COVID-19 and waste management in Indian scenario: challenges and possible solutions

Kothari, Richa; Sahab, Sinha; Singh, Har Mohan; Singh, Rajeev Pratap; Singh, Bhaskar; Pathania, Deepak; Singh, Anita; Yadav, Shweta; Allen, Tanu; Singh, Sushant; Tyagi, V.V.

doi:10.1007/s11356-021-15028-5

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 65 publications

(55 reference statements)

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“…COVID-19 patients with weakened immune systems may have been exposed to different infectious pathogens, including fungi, through hospital air, surfaces, and potentially contaminated medical devices for oxygen delivery and respiratory support. Moreover, public health issues, particularly present during pandemics, such as domestic waste management, pose serious problems in India [ 26 ]. We may expect the continuous risk of exposure to Mucorales for immunocompromised post-COVID-19 patients in domestic settings, especially in rural areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Associated Mucormycosis: The Ophthalmologist’s Perspective

Bilgic¹,

Kodjikian

Sudhalkar³

et al. 2022

JoF

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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a dramatic rise in the incidence of rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) in India. The purpose of our report is to describe the prevalence of ROCM in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection during the second Indian COVID-19 wave, as well as its diagnostics proceeding, and to discuss the challenges met in the time frame from the suspected diagnosis to the therapeutic decision in such patients. We conducted a retrospective multicentre case series study at six centres of Sudhalkar and Raghudeep group of hospitals in India. ROCM was confirmed in 38 (2.5%) of the 1546 patients admitted with SARS-CoV-2 infection. The average time to establish a diagnosis was 16 days. In total, 19 (50%) patients suffered from type 2 diabetes and were mostly treated with hypoglycaemic agents (in 90% of cases). The standard of care for SARS-CoV-2 management included systemic steroids therapy, intravenous remdesivir for 5 days, and concomitant prophylactic antibiotic therapy following admission. The median (IQR) blood glucose levels in all patients during the course of hospitalisation was 320 (250.5–375) mg/dl. A total of 16% of patients had an irreparable functional loss, and the mortality was 5%. We may hypothesise that excessive administration of antibiotics that profoundly affects human microbiota, coupled with poorly controlled glycaemia and unprotocolised haphazard steroid administration, contribute to a favourable setting for mucormycosis infections.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Associated Mucormycosis: The Ophthalmologist’s Perspective

Bilgic¹,

Kodjikian

Sudhalkar³

et al. 2022

JoF

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“…This also provides opportunities for reuse ( WHO Injection Safety Geneva, 2022 ). The COVID-19 pandemic worsens the existing healthcare waste burden as healthcare waste management during the COVID-19 pandemic has faced several challenges due to increased production of infectious waste, interruption of recycling strategy, and inadequate resources to handle increased waste production ( Dehal, Vaidya & Kumar, 2022 ; Kothari et al, 2021 ; Rahman et al, 2020 ; Das et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, attitude and practice towards bio-medical waste management among healthcare workers: a northern Saudi study

