The restrictions associated with the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in changes to young children's daily routines and habits. The impact on their participation in movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary screen time and sleep) is unknown. This international longitudinal study compared young children's movement behaviours before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chikungunya virus causes mosquito-transmitted infection that leads to extensive morbidity affecting substantial quality of life. Disease associated morbidity, quality of life, and financial loss are seldom reported in resources limited countries, such as Bangladesh. We reported the acute clinical profile, quality of life and consequent economic burden of the affected individuals in the recent chikungunya outbreak (May to September 2017) in Dhaka city, Bangladesh.

The overall information on occupational health and safety (OHS)-related knowledge and workplace practices are scarce in Bangladesh. This study aimed to (i) examine the prevalence of occupational injuries, (ii) explore the level of OHS-related knowledge and practice among workers and associated factors, and (iii) investigate the socioeconomic factors and OHS-related knowledge and practice scores as determinants of injury among metal workers at a community setting in Bangladesh.

The mosquito-borne arboviral disease dengue has become a global public health concern. However, very few studies have reported atypical clinical features of dengue among children. Because an understanding of various spectrums of presentation of dengue is necessary for timely diagnosis and management, we aimed to document the typical and atypical clinical features along with predictors of severity among children with dengue during the largest outbreak in Bangladesh in 2019.

Dengue is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne disease and has become a major public health threat, particularly for tropical and subtropical countries including Bangladesh. This comprehensive review aims to summarize the overall scenario of dengue, including disease burden, clinical spectrum, seroprevalence, circulating serotypes/genotypes, and spatial distribution since the first recorded outbreak in Bangladesh. Since the first recorded outbreak in 2000, dengue epidemiology has shown the typical epidemic pattern with more frequent and bigger outbreaks and gradual geographic expansion to non-endemic regions in Bangladesh. For instance, highly confined Rohingya refugee camps that provide shelters to nearly 1.2 million forcibly displaced vulnerable Myanmar nationals in Cox's Bazar district confronted a massive outbreak in 2022. Recent major outbreaks are found to be associated with the emergence of serotype DENV-3, which was undetected for a long time. Consequently, changes in serotypes might be attributed to increased severity in clinical manifestation in recent years. The existing weak surveillance and risk management systems are inadequate to deal with impending dengue risks. The healthcare system, particularly at the district level, is not prepared to manage impending large-scale dengue outbreaks in Bangladesh. Our findings would contribute to the development of strategies for dengue control and management in Bangladesh as well as other similar settings elsewhere in the world.

Thalassaemia is an inherited life-threatening but preventable haemoglobin disorder. South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, are the hotspots of the world's thalassaemia belt. Indigenous communities are underprivileged and vulnerable to genetic disorders, including thalassaemia. Understanding the perspectives of thalassaemia of future community leaders (indigenous university students) is critical for developing a tailor-made preventive strategy relevant to their communities. In this study, we aimed to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes towards thalassaemia among indigenous university students and determine their thalassaemia carrier status.

As complete absence of germ cells leads to sterile males in zebrafish, we explored the relationship between primordial germ cell (PGC) number and sexual development. Our results revealed dimorphic proliferation of PGCs in the early zebrafish larvae, marking the beginning of sexual differentiation. We applied morpholino-based gene knockdown and cell transplantation strategies to demonstrate that a threshold number of PGCs is required for the stability of ovarian fate. Using histology and transcriptomic analyses, we determined that zebrafish gonads are in a meiotic ovarian stage at 14 days postfertilization and identified signaling pathways supporting meiotic oocyte differentiation and eventual female fate. The development of PGC-depleted gonads appears to be restrained and delayed, suggesting that PGC number may directly regulate the variability and length of gonadal transformation and testicular differentiation in zebrafish. We propose that gonadal transformation may function as a developmental buffering mechanism to ensure the reproductive outcome.

The psychological burden of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and lockdown strategy among young people not diagnosed with COVID-19 in the general population remains unknown and often have been overlooked. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence and predictors of anxiety, depression and stress among young people diagnosed with COVID-19 of Bangladesh amidst the pandemic.

Thalassaemia, a hereditary haemoglobin disorder, is a major public health concern in some parts of the world. Although Bangladesh is in the world's thalassaemia belt, the information on this disease is scarce. Additionally, the awareness of this life threatening, but potentially preventable disease is surprisingly poor. However, mass awareness is pivotal for the development of an effective preventive strategy. In this context, the understanding of parental perspectives is essential to grasp the magnitude of the problem. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the parental knowledge gaps and perceptions regarding thalassemia, the barriers confronted by the parents for caring for their thalassaemic children and their attitude to prenatal screening and prenatal diagnosis.

24-hour movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep) during the early years are associated with health and developmental outcomes, prompting the WHO to develop Global guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. Prevalence data on 24-hour movement behaviours is lacking, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper describes the development of the SUNRISE International Study of Movement Behaviours in the Early Years protocol, designed to address this gap.

Heat shock factors (Hsfs) are transcription factors that regulate responses to heat shock and other environmental stimuli. Four heat shock factors (Hsf1-4) have been characterized from vertebrates to date. In addition to stress response, they also play important roles in development and gametogenesis. Here, we study the fifth member of heat shock factor family, Hsf5, using zebrafish as a model organism. Mutant hsf5-/- males, generated by CRISPR/Cas9 technique, were infertile with drastically reduced sperm count, increased sperm head size, and abnormal tail architecture, whereas females remained fertile. We show that Hsf5 is required for progression through meiotic prophase 1 during spermatogenesis as suggested by the accumulation of cells in the leptotene and zygotene-pachytene stages and increased apoptosis in post-meiotic cells. hsf5-/- mutants show gonadal misregulation of a substantial number of genes with roles in cell cycle, apoptosis, protein modifications, and signal transduction, indicating an important role of Hsf5 in early stages of spermatogenesis.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep for children under 5 years of age in 2019. In response to these guidelines, this pilot study aimed to (i) determine the proportion of preschool children (ages 3-4 years) who met the WHO guidelines; (ii) examine the feasibility of the proposed protocol for the SUNRISE study; and (iii) assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on movement behaviors of preschool children in Bangladesh.