scholarly journals Systematic Review Reveals Lack of Causal Methodology Applied to Pooled Longitudinal Observational Infectious Disease Studies

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Hufstedler ◽  
Sabahat Rahman ◽  
Alexander M. Danzer ◽  
Hannah Goymann ◽  
Valentijn M.T. de Jong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review

scholarly journals The Impact of Organisational Characteristics of Staff and Facility on Infectious Disease Outbreaks in Care Homes: a Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Liljas ◽  
Lenke Morath ◽  
Bo Burström ◽  
Pär Schön ◽  
Janne Agerholm
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Older People ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Care Homes ◽  
Facility Design ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Facility Size ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Nurse Aides

Abstract Background: Infectious disease outbreaks are common in care homes, often with substantial impact on the rates of infection and mortality of the residents, who primarily are older people vulnerable to infections. There is growing evidence that organisational characteristics of staff and facility might play a role in infection outbreaks however such evidence have not previously been systematically reviewed. Therefore, this systematic review aims to examine the impact of facility and staff characteristics on the risk of infectious disease outbreaks in care homes.Methods: Five databases were searched. Studies considered for inclusion were of any design reporting on an outbreak of any infectious disease in one or more care homes providing care for primarily older people with original data on: facility size, facility location (urban/rural), facility design, use of temporary hired staff, staff compartmentalizing, residence of staff, and/or nursing aides hours per resident. Retrieved studies were screened, assessed for quality, and analysed employing a narrative synthesis.Results: Sixteen studies (8 cohort studies, 6 cross-sectional studies, 2 case-control) were included from the search which generated 10,424 unique records. COVID-19 was the most commonly reported cause of outbreak (n=11). The other studies focused on influenza, respiratory and gastrointestinal outbreaks. Most studies reported on the impact of facility size (n=11) followed by facility design (n=4), use of temporary hired staff (n=3), facility location (n=2), staff compartmentalizing (n=2), nurse aides hours (n=2) and residence of staff (n=1). Findings suggest that urban location and larger facility size may be associated with greater risks of an infectious outbreak. Additionally, the risk of a larger outbreak seems lower in larger facilities. Whilst staff compartmentalizing may be associated with lower risk of an outbreak, staff residing in highly infected areas may be associated with greater risk of outbreak. The influence of facility design, use of temporary staff, and nurse aides hours remains unclear.Conclusions: This systematic review suggests that larger facilities have greater risks of infectious outbreaks, yet the risk of a larger outbreak seems lower in larger facilities. Due to lack of robust findings the impact of facility and staff characteristics on infectious outbreaks remain largely unknown.PROSPERO: CRD42020213585

scholarly journals Social consequences of mass quarantine during epidemics: a systematic review with implications for the COVID-19 response

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Yen-Hao Chu ◽  
Prima Alam ◽  
Heidi J Larson ◽  
Leesa Lin
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Access To Health Care ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
World Health ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Individual Country

Abstract Four billion people worldwide have experienced coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) confinement. Such unprecedented extent of mobility restriction to curb the COVID-19 pandemic may have profound impacts on how individuals live, travel and retain well-being. This systematic review aims to identify (i) the social consequences of mass quarantine—community-wide movement restrictions—during previous and current infectious disease outbreaks and (ii) recommended strategies to mitigate the negative social implications of COVID-19 lockdowns. Considering social determinants of health, we conducted a systematic review by searching five databases (Ovid-MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and the World Health Organization COVID-19 database) for publications from inception to 9 April 2020. No limitation was set on language, location or study type. Studies that (i) contained peer-reviewed original empirical evidence and (ii) focussed on non-epidemiological implications of mass quarantine were included. We thematically synthesized and reported data due to heterogeneous disease and country context. Of 3067 publications found, 15 original peer-reviewed articles were selected for full-text extraction. Psychological distress, heightened communication inequalities, food insecurity, economic challenges, diminished access to health care, alternative delivery of education and gender-based violence were identified as negative social consequences of community-based quarantine in six infectious disease epidemics, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, altruistic attitudes were identified as a positive consequence during previous quarantines. Diverse psychological and social consequences of mass quarantine in previous and current epidemics were evident, but individual country policies had been highly varied in how well they addressed the needs of affected individuals, especially those who are socially marginalized. Policymakers should balance the pros and cons of movement restrictions, facilitate multisectoral action to tackle social inequalities, provide clear and coherent guidance to the public and undertake time-bound policy evaluations to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and to establish preparedness strategies for future epidemics.

