Aim: This study aimed to investigate the oral and nasal prevalence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(CA-MRSA) in 4 to 13-year-old rural schoolchildren. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 children aged 4 to 13 years were randomly selected and divided into ten groups based on their age (Group 1 = 4-year-old children to Group 10 = 13-year-old children). From each participating child, sampling was done from the anterior nares and dorsum of the tongue. All samples were inoculated into Baird–Parker agar medium and HiCrome™ MeReSa agar medium for the isolation of SA and MRSA. Both the culture plates were checked for the presence of SA and MRSA and overall SA and MRSA carriage. The distribution of SA and MRSA was evaluated. Descriptive statistics were performed using SPSS software (version 17.0). Results: Overall SA in 4–13 years' age group was 47%, while CA-MRSA was 35%. On the tongue, 16 children had concomitant MRSA and SA, while only 23.8% (n = 20) of the children comprised the presence of SA when MRSA was absent (P < 0.001). In the nasal cavity, 30 children had concomitant MRSA and SA, while only 21.4% (n = 15) of the children had the presence of SA when MRSA was absent (P < 0.001). When tongue and nose were assessed, 11 children encompassed concomitant MRSA and SA, while only 16.9% (n = 13) of the children had the presence of SA when MRSA was absent in both sites (P < 0.001). Conclusion: A significant relation was found between nasal SA and CA-MRSA carriage, with oral SA and CA-MRSA carriage. The study concludes that oral cavity is possibly as important as the nasal area as a zone of SA and MRSA. Dentists dealing with pediatric population should take proper precautions to prevent cross contamination of SA and MRSA in the dental clinic.

Aim: To assess the knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19 among pediatric dentists based on their dependent source of information. Methods: A descriptive-analytical cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire with 23 questions was sent via Google forms to pediatric dentists. All participants were divided into three groups [postgraduate residents (PGs), private practitioners (PP), and faculty (F)]. The comparison of knowledge and perception scores was made based on occupation, source of information, and descriptive statistics used for the analysis using SPSS 21.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Results: A total of 291 pediatric dentists completed the survey, and the majority of them were females (65%). Overall, good mean scores were obtained for knowledge (9.2 ± 1.07) and perceptions (5.6 ± 1.5). The majority of the participants used health authorities (45%) to obtain updates on COVID-19, while social media (35.1%) and both (19.6%) accounted for the next two. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was found among different pediatric dentists groups for relying on the source of information. Conclusion: Overall good pediatric dentists showed sufficient knowledge regarding COVID-19. The pediatric dentists’ age, occupation, and source of information influenced knowledge regarding COVID-19, whereas perceptions were influenced by age and gender of the participants. Health authorities successfully educated pediatric dentists than the social media