Factors Related to Psychological Distress during the First Stage of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Chilean Population

The health effects of COVID-19 continue to raise doubts today. In some areas, such as mental health, these doubts have scarcely been addressed. The present study analyses the effects on psychological distress during the first phase of the pandemic in Chile. A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed by using a questionnaire validated in Spain and adapted for Chile. Between 22 April and 16 December 2020, 3227 questionnaires were collected from the 16 regions of Chile, using non-probabilistic snowball sampling. Bivariate analysis and binary logistic regression were performed. The variables that could predict psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile were: having a poor self-perception of health OR = 4.038, 95% CI = (2.831, 5.758); being younger than 29 OR = 2.287, 95% CI = (1.893, 2.762); having diarrhea OR = 2.093, 95% CI = (1.414, 3.098); having headache OR = 2.019, 95% CI = (1.662, 2.453); being a woman OR = 1.638, 95% CI = (1.363, 1.967); having muscle pain OR = 1.439, 95% CI = (1.114, 1.859); and having had casual contact with an infected person OR = 1.410, 95% CI = (1.138, 1.747). In Chile, with a better social, economic, cultural, and health environment compared to neighboring countries, there has been a high percentage of psychological distress. It is time to prioritize measures to safeguard the mental health of Chileans, especially focused on the most vulnerable population according to our results, i.e., young women with poorer health status.

KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION ABOUT CANCER: A STUDY AMONG YOUTH IN DELHI

Introduction: Cancer has become one of the major health challenges around the globe. Most of the cancers can be managed appropriately if these are identied early, which requires knowledge among the general population about the symptoms. Thus it is important to understand the knowledge and perception of people about the causes and symptoms of cancer. The present study examined knowledge and awareness of youth about the symptoms of cancer and studied their perception about myths associated with cancer. Method: A sample of 80 college students was studied using a self developed questionnaire. The participants were invited through college circulars. The anonymous questionnaire was administered on a prescheduled time followed by an awareness session to the participants. Data was managed and analysed through MS excel using tabular-graphic representation and descriptive statistics. Results: The study reported low level of knowledge among the college youth about early symptoms and causes of cancer. Myths about cancer being infectious, transmitted through casual contact and incurable were revealed among educated youth. Conclusion: The educated youth are not able to identify the initial symptoms of cancer which may hinder early identication of the disease in family. The study emphasized the urgent need of information; education and communication campaigns about cancer through educational institutions so that entire family can be educated about the disease.

Secondary Attack Rate of COVID-19 in Non-Household Contacts - A Systematic Review of Global Studies

Objective: Secondary Attack Rate (SAR) of COVID-19 varies across various populations. We aim to assess global articles reporting SAR in non-household contacts of COVID-19 patients through systematic review approach. Methods: Four databases - MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and EMBASE were systematically searched for retrieval of articles reporting SAR of COVID-19 in various contacts. Initial search provided 436 articles, which through series of evaluation finally yielded 14 articles. Result: Findings suggested that SAR in various contacts varies widely. Substantial number of studies (50%) were from China; however, the two largest studies were from India. Irrespective of type of contacts, overall SAR ranged from 0.55-6%. Highest risk was found from non-household close (family, friends) contacts (2.2-22.31%) followed by casual contact (travel, meal and health-care contacts). In spite of prolonged contact with the patients, SAR was lowest in health-care workers (0-7.3%). Review highlighted that the included studies were suffering from limitations of missing data and continuously evolving operational guidelines. Conclusion: The review showed that studies furnishing SAR data in non-household contacts are limited in number and exact mode of transmission is yet not clear. Six-percent of overall SAR indicates that though the disease is infectious in nature and proper precautions must be taken, not everybody that comes in contact with the index case is infected. However, with greater risk in non-household close contacts, it is important to identify vulnerable population and implement effective preventive strategies in them. Review also indicated serious data gaps in the published literature and stipulated need of more global studies.

Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis in South Africa: genomic evidence supporting transmission in communities

Despite evidence that transmission is driving an extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) epidemic, our understanding of where and between whom transmission occurs is limited. We sought to determine whether there was genomic evidence of transmission between individuals without an epidemiologic connection.We conducted a prospective study of XDR-TB patients in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, during the 2011–2014 period. We collected sociodemographic and clinical data, and identified epidemiologic links based on person-to-person or hospital-based connections. We performed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on theMycobacterium tuberculosisisolates and determined pairwise single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) differences.Among 404 participants, 123 (30%) had person-to-person or hospital-based links, leaving 281 (70%) epidemiologically unlinked. The median SNP difference between participants with person-to-person and hospital-based links was 10 (interquartile range (IQR) 8–24) and 16 (IQR 10–23), respectively. The median SNP difference between unlinked participants and their closest genomic link was 5 (IQR 3–9) and half of unlinked participants were within 7 SNPs of at least five participants.The majority of epidemiologically-unlinked XDR-TB patients had low pairwise SNP differences with at least one other participant, consistent with transmission. These data suggest that much of transmission may result from casual contact in community settings between individuals not known to one another.

Evaluation of the Pig-Tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina) as a Model of HumanStaphylococcus aureusNasal Carriage

ABSTRACTStaphylococcus aureusnasal carriage is a common condition affecting both healthy and immunocompromised populations and provides a reservoir for dissemination of potentially infectious strains by casual contact. The factors regulating the onset and duration of nasalS. aureuscolonization are mostly unknown, and a human-relevant animal model is needed. Here, we screened 17 pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) forS. aureuscarriage, and 14 of 17 animals tested positive in the nose at one or both screening sessions (8 weeks apart), while the other 3 animals were negative in the nose but positive in the pharynx at least once. As in humans,S. aureuscolonization was densest in the nose, and treatment of the nostrils with mupirocin ointment effectively cleared the nostrils and 6 extranasal body sites. Experimental nasalS. aureuscolonization was established with 104CFU/nostril, and both autologous and nonautologous strains survived over 40 days without any apparent adverse effects. A human nasalS. aureusisolate (strain D579, sequence type 398) was carried in 4 of 6 animals for over 3 weeks. Nostrils that did eradicate experimentally appliedS. aureusexhibited neutrophilic innate immunity marked by elevated nasal interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-8, and monocyte chemotactic protein 1 levels and a 10-fold decreased IL-1 receptor antagonist/IL-1β ratio within 7 days postinoculation, analogous to the human condition. Taken together, pig-tailed macaques represent a physiological model of humanS. aureusnasal carriage that may be utilized for testing natural colonization and decolonization mechanisms as well as novel classes of anti-S. aureustherapeutics.