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Introduction: Nepal is one of the countries which has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and has resulted in high morbidity and mortality across all age groups including neonates. There has been a paucity of studies regarding maternal to neonatal COVID-19 transmission and the published studies also have a poor sample size to reach any definite conclusion. Hence this study was carried out to see the clinical profiles of neonates born to COVID-19 mothers. Methods: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study was conducted at a tertiary care centre over the period of one year from April 2020 to March 2021 after taking ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Committee with reference number drs2105211526. Convenient sampling was done. All neonates born to COVID-19 positive mothers who were diagnosed by a real-time polymerase chain reaction of the nasopharyngeal swab during the time of delivery were included in the study. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 20 using appropriate tools. Results: A total of 105 babies born to COVID-19 positive mothers who were tested for COVID-19 infection were included in the study. Ten (9.5%) (3.89-15.10 at 95% Confidence Interval) of neonates born to COVID-19 positive mothers were positive for the COVID-19 virus. All the neonates born to COVID-19 positive mothers were discharged home except one case who had other comorbidities. Fever was present in four (40%) of COVID-19 positive neonates. Conclusions: There is a possibility of vertical transmission of coronavirus in neonates although the outcome is favourable.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) regarding the COVID-19 among frontline healthcare workers (F-HCWs) working at different hospitals in Nepal and to identify the factors significantly associated with KAP.MethodsWe used a web-based survey, and a convenience sampling method was adopted to collect data from 603 F-HCWs working at different hospitals in Nepal during the first week of June 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to assess the KAP perceived by the F-HCWs. It was divided into 4-parts consisting of 30-items, demographic characteristics (10-items), knowledge (10-items), attitude (5-items), and practice (5-items). It consisted of both multiple-choice questions and Likert scale items questionnaire.ResultsAmong the participants, 76% reported adequate knowledge, 54.7% reported positive attitude, and 78.9% reported appropriate practice. Statistically significant differences regarding the perceived level of knowledge among F-HCWs were observed among independent variables, including age, gender, level of education, marital status, profession, work experience, source of information, infection prevention and control (IPC) training, and online course(p p p p = 0.01. The factors significantly associated with adequate knowledge were male gender, nurse and doctor, websites and IPC training. Similarly, factors significantly associated with positive attitude were online course related to COVID-19 only. Moreover, factors significantly associated with appropriate practice were master’s degree or above and online course related to COVID-19.ConclusionsF-HCWs reported adequate overall knowledge with a positive attitude and adopted the appropriate practice. The experienced F-HCWs with higher education and who received IPC training and online course regarding COVID-19 had better KAP. So, the stakeholders must arrange the educational programs and training for F-HCWs for better preparedness tackling with COVID-19.

Background COVID-19 is currently recognized as an emerging public health problem caused by SARS-CoV-2. Thousands of people around the world have been infected since it appeared the very first time in Wuhan. For any epidemics, FMPs are at high risk of infection, and also become the vector for the disease transmission. Inadequate knowledge has been proven to be the causative factor for disease infection & transmission. This study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude & practice among FMPs, including doctors, nurses, and other paramedics working in the frontline in the different Hospitals in Nepal. Methods Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used in this cross-sectional study to collect data from 603 FMPs. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to assess the KAP of the FMPs. It was divided into 4-parts consisting of 31-items, demographic characteristics (11-items), knowledge (10-items), attitude (5-items), and practice (5-items). It consisted of both multiple-choice questions and Likert scale items questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23. Results A majority of the participants (76%) reported adequate knowledge. Most of the demographic characteristics, except the place of work, showed significant association with knowledge. About 54.7% of the FMPs demonstrated a positive attitude. Some of the demographic characteristics such as; age, gender, level of education, profession, and online course regarding COVID-19 showed significant association with attitude. A large population (78.9%) displayed appropriate practice, while only two demographic characteristics, profession and online course regarding COVID-19, showed significant association. Pearson correlation showed a significant association between KAP at the level of p

Additional file 1. Questionnaire to evaluate the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Frontline Healthcare Workers regarding COVID-19.

