IntroductionMany patients have prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection, which can affect patient quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study is to determine the quality of life in patients with long COVID, compared with healthy controls.Material and methodsThe study was a prospective cross-sectional study using an anonymous online survey. The SF-36 questionnaire was chosen for quality of life measurement. The survey was distributed through the Facebook social media platform targeting groups of patients with long COVID. The control group was made up of physiotherapy and physical education students.ResultsThere was a significant difference in physical function, with a mean score of 94.9 (±9.4) among the students, compared to long COVID patients with a mean score of 66.2 (±25.4) (p < 0.001). A similar result was found in the physical role (p < 0.001). The overall quality of life score for college students was 578.0 (±111.9), and the overall score for patients with long COVID was 331.9 (±126.9).ConclusionsPatients with long COVID had a lower quality of life compared to the healthy control group, and this was associated with the negative effect of long-COVID. Lower quality of life in patients with long COVID is an important therapeutic goal, which requires attention.

The impact of tourism on quality of life standards in regions is significant in terms of people, planet, and profit. This paper examines the subnational NUTS 2 level regions, (in line with Eurostat) by applying several interlinked and connected indicators. Adopting the three Ps (people, planet, profit) of the Sustainability Services Marketing Mix, this article discusses the fusion of 54 regions of Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria) into clusters according to the selected accommodation tourism indicators used by the European Statistical Agency (Eurostat) to evaluate tourism. Since many variables of the Prague region significantly exceed the values of the remaining regions, this region has been considered as an individual cluster, excluded from the cluster analysis. The cluster analysis resulted in the definition of six clusters consisting of regions with similar indicators’ statistics characteristics. The presented approach changes the traditional approach to clusters in tourism and provokes thinking about new criteria of clustering and solutions in the field of tourism, especially when considering future cooperation, competitiveness, and sustainable development.

The epizootic of Bluetongue virus (BTV) throughout Europe in 2006 revealed insufficient knowledge regarding seasonal activities, endo/exophilic and endo/exophagic behaviour of the species of the Culicoides genus (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Although several studies have been carried out in Western Europe, bringing new knowledge of the above mentioned topics, there was still a gap to fill in Central Europe. Therefore, this study investigated seasonal variations in the indoor/outdoor Culicoides activity observed in the south-eastern Slovakia from 2012 to 2014, using a light-trapping method. In total, 52,741 Culicoides were collected and identified; majority of them were caught outdoors (82.6%), with the highest activity period being mid-June. The C. obsoletus/C. scoticus and C.punctatus species predominated, altogether representing 88.8 and 94.1% of the total indoor and outdoor collections, respectively. Positive correlation was observed between the temperature and the abundance, whereas no correlation with other studied factors was detected. In autumn, Culicoides activity was observed outdoors at temperatures ranging between-1.5°C and 9.3°C, whereas the indoor activity was detected at temperatures ranging between-3.9°C and 0°C. This demonstrated that the most significant BTV vectors in the studied area are C. obsoletus/C. scoticus. The C. dewulfi and C. chiopterus vectors appeared to be of lower significance. The period with the highest risk of the BTV transmission in Eastern Slovakia appeared to be mid-June. The autumnal Culicoides activity inside the cowsheds may be important for the assessment of virus overwintering. This study is the first to provide the data on indoor/outdoor behaviour of biting midges in Slovakia.

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