During the COVID-19 pandemic, the health professionals who are at the frontline of this crisis have been facing extreme psychological disorders. This research aims to provide an overall scenario of the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, as well as insomnia and to inspect the changes in these prevalence over time by analyzing the existing evidence during this COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic search was performed on March 30, 2021, in PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar databases, and Web of Science. To assess the heterogeneity, Q-test, I2 statistics, and Meta regression and to search for the publication bias, Eggers's test and funnel plot were used. The random-effect model and subgroup analysis were performed due to the significant heterogeneity. Among eighty-three eligible studies in the final synthesis, 69 studies (n = 144649) assessed the depression prevalence of 37.12% (95% CI: 31.80–42.43), 75 studies (n = 147435) reported the anxiety prevalence of 41.42% (95% CI: 36.17–46.54), 41 studies (n = 82783) assessed the stress prevalence of 44.86% (95% CI: 36.98–52.74), 21 studies (n = 33370) enunciated the insomnia prevalence of 43.76% (95% CI: 35.83–51.68). The severity of the mental health problems among health professionals increased over the time during January 2020 to September 2020. A significant level of heterogeneity was found among psychological measurement tools and across studies. Therefore, it is an emergency to develop psychological interventions that can protect the mental health of vulnerable groups like health professionals.

Bangladesh govt. launched a nationwide vaccination drive against SARS-CoV-2 infection from early February 2021. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines and examine the factors associated with the acceptance in Bangladesh. In between January 30 to February 6, 2021, we conducted a web-based anonymous cross-sectional survey among the Bangladeshi general population. At the start of the survey, there was a detailed consent section that explained the study’s intent, the types of questions we would ask, the anonymity of the study, and the study’s voluntary nature. The survey only continued when a respondent consented, and the answers were provided by the respondents themselves. The multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the factors that influence the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccination. A total of 605 eligible respondents took part in this survey (population size 1630046161 and required sample size 591) with an age range of 18 to 100. A large proportion of the respondents are aged less than 50 (82%) and male (62.15%). The majority of the respondents live in urban areas (60.83%). A total of 61.16% (370/605) of the respondents were willing to accept/take the COVID-19 vaccine. Among the accepted group, only 35.14% showed the willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine immediately, while 64.86% would delay the vaccination until they are confirmed about the vaccine’s efficacy and safety or COVID-19 becomes deadlier in Bangladesh. The regression results showed age, gender, location (urban/rural), level of education, income, perceived risk of being infected with COVID-19 in the future, perceived severity of infection, having previous vaccination experience after age 18, having higher knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccination were significantly associated with the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines. The research reported a high prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine refusal and hesitancy in Bangladesh. To diminish the vaccine hesitancy and increase the uptake, the policymakers need to design a well-researched immunization strategy to remove the vaccination barriers. To improve vaccine acceptance among people, false rumors and misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccines must be dispelled (especially on the internet) and people must be exposed to the actual scientific facts.

Omicron, the new Covid-19 variant, has already become dominant in many countries and is spreading at an unprecedented speed. The objective of this study was to review the existing literature on Omicron's transmissibility, immune evasion, reinfection, and severity. A literature search was performed using “PubMed,” “Web of Science,” “Scopus,” “ScienceDirect,” “Google Scholar,” “medRxiv,” and “bioRxiv.” Data were extracted from articles that reported at least one of the following: transmissibility, immune evasion, reinfection, and severity related to Omicron. We found that Omicron spread faster than any other variant. This higher transmissibility can be ascribed to its extraordinary ability to evade the immunity developed by both vaccination and previous infections. However, we found that infections by Omicron were significantly less severe than those caused by Delta and other previous variants. We observed a significantly lower incidence of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and mechanical ventilator use in Omicron infections than in Delta or other variants. A substantially shorter median hospital stay and lower fatality rate were also observed in the Omicron infections. Despite Omicron's higher potential to evade immunity, vaccines and booster shots were found to be still significantly effective in protecting against severe Covid-19 infections. Omicrons may be less severe than other variants of concern. However, its immune evasiveness and rapid spread pose an enormous threat to the global healthcare system.

One of the primary reasons for hesitancy in taking COVID-19 vaccines is the fear of side effects. This study primarily aimed to inspect the potential side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines circulated in Bangladesh. Design and Settings. The study was based on a cross-sectional anonymous online survey conducted in December 2021 across Bangladesh. Participants. The study included consenting Bangladeshi individuals aged 12 and above who had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. Main Outcome. Analyses were carried out through exploratory analysis, Chi-square test, and logistic regression to investigate potential side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. A total of 1,180 vaccinated people participated in the study. Only 39.48% of the participants reported at least one side effect after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Injection-site pain, fever, headache, redness/swelling at the injection site, and lethargy were the most commonly reported adverse effects, all of which were mild and lasted 1–3 days. Side effects were most prevalent (about 80%) among individuals who received Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and were least common among those who received Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines (21%-28%). When compared to the Sinopharm vaccines, the OxfordAstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Moderna vaccines were 4.51 times (95% CI: 2.53–8.04), 5.37 times (95% CI: 2.57–11.22), and 4.28 times (95% CI: 2.28–8.05) likelier to produce side effects. Furthermore, males, those over 50 years old, urban dwellers, smokers, and those with underlying health issues had a considerably increased risk of developing side effects. A lack of confidence in vaccines' efficacy and a substantial level of hesitancy in allowing children (age five years or over) and older people (70 years or over) to receive COVID-19 vaccines were also observed. Side effects of COVID-19 vaccines are minimal, demonstrating their safety. Efforts should be made to disseminate such findings worldwide to increase vaccine uptake.

Foodborne diseases are a preventable but under-reported public health issue. These illnesses are a public health concern and contribute significantly to healthcare costs. People must understand how their knowledge, attitudes, and practices affect food safety and how they can reduce the risk of foodborne illness. This study aimed at investigating the current situation of knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward food safety among Bangladeshi students and identifying the determinants of having adequate knowledge, favorable attitudes, and good practices. The research is based on a cross-sectional anonymous online survey that took place from January 1st to February 15th, 2022. Participants in this survey had to be at least 8th-grade students enrolled in Bangladeshi institutions. Upon description of the study's aim, the questionnaire's concept, assurances regarding respondents' confidentiality, and the study's voluntary nature, informed consent was taken from each participant before starting the survey. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and logistic regression were used to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of students and identify factors affecting them using the statistical software STATA. A total of 777 students participated in the study, the majority of them were male (63.96%) and aged between 18 and 25 years (60%). Almost half of the respondents were at the undergraduate level and less than half of the participants (45%) lived with their families. Among the participants, around 47% had adequate knowledge, 87% had favorable attitudes, and only 52% had good practices toward food safety. Female students, students having a food safety course/training, and students whose mothers were educated had significantly higher knowledge of food safety. Besides, students at higher education levels, students having a food safety course/training, and students with educated mothers displayed significantly higher odds of possessing favorable attitudes toward food safety. Similarly, female students, having a food safety course/training, students at higher education levels, and students with educated mothers were significantly associated with good practices toward food safety among students. The study shows that students in Bangladesh lack knowledge of food safety and have poor practices toward food safety. For the student population of Bangladesh, more systematic and targeted food safety education and training are required.