Supporting Tourism by Assessing the Predictors of COVID-19 Vaccination for Travel Reasons

The persistence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus imposed vaccination passports for traveling in most countries. We investigated psychological factors that predict the intention to vaccinate for travel. In a cross-sectional study, we examined how demographic variables, vaccination status, perceived risk of infection and severity of disease contracted at travel destination, safety and effectiveness of vaccines against contracting COVID-19 during travel, and conspiracy beliefs are related to intention to vaccinate for travel. Further analyses involved differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in a Romanian sample regarding conspiracy beliefs, attitudes about vaccines, and self-efficacy of controlling COVID-19 infection. Results showed that the intention to vaccinate for travel reasons is best predicted by vaccination status and perceptions of safety and efficacy of vaccines against COVID-19. Thus, vaccinated individuals believing that vaccines are safe and effective most probably will take another vaccine booster if it will allow them to travel. Positive relationships of the intention to vaccinate for travel reasons were found with age, vaccination status, conspiracy beliefs, perceptions of safety and effectiveness of vaccines, intention to travel, and a more cautious approach to travel. No significant relationships were found between perceptions of risk for self or for transmitting the disease to others, severity of disease, and the intention to vaccinate for travel. We also found significant differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated participants, as unvaccinated participants showed higher levels of conspiracy beliefs and less trust in the safety and efficacy of vaccines. We conclude that campaigns focused on promoting information on the safety and efficacy of vaccines is the most important direction for promoting vaccination in young travelers.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-COVID induced sepsis survival

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on health care systems worldwide, which has led to increased mortality of different diseases like myocardial infarction. This is most likely due to three factors. First, an increased workload per nurse ratio, a factor associated with mortality. Second, patients presenting with COVID-19-like symptoms are isolated, which also decreases survival in cases of emergency. And third, patients hesitate to see a doctor or present themselves at a hospital. To assess if this is also true for sepsis patients, we asked whether non-COVID-19 sepsis patients had an increased 30-day mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This is a post hoc analysis of the SepsisDataNet.NRW study, a multicentric, prospective study that includes septic patients fulfilling the SEPSIS-3 criteria. Within this study, we compared the 30-day mortality and disease severity of patients recruited pre-pandemic (recruited from March 2018 until February 2020) with non-COVID-19 septic patients recruited during the pandemic (recruited from March 2020 till December 2020). Results Comparing septic patients recruited before the pandemic to those recruited during the pandemic, we found an increased raw 30-day mortality in sepsis-patients recruited during the pandemic (33% vs. 52%, p = 0.004). We also found a significant difference in the severity of disease at recruitment (SOFA score pre-pandemic: 8 (5 - 11) vs. pandemic: 10 (8 - 13); p < 0.001). When adjusted for this, the 30-day mortality rates were not significantly different between the two groups (52% vs. 52% pre-pandemic and pandemic, p = 0.798). Conclusions This led us to believe that the higher mortality of non-COVID19 sepsis patients during the pandemic might be attributed to a more severe septic disease at the time of recruitment. We note that patients may experience a delayed admission, as indicated by elevated SOFA scores. This could explain the higher mortality during the pandemic and we found no evidence for a diminished quality of care for critically ill sepsis patients in German intensive care units.

Short-term Projections based on Early Omicron Variant Dynamics in England.

Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the worldwide transmission and replication of SARS- COV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 disease, has resulted in the opportunity for multiple mutations to occur that may alter the virus transmission characteristics, the effectiveness of vaccines and the severity of disease upon infection. The Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) was first reported to the WHO by South Africa on 24 November 2021 and was declared a variant of concern by the WHO on 26 November 2021. The variant was first detected in the UK on 27 November 2021 and has since been reported in a number of countries globally where it is frequently associated with rapid increase in cases. Here we present analyses of UK data showing the earliest signatures of the Omicron variant and mathematical modelling that uses the UK data to simulate the potential impact of this variant in the UK. In order to account for the uncertainty in transmission advantage, vaccine escape and severity at the time of writing, we carry out a sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of these variant characteristics on future risk.

Epidemiology and Vaccine Efficacy of Delta Variant

Several variants of concern (VOCs) of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged after its first outbreak in 2020. These VOCs possess mutations in the spike protein that confers enhanced rate of infection and transmission of these VOCs. Among these VOCs, the delta/B.1.617.2 variant was identified in late 2020 in India and soon spread to several countries around the globe. Currently, it is the most widely sequenced variant among new infected individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection. This variant is also found to be associated with COVID-19 infection in vaccinated individuals, but the severity of disease and rate of hospitalization are low among these individuals as compared to unvaccinated individuals. With the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 due to continuous mutations, it is suggested that vaccination plays a significant role in preventing the transmission of disease and disease severity.

