfied with workplace infection and prevention policy in terms of comprehensiveness (62%), clarity (64%), timeliness (63%), and transparency (60%). For the protective behavior, the respondents did not fully comply with the standard precautions when they were involved in medical care. Their compliance was relatively low when having proper patient handling (54%) and performing invasive procedures (46%). A multivariate analysis model proved that the level of compliance of the standard precautions was positively associated with the satisfaction on infection control and prevention policy among high risk group (0.020; 95% CI: 0.005–0.036), while older respondents had higher level of compliance among the inpatient and outpatient groups (coefficient range: 0.065–0.076). The higher level of compliance was also significantly associated with working in designated team and having chronic condition of the respondents among high-risk and inpatient groups. Conclusions: Standard precautions are the most important elements to reduce cross-transmission among HCWs and patients while the satisfaction on infection control and prevention policy would increase the compliance among the high-risk group. An overall suboptimal compliance and poor views on the infection prevention and control guidelines is a warning signal to healthcare system especially during pandemics.


Author(s):  
Silvia Di Meo ◽  
Enrico Bentivegna

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic represents an important risk factor for migrants’ health. Paul Farmer highlighted the risk of global health response in emergency conditions exacerbating global and social inequalities. We argue that this is the case for quarantine ships and migrants’ management during the pandemic. Every aspect of infection-control and prevention measures acquires detention characteristics in these situations. With emphasis to the evolution of the doctor-patient relationship and to the anthropological and cultural aspects that were established during the pandemic, this article aims to provide an integrated view where physicians and anthropologists collaborate to deepen the understanding of the topic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 096368972094071
Author(s):  
Mia C. Borlongan ◽  
Maximillian C. Borlongan ◽  
Paul R. Sanberg

Coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 is highly infectious, which can lead to acute and chronic debilitating symptoms, as well as mortality. The advent of safe and effective vaccines or antiviral drugs remains distant in the future. Practical public health measures, such as social distancing, hand washing, and wearing a face mask, are the current recommended guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for limiting the spread of the virus. Weakened immune system and aberrant inflammation represent a major pathological symptom of COVID-19 patients. Based on the unique immunomodulatory properties of both convalescent plasma and stem cells, we discuss here their potential use for treating COVID-19.


2011 ◽  
Vol 03 (03) ◽  
pp. 577-582
Author(s):  
Bhanu Murthy M ◽  
Deepali Bajpai

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