The ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is causing major damages in health and economies worldwide. The development of safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19 is of utmost importance yet none have been licensed to date. One of the strategies for vaccine development utilizes dendritic cells which express class I and class II human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules. These HLA molecules present the antigenic peptides to T cells which mediate the immune response. Thus, the study aimed to identify SARS-CoV-2 peptides with potential binding to HLA class I and class II molecules using different bioinformatics tools. SYFPEITHI and IEDB were used to predict epitopes for the most common HLA class I and II alleles among Filipinos. The top predicted epitopes were subjected to de novo and template-based molecular docking. Then, binding energies of the generated peptide-HLA complexes to putative T cell receptors were predicted using a homology modeling approach. Several predicted epitopes showed promising MHC and TCR binding, although results varied considerably between the prediction methods used. In particular, the results of de novo and template-based docking methods did not coincide, the latter of which generated complexes that more closely resemble typical peptide-HLA complexes. The results of this study will be validated by the next stage of the vaccine development project which is the in vitro assessment of the T cell responses elicited by dendritic cells pulsed with the candidate peptides.
Humans ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; COVID-19

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 outbreak broadly affected not only the physical but also the psychological wellbeing of the people. However, few studies have been conducted concerning its psychological impact specifically on employees from the academe. OBJECTIVES: To determine the psychological responses and coping styles of employees of the School of Health Sciences at the University of the Philippines - Manila during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study sought to determine the association between participants’ socio-demographic characteristics and their psychological responses, and between participants’ psychological responses and their coping styles used. METHODS: We employed a cross-sectional design and self-selection or volunteer sampling to recruit 46 academics and support staff employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected in April 2020. Psychological responses were determined with the 10-item Kessler’s Psychological Distress Scale. Coping styles were assessed with the short-form Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Likelihood ratio chi-square tests and Spearman rho tests were conducted to test the hypotheses. Statistical significance was determined at p < .05. RESULTS: The majority of participants reported low levels of psychological distress in the early stage of the pandemic (n=44; 95.65%). We found a statistically significant relationship between psychological responses and coping styles characterized by rumination (rs = 0.454; P = 0.002) and catastrophizing (rs = 0.408; P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Our study confirmed the significance of psychological responses during the COVID-19 pandemic and demonstrated a specific association with coping styles characterized by rumination and catastrophizing but are unsuitably less adaptive. Hence, the application of less adaptive techniques when psychologically distressed from the pandemic need to be corrected or modified.
Philippines ; COVID-19 ; Adaptation, Psychological ; Universities

In this paper, we relate the concepts of “You Only Live Once,” delayed gratification, theories of persuasion as used in communication, and economics. We illustrate behavioral changes across generations and seek to explain these changes using a combined framework of communication, psychology, and economics. These concepts are then juxtaposed with the present COVID-19 crisis in terms of both health and economic implications. To provide a human face to the discussion, we describe our experiences as consumers, savers, and investors; demonstrating the application of these concepts to our own microeconomies. Philosophically speaking, a decision to do something in the present and a decision to defer something for the future are both acts of faith. We propose the use of theories of persuasion to demonstrate the risk in an overreliance on present orientation. We suggest diversification, not only in investment outlets, but also in temporal orientation, i.e., while people can and should enjoy the present, they should not do so by ignoring the future.
Persuasive Communication ; Consumer Behavior ; Health Behavior ; Time Factors

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to medical and non-medical issues. One of the subtler but equally important issues are the ethical ones. Most prominent among these is the ethical dilemma of health care professionals faced with the decision of whether or not they should continue working and serving the country despite the risks. OBJECTIVES: This paper intends to analyze the said bioethical dilemma by first, examining the ethical conundrum and defining its parameters; second, by assessing a previous attempt to arbitrate this issue and in the process, evaluating two different theories in ethics: egoism and Christian ethics; and third, by proposing a more nuanced normative ethical framework to fully understand the moral picture. METHODOLOGY: The paper employs the interpretive and analytical approach in philosophy and ethics, citing available literature, data, and sources to reinforce its arguments. RESULTS: The bioethical dilemma of healthcare professionals cannot be completely analyzed using the lens of egoism and Christian ethics as previously asserted by another scholar. A fuller understanding can be reached by using an Aristotelian normative framework as an anchor for analysis. CONCLUSION: All healthcare professionals want the good. While a dilemma may ensue because of conflict of values (e.g. for work and for safety), Aristotelian ethics subscribes to the need for hitting the mean between two extremes by honing one's practical wisdom and deliberation. Healthcare professionals exercise this faculty in confronting their dilemma.
Humans ; COVID-19 ; Bioethics ; Delivery of Health Care

The Philippines has been the leading country in Southeast Asia in terms of infections (both in terms of total and active cases) brought forth by the SARS-COV-2 virus, known as the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight the historical underpinnings of pandemic responses that are related to the Philippines, both globally and locally. We also present some counterfactuals in an economic recession that the pandemic caused. Arguing for fast-track rehabilitation and improvement of digital infrastructure, this development is essential in promoting e-commerce, quality education through remote learning, and the quality of health data generation and analysis. As the world is reminded of the Balmis expedition while the world still grapples to obtain a cure for the pandemic, we look at these tenets of the “new normal” to address issues of social justice in the Philippine setting.
Expeditions ; Philippines ; COVID-19 ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Pandemics

In response to the global crisis brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the Philippine government declared a countrywide State of Calamity, apart from imposing quarantines of different stringency across regions. As workplaces have been mandated to implement alternative arrangements, these major changes in turn have caused disruptions in, and called for adjustments to, business operations, with museums being among the affected. As museums are venues that store physical collections that call for physical presence and even the tactile involvement of audiences and visitors, their operations will have to be inevitably transformed post-pandemic, as are their visitors, whose mental health are likely to have been affected by the pandemic and resulting quarantine. Using the lens of crisis management, this paper analyzed the museums’ response to the changes brought about by the spread of disease and the resulting imposition of quarantine. Through a review of the responses of several Manila-based museums to the crisis, the paper assessed the readiness of the museums in creating appropriate and effective measures to manage decreased foot traffic and economic impact, among others. The paper asserts that various tactics were used as reactions, instead of proactive steps, to mitigate the effects of the pandemic to museums. The analyses are juxtaposed with degrowth initiatives, which may potentially address the economic issues arising from the pandemic. These initiatives may be of help in resolving the issue of collections management and curatorship, with a focus on the quality, rather than the quantity, of the museum’s collection and profits. Through postmodern and new museology theory, shifts from physical to virtual and other alternative modes of art experience are discussed as possible and effective solutions to this crisis. Overall, the paper aims to propose a revised model of operation that may be useful to museology in particular, and mental and planetary health in general.
Mental Health ; Museums ; Postmodernism ; Information Theory ; Health Communication

BACKGROUND: The Philippines implemented the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to contain the COVID-19 virus through home quarantine for all households. Classes in all education institutions were suspended which has disrupted normal everyday life of students. OBJECTIVES: Following the implementation of these guidelines, this study aimed to understand and describe the time allocation of students in a university in Manila, Philippines before and during the ECQ. METHODOLOGY: A total of 132 student respondents were involved in the survey which requested them to indicate the minimum allocated time for various academic, health, lifestyle, and social activities. A Wilcoxon-Signed Ranks test was used to determine the differences of time allocation before and during the ECQ. RESULTS: A significant percentage decrease among academics (-9.08%), travel (-5.56%), and shopping (-0.64%) is found. Moreover, significant percent increase is seen in activities namely rest and relaxation (+7.34%), entertainment (+3.62%), family time (+2.44%), self-development (+0.86%), household chores (+0.83%), and hobbies (0.68%). CONCLUSION: It is found that the implementation of ECQ have significantly affected the everyday life of students. Significant decreases and increases of time allocated to various activities were found due to the “new normal” situation among students. The study recommends a more in-depth look at different factors related to the pandemic that leads to the decrease and increase in the time allocated for everyday life activities of students.
Quarantine ; COVID-19 ; Students

Medical educators are restricted by the current pandemic in teaching community medicine. Although medical schools suspended the exposure of their students to real community settings, many community medicine educators advocate that learning in community medicine could be sustained during the pandemic as initially experienced in several medical schools in the Philippines. To maximize learning, it is essential to highlight interactivity as an important process in students' learning in whatever mode of delivery. This commentary focuses on the various forms of interactivities in teaching community medicine: student-t o-student, student-to-community, and student-to-teacher. It is suggested that the interactivity between the student and the teacher should be emphasized to address the potential limitations of the other forms.
Schools, Medical ; Community Medicine ; Pandemics ; Philippines ; Education, Medical ; Learning ; Students

The COVID-19 pandemic has had pervasive effects on the society at large, specifically disrupting routine and established processes at the household, organizational, and community levels. The Philippine Psychiatric Association organized the Fourth Southeast Asia Mental Health Forum to discuss issues and share experiences on how this community can respond to the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Three common challenges for the mental health community were identified – (a) ensuring the continuity of services for persons with psychiatric disorders in different settings; (b) preventing spread of COVID-19 infection in in-patient or residential mental health facilities; and (c) emergent demand for mental health services from health workers and the general population experiencing psychological symptoms because of the pandemic situation. In the face of these challenges, two broad groups of good practices and innovations were conceptualized and implemented by professionals and institutions: (a) development of alternative arrangements for the delivery of mental health services; and (b) mobilization of stakeholders and resources to ensure a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches. The lessons and ideas that emerged from the forum may find applicability not only in the next few months during which COVID-19 may persist in our midst (i.e., the “new normal”), but also in other future events that may cause the same level of societal impact and disruption.

BACKGROUND: Gender-based violence originates when societal gender-based expectations and the reality are not consistent. One such example is: there has been a recent rise in women's education in the Philippines, yet the prevalence of traditional female role expectations in the context of the heavily Catholic Filipino society remains unchanged. OBJECTIVES: In this paper, the relationship between women's education and their risk of gender-based violence (GBV) is examined and compared with the relationship between the education of their partners and the women's risk of experiencing GBV. METHODOLOGY: Our sample included women living in the Philippines surveyed by the Demographic Health Survey in 2017. We used multivariate logistic regression on the respondents' and the partner's education level, with respondent's risk of experiencing GBV. RESULTS: We found that there was a slight but statistically significant decreased risk of GBV experience with increased years of education of both the female respondents and their male partners. For all female respondents, there was a 3.7% decrease in the risk of GBV per additional year of their own education. For those with partners, there was a 2.3% decrease in the risk of GBV per additional year of their partner's education. CONCLUSION: We found that the education of male partners is as much of a factor as the women's own education in her likelihood of experiencing violence. From this, we established that partner selection based on their education levels may act as a protective factor for an individual's likelihood of experiencing GBV. Policy initiatives should address increasing male awareness of safe behavior and violence against women, especially while traditional gender roles are still predominant in the Filipino society.
Female ; Philippines ; Gender-Based ; Violence ; Marriage Violence ; Surveys and Questionnaires