Systematic literature review on impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding measures on mobility

Sex-specific impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the incidence of metabolic syndrome: a comparative study of 2018-2019 and 2020-2021

BACKGROUND/AIMS

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted global health, exacerbated metabolic health issues, and altered lifestyle behaviors. This study examined the sex-specific impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the incidence of metabolic syndrome using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).

METHODS

Data from the KNHANES VII (2018) and VIII (2019-2021), including 15,499 participants, were analyzed. The study population was stratified by sex, and further subdivisions were conducted based on the timeframe relative to the COVID-19 outbreak. Variables such as age, education level, household income, smoking status, and high-risk drinking were analyzed to assess their influence on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome significantly increased from 28.11% before the outbreak to 29.69% after the outbreak. Both males and females reported significant increases in waist circumference and fasting glucose levels. Age and education level differentially influenced the prevalence of metabolic syndrome between the sex. Smoking was significantly associated with increased prevalence in males, whereas high-risk drinking was associated with increased prevalence in males and decreased prevalence in females.

CONCLUSION

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the prevalence of metabolic syndrome with notable sex-specific differences. These findings highlight the need for sex-specific public health interventions to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on metabolic health.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to and delivery of maternal and child healthcare services in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review of the literature

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a multifaceted impact on maternal and child services and adversely influenced pregnancy outcomes. This systematic review aims to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to and delivery of maternal and child healthcare services in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods

The review was reported following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A primary search of electronic databases was performed using a combination of search terms related to the following areas of interest: "impact' AND 'COVID-19' AND 'maternal and child health services' AND 'low- and middle-income countries. A narrative synthesis approach was used to analyse and integrate the results.

Results

Overall, 45 unique studies conducted across 28 low- and middle-income countries met the inclusion criteria for the review. The findings suggest the number of family planning visits, antenatal and postnatal care visits, consultations for sick children, paediatric emergency visits and child immunisation levels decreased compared to the pre-pandemic levels in the majority of included studies. An analytical framework including four main categories was developed based on the concepts that emerged from included studies: the anxiety of not knowing (1), overwhelmed healthcare systems (2), challenges perceived by healthcare professionals (3) and difficulties perceived by service users (4).

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted family planning services, antenatal and postnatal care coverage, and emergency and routine child services. Generalised conclusions are tentative due to the heterogeneity and inconsistent quality of the included studies. Future research is recommended to define the pandemic's impact on women and children worldwide and prepare healthcare systems for future resurgences of COVID-19 and potential challenges beyond.

Systematic review registration

PROSPERO (CRD42021285178).

Prosociality predicts changes in leisure activities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Several studies suggest that leisure activities enhance well-being. In line with this perspective, a recent study indicates that augmenting indoor leisure activities to compensate for diminished outdoor pursuits could sustain or enhance well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study was designed to identify personality traits that predict such behavioral shifts in indoor versus outdoor leisure activities during the pandemic. The present study included 657 participants (Mage = 41.08) and measured 12 personality traits that a previous study reported were associated with health-protective behaviors during COVID-19. Our findings indicate that the rise in indoor leisure activities correlated with prosocial tendencies toward family and friends/acquaintances (but not strangers), self-centered interest, resilience, and Big Five personality traits. Conversely, the decline in outdoor activities was linked solely to prosociality toward family and friends/acquaintances. Further interaction analysis uncovered that prosocial tendencies toward close relations predicted increased indoor activities as an alternative to outdoor engagements. We concluded that prosociality promoted behavioral changes that significantly prevented infections in intimate others, and it could maintain personal well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic by facilitating behavior change.

COVID-19 control measures unexpectedly increased the duration of stay at High Speed Rail stations during the first community outbreak in Taiwan

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan has implemented strict border controls and community spread prevention measures. As part of these efforts, the government also implemented measures for public transportation. In Taiwan, there are two primary public transportation systems: Taiwan Railways (TR) is commonly utilized for local travel, while the Taiwan High-Speed Rail (THSR) is preferred for business trips and long-distance journeys due to its higher speed. In this study, we examined the impact of these disease prevention measures on the number of passengers and duration of stay in two major public transportation systems during the first community outbreak from April 29th to May 29th, 2021. Using data from a local telecommunications company, our study observed an expected decrease in the number of passengers after the cancellation of non-reserved seats at both TR and THSR stations across all 19 cities in the main island of Taiwan. Surprisingly, however, the duration of stay in some of the cities unexpectedly increased, especially at THSR stations. This unanticipated rise in the duration of stay has the potential to elevate contact probability among passengers and, consequently, the transmission rate. Our analysis shows that intervention policies may result in unforeseen outcomes, highlighting the crucial role of human mobility data as a real-time reference for policymakers. It enables them to monitor the impact of disease prevention measures and facilitates informed, data-driven decision-making.

Two-Stage Recognition Mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor-Binding Domain to Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2)

The SARS-CoV-2 virus, commonly known as COVID-19, occurred in 2019. It is a highly contagious illness with effects ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. It is also one of the best-known pathogens since more than 200,000 scientific papers occurred in the last few years. With the publication of the SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2-CTD) spike (S) protein in a complex with human ACE2 (hACE2) (PDB (6LZG)), the molecular analysis of one of the most crucial steps on the infection pathway was possible. The aim of this manuscript is to simulate the most widely spread mutants of SARS-CoV-2, namely Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omicron, and the first recognized variant (natural wild type). With the wide search of the hypersurface of the potential energy performed using the UNRES force field, the intermediate state of the ACE2-RBD complex was found. R403, K/N/T417, L455, F486, Y489, F495, Y501, and Y505 played a crucial role in the protein recognition mechanism. The intermediate state cannot be very stable since it will prevent the infection cascade.