Food insecurity during COVID-19 pandemic: A genuine concern for people from disadvantaged community and low-income families in Province 2 of Nepal.

Background: Food insecurity is a serious social and public health problem which is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic especially in resource-poor countries such as Nepal. However, there is a paucity of evidence at local levels. This study aims to explore food insecurity among people from the disadvantaged community and low-income families during the COVID-19 pandemic in Province-2 of Nepal. Methods: The semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted virtually among purposively selected participants (n = 41) from both urban and rural areas in eight districts of Province 2 in Nepal. All the interviews were conducted in the local language between July and August 2020. The data analysis was performed using thematic network analysis in Nvivo 12 Pro software.ResultsThe results of this study are grouped into four global themes: i) Impact of COVID-19 on food security; ii) Food insecurity and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic, iii) Food relief and emergency support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and iv) Impact of COVID-19 and food insecurity on health and wellbeing. Most participants in the study expressed that families from low socioeconomic backgrounds and disadvantaged communities such as those working on daily wages and who rely on remittance had experienced increased food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants used different forms of coping strategies to meet their food requirements during the pandemic. Community members experienced favouritism, nepotism, and partiality from local politicians and authorities during the distribution of food relief. The food insecurity among low-income and disadvantaged families has affected their health and wellbeing making them increasingly vulnerable to the COVID-19 infection.ConclusionFood insecurity among low-income and disadvantaged families was found to be a serious problem during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study suggests that the relief support plan and policies should be focused on the implementation of immediate sustainable food security strategies to prevent hunger, malnutrition, and mental health problems among the most vulnerable groups in the community

The association of sleep problem, dietary habits and physical activity with weight status of adolescents in Nepal.

Overweight/obesity among adolescents is an emerging public health issue worldwide. However, the evidence on the determinants of body weight status and lifestyle behaviors among Nepalese adolescents is limited. This study aims to explore the sleep characteristics, dietary habits, and physical activity and its association with body mass index (BMI) among Nepalese adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and November 2019 among 627 randomly selected adolescents from eight schools located in Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal. A self-administrated structure questionnaire was used to collect the data. Anthropometric measurements (adolescent's BMI), sleep characteristics, dietary habits, and physical activity were assessed using validated tools. Multinomial logistic regression analyses assessed the association between covariates and BMI categories. The statistical significance was considered at p-value < 0.05 and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The overall prevalence of underweight and overweight/obesity among adolescents was 9.1% (95% CI: 7.1-11.6) and 23.7% (95% CI: 20.6-27.7) respectively. In multinomial logistic regression, adolescents who reported sleep problem compared to those with no such problem (Relative risk ratio (RRR) = 13.37, 95% CI: 7.14-25.05), adolescents who had obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) symptoms (RRR = 3.21, 95% CI:1.31-7.86), who consumed soft drink ≥1 time/day in past 1 months (RRR = 5.44, 95% CI: 2.93-10.10), consumed high-fat dietary ≥2 times/day (RRR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.18-3.99), and had a habit of junk food consumptions (RRR = 5.71, 95% CI:2.55-12.82), adolescents who had 5-6 h/day sedentary behavior (RRR = 3.21, 95% CI: 1.14-9.09), adolescents from Terai/Madhesi castes (RRR = 2.81, 95% CI: 1.19-6.64) and adolescents whose father was employed (RRR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.04-3.98) were at increased risk of being overweight/obesity. In contrast, adolescents aged 14-16 years had 71% lower (RRR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.16-0.52), and adolescents who consumed less than five food groups had 45% lower (RRR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-0.97) risk of being overweight/obesity compared to 12-14 years age groups and consumed more than five food groups respectively. The findings of this study warrant immediate interventions to improve the lifestyle to reduce overweight/obesity among Nepalese adolescents. Creating a conducive environment, both at school and home is essential to encourage adolescents for the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors

First report of leucism for the kraits Bungarus walli Wall, 1907 and B. niger Wall, 1908, with updates on their geographic distribution in Nepal (Serpentes, Elapidae)

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Societas Europaea Herpetologica in Herpetology Notes. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://www.biotaxa.org/hn/article/view/62989Six species of kraits, genus Bungarus, have been recorded in Nepal (e.g., Schleich and Kästle, 2002; Sharma et al., 2013), including B. bungaroides (Cantor, 1839), B. caeruleus (Schneider, 1801), B. fasciatus (Schneider, 1801), B. lividus Cantor, 1839, B. niger Wall, 1908, and B. walli Wall, 1907. These species occur from the lowland habitats of the Terai Plains along the Nepal-India border into habitats at intermediate elevations in the Siwalik Hills and into the Mahabharat Range (Joshi et al., 2019), extending in the case of B. caeruleus, the most commonly encountered krait in Nepal, up to elevations of at least 1525 m, and up to 1730 m in B. bungaroides (Schleich and Kästle, 2002; Sharma et al., 2013). All of these species appear to be of medical importance as a cause of snakebite mortality and morbidity (e.g., Bhetwal et al., 1998; Pandey, 2015). It is noteworthy that confirmed records of kraits in Nepal display a patchiness consistent with intermittent sampling: while some species probably have a countrywide distribution, records tend to exist primarily for areas of high human population concentration where sampling and the incidence of snakebite can be expected at greater frequency (e.g., B. caeruleus, B. fasciatus, B. lividus). On the other hand, some species cluster only in the southeasternmost extreme of the country (B. bungaroides, B. walli), and given their distribution in neighbouring countries, this sampling may reflect reality

