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Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, a tick-borne viral disease, is an emerging transboundary disease with zoonotic implications. The disease has now started showing evidence of its presence beyond its endemic foci in Asia, Africa, Southern and Eastern Europe and Middle East. CCHF is capable of causing severe economic losses and disruption of trade opportunities. The disease spread is primarily influenced by the distribution of tick vectors, epidemiological background of the vertebrate reservoir hosts and seasonal factors. Southeast Asian countries are more vulnerable to CCHF due to the increasing population and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. In India, besides the climatic factors, anthropogenic factors and the hosting of animal trade fairs are the reasons contributing to the cases of CCHF. The clinical presentation of the disease ranges from a mild febrile illness to a severe disease resulting in vascular dysfunction and multi-organ failure. The most definitive form of diagnosis is by employing RT-PCR. Currently, there is no specific treatment protocol; however WHO recommends the use of ribavirin. No vaccines are available and therefore, the best way of prevention is by minimizing exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Substance use among medical students may have consequences like poor academic performance and impaired patient care. There is a growing literature on substance use among medical students in India. This systematic review and meta-analysis were done to synthesize the literature on substance use among medical students in India. Methods: Medline and Google Scholar were used as search engines to ascertain the literature that reported substance use among Indian medical students from January 2000 to January 2022. The pooled prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, other substance, and overall substance use was computed. Results: A total of 65 studies were included. The pooled prevalence of tobacco use was 21.9% (95% confidence intervals [CI] 18.5% to 25.3%, n = 20,165, k = 51), while the pooled prevalence of alcohol use was 27.1% (95% CI of 23.0% to 31.1%, n = 11,823, k = 31). The overall pooled prevalence of substance use was 40.3% (95% CI of 25.5% to 55.2%, n = 4960, k = 10), while pooled prevalence of cannabis was 8.2% (95% CI of 4.9% to 11.5%, n = 2418, k = 7). The use of tobacco was about 10 times higher in males than females, while the odds of alcohol use were about five times higher in males. Conclusion: Substance use is common among medical students, with rates of substance use being generally higher in males as compared to females. Targeted interventions may help to reduce substance use and prevent the development of substance use disorders in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study was conducted to develop and validate a questionnaire to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on lifestyle-related behaviour related to eating, activity and sleep pattern.Design: Indexed study used a mixed method design. Phase I employed qualitative methods for development of questionnaire including literature review, focus group discussion, expert evaluation and pre-testing. Phase II used quantitative methods for establishing construct validity of the questionnaire via parallel factor analysis.Participants: Phase 1 involved participation of experts from different fields (Departments of Medicine, Nutrition and Clinical Psychology) and general adult population. For phase II, data were collected from 124 adult respondents (female = 57·26 %); mean age (36 ± 14·8 years) residing in an urban setting.Results: The questionnaire consisted of three sections: (A) socio-demographic and anthropometric parameters, (B) twenty-four items each for investigating the changes in eating, activity and sleep behaviour before v. during COVID-19, (C) six items assessing COVID-19 specific reasons for lifestyle change. The Cronbach's α value of the questionnaire is 0·83 suggesting its good internal consistency.Conclusions: This appears to be a valid tool to assess the impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle-related behaviours with potential utility for public health researchers to identify these changes at community level and develop strategies to reinforce corrective behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global population significantly and has resulted in physiological, psychological, social, and behavioral changes among the individuals. The prominent mental health effects of COVID-19 on the general and clinical populations have been well recognized. The family physicians and primary care practitioners from various disciplines are likely to encounter patients who are experiencing psychological distress manifested in the form of anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, increased substance use, or other symptoms. This narrative review is aimed to present a bird's eye view of the psychological impact of COVID-19 on the general population and the various tools that are used to evaluate them. Besides, we intend to suggest a set of tools/questionnaires that can be used by the family physicians and primary care practitioners for generating data on the psychological impact of this pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in schizophrenia has shown improvement as well as deficits in memory. Though most studies had focused on dorsolateral prefrontal cortex only, but impact of rTMS on cognitive functions remain inconclusive. The need of the study is to assess the impact of rTMS on memory in schizophrenia. Materials and Methods: Forty right-handed male patients with schizophrenia were included by purposive sampling and rated on Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) before starting the rTMS treatment with the experimental group. Low frequency 1 Hz rTMS including 1200 stimulations were given over temporo-parietal cortex for 20 min as add on to medications. At the end of 10 session treatment (5 days a week for 2 weeks), the patients were re-evaluated. Results: A total of 39 patients (20 for experimental group and 19 for control group) with mean age of 29.70 ± 9.05 and 31.26 ± 7.78 years, respectively, shows significant difference to pre- and post-treatment mean PANSS score in positive, negative and general psychopathology domains. The pre- and post-treatment mean Postgraduate Institute Memory Scale Scores with multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant improvements in all memory domains (P < 0.01) except remote memory in both experimental and control groups. Conclusion: RTMS in combination with antipsychotics has shown improvement in psychopathology in patients of schizophrenia without any deterioration of memory. Key words: Memory, repetitive transcranial magnetic [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]