Hesitancy about receiving vaccines has been deemed a global danger to public health by WHO. The sociocultural backgrounds of the people have an impact on vaccine acceptance. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of sociodemographic factors on COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy as well as to identify the factors that contributed to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the primary variables causing COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among residents of Pune. The general population was sampled through simple random sampling. The minimum sample size was determined to be 1246. The questionnaire inquired about the individuals’ sociodemographic information, vaccination status, and reasons for vaccine hesitancy. Results: In total, there were 5381 subjects, 1669 of whom were unvaccinated and 3712 of whom were partially vaccinated. Fear of adverse effects (51.71%), fear of losing a few days of work (43.02%), and inability to secure a vaccine slot online (33.01%) were the most frequently cited reasons. An older population (>60 years, p = 0.004), males (p = 0.032), those who were literate (p = 0.011), those of lower middle socioeconomic status (p = 0.001), and smokers were significantly associated with fear and mistrust of the COVID-19 vaccine, while mistrust of the vaccine was greatest among individuals from the upper and lower middle classes (p = 0.001). Conclusion: Vaccine hesitancy due to concerns about the side effects and long-term complications was prevalent among the elderly, males, those from the lower middle class, and smokers. This study emphasizes the importance of communicating effectively about the vaccine’s efficacy, its distribution, and vaccination sites.

Objectives: Determine the prevalence of refractive errors among school children comparing governmental and non-governmental schools. Patients and methods This study was a school-based cross-sectional comparative study, conducted in Tanta city, Gharbia governorate in the middle of the Delta region, Egypt from January and April 2016. The study included 1075 students from Two groups of primary schools private and governmental. Sociodemographic data collected for all student and full ophthalmic examination were done. Results: The prevalence of refractive error in our study was 22.1% of all students, only 35.7% of RE students wore glasses before our screening and suspected amblyopia cases who were 31.1% of RE students (6.9% of all students). Distribution of different types of refractive error showed that astigmatism most common followed by myopia and lastly hyperopia (68.1%, 17.6%, and 14.3% respectively). Conclusion: About one-fourth of the students had a refractive error with high suspected amblyopia. Most of the refractive error cases especially in governmental school were first detected during our study.

Background: One of the most important and dangerous complications of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is bone loss, which manifested by erosions and juxta-articular or systemic bone loss. Anti-carbamylated protein (anti-CarP) antibodies which are also called anti-homocitrulline antibodies have recently been found in RA. Increase anti-CarP antibody titres may lead to severe disease and increase the progression of bone loss. Osteoprotegrin and receptor activator for nuclear factor kappa B and its ligand (RANKL) are the main players in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. Thus, we aimed to investigate and detect the presence and prevalence of anti-CarP in rheumatoid arthritis and their association with disease severity and osteoporosis, as well as with OPG/RANKL in 80 Egyptian RA patients to highlight this relationship which could be useful in managing RA patients with osteoporosis. Results: Serum anti-CarP levels were significantly increased in the RA group compared with the control group (P< 0.001). We found a negative association between anti-CarP and anti-CCP and disease activity (r=−0.878, −0.534, respectively, P<0.001). We also found a positive correlation between anti-CarP and the Larsen score, DEXA score, RF, HAQ, and RANKL (r=0.646, 0.287, 0.243, 0.892, 0.671, 0.869 [respectively], P<0.001) and there was negative correlation between anti-CarP and OPG (r=−0.553, P<0.001). Conclusion: Anti-CarP antibodies are associated with disease severity and disability in RA patients. They could play an important and significant role in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis in these patients.