Study on effectiveness of E-Banking services during Covid-19 period

The COVID-19 pandemic and public health response to the pandemic has caused huge setbacks in the management of other infectious diseases. In the present study, we aimed to (i) assess the trends in numbers of samples from patients with influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory syndrome tested for influenza and the number and proportion of cases detected from 2015–2021 and (ii) examine if there were changes during the COVID-19 period (2020–2021) compared to the pre-COVID-19 period (2015–2019) in three states of India. The median (IQR) number of samples tested per month during the pre-COVID-19 period was 653 (395–1245), compared to 27 (11–98) during the COVID-19 period (p value < 0.001). The median (IQR) number of influenza cases detected per month during the pre-COVID-19 period was 190 (113–372), compared to 29 (27–30) during the COVID-19 period (p value < 0.001). Interrupted time series analysis (adjusting for seasonality and testing charges) confirmed a significant reduction in the total number of samples tested and influenza cases detected during the COVID-19 period. However, there was no change in the influenza positivity rate between pre-COVID-19 (29%) and COVID-19 (30%) period. These findings suggest that COVID-19-related disruptions, poor health-seeking behavior, and overburdened health systems might have led to a reduction in reported influenza cases rather than a true reduction in disease transmission.

ObjectiveTo investigate how trends in incidence of anxiety and depressive disorders have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignPopulation-based cohort study.SettingRetrospective cohort study from 2018 to 2021 using the Information System...

Traditional brick-and-mortar stores have had to endure competition the past years from various shopping channels, particularly online shopping, which is driven by mobile technologies and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers, restricted by COVID-19 lockdown regulations, had to increasingly make use of online shopping. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the online shopping behaviour of South African consumers and if the behaviour would continue in the post COVID-19 period. Factors were identified from literature that influence consumer’s online shopping behaviour. A national survey was conducted, using mixed methods research and the data from 673 respondents were statistically analysed.The findings indicate that only 12% of the respondents shopped online for the first time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and 87% indicated they shop online monthly. Sixty-eight percent indicated they will continue shopping online and 65% think online shopping is a safer option. The products purchased most during the pandemic period were fast foods and clothing and the preferred delivery method was receiving the goods at home. The factors that affected online shopping during the COVID-19 period most were Personal Experience of Online Shopping, Interaction with products and the Current impact of Covid-19 on shopping. The findings suggest that customers in South Africa will continue to make use of online technologies to purchase goods and services.KeywordsOnline shoppingShopping behaviourCOVID-19South Africa

IntroductionThe short and long-term effects of covid infection are still being explored. Following a series of joint infections noted in patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, we explored if there was any difference in the incidence of these joint infections when compared to pre-COVID era.AimThe aim of this study was to determine the incidence of native joint infections during COVID and pre-COVID period and compare the two groups for any differences.MethodologyPatients diagnosed with septic arthritis over the 15th months of lockdown were studied and were compared with the same period prior to Covid-19 infection. The patient characteristics, the rate of septic arthritis, the presence of recent Covid-19 infection, delay in diagnosis and the difference in the microbiology between the two groups was studied.ResultsThere were 36 joint infections during the COVID period in comparison to 46 joint infections during pre-COVID period. Both groups had similar mean age. Knee was the most common joint involved in both groups. About 50% (n = 18) of the joint infections during the COVID period did not grow any micro-organisms even after extended culture, which was higher in comparison to the pre-COVID group (35%, n = 16).ConclusionThe culture negative group have significantly reduced markers of infection. The was no increase in the rate of septic arthritis however there was an increase in culture negative arthritis denoting a possible outbreak of reactive arthritis in the Covid-19 period.

Despite the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine, Streptococcus pneumoniae remains a cause of invasive diseases in Brazil. This study provides the distribution of serotypes and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for pneumococcal isolates before and during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic in two age groups, <5 and ≥50 years. This is a national laboratory-based surveillance study that uses data from the Brazilian national laboratory for invasive S. pneumoniae from the pre-COVID-19 (January 2016 to January 2020) and COVID-19 (February 2020 to May 2022) periods. Antimicrobial resistance was evaluated by disk diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration. The year 2020 was marked by a 44.6% reduction in isolates received and was followed by an upward trend from 2021 onwards, which became evident in 2022. No differences were observed in serotypes distribution between the studied periods. The COVID-19 period was marked by the high prevalence of serotypes 19A, 3, and 6C in both age groups. Serotypes 19A and 6C were related to non-antimicrobial susceptibility. We observed a reduction in S. pneumoniae, without changes in serotypes distribution and epidemiological capsular switch during the COVID-19 period. We observed elevated resistance rates, mainly to penicillin and ceftriaxone for non-meningitis cases in children under 5 years of age.

Maternal HIV infection is associated with increased risks of pregnancy complications and adverse perinatal outcomes, particularly in high-prevalence settings like South Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare access, potentially exacerbating challenges in antenatal care and HIV management. To our knowledge, limited South African data exist regarding the impact of maternal HIV on birth complications and perinatal birth outcomes especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study thus evaluates the impact of maternal HIV on pregnancy and perinatal outcomes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic using archived chart records from a tertiary hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A retrospective analysis of 8456 birth records from March 2019 to December 2020 was conducted, categorized into pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Data were stratified by maternal HIV status and analyzed for demographics, antenatal care attendance, ART regimens, labor characteristics, and birth outcomes. Statistical tests, including Chi-square and logistic regression, were used to assess associations between HIV status and outcomes. Hospital attendance declined during the COVID-19 period, especially among women living with HIV, whose age ranged between 19 and 35years, and were multigravida, and multiparous. Antenatal care attendance was suboptimal and worsened during the COVID-19 period. ART coverage remained high with maintained viral suppression. Women living with HIV had shorter "active labor" and higher elective cesarean rates during the COVID-19 period. Preterm birth risk was also higher pre-pandemic among women living with HIV but not significantly different during COVID-19 period. Birth weights were lower in HIV-exposed infants pre-pandemic with a non-significant shift during COVID-19 period. Sepsis incidence increased among women living with HIV during COVID-19 period. No maternal deaths were reported. A decline in hospital attendance was noted during the COVID-19 period among women living with HIV, with antenatal care attendance being suboptimal and exacerbated. Maternal HIV remains a critical factor influencing birth outcomes, necessitating sustained focus on tailored care during crises to protect vulnerable populations.

This study aimed to compare the changes in physical activity (PA), chronic disease, and mental health indicators of Koreans before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, using raw data from more than 400,000 representative samples from the 2019-2020 Community Health Survey by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and to explore the correlations among them. We used two-way ANOVA to analyze changes and differences in PA and obesity levels. We assessed the influence of gender and recurrent PA using chi-square tests for mental health status and chronic disease. Finally, we performed a correlation analysis to determine the relationships among PA days, mental health, and chronic disease. The results showed that, compared to the levels before the COVID-19 period, moderate-intensity (Days: 1.415~1.217; Time: 114.688~107.321) and high-intensity (Days: 0.798~0.671; Time: 112.866~106.110) PA significantly decreased in Koreans during the COVID-19 period, while low-intensity (Time: 60.305~61.735) PA increased. Before and during the COVID-19 period, men (18,436 (8.1%)~16,124 (7.0%)) performed PA more regularly than women (13,207 (5.8%)~9382 (4.1%)). Compared to the number of regular PA participants before the COVID-19 period, regular PA participants (male, female) decreased from 31,643 (13.8%) to 25,506 (11.1%) during the COVID-19 period. Compared with the levels before the COVID-19 period, the experience rates of stress (3.1%~2.6%), depression (0.8%~0.6%), HBP (3.0%~2.2%), and diabetes (1.2%~0.9%) significantly changed under different levels of conventional PA intervention. In addition, the obesity rate during the COVID-19 period (23.957) was higher than it was before COVID-19 (23.477). During the COVID-19 period, the PA of Koreans was greatly restricted, but low-intensity PA was maintained and increased. PA is an effective activity for maintaining mental health and for preventing and reducing chronic diseases. Recommendations for appropriate intensity or a combination of high-, moderate-, and low-intensity PA should be based on the health status of Koreans to help them maintain mental health and to reduce the risk of chronic diseases during COVID-19 social distancing.

Assessing access to obstetrical care via telehealth in the era of COVID-19

BackgroundThe opioid crisis in the United States may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Increases in opioid use, emergency medical services (EMS) runs for opioid-related overdoses, and opioid overdose deaths have been reported. No study has examined changes in multiple naloxone administrations, an indicator of overdose severity, during the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveThis study examines changes in the occurrence of naloxone administrations and multiple naloxone administrations during EMS runs for opioid-related overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guilford County, North Carolina (NC).MethodsUsing a period-over-period approach, we compared the occurrence of opioid-related EMS runs, naloxone administrations, and multiple naloxone administrations during the 29-week period before (September 1, 2019, to March 9, 2020) and after NC’s COVID-19 state of emergency declaration (ie, the COVID-19 period of March 10 to September 30, 2020). Furthermore, historical data were used to generate a quasi-control distribution of period-over-period changes to compare the occurrence of each outcome during the COVID-19 period to each 29-week period back to January 1, 2014.ResultsAll outcomes increased during the COVID-19 period. Compared to the previous 29 weeks, the COVID-19 period experienced increases in the weekly mean number of opioid-related EMS runs (25.6, SD 5.6 vs 18.6, SD 6.6; P<.001), naloxone administrations (22.3, SD 6.2 vs 14.1, SD 6.0; P<.001), and multiple naloxone administrations (5.0, SD 1.9 vs 2.7, SD 1.9; P<.001), corresponding to proportional increases of 37.4%, 57.8%, and 84.8%, respectively. Additionally, the increases during the COVID-19 period were greater than 91% of all historical 29-week periods analyzed.ConclusionsThe occurrence of EMS runs for opioid-related overdoses, naloxone administrations, and multiple naloxone administrations during EMS runs increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guilford County, NC. For a host of reasons that need to be explored, the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have exacerbated the opioid crisis.

