Publications by authors named "G K Chakhunashvili"
Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) have suffered considerable morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few data on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) are available from middle-income countries in the WHO European Region. We evaluated primary series COVID-19 VE against laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among HCWs in Georgia.
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- The study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hospitalization rates and severity of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in children under 5 years old.
- It included a systematic review of 61 studies from 19 countries, utilizing both published and unpublished data to assess changes in RSV epidemiology during the pandemic compared to 2019.
- Results showed hospitalization rates and severity of RSV-related acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) significantly changed during the pandemic, with most studies coming from high-income countries.
BackgroundGeorgia has adopted the World Health Organization European Region's and global goals to eliminate viral hepatitis. A nationwide serosurvey among adults in 2015 showed 2.9% prevalence for hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) and 25.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The country of Georgia initiated its hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination program in 2015, at which point a serosurvey showed the adult prevalence of HCV antibody (anti-HCV) and HCV RNA to be 7.7% and 5.4%, respectively.
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- In Georgia, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout for health workers began on March 15, 2021, with only 17.9% (274 out of 1533) receiving one dose by July 2021.
- Key factors influencing vaccination included age (especially those over 40), belief in vaccine effectiveness, and prior vaccination for seasonal flu, while previous COVID-19 infection decreased likelihood of vaccination.
- Non-physician health workers, such as nurses and administrative staff, were less likely to get vaccinated, indicating a need for targeted communication strategies to boost vaccine uptake among these groups.