A cross-sectional assessment of indoor air quality in Nepal and its health effects revealed that solid biomass fuels (animal dung, crop residue, and wood) were the main sources of indoor air pollution affecting health. The average smoke level (PM10) in kitchens using biomass fuels was about three times higher than that in those using cleaner fuels (kerosene, LPG, and biogas). Respondents in 98 randomly selected households included 168 who cooked daily meals, of whom 94% were disadvantaged women. Biomass smoke caused significantly more respiratory disorders than did cleaner fuels. Categorized data analysis demonstrated significant associations between biomass smoke pollution and respiratory symptoms such as cough; phlegm; breathlessness; wheezing; and chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD and asthma. The prevalences of respiratory illnesses and symptoms were considerably higher in those living in mud and brick houses compared with concrete houses. Prevalences were also higher in those living on hills and in rural areas compared with flatland and urban areas.

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is endemic in Nepal. Although infection rates are reported annually, little information is available about the circulating viral serotypes and genotypes. Here, we report the results of a multicentre cross-sectional study of DENV serotypes and genotypes sampled from individuals with suspected DENV infection in Nepal in 2017. Of the 50 patients sampled, 40 were serologically positive for DENV NS1, 29 for anti-DENV IgM, 21 for anti-DENV IgG and 14 were positive by qRT-PCR. The three serotypes DENV-1, 2 and 3 were detected and there was no DENV-4. Positive samples from serotyping were subjected to PCR amplification by envelope (E) gene specific primer and subsequent bidirectional sequencing of 5 samples. A time to most recent common ancestor phylogenetic tree was constructed from the new sequences obtained here together with historical DENV-1 and DENV-2 E gene sequence s . The DENV-1 isolates (n = 2) from Nepalese individuals were closely related to Indian genotype V, whereas DENV-2 isolates (n = 3) belonged to Cosmopolitan genotype IVa, which is closely related to Indonesian isolates. Historical DENV isolates obtained between 2004 and 2013 clustered with Cosmopolitan IVb, Cosmopolitan IVa, and Asian II genotypes. All Nepalese isolates had different lineages with distinct ancestries. With the exception of isolates obtained in 2004, all other previously published isolates had ancestry to geographically distant part of the world. Molecular analysis revealed dengue epidemics to be comprised of different genotypes of serotype 1 and 2 raising concerns on potential role of different genotypes causing Dengue hemorrhagic fever. Also, our result indicated spread of DENV-2 in non-endemic area such as hilly region of Nepal which was considered to be free of dengue due to high altitude and cold weather.

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Indoor air pollution from biomass fuels is considered as a potential environmental risk factor in developing countries of the world. Exposure to these fuels have been associated to many respiratory and other ailments such as acute lower respiratory infection, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, lung cancer, cataract, adverse pregnancy outcomes, etc. The use of biomass fuels is found to be nearly zero in the developed countries but widespread in the developing countries including Nepal. Women and children are the most vulnerable group since they spend a lot of time inside smoky kitchens with biomass fuel burning, inefficient stove and poor ventilation particularly in rural households of Nepal. Measurements of indoor air pollution through monitoring equipment such as high volume sampler, laser dust monitor, etc are expensive, thus not affordable and practicable to use them frequently. In this context, it becomes imperative to use statistical models instead for predicting air pollution concentrations in household kitchens. The present paper has attempted to contribute in this regard by developing some statistical models specifically categorical regression models with optimal scaling for predicting indoor particulate air pollution and carbon monoxide concentrations based upon a cross-sectional survey data of Nepalese households. The common factors found significant for prediction are fuel type, ventilation situation and house types. The highest estimated levels are found to be for those using solid biomass fuels with poor ventilation and Kachhi houses. The estimated PM 10 and CO levels are found to be 3024 µg/m 3 and 24115 µg/m 3 inside kitchen at cooking time which are 5.2 and 40.40 times higher than the lowest predicted values for those using LPG / biogas and living in Pakki houses with improved ventilation, respectively .

With the continued global expansion of COVID-19 transmission and the mounting threat of the disease, the timely analysis of its trend in Nepal and forecasting the potential situation in the country has been deemed necessary. We analyzed the trend, modelling, and impact assessment of COVID-19 cases of Nepal from 23rd January 2020 to 30th April 2020 to portray the scenario of COVID-19 during the first phase of lockdown. Exponential smoothing state-space and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were constructed to forecast the cases. Susceptible-infectious-recovered (SIR) model was fit to estimate the basic reproduction number (Ro) of COVID-19 in Nepal. There has been an increase in the number of cases but the overall growth in COVID-19 was not high. Statistical modelling has shown that COVID-19 cases may continue to increase exponentially in Nepal. The basic reproduction number in Nepal being maintained at a low level of 1.08 for the period of 23rd January to 30th April 2020 is an indication of the effectiveness of lockdown in containing the COVID-19 spread. The models further suggest that COVID-19 might persist until December 2020 with peak cases in August 2020. On the other hand, a basic reproduction number of 1.25 was computed for total cases reported for the 22nd March to 30th April 2020 period implying that COVID-19 may remain for at least a year in the country. Thus, maintaining social distance and stay home policy with an implementation of strict lockdown in the COVID-19 affected district is highly recommended.