Special Sensory Function Deficit among Patients with Post-COVID-19 Visiting a Tertiary Care Centre

Introduction: Several patients who recover from COVID-19 infection continue to have persistent symptoms even after recovery from the disease. The special sensory functions such as taste, smell and hearing are affected by COVID-19 infection even after recovery from the illness. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of special sensory deficits among patients with post-COVID-19 visiting a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among adult patients who recovered from COVID-19 visiting a tertiary care centre from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022. After obtaining ethical approval from the Research Ethics Board of Health, data on patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 one year ago was obtained from the surveillance register from the Ministry of Health. They were contacted by phone call and invited to the centre to participate in the study. Appropriate clinical examination and tests were carried out to assess the special sensory deficits. A convenience sampling technique was used. The point estimate was calculated at a 95% Confidence Interval. Results: Among 271 patients, the prevalence of sensory function deficit was 39 (14.39%) (10.21-18.57, 95% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: The prevalence of special sensory deficits after recovery from COVID-19 infections was found to be similar to the findings of other studies

The relationship between smartphone addiction and depression among health sciences students in the National University of Malaysia

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the increased of online activities as there were restriction on face-to-face activities to curb the disease. One of the popular gadgets used is via smartphone. Smartphones are essential nowadays as many essential tasks been assisted by this device. However, the overuse of smartphones is worrying as it could disturb users’ daily lives and mental state such as anxiety and depression. Thus, this study aims to investigate the relationship between smartphone addiction and depression among Health Science students of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. This is a cross-sectional study by using convenience sampling. A questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate and postgraduate students of Faculty Health Science in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Participants were required to fill in online questionnaires which comprised three sections: sociodemographic data, Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short Version (SAS-SV), and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). A total of 79 respondents were obtained. The mean score for SAS was 34.8 ± 10.068 and the mean score for BDI was 11.92 ± 10.19. There were no significant differences between smartphone addiction and depression according to the gender and education level found in this study. A positive and moderate correlation was found between smartphone addiction and depression (r=0.497, p<0.001). The present study showed that almost 65% of health science students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia showed slightly addicted to smartphones and almost 50% showed to have depression symptoms from mild to severe levels during pancemic. Thus, awareness about the effects should be integrated in their activities to prevent more severe effects

Crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever virus IgG in goats, Bhutan

LetterSonam Wangchuk, Sonam Pelden, Tenzin Dorji, Sangay Tenzin, Binay Thapa, Sangay Zangmo, Ratna Gurung, Kinzang Dukpa, Tenzin Tenzi