Previous reports clearly suggest that IL-17 have important role in development of systemic and peripheral inflammation in early miscarriage (EM). In the present study, we have investigated the association between genetic variants in IL-17A, IL-17F and susceptibility to EM. We recruited 135 EM patients and 150 controls and used PCR-RFLP method for genotyping the polymorphisms of IL-17A, rs4711998 (−832 A/G), rs8193036 (−692C/T) and IL-17F rs763780 (7488 T/C). No significant difference was observed for all the three polymorphic sites between the EM patients and control group in terms of genotypic (rs4711998, χ2 = 1.95, p = 0.37; rs8193036, χ2 = 1.91, p = 0.38; rs763780, χ2 = 2.45, p = 0.29), and allelic frequencies (rs4711998, OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 0.84 to 1.67, p = 0.35; rs8193036,OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 0.58 to 2.06, p = 0.75; rs763780, OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 0.93 to 2.71, p = 0.11). Further, meta-analysis of IL-17F (rs763780) variant with EM also revealed non-significant association of IL-17F (rs763780) variant with EM in the presence of mutant genotype (CC) via random effect model (p = 0.70, OR = 1.30, 95% CI =0.33–5.11).

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is no longer considered just a health burden, but a major health priority owing to its high treatment costs and poor outcome. The lack of community-based screening programs has led to the detection of CKD patients at advanced stages. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of CKD and patterns of known risk factors among the general population (middle-aged and elderly) attending a screening camp in a community-based setting. The study participants constituted a part of the general population of Varanasi (aged ≥45 years) who volunteered in a screening camp that was organized as part of the World Kidney Day Initiative at Opal Hospital. Information on age, sex, height, weight, smoking and drug history, history of diabetes, hypertension, and family history of kidney disease was extensively interrogated, while laboratory investigations such as urinalysis and serum creatinine levels were recorded. More than three-fifths of the participants were middle-aged adults (i.e., 45–64 years) and the remaining 34.8% were elderly population, i.e., ≥65 years. The overall prevalence of CKD in the 198 studied participants was 29.3%. Higher number of participants (40.6%) of elderly population had CKD (P = 0.011). The serum creatinine, albuminuria, and estimated glomerular filtration rate levels were strongly associated with CKD (P

Obesity has already been a global epidemic, and its prevalence has been projected to grow by 40% in the next decade. Its increasing prevalence has implications on the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease (CKD), which, in turn, could impact the health system and thereby the society in an adverse manner. Lack of community-based screening programs can lead to missed or late detection of CKD. The current study aims to estimate the prevalence of CKD in overweight and obese general population attending a screening camp in a tertiary care hospital in a North Indian city. In this cross-sectional study, 103 overweight and obese people from a community attending a health camp were screened for serum creatinine, urine analysis, random blood sugar, and uric acid. Demographic and anthropometric parameters were noted. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to find the predictors of CKD in these patients. The median age of the participants was 43 years with a male predominance (68%). More than half (58.4%) of the participants were obese and the remaining 41.6% were overweight. The overall prevalence of CKD was 17.5%. Individuals with obesity and diabetes were more prone to develop CKD (odds ratio = 4.868 and 7.941, respectively). CKD was prevalent in individuals with obesity. Obesity and diabetes were the significant predictors for the development of CKD. All the overweight and obese individuals should be periodically screened for kidney diseases.

Objective: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasingly recognized as a global public health problem. There is now convincing evidence that CKD can be detected using simple laboratory tests, and that treatment can prevent or delay complications of decreased kidney function, slow the progression of kidney disease and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Currently, screening for CKD is accepted practice only in patients with hypertension or diabetes, but more widespread screening is increasingly proposed. We screened a sample of population on World Kidney Day on three consecutive years for detecting patients with CKD and to describe the natural course of the disease. Materials and Methods: Everyone aged ≥18 was invited to participate. The study population was general population from Varanasi were screened in OPAL hospital. The survey comprised an extensive questionnaire and a brief clinical examination, including analysis of serum creatinine concentration in all participants. We screened all the participants who had at least one risk factor for CKD (including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or a family history of CKD). Urine dipstick tests were done and blood sample was obtained to detect proteinuria and measure serum creatinine concentration, respectively. Results: A total of 547 participants were enrolled of which all 547 subjects were included in the analyses. The mean serum creatinine was 0.9525 mg/dL (0.900 to 1.0050). A high serum creatinine level was demonstrated in 16 participants (2.92 %), and 191 (34.91 %) were demonstrated to have proteinuria. There was a significant correlation between CKD and age, DM, urine protein and serum creatinine. There was no significant correlation between serum creatinine level and urinary protein excretion ( P = .001). There were no significant differences between CKD and gender. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that increasing age, diabetes mellitus, Serum creatinine and urinary protein were found significantly related to kidney disease with P value of 0.02, 0.0006