Background: The closure of educational activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an unplanned shift from traditional learning to a setup that exclusively involves digital teaching and learning. Within this context, the present study aimed to explore undergraduate medical students' perceptions regarding the effectiveness of synchronized online learning at

Fever is considered as a frequent symptom in childhood and is the cause of almost 65% to 70% of pediatric visits. Saudi Arabia has about 10% of child population (under 4 years of age), imposing a high burden of childhood illnesses including fever. A total of 1700 questionnaires were distributed to Saudi parents with children visiting pediatric clinic. Most of the participants were mothers (77.4%). A temperature of 38.0 °C was defined fever by 42% of participants. The majority of parents (80%) believed seizure is the consequence of untreated high fever. A total of 72.5% indicated that 40.7 to 43.20°C is the highest temperature that can be reached if untreated. There was a statistically significant relationship between mothers and fathers for overall knowledge, attitude, and practice scores. This study indicates that numerous misconceptions still persist regarding fever as more than 90% of parents demonstrated undue fear of consequent body damage from fever and also believed antibiotics can reduce high temperature.

Background A global epidemic of obesity has been documented, particularly among African countries. While central obesity and overweight have been reported for many countries, very limited information exists about the prevalence of these health problems in Sudan, and these data are nonexistent for Eastern Sudan. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity and central obesity, as well as the factors associated with both, among adults in Gadarif, Eastern Sudan. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gadarif, Eastern Sudan, during the period of January through May 2018. Sociodemographic and health characteristics data were collected through a questionnaire. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were measured using the standard methods. Both descriptive and inferential statics were applied to analyze the data. Results A total of 594 adults participated in the study; 70.4% of them were female. The mean (standard deviation) age was 44.98 (16.64) years. Of the 594 enrolled participants, 33.7%, 7.4%, 26.8%, and 32.2% were normal weight, underweight, overweight, and obese, respectively. The prevalence of central obesity was (67.8%). Approximately, one-third of the participants (29.29%) were obese and had central obesity. In the multinomial regression, being married was the main risk factor associated with overweight, and older age, female sex, being married and hypertension were significantly associated with obesity. In the binary regression, the main risk factors associated with central obesity were female sex and being married.

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Background:The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues with resurgent second and third waves worldwide. Vaccination is one of several measures that are needed to end this pervasive threat. Pakistan, however, has a relatively low rate of routine vaccine acceptance. Our study aimed to determine the proportion and predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy (VH) among adults in Pakistan. Methods: An online cross-sectional study was conducted from December 27, 2020 to March 6, 2021. Non-probability sampling was applied to recruit study participants through social media platforms (ie, Facebook and Twitter) and through free messaging services (WhatsApp). Stata 16 was used to generate descriptive statistics and logistic regression models for identifying predictive variables of vaccine hesitancy. A p-value of <0.05 was considered strong evidence against the null hypothesis. Results: Out of 1014 participants, 35.8% (n=363) were hesitant about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Reasons for VH included concerns about side effects (42.4%), belief in conspiracy theories (20.1%), perceived inefficacy of the vaccine (13.2%), and perceived protection through precautionary measures (12.6%). Urban residency (AOR 2.34, 95% CI 1.54-3.57), reservations about vaccine safety (AOR 3.29, 95% CI 1.68-6.44), uncertainty about vaccine efficacy (AOR 2.70, 95% CI 1.50-4.86), failure of the vaccine to reduce hospitalization and death (AOR 6.36, 95% CI 4.01-10.22), and unfelt need for vaccination awareness among public (AOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.28-3.14) were associated with higher rates of VH. At least one chronic disease (AOR 0.60, 95% CI 0.39-0.92), knowing someone infected with COVID-19 (AOR 0.56, 95% CI 0.39-0.81), and trusting information from the ministry of health (AOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.41-0.99) and physicians (AOR 0.27, 95% CI 0.13-0.53) were found to be associated with lower rates of COVID-19 VH. Conclusion: More than one third of survey participants were VH. COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Pakistan can be improved through targeted health education strategies and planned interventions that address the barriers identified in the present study.