Background: Understanding the mental health needs of healthcare workers during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with a view of mitigating its impact on occupational functioning is vital.Aim: To determine the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress amongst healthcare workers.Setting: The study was carried out in Nigeria during COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative study using a convenience sample was conducted amongst healthcare workers. The survey comprised of two Google formatted self-report questionnaires, a 12-item General Health Questionnaire and a questionnaire containing socio-demographic, work related and knowledge of COVID-19 variables. Questionnaires were distributed via closed professional WhatsApp platforms. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and logistic regression.Results: There were 313 respondents and prevalence of psychological distress was 47.0%. Females were almost twice as likely to have psychological distress as males (OR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.21–3.04, p = 0.006). Healthcare workers who had no contact with COVID-19 positive patients had an 87% reduced risk of psychological distress (OR = 0.13, 95%CI: 0.23–0.25, p = 0.018) compared with those who had contact with COVID-19 positive patients. Healthcare workers with poor knowledge of COVID-19 had a 44% reduced risk of psychological distress compared with those with good knowledge (OR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.34–0.93, p = 0.025).Conclusion: Findings revealed that healthcare workers in Nigeria reported psychological distress during COVID-19 pandemic. Greater risk was amongst females and those who had contact with COVID-19 positive patients whilst poor knowledge was protective.

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Coronaviruses have become a global health threat over the past two decades as their geographical spread has accelerated. Coronavirus disease 2019, also known as COVID-19, is the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 The epidemic caused by (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was confirmed in Wuhan, China in December 2019, where he has caused two pandemics in the past. Severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome are followed by the current COVID-19 outbreak in China. The virus originates from a zoonotic source and is spread by direct and contact transmission. Symptoms range from fever to cough, muscle aches to severe respiratory failure. Diagnosis is confirmed by reverse transcriptase-PCR. Treatment of COVID-19 consists primarily of supportive care and mechanical ventilation in critical cases. Prevention strategies, along with successful disease isolation and community containment, play an important role in reducing the spread of the virus among the public. A vaccine has been developed to clear the virus from its host, but it is not yet known whether the vaccine works against the virus's newest subspecies, the Omicron subspecies. This review summarizes the most recent research advances in structure, epidemiology, and etiology. We also focused on mutational patterns, an important feature of viral virology, and examined existing variants, especially its omicron variant. The clinical features of COVID-19, current treatments, and scientific advances to combat the epidemic novel coronavirus were discussed.

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a ubiquitous bacterium that causes various hospital- acquired and community-acquired infections. It has been reported that the clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa are difficult to treat because of their virulence factors and antibiotics resistances. The aim of present study was to screen the antibiotic resistance patterns and the prevalence of virulence factor genes in a set of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from Ogbomoso, and to determine whether a correlation exists between the prevalence of virulence factors and antibiotic resistance of P. aeruginosa. A total of 100 P. aeruginosa isolates were collected from various types of clinical specimens. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-bauer method. In addition, PCR assays were used for screening four virulence encoding genes (OPRL, LasB, PLCH and ToxA). The results showed that OPRL (79%) and LasB (62%) were the most frequent virulence genes in P. aeruginosa strains, followed by PLCH (41%) and ToxA (35%). The highest resistance was detected towards Piperacillin (42%) and Tetracycline (42%). Moderate rate of resistance (12-39%) were detected towards the other antibiotics. The virulent factors identified in this study provide valuable information regarding the prevalence of resistance genes of P. aeruginosa isolates in Ogbomoso, Nigeria and their potential impact on treatments that exploit the unique physiology of the pathogen. This will be useful for the health workers to improve infection control measures and to establish a surveillance system. Keywords: antibiotic resistance, virulence genes, Pseudomonas Aeruginosa