In Bangladesh, an array of measures have been adopted to control the rapid spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. Such general population control measures could significantly influence perception, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. Here, we assessed KAP towards COVID-19 immediately after the lock-down measures were implemented and during the rapid rise period of the outbreak. Online-based cross-sectional study conducted from March 29 to April 19, 2020, involving Bangladeshi residents aged 12-64 years, recruited via social media. After consenting, participants completed an online survey assessing socio-demographic variables, perception, and KAP towards COVID-19. Of the 2017 survey participants, 59.8% were male, the majority were students (71.2%), aged 21-30 years (57.9%), having a bachelor's degree (61.0%), having family income >30,000 BDT (50.0%), and living in urban areas (69.8). The survey revealed that 48.3% of participants had more accurate knowledge, 62.3% had more positive attitudes, and 55.1% had more frequent practices regarding COVID-19 prevention. Majority (96.7%) of the participants agreed 'COVID-19 is a dangerous disease', almost all (98.7%) participants wore a face mask in crowded places, 98.8% agreed to report a suspected case to health authorities, and 93.8% implemented washing hands with soap and water. In multiple logistic regression analyses, COVID-19 more accurate knowledge was associated with age and residence. Sociodemographic factors such as being older, higher education, employment, monthly family income >30,000 BDT, and having more frequent prevention practices were the more positive attitude factors. More frequent prevention practice factors were associated with female sex, older age, higher education, family income > 30,000 BDT, urban area residence, and having more positive attitudes. To improve KAP of general populations is crucial during the rapid rise period of a pandemic outbreak such as COVID-19. Therefore, development of effective health education programs that incorporate considerations of KAP-modifying factors is needed.

In Bangladesh, an array of measures have been adopted to control the rapid spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. Such general population control measures could significantly influence perception, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19. Here, we assessed KAP towards COVID-19 immediately after the lock-down measures were implemented and during the rapid rise period of the outbreak. Online-based cross-sectional study conducted from March 29 to April 19, 2020, involving Bangladeshi residents aged 12-64 years, recruited via social media. After consenting, participants completed an online survey assessing socio-demographic variables, perception, and KAP towards COVID-19. Of the 2017 survey participants, 59.8% were male, the majority were students (71.2%), aged 21-30 years (57.9%), having a bachelor's degree (61.0%), having family income >30,000 BDT (50.0%), and living in urban areas (69.8). The survey revealed that 48.3% of participants had more accurate knowledge, 62.3% had more positive attitudes, and 55.1% had more frequent practices regarding COVID-19 prevention. Majority (96.7%) of the participants agreed COVID-19 is a dangerous disease, almost all (98.7%) participants wore a face mask in crowded places, 98.8% agreed to report a suspected case to health authorities, and 93.8% implemented washing hands with soap and water. In multiple logistic regression analyses, COVID-19 more accurate knowledge was associated with age and residence. Sociodemographic factors such as being older, higher education, employment, monthly family income >30,000 BDT, and having more frequent prevention practices were the more positive attitude factors. More frequent prevention practice factors were associated with female sex, older age, higher education, family income > 30,000 BDT, urban area residence, and having more positive attitudes. To improve KAP of general populations is crucial during the rapid rise period of a pandemic outbreak such as COVID-19. Therefore, development of effective health education programs that incorporate considerations of KAP-modifying factors is needed.

BACKGROUND: Latin American countries have been profoundly affected by COVID-19. Due to the alarming incidence of identified cases, we intended to explore which psycho-social elements may be influencing the poor adherence toward the mandatory control measures among the population. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and vulnerability perception of Peruvians during the coronavirus outbreak.METHOD: Using a web-based cross-sectional survey, we collected data from 225 self-selected participants, evaluating demographic information. The overall respondents were between 18 and 29 years old (56.8%), being female (n = 134), belonging to educated groups, and graduated professionals (69.3%), the majority of them. RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that knowledge is highly correlated with education (p=0.031), occupation (p=0.002), and age (p= 0.016). Our study identified that, although people reported adequate knowledge by identifying expected symptoms and virus transmission ways in COVID-19 disease. There is a significant perceived susceptibility to contract the mentioning virus, displaying stigmatized behavior (59.1%) and fear of contracting the virus from others (70.2%). Additionally, it is reported to lack people's confidence to health national authorities on the sanitary responses (62.7%), preparedness for the disease (76.9%) and the lack of adequate measures to deal with it (51.1%). CONCLUSION: We suggest that public policies consider guidelines on knowledge translation and risk communication strategies for both containing psychological responses in a timely manner and ensuring compliance with public control measures by the population.

Although sleep disturbances are common co-morbidities of metabolic diseases, the underlying processes linking both are not yet fully defined. Changes in the duration of sleep are paralleled by changes in the levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), an anabolic hormone that shows a circadian pattern in the circulation and activitydependent entrance in the brain. However, the specific role, if any, of IGF-I in this universal homeostatic process remains poorly understood. We now report that the activity of orexin neurons, a discrete cell population in the lateral hypothalamus that is involved in the circadian sleep/wake cycle and arousal, is modulated by IGF-I. Furthermore, mice with blunted IGF-I receptor activity in orexin neurons have lower levels of orexin in the hypothalamus, show altered electro-corticographic patterns with predominant slow wave activity, and reduced onset-sleep latency. Collectively, these results extend the role in the brain of this pleiotropic growth factor to shaping sleep architecture through the regulation of orexin neurons. We speculate that poor sleep quality associated to diverse conditions may be related to disturbed brain IGF-I input to orexin neurons.