scholarly journals COVID-19 in the Eyes of Community Leaders in Selected Rural Districts in Eastern Uganda

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-37
Author(s):  
Abdul Walusansa ◽  
Jacob S. Iramiot ◽  
Joseph L. Mpagi ◽  
Ali Kudamba ◽  
Shaban A. Okurut ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Virus Disease ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Rural Settings ◽  
The World ◽  
Knowledge Levels ◽  
Eastern Uganda

Introduction: Corona virus disease (COVID-19) is one of the topmost global hindrances to human existence. Rural settings have been reported to be more vulnerable in some parts of the world. In Uganda, community leaders in rural villages are among the immediate personnel mandated to support compliance with preventive guidelines, and to identify and report/deliver COVID-19 cases to health units. We examined the potential risks of COVID-19 transmission, knowledge levels, perceptions and opinions of Village Council Leaders (VCLs) in selected districts in Eastern Uganda, to support the design of risk-based COVID-19 control measures in rural settings, to protect lives better. Methodology: A convenience sample of ten VLCs were purposively selected in three districts in Eastern Uganda. Pretested questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used to assess the knowledge levels, perceptions, and opinions of respondents about COVID-19. An observational survey was also conducted to examine the barriers to effective control of COVID-19, with reference to health guidelines set by the Ugandan government and the World Health Organization. Data was analyzed using HyperRESEARCH 2.8 software, and STATA version-15.0. Results: Eighty percent of VCLs reported that they were formally engaged in the fight against COVID-19, and the common means of engagement were; dissemination of COVID-19 information by word of mouth, regulation of public events, and monitoring of visitors that come from distant places. All clients reported having received some information about this pandemic, but there was generally low knowledge on some vital aspects: 70% of the respondents did not know the meaning of COVID-19; 100% were uninformed on these common symptoms; headache, sore throat, nausea, and loss of taste & smell; 10% did not know if willingness to conform to health guidelines may affect COVID-19 prevention, and they believed that domestic animals are viable vectors. Radio was the commonest source of COVID-19 information, but it was confounded by poor quality of radio-signals. Most respondents were of the view that in the communities they lead; inaccessibility to authentic health information, financial constraints, and belief that COVID-19 is a fallacy, were some of the leading obstacles to the fight against the pandemic. Low awareness and misconceptions on COVID-19 could be explained by; technological challenges, low literacy levels, and dissemination of wrong information about this pandemic. From the observational survey, the major factors which might intensify the risk of COVID-19 spread were: scarcity of requirements for hand hygiene, face protection, violation of health guidelines and directives, porous borders, terrain, and use of potentially polluted open water sources. Conclusion: Communities in Eastern Uganda are vulnerable to the drastic spread of COVID-19 due to challenges related to: low awareness, poor compliance with preventive guidelines, finances, technology, terrain, illiteracy, scarcity of protective wear and hygiene resources. Awareness creation, material aid, execution of preventive rules, and more research on COVID-19 are warranted.

scholarly journals Perceived Risk and Knowledge of COVID-2019 Community Transmission among Local Council Leaders in Rural Districts of Eastern Uganda

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Walusansa ◽  
Jacob Stanley Iramiot ◽  
Ali Kudamba ◽  
Shaban Alemu Okurut ◽  
Joseph Mpagi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Local Council ◽  
Rural Districts ◽  
Rural Settings ◽  
The World ◽  
Knowledge Levels ◽  
Eastern Uganda

