Air pollution consisting of ambient air pollution and household air pollution (HAP) threatens health globally. Air pollution aggravates the health of vulnerable people such as infants, children, women, and the elderly as well as people with chronic diseases such as cardiorespiratory illnesses, little social support, and poor access to medical services. This study is aimed to estimate the impact of air pollution on global burden of disease (GBD). We extracted data about mortality and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to air pollution from 1990 to 2019. The extracted data were then organized and edited into a usable format using STATA version 15. Furthermore, we also estimated the impacts for three categories based on their socio-demographic index (SDI) as calculated by GBD study. The impacts of air pollution on overall burden of disease by SDI, gender, type of pollution, and type of disease is estimated and their trends over the period of 1990 to 2019 are presented. The attributable burden of ambient air pollution is increasing over the years while attributable burden of HAP is declining over the years, globally. The findings of this study will be useful for evidence-based planning for prevention and control of air pollution and reduction of burden of disease from air pollution at global, regional, and national levels.

Introduction: Postmenopausal women experience various menopause-specific somatic, psychological, and urogenital symptoms which tend to affect their overall well-being. However, there is a scant focus on menopausal health problems of postmenopausal women in Nepal. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of menopausal symptoms among postmenopausal women of a Municipality. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in selected wards of Tokha Municipality of Kathmandu district among postmenopausal women aged 45-60 years from September to October 2019. Ethical approval was taken from the Ethical Review Board, Nepal Health Research Council (reference number 694). Random sampling was used as the sampling technique. Face-to-face interview was used for data collection while a semi-structured interview schedule including the Nepali version of Menopause Rating Scale was used as a tool for measuring menopausal symptoms. EpiData version 3.1 was used for data entry while data analysis was performed using Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences version 20. Results: Amongst the postmenopausal women, all 203 (100%) had menopausal symptoms with majority reporting milder symptoms as found in 143 (70.4%). The mean Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) score was obtained as 13.21±5.1. The most prevalent moderate and mild symptoms were vaginal dryness 94 (46.3%), and depressive mood 71 (35%) respectively while physical and mental exhaustion 175 (86.2%) was the most common in all forms. Over half 102 (50.2%) of the respondents were unaware of menopausal symptoms and almost three-fifth 121 (59.6%) reported menopause related symptoms affected their daily work activities. Conclusions: The majority of postmenopausal women in this study had milder menopausal symptoms, which parallels findings from other national studies.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the strain of coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a respiratory illness. COVID-19 has now become a global public health crisis causing alarming numbers of morbidity and mortality. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started scientists, researchers, universities, companies, and institutions all around the world have been endeavoring to discover a potential treatment for COVID-19. Numerous studies and clinical trials on vaccines and drugs for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 are underway across the world. However, the uncertainty around the efficacy and safety of various treatment regimens have become one of the biggest challenges in the battle against the SARS-CoV-2. This paper is a narrative review of articles regarding the various treatments and vaccines being tested for the SARS-CoV-2, available in the PubMed database along with Google Scholar. There are ongoing clinical trials on potential drugs such as remdesivir, favipiravir, lopinavir/ritonavir, chloroquine, and hydroxychloroquine, corticosteroids tocilizumab, azithromycin, anakinra, etc. and other therapeutic modalities like convalescent plasma therapy. Likewise, vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 are being developed and tested, including mRNA, non-replicating viral vector, DNA, protein subunit candidate vaccines, etc. Although some early-stage clinical trials and studies on these drugs and vaccines have shown positive results, definitive and conclusive results are yet to be obtained. Keywords: COVID-19; antiviral drugs; COVID-19 treatment; COVID-19 vaccine; SARS-CoV-2