Introduction: Following emergency approval of COVID-19 vaccines, several studies have investigated COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy especially among healthcare workers (HCWs). Nevertheless, the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine by HCWs in Sudan remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine and it’s determinants among the HCWs. Methods: A web-based cross sectional study design was used to study COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and its associated determinants. The semi-structured questionnaire was distributed electronically, data collection took place from March-April 2021. Results: A total of 576 HCWs have responded to the survey with mean age of 35 years. The majority were females (53.3%), Medical Doctors (55.4%), and located in the capital state; Khartoum (76.0%). The absolute refusal of COVID-19 vaccine was expressed by 16% of the respondents while 57% were willing to get vaccinated. Males were twice to four times more likely to accept the vaccine. Lower acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine was significantly associated with the nursing profession (OR= 0.35, 95% CI:0.15-0.82, P<0.00), increased perceived harm from the vaccine (OR= 0.11, 95% CI: 0.05-0.23, P <0.00), lack of confidence in the source of vaccine (OR= 0.16, 95% CI:0.08-0.31, P=0.00), organizations and government supervising COVID-19 vaccination process ( OR=0.31, 95% CI:0.17-0.58 P=0.00). Conclusion: This study highlights a moderate level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptability by the HCWs in Sudan. Effective communication of correct, regular, up-to-date evidence on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines is crucial to building trust in vaccines. Special consideration should be in place to address vaccine hesitancy among female HCWs and the nursing profession.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a disease spreading rapidly in Sudan, the rest of the African continent and the world with no known definitive treatment or vaccines. However, among many treatment interventions being tested globally, beneficial effects and clinical improvements have been reported when convalescent plasma is used for treating COVID-19 patients. We prepared a guiding protocol for treating early to moderate COVID-19 patients with plasma transfusion from convalescent COVID-19 patients. This protocol was deduced based on previously published reports and studies that evaluated and tested convalescent plasma as a prospective therapy for COVID-19 patients. The protocol covers instructions on patient and donor selection criteria, plasma harvesting, plasma product specifications, dosage and precautions for convalescent plasma collection and transfusion process. Altogether, we prepared a treatment protocol that is tailored to the context of Sudan to be adopted by Sudan's health authority. Moreover, it will also provide reference for researchers to design open label clinical trials for convalescent plasma transfusion.

Globally, frontline health care providers are among the most affected population group by the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing the factors contributing to the transmission of COVID-19 infection among frontline health care providers is essential for implementing tailored control measures and protecting this vital population group. This study aimed to estimate the proportion and to identify factors associated with COVID-19 infection among medical doctors in Sudan. A web-based survey was used to collect data from medical doctors who were working in Sudan during the study period. Data were analyzed using SPSS® version 25; Descriptive analysis in terms of means (SD) for continuous variables, frequencies, and percentages with 95% CI for the categorical variable was conducted. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression for associations between the outcome variables (risk of exposure to COVID-19 infection and ever tested positive for COVID-19 infection) and independent variables (socio-demographic and infection control standards) were also performed. Out of 352 valid responses, 13.6% had tested positive for COVID-19 infection at least once during the pandemic. More than one-third have identified colleagues as the main sources of infection compared to 21% of patients (p-value < 0.04). Doctors who received training on COVID-19 were 60% less likely to have positive tests for COVID-19 (p-value <0.03), while lack of PPE and hand hygiene utilities had no statistically significant associations with testing positive for COVID-19 infection. In conclusion, a significant proportion of doctors have contracted COVID-19 infection from their colleagues. This calls for restricting infection control practices at hospitals, doctor’s doormats, and any other shared places that allow day-to-day interaction between doctors and their colleagues. Also, urgent need for training doctors on COVID-19 infection control practices as it has been identified as the key protective factor.

Background: In Egypt, the total number of persons with diagnosed and undiagnosed Diabetes is expected to increase more than double from 3.80 million to 8.80 million by the year 2025.compared with the prevalence of depression among normal subjects. These reports indicate that >25% of patients with diabetes reach clinical criteria for depression, a rate far higher than in the general population. The comorbidity of diabetes and depression is associated with adverse diabetic outcomes, compared with nondepressed diabetic patients. Aim: To determine prevalence of depression among type II diabetic patients attending family health centers in Alexandria. Material and method: A sample size of approximately 303 adult diabetic cases of type II in the age category of (20-60) years old based on a prevalence of 27% of depression in diabetics, degree of precision of 5% and confidence level of 95%, will be randomly selected from the attendees of the studied family health facilities. Two days of the week will be selected randomly to visit the studied primary health care facilities till the allocated sample size is reachedAn interview questionnaire will be designed for depression assessment by using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) among type II diabetic patients. Results: 40.18% (n=135) of diabetic patients in our study showed moderate to severe depression, 12.2%(n=41) showed mild depression while 47.62%(n=160) showed normal values on HAM-D scale.Moderate to severe depression was present in 39.1% and 40.7% in males and females respectively.

Students' academic performance is largely affected by their motivation.  Moreover, health professions education needs motivated students who are keen to tolerate the burden of clinical work along with the academic excellence to graduate competently. This study assessed the effect of tutors on students’ motivation.