scholarly journals The use and reporting of airline passenger data for infectious disease modelling: a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (31) ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaux Marie Isabelle Meslé ◽  
Ian Melvyn Hall ◽  
Robert Matthew Christley ◽  
Steve Leach ◽  
Jonathan Michael Read
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Airline Passenger ◽  
Modelling Studies ◽  
Access Data

Background A variety of airline passenger data sources are used for modelling the international spread of infectious diseases. Questions exist regarding the suitability and validity of these sources. Aim We conducted a systematic review to identify the sources of airline passenger data used for these purposes and to assess validation of the data and reproducibility of the methodology. Methods Articles matching our search criteria and describing a model of the international spread of human infectious disease, parameterised with airline passenger data, were identified. Information regarding type and source of airline passenger data used was collated and the studies’ reproducibility assessed. Results We identified 136 articles. The majority (n = 96) sourced data primarily used by the airline industry. Governmental data sources were used in 30 studies and data published by individual airports in four studies. Validation of passenger data was conducted in only seven studies. No study was found to be fully reproducible, although eight were partially reproducible. Limitations By limiting the articles to international spread, articles focussed on within-country transmission even if they used relevant data sources were excluded. Authors were not contacted to clarify their methods. Searches were limited to articles in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. Conclusion We recommend greater efforts to assess validity and biases of airline passenger data used for modelling studies, particularly when model outputs are to inform national and international public health policies. We also recommend improving reporting standards and more detailed studies on biases in commercial and open-access data to assess their reproducibility.

scholarly journals Factors Associated With Psychological Distress in Health-Care Workers During an Infectious Disease Outbreak: A Rapid Systematic Review of the Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuschia M. Sirois ◽  
Janine Owens
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Disease Outbreak ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreak ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Care Workers

Objective: Health-care workers (HCW) are at risk for psychological distress during an infectious disease outbreak, such as the coronavirus pandemic, due to the demands of dealing with a public health emergency. This rapid systematic review examined the factors associated with psychological distress among HCW during an outbreak.Method: We systematically reviewed literature on the factors associated with psychological distress (demographic characteristics, occupational, social, psychological, and infection-related factors) in HCW during an outbreak (COVID-19, SARS, MERS, H1N1, H7N9, and Ebola). Four electronic databases were searched (2000 to 15 November 2020) for relevant peer-reviewed research according to a pre-registered protocol. A narrative synthesis was conducted to identify fixed, modifiable, and infection-related factors linked to distress and psychiatric morbidity.Results: From the 4,621 records identified, 138 with data from 143,246 HCW in 139 studies were included. All but two studies were cross-sectional. The majority of the studies were conducted during COVID-19 (k = 107, N = 34,334) and SARS (k = 21, N = 18,096). Consistent evidence indicated that being female, a nurse, experiencing stigma, maladaptive coping, having contact or risk of contact with infected patients, and experiencing quarantine, were risk factors for psychological distress among HCW. Personal and organizational social support, perceiving control, positive work attitudes, sufficient information about the outbreak and proper protection, training, and resources, were associated with less psychological distress.Conclusions: This review highlights the key factors to the identify HCW who are most at risk for psychological distress during an outbreak and modifying factors to reduce distress and improve resilience. Recommendations are that HCW at risk for increased distress receive early interventions and ongoing monitoring because there is evidence that HCW distress can persist for up to 3 years after an outbreak. Further research needs to track the associations of risk and resilience factors with distress over time and the extent to which certain factors are inter-related and contribute to sustained or transient distress.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of the Potential Implication of Salivary Secretions in Covid-19 Patients

2021 ◽  
pp. 29-38
Author(s):  
Salem Mohammed Hassan Alharthi ◽  
Laila Mohammed Alanazi ◽  
Dalal Jumah Alturaif ◽  
Wesam Yousef Othman Alibrahim ◽  
Waleed Yahya Binammar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Salivary Gland ◽  
Oral Cavity ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
World Health ◽  
Potential Implication ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

