Given the existence of a standardized tool and infection control recommendations for COVID-19, many dental professionals lack the minimum infection control requirements. As the disease outbreak continues to evolve and health centres respond to unique situations in their communities, the Department of Health recognizes that dental settings may also be necessary to provide non-emergency dental care. The dental environment will balance the need to include the resources available whilst reducing the harm to patients and dental health staff. The aim of the study is to assess the awareness of infection control in dental practice in the COVID-19 outbreak among dental practitioners. A Self-administered questionnaire was designed based on awareness of infection control for a dental practice in the COVID-19 outbreak. The questionnaire was distributed through an online google form link. The study population included dental professionals in Tamil Nadu. The data was collected and statistically analysed. 81% use PPE (personal protective equipment) during the procedure, 82.7% of patients are made to rinse their mouth with an antimicrobial mouth rinse before the dental procedure. Based on the findings, awareness level and infection control in dental practice can be improved.

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Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are becoming a major cause of death worldwide. Understanding the risk factors for CVD could provide important perception towards the etiology, course, prevention, and treatment for this key health problem. Aim of the survey was to create awareness on the cardiovascular risk factors among young adults. A self-administrated questionnaire was prepared and circulated via an online platform. The data were and the results represented as a bar graph. The data were with SPSS software (SPSS). In this survey, about 52% of the young adults were aware of cardiovascular risk factors, about 57.4% of subjects agreed that smoking is a risk factor of cardiovascular disease, but 42% were not aware of it. 65.3% are aware that elevated blood pressure is also a risk factor for CVD. 56.4% knew that obesity increases a person's risk of cardiovascular disease, but 44% did not agree with that. The survey concluded that there was moderate awareness among young adults about the risk factors of cardiovascular disease, and hence more health awareness should be created for common cardiovascular diseases.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a serious global health pandemic resulting in high mortality and morbidity. Frontline health care workers (HCWs) are at an increased risk of the acquisition of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection (SARS CoV-2) due to their close interaction with infected patients (1, 2). Also, HCWs can serve as reservoirs of SARS CoV-2 cross-transmission both in community and hospital settings (1). However, the extent of COVID-19 infection among HCWs in Sri Lanka is understudied. Objectives: This study determined the incidence, demographic characteristics, and risk exposure behavior of HCWs who tested positive for SARS CoV-2 at Base Hospital Wathupitiwala. Furthermore, the rate of acquisition of SARS CoV-2 following COVISHIELD/ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and Sinopharm /BBIBP-CorV vaccines in HCWs were studied. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional descriptive analysis was conducted from May 2021 to August 2021 for a total of 818 HCWs. Results: Hundred and twenty-four HCWs (15.16%) were tested positive for COVID-19. The mean age of infected HCWs was 46.27 years and the majority were females (74.19%). Among all infected persons, 54 (43.55%) were nurses/midwives, 39 (31.45%) were clinical supportive staff and 12(9.68%) were medical officers. The number of infected HCWs rapidly escalated and a total of 64(51.61%) HCWs got an infection during August/2021. No source was identified in most of them (34.68%) followed by community acquisition (33.87%). Thirty-five HCWs (28.23%) had acquired infection during a hospital setting or had a high-risk exposure in recent history. Among hospital-related infections, 37.91% of HCWs had shared meals or shared sleeping rooms with an infected workmate. The majority of the HCWs were tested by the infection control unit as symptomatic screening (70.16%) followed by contact tracing (20.16%). Fifty-six (45.16%) HCWs had a history of single or multiple comorbidities. The vast majority of HCWs (95.97%) presented as mild to asymptomatic disease that followed an uneventful recovery. Body aches, headache, fever, and sore throat were the most commonly reported symptoms among them. Among the five HCWs required therapeutic oxygen supplementation, two unvaccinated HCWs succumbed to the infection. The rate of breakthrough infection among HCWs was 8.93%. The acquisition of disease was significantly higher among unvaccinated HCWs than partially (p<0.0001) or fully vaccinated (p<0.0001) HCWs with either type of vaccine. Conclusions: Protecting HCWs remains a challenge in resource-poor settings. The risk of infection fueled by very contagious circulating variants is continuously high even though vaccination has shown clear benefits in preventing mortality and severe infection. Therefore, all healthcare workers should be vaccinated while ensuring continuous infection control measures in the hospital setting.

Introduction: Musa sapientum are primarily grown in tropical and subtropical countries, and are commonly used around the world for their nutritional values. Peels were examined for mineral, nutritional content. The product of the mineral content is that the concentration of potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, bromine, and rubidium are high. M. sapientum pulp showed high antimicrobial activity against 13 gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Materials and Methods: The plant extract was prepared. Silver nanoparticles were taken in the form of AgNO3. The plant extract was tested for its anti-inflammatory activity by protein denaturation assay. To assess the antimicrobial activity, the prepared extract was inoculated in different culture plates containing different microorganisms. The results obtained were collected and statistically analyzed in SPSS software and graphs were obtained. Results: Analysis of antimicrobial activity shows The zone of inhibition in Mueller Hinton agar showed C. albicans zone of inhibition in the cultured plate with the diameter of 10 mm, 12 mm and 25 mm in 25 µL, 50 µL, and 100 µL respectively. S. mutans zone of inhibition in the cultured plate with the diameter of 15 mm, 18 mm, and 22 mm at 25 µL, 50 µL, and 100 µL respectively. Conclusion: From the results obtained and analyzed we may conclude that silver nanoparticles synthesized using Musa sapientum extract can be used as a good anti-microbial agent. Its anti-microbial activity can be enhanced by increasing the concentration. Hence furt her advancements in this study could lead to producing and marketing natural product-based antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents.