Background: The world is not just fighting a pandemic of COVID-19, but also tackling infodemic due to the rampant spread of misinformation and rumor about COVID-19 across various online and printed media. Social media is an easy, quick, and cost-effective source of information but its contents are not regulated. Users also usually don't verify information on social media on authentic sites. So, misinformation spreads at a exponential rate. Intern doctors as young physician should have scientific knowledge of disease and not be misled by rumors. Also, health-related information shared by health professionals owes greater credibility to the public. This study aims to explore whether or not intern doctors are using social media rationally in regards to COVID-19. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, mixed-method study carried out among medical and dental interns of KIST Medical College and Teaching Hospital. Data was collected with the help of a self-administered semi-structured questionnaire after pretesting. Two Focus group discussions were conducted to gain in- depth information. Findings: 65 % percent of the intern doctors most often used social media to gain information about COVID-19 out of which 87.1 % used Facebook more often.  Around 46 % just read the full title of news appearing in social media while only 32.9 % read the full text.  36 % share the news just by seeing the title. Nearly 35 % of intern doctors check the authenticity of information on social media by verifying it via experts or from authentic sources. Conclusion: Rational use of social media is a must to combat the epidemic of COVID 19. Health professionals including young doctors like interns should focus on scientific and evidence-based information and should use social media rationally both for acquisition and dissemination of information on COVID-19.

Background: When the novel coronavirus – SARS-CoV-2 – started to spread globally, there was a call for social and behavioral scientists to conduct research to explore the wider socio-cultural contexts of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), to understand vulnerabilities, as well as to increase engagement within communities to facilitate adoption of public health measures. In this manuscript, we describe the protocol for a study conducted in Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam. In the study, we explore how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting individuals and their communities. We focus on the wider health and economic impacts of COVID-19, in particular emerging and increased burden on mental health, as well as new or deepened vulnerabilities in the communities. The introduction of vaccines has added another layer of complexity and highlights differences in acceptance and inequalities around access.  Methods: We use mixed methods, combining survey methods and social media surveillance to gain a picture of the general situation within each country, with in-depth qualitative methods to gain a deeper understanding of issues, coupled with a synergistic engagement component. We also include an exploration of the role of social media in revealing or driving perceptions of the pandemic more broadly. Participants include health workers and members of communities from 13 sites across the three countries. Data collection is spread across two phases. Phase 1 is concerned with exploring lived experiences, impacts on working lives and livelihoods, mental health and coping strategies. Phase 2 is concerned with acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines, factors that increase and reduce acceptance, and factors that influence access. Conclusions: We will disseminate findings in multiple ways including short reports and policy briefs, articles in peer-reviewed journals, and digital diaries will be edited into short films and uploaded onto social media sites.

Background: Pregnant women and their fetuses represent a high-risk population during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. During pregnancy, body undergoes significant physiologic, mechanical, and immunologic alterations which increases susceptibility to infections. Thus pregnant women are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. This study explored the clinical profile, disease severity, and perinatal outcomes of pregnant women with COVID-19.Methods: A retro-prospective cross-sectional study was conducted at KIST Medical College after ethical approval. All women (1227) who delivered from 15 April 2020 to 15 October 2021 and underwent the COVID-19 screening by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction were studied. COVID-19 positive women (44) were further analyzed and classified as asymptomatic, mild, moderate, severe, and critical diseases. Data was collected in proforma by reviewing patients’ records. The data analysis were done in SPSS version 26. A descriptive statistical test and chi-square test were done. Results: The prevalence of COVID-19 among delivering pregnant women was 3.6% (44/1227). Majority were asymptomatic 79.5% (35). About 16% (7) had mild illness and 4.5% (2) had moderate illness. The caesarean rate was 34.1% (15/44) among COVID-19 positive women. Stillbirth and preterm birth was observed in 2.3% (1) and 4.5% (2) respectively. The COVID-19 infection rate in a neonate was 4.5%.Conclusions: The severity of COVID-19 among delivering pregnant women was less. The perinatal outcome was also favourable. The overall prognosis of COVID-19 among mothers and newborns was good. Further research is needed to understand the true magnitude of risks and management, more so with the emergence of new variants.Keywords: Asymptomatic; COVID-19; perinatal outcome; pregnant women; severity of disease.

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