While the regular evaluation of academic courses is an essential exercise for qualityassurance and improvement, among other purposes, the courses developed and offeredin the abrupt shift to remote learning during the pandemic merit monitoring andevaluation. An implementation assessment is recommended and the use of anIlluminative Approach is illustrated.
Pandemics

Background: With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, pregnant women may turn to online information searches regarding COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination. Objective: We aimed to determine global online interest in COVID-19 infection and COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy. Materials and Methods: We utilized Google Trends data to determine the global search volume index (SVI) for the search terms “COVID-19 in pregnancy” and “COVID vaccine pregnancy” from January 1, 2020, to February 12, 2022, and ranked the top 15 search queries via their individual SVIs to assess the worldwide distribution of interest. Using Pearson correlation, we correlated several economic and pandemic-related country-specific data with the SVIs for the two search terms, while we utilized a one-way analysis of variance to country income groups with the SVIs using ANOVA. Significant correlations were denoted with P < 0.05. Results: SVI for “COVID-19” in pregnancy showed a minimal and nonsignificant downward trend in 2022. SVI for this search term was positively correlated with the SVI for “COVID vaccine pregnancy” (P < 0.05). On the other hand, SVI for “COVID vaccine in pregnancy” showed an exponential decline from November 2020 to 2022. SVI for this search term was also negatively correlated with deaths per 100,000 cases (P < 0.05). Although this was nonsignificant, high-income countries showed higher online interest with the two search terms than low- to low-middle-income countries. There were no significant correlations among specific economic and pandemic-related country-specific data and SVI for both search terms. Conclusion We observed a constant online interest in COVID-19 in pregnancy during the time period of the study, which may reflect the watchful engagement of people in the absence of face-to-face physician consultations. Peak online interest in COVID-19 vaccine in pregnancy declined steadily, which may reflect either vaccine hesitancy or an increase in public knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines. High-income countries have apparently higher online interest in COVID-19 vaccines, which may be due to access to early mass administration to the general public. These data can be used as a reference regarding future policy-making in the setting of potentially massive public health emergency in the future.
Infodemiology ; Pandemics

No abstract available.
Influenza, Human* ; Pandemics*

No abstract available.
Influenza, Human ; Pandemics

Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and the level of perceived stress of the Physician Licensure Exam (PLE) takers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive survey among the Physician Licensure Exam takers using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: Seven hundred thirty-two (732) Physician Licensure Exam takers participated in the survey, 423 (57.8%) were November takers and 309 (42.2%) were March takers who will be completing the exam on September 2020. The prevalence rates of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder among the PLE takers were 44.1% and 50.3%, respectively. November takers have a higher rate of depression (60.1%) and anxiety (52.7%) compared to the March takers (54.4% and 46.6%, respectively). The majority of the takers have moderate levels of depression (26.6%), anxiety (37.8%), and perceived stress (70.2%). There was a significant difference in the prevalence of major depression between the March and November takers (p-value <0.00001) but not with generalized anxiety disorder (p-value: 0.05155). There was also no significant difference in the severity of depression (p value=0.527878), anxiety (p-value=0.883558), and levels of perceived stress (p- value=0.2476) between the March and November takers. Conclusions There was a high prevalence of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder among the PLE takers during the COVID19 pandemic. Majority of the PLE takers experienced moderate levels of depression, anxiety, and perceived stress.
Covid-19 ; Pandemics

Introduction: COVID-19 emerged as a new disease during the early period of 2020. Given that our institution is a cardiac specialty center and our patients have numerous co-morbidities compared to the general population, we wanted to determine the clinical profiles and in-hospital short-term outcomes of suspect, probable and confirmed adult COVID-19 patients seen at our institution. Methodology: We prospectively enrolled 323 adult (115 health care workers) suspect, probable and confirmed COVID- 19 patients admitted from March to June 2020. We described and analyzed their clinical presentation, and in-hospital outcomes. Results: There were 117 (36.22%) RT-PCR positive patients with 36.53% confirmed, 13.00% probable and 50.46% suspect patients. For probable and confirmed patients, 25%, 21.25%, 23.13% 16.25% had no, mild, moderate, and severe symptoms, respectively with 14.28% critical cases. Over-all mortality rate for probable and confirmed cases was 25.54% with 91.3% mortality rate for critical cases. Co-morbidities with statistically significant association with severity of disease were as follows: hypertension, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and COPD. Conclusion During the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 36.53% of cases admitted at our institution were COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR. One-third of the cases were severe and critical, with more clinical instability, increased inflammatory markers, and higher in-hospital morbidity and mortality.
COVID-19 ; Pandemics ; Philippines

We have seen the events of the pandemic unfold from our unique perspective as pathologists. Early on, we stood helpless as the virus ravaged our cities and towns with ferocity while we could hardly do anything. We were woefully unprepared to cope with the testing. Very few labs were capable of doing RT-PCR testing, exposing our unpreparedness in molecular pathology.
COVID-19 ; Research ; Pandemics

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in a public health crisis but has also strained hospital services. The provision of surgical care should therefore also be guided by ethical, and whenever applicable, also legal, principles. Methods. An integrative approach that covers clinical and ethical dimensions, as well as spans the spectrum of surgical care, is therefore necessary. This action research involved three key steps: 1) identification of ethical dilemmas related to the provision of surgical care during the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) preparation of clinical scenarios that highlight these dilemmas; and 3) determination of the appropriate options for the said scenarios, based on the best available evidence as well as most applicable ethical principles. Results. Ethical theories included utilitarianism, human rights, and communitarianism. Ethical principles included non-maleficence, justice, autonomy, and beneficence. Values considered were duty, reciprocity, human life, efficiency, fairness, fidelity, ownership, social value, and fair innings. Also incorporated were informed consent, allocation principles, resource allocation, and triage. In terms of operational issues and surgical technical concerns, the following were considered: phased standards of care, categorization of interventions, prioritization, surgical approaches, infection control, diagnostics, patient welfare, staff welfare, operations protocols, surgical training, and communication. Key points derived from the ethical and technical considerations of surgical care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic are presented. Conclusion. This action research involving a review of the literature and stakeholder engagement has provided a concise ethical and technical resource for surgical administrators, practitioners, and trainees.
COVID-19 ; Pandemics

No abstract available.
Influenza, Human ; Pandemics

No abstract available.
Influenza, Human ; Pandemics