Abstract Background: Corona virus disease (COVID-19) is one of the topmost global hindrances to human existence. Rural settings have been reported to be more vulnerable in some parts of the world. In Uganda, local council (LC) leaders in rural districts are among the immediate personnel mandated to support compliance with preventive guidelines, and to identify and report/deliver COVID-19 cases to health units. We examined the potential risk of COVID-19 transmission, knowledge levels, perceptions & opinions of LC leaders in selected districts in Eastern Uganda, to support the design of risk-based COVID-19 control measures in rural settings, to protect lives better.Methods: A convenience sample was taken from village council leaders in the selected districts. Pretested questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used to assess the knowledge levels, perceptions, and opinions of respondents about COVID-19. An observational survey was also conducted to examine the barriers that might deter effective control of COVID-19, with reference to health guidelines set by the Ugandan government and the World Health Organization. Data was analyzed using HyperRESEARCH 2.8 software, and STATA version-15.0.Results and discussion: Eighty percent of local council leaders reported that they were formally engaged in the fight against COVID-19 in their communities, and the common means of engagement were; dissemination of COVID-19 information by word of mouth, regulation of public events, and monitoring of visitors that come from distant places. All clients reported having received some information about this pandemic, but there was generally low knowledge on some vital aspects: 70% of the respondents did not know the meaning of COVID-19; 100% were uninformed on these common symptoms; headache, sore throat, nausea, and loss of taste & smell; 10% did not know if willingness to conform to health guidelines may affect COVID-19 prevention, and they believed that domestic animals are viable vectors. Radio was the commonest source of COVID-19 information, but it was confounded by poor quality of radio-signals. Most respondents were of the view that in the communities they lead; inaccessibility to authentic health information, financial constraints, and belief that COVID-19 is a fallacy, were some of the leading obstacles to the fight against the pandemic. Low awareness and misconceptions on COVID-19 could be explained by; technological challenges, low literacy levels, and dissemination of wrong information about this pandemic. From the observational survey, the major factors which might intensify the risk of COVID-19 spread were: scarcity of requirements for hand hygiene, face protection, violation of health guidelines & directives, porous borders, terrain, and use of potentially polluted open water sources.Conclusion and recommendations: Rural communities in Eastern Uganda are vulnerable to the drastic spread of COVID-19, due to challenges related to: low awareness of COVID-19, reluctance in complying with preventive guidelines, finance, technology, terrain, porous borders, illiteracy and scarcity of protective wear and hygiene resources. Awareness creation, material aid, execution of preventive rules, and more research on COVID-19 are warranted.

Characterizing the effectiveness of COVID-19 mitigation measures: A data-centric approach (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukman Olagoke ◽  
Ahmet E. Topcu
Keyword(s):  
Control Measure ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
The World ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND COVID-19 represents a serious threat to both national health and economic systems. To curb this pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a series of COVID-19 public safety guidelines. Different countries around the world initiated different measures in line with the WHO guidelines to mitigate and investigate the spread of COVID-19 in their territories. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of these control measures using a data-centric approach. METHODS We begin with a simple text analysis of coronavirus-related articles and show that reports on similar outbreaks in the past strongly proposed similar control measures. This reaffirms the fact that these control measures are in order. Subsequently, we propose a simple performance statistic that quantifies general performance and performance under the different measures that were initiated. A density based clustering of based on performance statistic was carried out to group countries based on performance. RESULTS The performance statistic helps evaluate quantitatively the impact of COVID-19 control measures. Countries tend show variability in performance under different control measures. The performance statistic has negative correlation with cases of death which is a useful characteristics for COVID-19 control measure performance analysis. A web-based time-line visualization that enables comparison of performances and cases across continents and subregions is presented. CONCLUSIONS The performance metric is relevant for the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 control measures. This can help caregivers and policymakers identify effective control measures and reduce cases of death due to COVID-19. The interactive web visualizer provides easily digested and quick feedback to augment decision-making processes in the COVID-19 response measures evaluation. CLINICALTRIAL Not Applicable

scholarly journals Comparison of Measures adopted to combat COVID 19 Pandemic by different countries in WHO regions

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2 (Supp)) ◽  
pp. 288-299
Author(s):  
Shubha DB ◽  
Malathesh Undi ◽  
Rachana Annadani ◽  
Ayesha Siddique
Keyword(s):  
Virus Disease ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Health Organization

Since the emergence of Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID 19) in China in December 2019, a lot of significant decisions have been taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) and several countries across the globe. As the world reels under the threat of rapid increase in the number of cases and is planning strategies with the limited information available on the virus, it is essential to learn from the experience of countries across the globe. Hence, we selected a few countries in five WHO regions based on their COVID 19 caseload, management strategies and outcome and compared some of the important measures taken by them to contain the spread of infection. Strategies like extensive testing and contact tracing, strict quarantine and isolation measures, Hospital preparedness, complete restriction of non-essential travel, strict border control measures and social distancing measures play a vital role in containment of the spread. All the countries faced the novel strain of virus and implemented similar strategies as per the guidance of WHO, but the extent of preparedness, swiftness with which the decisions were made and the scale of measures made the difference.

scholarly journals Bare Face Person Recognition System using Deep Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (VI) ◽  
pp. 329-337
Author(s):  
Prachi Satpute
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Face Mask ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Simplified Approach ◽  
The World

Nowadays, maintaining a good hygiene is very important to prevent many diseases like Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19). It has been rapidly affected our day-today life by disrupting the world trade and movements. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommend to the world that all people must wear a mask to prevent COVID-19. The use of masks is part of a comprehensive package of prevention and control measures that can limit the spread of certain respiratory viral diseases. Wearing a protective mask has become a new normal and beneficial for human being to avoid certain diseases. In the near future, many public service providers will ask the customers to wear the masks to provide their services. Therefore, face mask detection has become an important task to help global society. This paper introduce a simplified approach for face mask detection by using Deep learning and python as the programming language. We are also using Open-CV, to search for faces within a picture and then identifies if it has a mask on it or not. By using this system, the surveillance camera system present at some public Space will automatically detect whether the persons are wearing a mask or not.

COVID 19: REALS AND CHALLENGES AGAINST DOCTORS

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-87
Author(s):  
Zen Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Virus Disease ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
World Health ◽  
Unknown Etiology ◽  
Wuhan City ◽  
Traditional Markets ◽  
Pneumonia Case ◽  
The World ◽  
New Type ◽  
Health Organization

Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) is a contagious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which was discovered in December 2019 in China. This disease can cause clinical manifestations in the airway, lung and systemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) representative of China reported a pneumonia case with unknown etiology in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China on December 31, 2019. The cause was identified as a new type of coronavirus on January 7, 2020 with an estimated source of the virus from traditional markets (seafood market). ) Wuhan city

scholarly journals Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Emerging and Future Challenges for Dental and Oral Medicine

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 481-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Meng ◽  
F. Hua ◽  
Z. Bian
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Infection Control Measures ◽  
Dental Practitioners ◽  
The World ◽  
Essential Knowledge ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Health Organization

The epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), originating in Wuhan, China, has become a major public health challenge for not only China but also countries around the world. The World Health Organization announced that the outbreaks of the novel coronavirus have constituted a public health emergency of international concern. As of February 26, 2020, COVID-19 has been recognized in 34 countries, with a total of 80,239 laboratory-confirmed cases and 2,700 deaths. Infection control measures are necessary to prevent the virus from further spreading and to help control the epidemic situation. Due to the characteristics of dental settings, the risk of cross infection can be high between patients and dental practitioners. For dental practices and hospitals in areas that are (potentially) affected with COVID-19, strict and effective infection control protocols are urgently needed. This article, based on our experience and relevant guidelines and research, introduces essential knowledge about COVID-19 and nosocomial infection in dental settings and provides recommended management protocols for dental practitioners and students in (potentially) affected areas.

scholarly journals Epidemiological perspectives of COVID-19 in Telangana and India: a descriptive study design

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1817
Author(s):  
Amruta Barhate ◽  
Prakash Bhatia
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
The World ◽  
To Come ◽  
Second Wave

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has made the world to come to a standstill. What started as on 16th March 2020, as 114 confirmed cases of COVID‑19 in the country has now reached worrisome figures. The latest world scenario as per WHO as on 30th November, 2020 is as under-World data: 62,509,444 cases, deaths: 1,458,782; USA: 13,082,877 cases, deaths: 263,946; India: 9,431,691 cases, deaths 137, 139. It is evident that worldwide India is number two in case load and there’s no reason to prevent India from becoming number one unless appropriate corrective steps are taken.Methods: The present study has looked into various data sources available in public domain. The study covered a period of almost nine months i.e., from March 2020 to November 2020. The study revealed a steady increase in the number of COVID-19 cases from March 2020 with peak of pandemic occurring in the mid of September and then a steady decline of cases from October.Results: The data analysis shows that after peaking of cases in September, the epidemic will decline in a phased manner by the end of March 2021. Even though there is a decline seen from the month of October, spike of COVID-19 cases was seen in November in some of the states of India. Therefore, we can’t deny the possibility of a second wave of pandemic to occur in the month of December 2020 and January 2021.Conclusions: Hence appropriate and strict control measures have to be put in place for effective control of the Pandemic and its resurgence.