Impact of COVID-19 on health services utilization in Province-2 of Nepal: a qualitative study among community members and stakeholders

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges and threats to the health care system, particularly affecting the effective delivery of essential health services in resource-poor countries such as Nepal. This study aimed to explore community perceptions of COVID-19 and their experiences towards health services utilization during the pandemic in Province-2 of Nepal. Methods The semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted among purposively selected participants (n = 41) from a mix of rural and urban settings in all districts (n = 8) of the Province 2 of Nepal. Virtual interviews were conducted between July and August 2020 in local languages. The data were analyzed using thematic network analysis in NVivo 12 Pro. Results The findings of this research are categorized into four global themes: i) Community and stakeholders’ perceptions towards COVID-19; ii) Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on health services delivery; iii) Community perceptions and experiences of health services during COVID-19; and iv) COVID-19: testing, isolation, and quarantine services. Most participants shared their experience of being worried and anxious about COVID-19 and reported a lack of awareness, misinformation, and stigma as major factors contributing to the spread of COVID-19. Maternity services, immunization, and supply of essential medicine were found to be the most affected areas of health care delivery during the lockdown. Participants reported that the interruptions in health services were mostly due to the closure of health services at local health care facilities, limited affordability, and involvement of private health sectors during the pandemic, fears of COVID-19 transmission among health care workers and within health centers, and disruption of transportation services. In addition, the participants expressed frustrations on poor testing, isolation, and quarantine services related to COVID-19, and poor accountability from the government at all levels towards health services continuation/management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions This study found that essential health services were severely affected during the COVID-19 pandemic in all districts of Province-2. It is critical to expand and continue the service coverage, and its quality (even more during pandemics), as well as increase public-private sector engagement to ensure the essential health services are available for the population

Derangement of liver function tests in dengue patients

Background: Changes in the liver function test may serve as an early marker for timely diagnosis and identification of patients who may develop severe dengue. The purpose of this study was to examine the link between dengue fever severity and liver function test. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted in the Department of General Medicine, Madhesh Institute of health sciences, provincial hospital, Janakpurdham in which we included dengue positive patients (aged 18 years or more) based on NS1 antigen or high titer on IgM/IgG testing from July 2023 till August 2023. We excluded patients with diseases like malaria, cirrhosis of liver, enteric fever, viral hepatitis or any other disease or taking any medication which can derange LFT. Results: We included 96 patients fulfilling the study criteria. Of these, 71% had DF, 22% had DHF and 7% had DSS. Among liver enzymes, mean AST of the patients was significantly higher in DSS group of patients (775.19±39.65 U/l), as compared to those in the DF and DHF group of patients, p value &lt;0.01. Similarly, mean ALT of the patients was significantly higher in DSS group of patients (387.8±18.6 U/l), as compared to those in the DF and DHF group of patients, p value&lt;0.01. On the contrary, mean alkaline phosphatase levels were similar between the three patient groups. Conclusions: Based on the results our study, we conclude that raised AST and ALT levels were significantly associated with severity of DSS and DHF. Patients with dengue infection should have a baseline liver function test and subsequent LFT monitoring to detect early hepatic impairment

The Treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis: Safety and Efficacy

Visceral leishmaniasis is the disease of poor; however availability of only expensive treatment of this disease impinges the socioeconomic condition of those affected. If untreated, almost all cases of visceral leishmaniasis are fatal. The demonstration of the leishmania donovani bodies from the tissue aspirates or serological tests confirms the diagnosis of the disease. Pentavalent antimony, amphotericin B, paromomycin, diamine pentamidine, miltefosine, sitamaquine and some new combinations are integrated in the limited therapeutic armoury for treatment of visceral leishmaniasis. The recommended first and second line therapy in the Indian sub-continent is miltefosine and amphotericin B respectively.Pentavalent antimonial, preceding first line therapy, has been replaced by miltefosine due to former increasing failure rate and toxicity.The problem of drug resistance, some of the serious drug toxicities along with high-priced drugs extends challenges equally to pharmaceutical companies and medical practitioners.More research on adverse drug events for the existing drugs and efforts to develop safer and effective drugs to counter resistance outbreaks for the successful management of visceral leishmaniasis are needed. &#13; Keywords: amphotericin; miltefosine; pentavalent antimony; paromomycin. &#13; &#13

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils of <i style="">Senecio rufinervis</i> DC. (Asteraceae)

44-47The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the leaves and roots of Senecio rufinervis DC. was analyzed by GC, GC/MS and NMR. Germacrene D was the major constituent in both the oils studied (40.19 and 24.95%, respectively). The antimicrobial activity of the oil was determined by disc diffusion method. Results showed that both the oils exhibited significant antibacterial activity