Impact of the coronavirus disease on the mental health and physical activity of pharmacy students at the University of Zambia: a cross-sectional study

Background: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a serious global health problem that has negatively impacted the mental health of students.Methods: We conducted an online descriptive cross-sectional study among 273 undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Zambia from August to September 2020. A partial proportional odds regression model was used to determine the predictors of anxiety. All statistical tests were set at 95% confidence level (p<0.05).Results: A response rate of 70% was obtained with the majority of the students being female 51.6%. Of the 273 respondents, 23.8% did not experience anxiety, 34.4% experienced mild anxiety, 24.9% experienced moderate anxiety while 16.9% experienced severe anxiety about COVID-19. It was also found that 61.2% of students reported that their attention to mental health increased during the COVID-19 pandemic whereas 44.3% reported an increased resting time with a significant reduction in relaxation 51.3% and physical activity 45.4% time. Factors that affected mental health included; reduced family care (OR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.09-4.74), not changing attention to mental health (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.18-0.62), being in the final year of study (OR: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.13-0.84), reduced time of resting (OR: 2.10; 95% CI: 1.26-3.50) and feeling helpless (OR: 0.42; 95% CI:0.23-0.75).Conclusions: COVID-19 negatively impacted the mental health and physical activity of pharmacy students at the University of Zambia. This can have negative health and academic outcomes for students going forward. Higher learning institutions and key stakeholders should implement measures to aid students to recover from the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health and physical activity

Management of acute fever in children : consensus recommendations for community and primary healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fever is one of the most common reasons for unwell children presenting to pharmacists and primary healthcare practitioners. Currently there are no guidelines for assessment and management of fever specifically for community and primary healthcare workers in the sub-Saharan Africa region. This multidisciplinary consensus guide was developed to assist pharmacists and primary healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa to risk stratify and manage children who present with fever, decide when to refer, and how to advise parents and caregivers. Fever is defined as body temperature ≥ 37.5 ◦C and is a normal physiological response to illness that facilitates and accelerates recovery. Although it is often associated with self-limiting illness, it causes significant concern to both parents and attending healthcare workers. Clinical signs may be used by pharmacy staff and primary healthcare workers to determine level of distress and to distinguish between a child with fever who is at high risk of serious illness and who requires specific treatment, hospitalisation or specialist care, and those at low risk who could be managed conservatively at home. In children with warning signs, serious causes of fever that may need to be excluded include infections (including malaria), non-infective inflammatory conditions and malignancy. Simple febrile convulsions are not in themselves harmful, and are not necessarily indicative of serious infection. In the absence of illness requiring specific treatment, relief from distress is the primary indication for prescribing pharmacotherapy, and antipyretics should not be administered with the sole intention of reducing body temperature. Care must be taken not to overdose medications and clear instructions should be given to parents/ caregivers on managing the child at home and when to seek further medical care.Reckitt Benckiser Granthttps://www.elsevier.com/locate/afjempm2021Paediatrics and Child Healt