Introduction: While multiple vaccines are undergoing clinical trial across the globe, we yearn for an FDA approved drug to protect us from the devastating pandemic for the time being. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of Ivermectin when administered as pre-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19. Method: An observational study, with 118 healthcare providers who were enrolled purposively, was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Dhaka from May 2020 to August 2020. The subjects were divided into experimental and control groups; and the experimental group received an oral monthly dose of Ivermectin 12mg for 4 months. Both groups were exposed to COVID-19 positive patients admitted in the hospital during the course of study. The symptomatic subjects were evaluated by physical examination, COVID-19 RT-PCR and/or HRCT of chest. Differences between the variables were determined using the Chi-square test and the level of statistical significance was reached when p<0.05. Result: 73.3% (44 out of 60) subjects in control group were positive for COVID-19, whereas only 6.9% (4 out of 58) of the experimental group were diagnosed with COVID-19 (p-value < 0.05). Conclusion: Ivermectin, an FDA-approved, safe, cheap and widely available drug, should be subjected to large-scale trials all over the world to ascertain its effectiveness as pre-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19.

Background and aims: Increasing prevalence of disability in Bangladesh indicates the need of special attention to disability care services within the healthcare setting. Our study aims to identify the level of satisfaction of clients using disability services as well as their opinions to improve those facilities. Methods:We have conducted a cross-sectional study in six disability service centers from Kurigram district of Bangladesh. We have chosen our study participants conveniently during each visit to the service centers. Using a structured questionnaire, the interview process was done. We excluded mentally impaired participants from the study. We have used descriptive analysis of data using appropriate statistical technique. Results: We have interviewed a total of 384 individuals. Respondents mean ± standard deviation (SD) age was 38.35 ± 16.01 years with a range of 12 to 65 years. Most of our participants were physically disabled (63%). Participants were found to be moderately satisfied with the service providers, but marked dissatisfaction were observed among the participants regarding available services and 61.7% participants were dissatisfied with the overall services. The service was not easily accessible reported by the respondents. Lack of physician was the most common complaint. Despite of indicating positive aspects, they recommended employing at least 1 physician for medical treatments and improving positive attitude towards disabled persons. Conclusion: Poor level of satisfaction towards overall disability services were observed in this surveyed community. Policy makers should initiate appropriate measures to ensure easy access and better quality of services based on the results and guidelines discussed in this study.

Backgrounds: About 120 million people around the world are overexposed to lead which is neurotoxic and 99 percent of the most severely affected children are in the developing world including Bangladesh. Methods and Materials: The present cross-sectional ecological study was carried out to explore the impact of lead poisoning on the intelligence level among 84 primary school children of a school of Bangladesh, aged between 8 and 14 years from September 2010 through January 2011. The research instrument was an interviewer questionnaire, questionnaire for IQ test and assessment of blood lead level (inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry with collision/reaction cells) of the study subjects after obtaining permission from their parents and the school authority. Results: Data were cross-checked and frequency distribution and association using chi-square test was accomplished. Background information depicted majority (69.1%) of the children aged10-11 years (mean = 10.25 ±1.177 yrs), female (51.2%), parents having primary level of education or below (73.8% in case of father and 77.4% in mother) and from lower socioeconomics (78.6% earned BDT 10,000 or below per month). Among all, majority (56%) were found to be moron, 27.4% in borderline, while 8.3% were imbecile with the same proportion with normal level. By their blood lead level. Majority (70.2%) had blood lead level up to 10 microgram/dl and the rest (29.8%) had more than 10 microgram/dl. Though no statistically significant association was found between IQ level of the children and their blood lead level (p>0.05), the health problems found among the respondents as abdominal pain (53.57%), impatience (14.29%), nausea (10.71%) and all other problems (loss of concentration to study, ear problem, anorexia and loss of weight) amounting for 21.43% are suggestive of chronic lead poisoning. Conclusion:Further studies in large scale with larger samples including comparative studies of inter-industrial areas have been strongly recommended. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v11i4.12599 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 11 No. 04 Oct’12

Background: Disaster causes widespread destruction, disrupting people’s lives and causing human suffering with communities finding it difficult to cope. When the disaster occurs, human beings may not have the power to stop it from occurring, nevertheless they may have the power and ability to adapt or minimize the impact of the disaster on their lives. This study was aimed to assess the level of knowledge and awareness on disaster management among medical professionals.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the medical professionals from two selected medical college hospitals in Dhaka city of Bangladesh from January to April 2017. A total of 120 samples were selected purposively using two stages sampling technique. The data was collected using self-administered semi-structured questionnaire and was analysed using SPSS 20.0 version.Results: In this study half 60 (50.0%) of the study participants were in the age group 20-30 years and about 77.5% of the study participants were Muslims. About 64.2% of the study participants had less than 11 years of professional experience. Only 10 (8.3%) of the study participants had attended training on disaster management. About 30.0% of the study participants had good level of knowledge and only 49.2% had high level of awareness.Conclusions: The findings revealed that most of the study participants had not attended any training on disaster management. It also reported that the majority of the study participants had poor level of knowledge. Evacuation exercises need to be done for the entire hospital at least twice a year.

Background: Worldwide disasters are a common event nowadays. A disaster is an incident that can cause massive disruption and damage. Disaster can be dramatically affected many people, either directly or indirectly. The affected people may die, injures and it also destroyed their houses, health system, and interrupted their lifeline. The study was aimed to identify the perceptions of knowledge regarding disaster management among healthcare workers in Bangladesh. Material and Methods: A total of 120 healthcare workers were selected to participate in this study using two stages of sampling technique. The study was carried out using a cross-sectional survey in the two selected medical college hospitals in Dhaka city of Bangladesh within a period of 4 months (January 2017-April 2017). The data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered semi-structured questionnaire and were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ver-20.0. Results: In the present study, the mean age of the study respondents was 34.07 ± 10.64 years. About 51.7% of the study participants were female. Two-fifths (40%) of the study participants had diploma in radiology/pharmacy followed by B.Sc. in medical technology (20.8%) and MBBS (10.8%). More than three-fifths (64.2%) had <11 years of professional experience. Conclusions: The level of good perception of knowledge of females was slightly higher than that of males. The doctors were found to have higher level of good perception of knowledge than those from other professions. The finding reported that close to nine-tenths of the study participants had good perception of knowledge regarding disaster management and the profession of the study participants was found significantly associated with the perception of knowledge regarding disaster management.