The Effect of Lockdown on Public Health and Economic System: Findings from First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Designing Effective Strategies to Cope with Future Waves

e18506 Background: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many health systems postponed routine screening and care to conserve resources and reduce patient exposure. As a result, several studies have shown a decline in the diagnosis of new cancer cases, a process that relies heavily on the use of screening tools and modalities. The Washington D.C. area is home to a heterogeneous patient population and one of the highest income gaps in the United States. Patterns in healthcare inequality in the area mirror these disparities. This study aims to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis rates compared to prior years and analyze whether vulnerable populations in the D.C. area were disproportionately affected. Methods: Data was collected from the George Washington University (GWU) Cancer Registry. The study population included patients age 18 and up residing in D.C., Maryland or Virginia who were diagnosed with any cancer at the GWU Health System within the following date ranges: April 1 to September 30 of 2018, 2019, 2020 and September 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020. Data collected included age at diagnosis, race, ethnicity, cancer site, stage at diagnosis, and patient zip code as a proxy for socioeconomic status (SES). Median income by zip code was labeled as low, middle or high. Chi square analysis was used to compare changes in each of these demographic and SES categories between each time frame. Results: There were 372 new cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 period, April 1 2020 to September 30 2020. During this time period in 2018 and 2019, there were 525 and 539 new cancer diagnoses, respectively. Immediately prior to the COVID-19 period, September 1 2019 to February 29 2020, there were 588 new cancer diagnoses. Patterns of cancer type, age at diagnosis, sex, clinical stage, pathological stage and SES did not significantly differ between the COVID-19 period and any other time period (p &gt; 0.05 for all categories). However, ethnicity did change significantly with a slight increase in the number of Hispanic patients diagnosed during the COVID-19 period as compared to the 2018 and 2019 time periods (p = 0.041) and the September 2019 to February 2020 time period (p = 0.0005). Conclusions: Through this retrospective analysis, we observed a decrease in new cancer diagnoses during the COVID-19 period with no significant differences in patient age, sex, cancer type, cancer stage or SES. There was a slight increase in cancer diagnoses among Hispanic patients during the COVID-19 period. These results suggest that most groups were equally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to cancer diagnosis. However, this may be specific to the region we studied and limited by the population size and our means of collecting data about patient SES. Further studies comparing early and late impacts of COVID-19 on cancer care will be important to identify specific communities for targeted outreach and intervention.

COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on general health.In fact, although barely affected by respiratory problems, children and adolescents undoubtedly suffered from the consequences of the pandemic, especially from a psychological standpoint.We aimed to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic modified the indications and the results of Exercise Challenge Tests (ECTs) conducted in a pediatric pulmonology center.This was an observational retrospective monocenter study.We analyzed indications and results of all the ECTs performed between March 2021 and September 2022 (COVID-19 period) and, for comparison, those performed between September 2018 and March 2020 (pre-COVID-19 period).62 ECTs were performed during the COVID-19 period and 64 during the pre-COVID-19 (proportion of positive test 19.3% and 18.7%, respectively).During the COVID-19 period there was a significant increase (18 vs 4) in the number of ECTs requested because of a mix of subjective respiratory symptoms and vague non-respiratory symptoms and all these tests resulted negative.During the pandemic era we observed an increased number of children and adolescents complaining mixed subjective exercise-related respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms.The ECTs conducted in these patients were all negative, suggesting a functional nature for the reported symptoms. IMPACT STATEMENT:The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced pediatric health, especially from a psychological standpont.We analyzed Exercise Challenge Tests (ECTs) performed before and during Covid-19 Pandemic.We demonstrated that during the COVID-19 period there was a significant increase in the number of ECTs requested because of a mix of subjective respiratory symptoms and vague non-respiratory symptoms and all these ECTs resulted negative.