Thirunavukkarasu

Alhazmi

Dar

et al. 2022

PeerJ

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Background Health care workers (HCWs) involved in day-to-day care and other healthcare activities play a significant role in biomedical waste (BMW) management. The World Health Organization stated some of the causes for the failure of BMW management, namely, lack of awareness of the health hazards related to BMW and inadequate trained HCWs in BMW management. The present study assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards BMW management among the HCWs in northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology The present study assessed KAP through a self-administered and validated questionnaire. Using a multistage probability sampling method, 384 HCWs from different healthcare facilities participated in this survey. We performed binomial logistic regression analysis to find association between KAP subscales and sociodemographic characteristics. Spearman’s correlation test was performed to find the strength and direction of correlation (rho) between KAP scores. Results Of the population studied, high knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were found in 47.1%, 65.1%, and 49.5% of the HCWs, respectively. The present study found that knowledge score was significantly higher among the age group from 30 to 39 years (ref: age less than 30 years: AOR = 2.25, 95% CI [1.05–4.85], p = 0.04) and non- Saudi nationals (ref: Saudi: AOR = 2.84, 95% CI [1.63–4.94], p < 0.001) The attitude score towards BMW management was significantly lower among the HCWs working in tertiary care settings (ref: PHC: AOR = 0.38, 95% CI [0.12–0.69], p = 0.01). Regarding the practice score, the male categories had a significantly higher score (ref: female: AOR = 1.82, 95% CI [1.19 –2.99], p = 0.02), while pharmacist (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.39, 95% CI [0.18–0.58], p = 0.02) and lab technicians (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.31, 95% CI [0.11–0.53], p = 0.02) had a significant lower practice score. The test results revealed a weak positive correlation of knowledge with the attitude scores (rho = 0.249, p = 0.001), and a moderately strong positive correlation was found between attitude and practice scores (rho = 0.432, p = 0.001). Conclusion This study suggests that a regular training program for the HCWs on BMW management is necessary through symposiums, role play, interactive lectures, and other feasible training methods. Furthermore, a multicentric prospective exploratory study is to be conducted in other regions of the KSA to understand the region-specific training needs of HCWs.

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“…The lambda variant also has numerous amino acid substitutions in NSPs and S proteins, plus a deletion in the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the S protein, leading to partial escape (9,12,43). The increase in COVID-19-associated waste (CAW) and its presence in the environment will result in easy access by other organisms, and there is a great demand for an efficient strategy to prevent further spread in the environment (44,45). The epidemiological characteristics of the 22 cases provide data for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in other countries worldwide affected by the pandemic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Positive Rate of Nucleic Acid Testing and the Epidemiological Characteristics of COVID-19 in Chongqing

et al. 2022

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ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to analyze the positive rate of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid testing (NAT), cases of and deaths due to SARS-CoV-2, and the epidemiological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 to identify high-risk populations.MethodsA retrospective study in Jiulongpo district of Chongqing was conducted by performing continuous observations of the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 NAT, analyzing the data of close contacts of patients and asymptomatic carriers, and collecting epidemiological data. Data were collected from January 20, 2020, when the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported, to March 26, 2020. Descriptive statistical analysis and Cochrane–Mantel–Haenszel analysis were used to compare the positive detection rates and positive diagnostic rates of different exposure groups.ResultsA total of 7,118 people received 10,377 SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid tests in one district, and the SARS-CoV-2 positive rates were 0.40% (18/4446) and 0.15% (4/2672) in people receiving one and ≥ two nucleic acid tests (p = 0.06), respectively. Those with suspected cases (12.35%) and close contacts (8%) had higher positive rates than people tested at fever clinics (0.39%) (p < 0.001). The median latency (range) of cases was 5 (2, 9) days, and the median time from diagnosis to recovery was 22 (14, 25) days. One recovered patient received a positive test result at 28 days after recovery when she attempted to donate blood. Six clustered cases, including one patient who died, indicated persistent human-to-human transmission. One patient who was diagnosed after death was found to have infected 13 close contacts. People working in catering and other public service departments (36.36%) and people who are unemployed and retirees (45.45%) have an increased risk of infection compared with technical staff (9.09%) and farmers (9.09%).ConclusionThe total positive rate was low in the tested population, and more effective detection ranges should be defined to improve precise and differentiated epidemic control strategies. Moreover, in asymptomatic carriers, SARS-CoV-2 tests were positive after recovery, and patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection who die may pose serious potential transmission threats.

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COVID-19 and waste management in Indian scenario: challenges and possible solutions

Cited by 35 publications

References 65 publications

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Associated Mucormycosis: The Ophthalmologist’s Perspective

Risk Factors for COVID-19 Associated Mucormycosis: The Ophthalmologist’s Perspective

Knowledge, attitude and practice towards bio-medical waste management among healthcare workers: a northern Saudi study

The Positive Rate of Nucleic Acid Testing and the Epidemiological Characteristics of COVID-19 in Chongqing

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