Eucalyptus staigeriana essential oil can control downy mildew in grapevine

Downy mildew (Plasmopara viticola) is the primary disease in viticulture worldwide, and your control requires synthetic fungicides applications to avoid quality and yield loss in the grapevines. However, alternatives to reduce synthetic fungicides are needed to ensure the consumer’s health and the environment. Essential oils (EOs) are amongst the most promising natural plant protection alternatives because of their antifungal properties on several crop diseases. The present study objective was to determine the effect of Eucalyptus staigeriana EO in vitro and in vivo against P. viticola. The EO exhibited the highest activity in vitro, inhibiting 90% of the incidence and severity of disease caused by P. viticola in leaves of grapevines in the greenhouse. In the field (in vivo), treatment with EO could not control the disease; however, treatment with EO in consortium with conventional treatment reduced approximately 50% of the incidence and more than 90% of the severity of downy mildew disease in leaves, decreasing the application of synthetic fungicides by 50%.

ROSAI DORFMAN DISEASE MANAGEMENT, ACTIVE INTERVENTION OR WAIT AND WATCH: A CASE SERIES

ABSTRACT Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare histiocytic disorder commonly manifested as histiocytic proliferation of lymph nodes and extra nodal tissues initially described as a separate entity by Rosai and Dorfman under the term sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML) in 1969. The treatment strategies can be variable and based on the severity of disease, v ital organ invol vement and pos s ible complications. The first case was a 47 years old female presenting with nasal obstruction and submandibular lymphadenopathy since few days. The second case was a 8 year old girl presented with stridor and lymphadenopathy in the submandibular region. In both the cases spontaneous resolution was expected and intervention was done only if there werecomplications. Patients were followed up every three months for two years and both the cases have resolved completely without any sequelae of the disease.Here we present two cases of Rosai-Dorfman disease presented to our hospital, this case series adds to the growing knowledge of Rosai-Dorfman di sease, along with under s tanding of pathophysiology, clinical diagnosis, treatment strategies and recovery options in cases where complications occurred.

Frequency of Dyslipidemia in patients with Psoriasis and Association with Disease Severity

Background: Psoriasis is a recurrent disfiguring skin disease, associated with abnormal lipid metabolism and with high occurrence of cardiovascular complications. This linked to the extent of disease, as it is often seen in those patients who have larger body areas involved with psoriasis. Objective: To estimate frequency of dyslipidemia in psoriatic patients and to determine the frequency of dyslipidemia in psoriatic patients based on the severity of disease. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Dermatology, Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi from 1stMarch 2017 to 30th September 2017. Methodology: One hundred and fifty cases were enrolled. All cases were enrolled and 3ml of blood was collected following 12 hrs of fasting for determination of lipid profile. Blood sample was sent to the Hospital laboratory and reports were verified by senior pathologists. Severity of psoriasis was determined according to PASI score. Results: Age of participants was between 18-60 years with mean 38.88±12.26 years and 29 (19.33%) male and 121 (80.67%) female cases. According to severity of disease, 50 (33.3%) cases had mild, 70 (46.7%) had moderate and 30(20%) cases had severe Psoriasis. The mean cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) was 12.91 ± 2.17, 8.93 ± 2.90, 5.0 ± 2.28 and 1.98 ± 0.31 respectively. There were 100(66.7%) cases who had dyslipidemia and 50(33.3%) had normal lipid profile. Conclusion: Frequency of dyslipidemia is very high and is associated with severity of psoriasis. Keywords: Psoriasis, Dyslipidemia, Lipid profile and Cardiovascular disease.

Evidence for the Association between Chronotype and Lifelong Premature Ejaculation

<b><i>Purpose:</i></b> This study aimed to investigate the relationships between intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT), severity of disease, and chronotype in lifelong premature ejaculation (PE). <b><i>Materials and Methods:</i></b> Evaluation was made of 114 males with PE and 103 healthy individuals, and comparisons were made of self-estimated IELT, Arabic Index of Premature Ejaculation (AIPE), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). <b><i>Results:</i></b> The frequency of morningness chronotype (78.1%) was significantly higher, and Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) scores were negatively correlated with both IELT (<i>r</i> = −0.490, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001) and Arabic Index of Premature Ejaculation (AIPE) scores (<i>r</i> = −0.639, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001) in the PE group. MEQ scores significantly predicted IELT (<i>t</i> = −2.465, <i>p</i> = 0.015) and AIPE scores (<i>t</i> = −4.003, <i>p</i> = 0.000) in the PE group but not in the control group. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> It can be asserted that morningness chronotype is more common, and ejaculatory latency time and PE severity are associated with chronotype in males with PE.