The Role of Trust in Covid Tracing Apps: Estonian Case Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Sousa ◽  
Tiina Kalju
Keyword(s):  
Minority Groups ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
P Value ◽  
Sensitive Data ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
The World ◽  
Wide Availability

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes on how we use technology across the world, both socially and economically. Due to the urgency and severity of the crisis different virus control measures were explored. One of the means how technology could help in this situation was by helping trace the contacts of people to prevent the spread of the disease. Many governments and public health authorities across the world have launched a number of contact tracing mobile apps (CTA). By the end of 2020, there are more than 50 contact tracing apps in both Google Play and iOS App Store [1]. Despite the wide availability, the download rates are low and usage rates are even lower [2][3]. There could be many reasons why the adoption is so low, but most certainly one variable that has been overlooked is the level of trust that potential users need to feel comfortable using an app. In Estonia, the CTA named HOIA has been developed as a means of digital contact tracing. By the middle of January 2021, there have been approximately 250 000 downloads but only 1763 (around 4,7% of all COVID-19 positive in Estonia by that time) people have registered as being tested COVID-19 positive [4]. It shows that HOIA has not proved to be efficient means to reduce the spread of the pandemic. Modeling evidence suggests that in order to be effective, the use of contact tracing apps would need to be very high, at least 80% of smartphone users to stop the pandemic [5]. 40% of Estonian people who don’t have HOIA do not believe that HOIA is effective and does what is promised. The concern about security and privacy was in the second place [6]. OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to assess Estonian's trust towards the HOIA app and what has caused the shortage in trust. Namely, assess how much Estonians trust Covid-19 contact tracing app HOIA and what aspects are perceived as distrust by them. The study contributes to designers' understanding and awareness of designing trustworthy technology. METHODS The study comprised of measuring trust in HOIA CTA application using human-computer Trust psychometric scale [22]. A convenience sample was used in data collection, this includes all potential HOIA among the Estonian population. RESULTS Results indicate significant positive correlations between participants' trust towards the Estonian COVID tracing application (HOIA) and their perceptions of risk (p-value 0.000), competency (P-value 0.000), Benevolence (P-value=0.025), and reciprocity (P-value 0.015). CONCLUSIONS With the COVID-19 crisis, the new phenomenon of contact tracing apps was introduced to fight against the pandemic. CTAs were hoped to be a technological breakthrough to decrease the spread of the virus. However, this has not happened around the world. The same has happened in Estonia and evidence shows, that one of the reasons could be the low level of trust. The results of the study confirm, that trust in HOIA among Estonian habitants does affect their predisposition to use and indicated that participants do not believe HOIA is able to fulfill the main goal and decrease the spread of the virus. The result of this work is not only limited to HOIA but can be implemented by other CTAs as well. The results of this study contribute to designers' understanding and awareness of designing trustworthy technology. Eventually helps to provide design recommendations that ensure trustworthiness in the CTAs AI ability to use highly sensitive data and serve society. Regarding the limitations of this study, the survey was able to gather insight about the perceptions of HOIA, was enough to make a statistical generalization about the users’ perception and usage habits but more data needs to be collected if the intention is to generalize the results to the whole population of Estonia. Also, we should pay attention to the different minority groups to reach a valid conclusion. CLINICALTRIAL no trial registration.

scholarly journals Antiplasmodial natural products: an update

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasir Tajuddeen ◽  
Fanie R. Van Heerden
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
World Health ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Insecticide Treated Nets ◽  
Scientific Databases ◽  
The World ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Public Health Challenge ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Background Malaria remains a significant public health challenge in regions of the world where it is endemic. An unprecedented decline in malaria incidences was recorded during the last decade due to the availability of effective control interventions, such as the deployment of artemisinin-based combination therapy and insecticide-treated nets. However, according to the World Health Organization, malaria is staging a comeback, in part due to the development of drug resistance. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover new anti-malarial drugs. This article reviews the literature on natural products with antiplasmodial activity that was reported between 2010 and 2017. Methods Relevant literature was sourced by searching the major scientific databases, including Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciFinder, Pubmed, and Google Scholar, using appropriate keyword combinations. Results and Discussion A total of 1524 compounds from 397 relevant references, assayed against at least one strain of Plasmodium, were reported in the period under review. Out of these, 39% were described as new natural products, and 29% of the compounds had IC50 ≤ 3.0 µM against at least one strain of Plasmodium. Several of these compounds have the potential to be developed into viable anti-malarial drugs. Also, some of these compounds could play a role in malaria eradication by targeting gametocytes. However, the research into natural products with potential for blocking the transmission of malaria is still in its infancy stage and needs to be vigorously pursued.

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