As reported on 23rd May 2021, there are a total of 167,313,629 confirmed cases of Covid-19 all across the world with a mortality of about 3,473,851 whereas in Saudi Arabia 439,847 were registered cases of covid-19 and 7,237 deaths. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) a total of 12,244,264 people were vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccination. Covid-19 is a respiratory infectious disease. More recent researches on SARS-COV-2 suggests the entry of the virus into the host cell using the host entry factors like TMPRSS-2, TMPRSS-4 and ACE-2 in the oral tissues. The spike proteins of the SARS COV-2 attaches to the ACE-2 and TMPRSS2 of the salivary gland. Saliva provides the lubrication of the oral cavity, initiation of digestion and provides immunity in host. A complete research of all the articles was done using databases like: SCOPUS, PUBMED, EMBASE and WEB OF SCIENCE. In case of SARS CoV-2, the salivary glands act as reservoir for the virus. Intake of these viruses present in infectious saliva droplets found in the air would lead to the transmission of infection to an individual. Saliva is more efficient when compared to the blood as it doesn't clot. A reduced secretion of saliva is observed in patients post the covid 19 disease.

scholarly journals Diagnostic Infectious Diseases Testing Outside Clinics: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eneyi E Kpokiri ◽  
Gifty Marley ◽  
Weiming Tang ◽  
Noah Fongwen ◽  
Dan Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Linkage To Care ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Moderate Quality ◽  
Self Testing ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Delivery Models

Abstract Background Most people around the world do not have access to facility-based diagnostic testing, and the gap in availability of diagnostic tests is a major public health challenge. Self-testing, self-sampling, and institutional testing outside conventional clinical settings are transforming infectious disease diagnostic testing in a wide range of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We examined the delivery models of infectious disease diagnostic testing outside clinics to assess the impact on test uptake and linkage to care. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, searching 6 databases and including original research manuscripts comparing testing outside clinics with conventional testing. The main outcomes were test uptake and linkage to care, delivery models, and adverse outcomes. Data from studies with similar interventions and outcomes within thematic areas of interest were pooled, and the quality of evidence was assessed using GRADE. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42019140828). We identified 10 386 de-duplicated citations, and 76 studies were included. Data from 18 studies were pooled in meta-analyses. Studies focused on HIV (48 studies), chlamydia (8 studies), and multiple diseases (20 studies). HIV self-testing increased test uptake compared with facility-based testing (9 studies: pooled odds ratio [OR], 2.59; 95% CI, 1.06–6.29; moderate quality). Self-sampling for sexually transmitted infections increased test uptake compared with facility-based testing (7 studies: pooled OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 0.97–3.12; moderate quality). Conclusions.  Testing outside of clinics increased test uptake without significant adverse outcomes. These testing approaches provide an opportunity to expand access and empower patients. Further implementation research, scale-up of effective service delivery models, and policies in LMIC settings are needed.

Use and effectiveness of mHealth technologies in tracking the spread of infectious disease outbreaks and their implications for the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review protocol (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madison Milne-Ives ◽  
Simon Rowland ◽  
Alison McGregor ◽  
J Edward Fitzgerald ◽  
Edward Meinert
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Public Health Practice ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Practice ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Infectious Disease Outbreaks

BACKGROUND The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mHealth as medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices. A number of mHealth devices, primarily apps designed to support contact tracing, have been utilised as part of the public health response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The value of mHealth devices in augmenting public health practice is however yet to be defined. OBJECTIVE The study aims to address three research questions: (1) What digital technologies are being used to track the symptoms and spread of infectious disease outbreaks and what strategies do they use to do so? (2) How effective and cost-effective are digital technologies at tracking the spread of infectious disease outbreaks and what are their strengths and limitations? (3) What are the user perspectives on the usability and effectiveness of these technologies? METHODS The PICOS template and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) will be followed for this systematic review. The review will be composed of a literature search, article selection, data extraction, quality appraisal, data analysis, and a discussion of the implications of the data for the current COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS N/A CONCLUSIONS This systematic review will summarise the available evidence for use of mHealth devices for tracking the spread of infectious disease outbreaks. These results are potentially valuable for informing public health policy during infectious disease outbreaks such as the current Covid-19 pandemic.

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