The COVID-19 situation is a critical state throughout the world that most countries have been forced to implement partial to total lockdown to control the COVID-19 disease outbreak. And displays the natural power to rejuvenate herself without the interference of human beings. So, the top-level emergency response including full quarantine actions are significant measures against the COVID-19 and resulted in a notable reduction in PM2.5 in the atmosphere. India was severely attacked by COVID-19, and as a result, the Government of India has imposed a nationwide lockdown from 24th March (2020) to 30th May (2020) in different phases. The COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown had a significant negative impact on India's socioeconomic structure but had a positive impact on environmental sustainability in terms of improved air quality due to the 68 days of the shutdown of India's industrial, commercial, construction, and transportation systems. The current study looked at the spatio-temporal changes in PM2.5 concentrations at different air quality monitoring stations (AQMS) in Kolkata during the COVID-19 period. The study revealed that the average concentration of PM2.5 (µg/m3) was slightly high (139.82) in the pre-lockdown period which was rapidly reduced to 37.77 (72.99% reduction) during the lockdown period and it was further increased (137.11) in post-lockdown period. The study also shows that the average concentration of PM2.5 was 66.83 in 2018, which slightly increased to 70.43 (5.39%) in 2019 and dramatically decreased to 37.77 (46.37%) in the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown. The study clearly shows that air quality improves during lockdown periods in Kolkata, but it is not a permanent solution rather than temporary. Therefore, it is necessary to make the proper policies and strategies by policymakers and government authorities, and environmental scientists to maintain such good air quality by controlling several measures of air pollutants.

ObjectivesThe present study examined the patterns of sex behaviors before and during COVID-19, and identified the factors associated with condomless anal intercourse during COVID-19 from individual, interpersonal, and contextual level among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Hong Kong.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among MSM in Hong Kong. A total of 463 MSM completed a cross-sectional telephone survey between March 2021 and January 2022.ResultsAmong all participants, the mean number of regular sex partners, non-regular sex partners, and casual sex partners during the COVID-19 period were 1.24, 2.09, and 0.08 respectively. Among those who had sex with regular, non-regular, and casual sex partner during the COVID-19 period, respectively 52.4%, 31.8% and 46.7% reported condomless anal intercourse. Compared to the pre-COVID-19 period, participants reported significantly fewer number of regular and non-regular sex partners during the COVID-19 period. However, a higher level of condomless anal intercourse with all types of sex partners during the COVID-19 period was also observed. Adjusted for significant socio-demographic variables, results from logistic regression analyses revealed that perceived severity of COVID-19 (aOR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.58, 0.88), COVID-19 risk reduction behaviors in general (aOR = 0.68, 95% CI = 0.48, 0.96), COVID-19 risk reduction behaviors during sex encounters (aOR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.30, 0.66), condom negotiation (aOR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.44, 0.86), and collective efficacy (aOR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.64, 0.98) were protective factors of condomless anal intercourse with any type of sex partners during the COVID-19 period.ConclusionThe COVID-19 control measures have caused a dramatic impact on the sexual behavior of MSM in Hong Kong. Interventions that promote condom use during the COVID-19 pandemic are still needed and such interventions could emphasize prevention of both COVID-19 and HIV.

IntroductionTwo decades after implementing the Prevention of Mother to Child transmission (PMTCT) program, South Africa has still not managed to eliminate intrauterine mother-to-child (MTCT) HIV transmission. During the COVID pandemic access to maternal health services was reduced, potentially compromising the PMTCT program.MethodA retrospective record review was conducted at a midwife-run obstetric unit in a high HIV prevalence setting. Data on pregnant women who delivered between January 2019 and December 2020 were analysed to evaluate predictors for MTCT, and compare pre-COVID and COVID-era changes in maternal and infant HIV incidence and prevalence.ResultsA total of 1660 women delivered at the facility over a 24-month period (Jan 2019-Dec 2020), of whom 92.8% enrolled for antenatal care in 2019 and 94.6% in 2020. A significantly greater proportion of women were aware of their HIV status before enrolling for antenatal care in the pre-COVID (2019) than COVID (2020) period (88% vs 40.2%; p < 0.05). There was a significant increase in new HIV infection after enrolling for antenatal care during the COVID period compared to pre-COVID period (120 vs 62 women, p < 0.05). There was also a significant increase in the HIV prevalence among women who delivered during the COVID period than in the pre-COVID era (43.5% compared to 35.8%, p < 0.05). However, more than 95% of HIV-positive women initiated ART in both periods. Overall, a total of thirteen infants tested HIV positive (2.1% MTCT rate), with no difference in MTCT between 2019 and 2020. Infants born to women on antiretroviral therapy (ART) were 93% less likely to have a positive PCR test than those whose mothers who were not on ART. (OR = 0.07, 95% CI 0.031:0.178, p < 0.05).ConclusionThe increase in maternal HIV incidence and prevalence during the COVID era suggest a lapse in HIV prevention strategies during the COVID pandemic. There is an urgent need to improve community test-and-treat campaigns among women of reproductive age in the community and increase access to HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis for pregnant women, especially during periods of health crises.