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BackgroundCOVID-19 vaccine is the mighty weapon opted by all the countries across the globe in an attempt to eradicate the fatal COVID-19 pandemic. The myths on the COVID-19 vaccine are spreading widely, causing a hindrance to this noble preventive measure. The prevalence of such myths among the healthcare professionals may be toxic and deadly.Aim & ObjectivesTo assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the healthcare professionals regarding the myths on COVID-19 vaccination and to demystify them.Materials and MethodsAn 18-item questionnaire evaluating knowledge, attitude, and practice based on the existing myths on COVID-19 vaccination was circulated through Google Forms® among the 412 healthcare professionals of six disciplines belonging to a private University. The responses obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS® 20 software package.ResultsA total of 385 health professionals participated in this study. The majority of them had medium knowledge (165) and positive attitude (273) with the mean knowledge and attitude scores of 3.82 ± 1.55 out of 6 and 4.3 ± 1.58 out of 7 respectively. Even though 312 participants got vaccinated, 72 of them failed to receive it. The knowledge scores showed a high statistically significant difference among the participants of different designations (p=0.001), but not with gender, field, and staff with different years of experience (p>0.05). The attitude scores were statistically different among participants of fields and designation (pConclusionThis study recommends more enhanced education programs on COVID-19 vaccination for the health professionals and demands an improved knowledge, attitude, and practice among them to achieve the goal of 100% vaccination so as to completely eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: India is a major contributor to the global burden of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection and associated diseases like cervical and oropharyngeal cancers. Hence, it is essential to recognize the existing knowledge pool of current healthcare students about HPV and its preventive measures to translate this into benefits for the society in the future. Objective: To determine the awareness and knowledge among dental and medical undergraduate students regarding HPV and its diagnosis and prevention. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled in 577 dental and undergraduate medical students from a tertiary-care teaching hospital. A questionnaire containing 20 closed-ended multiple-choice questions was used to assess their knowledge regarding HPV and its transmission, cervical cancer and its screening, as well as HPV vaccines and their attitude towards them. Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test, and Chi square test were employed for statistical analysis. p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The study consisted of 52.68% dental and 47.31% medical students, with a mean age of 20.95 ± 1.82 years, M:F ratio of 0.7:1, and a mean overall score of 10.75 ± 5.18 (average). The mean scores for knowledge about HPV, its vaccination, and its diagnosis were 7.98 ± 3.26 (good), 1.61 ± 0.95 (average), and 1.15 ± 1.16 (average), respectively. These scores showed no significant difference between the courses as well as the genders (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Overall, the dental and medical undergraduate students presented an average level of knowledge and awareness regarding HPV and its prevention. This reflects a greater need for educating healthcare professionals in order to have a ripple effect on society at large.

Background: Oral cancer is a health concern in India, accounting for 90% of all head and neck cancers. Recent advances in treatment have improved survival rates, but unbearable pain creates a poor quality of life. Intense pain at the primary site significantly impairs speech, mastication, and swallowing. The use of extensive pain evaluation questionnaire may yield false responses from patients due to severe pain. Aim: The study aims to assess pain management and quality of life using an 8-point questionnaire among patients with squamous cell carcinoma of oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus undergoing treatment procedures. Materials and Methods: A total of 64 oral cancer patients from two cancer hospitals were interviewed using the self-designed questionnaire to assess their pain level and quality of life. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive analysis was used to describe the frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test was used to determine statistical significance. Results and Conclusion: In 33% of the oral cancer patients, pain medication did not have an analgesic effect; 32.8% of the patients needed stronger pain medication; 36% had severe mood swings; 31.3% had severe sleep disturbance; and 39.1% had severe interference in eating food. On using numeric pain intensity scale, 42.2% had severe pain and 51.5% had moderate pain due to oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its treatment. This simplified questionnaire can be used as a preliminary tool to evaluate oral cancer pain and quality of life.