Illicit drug addiction, infectious disease spread, and the need for an evidence-based response

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 142-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Wood ◽  
Julio S Montaner ◽  
Thomas Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Drug Addiction ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Evidence Based

scholarly journals The Deterministic Evolution Of Illicit Drug Consumption Within a Given Population

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 139-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusra Bibi Ruhomally ◽  
Nabeelah Banon Jahmeerbaccus ◽  
Muhammad Zaid Dauhoo
Keyword(s):  
Drug Users ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Drug Consumption ◽  
Dynamic Evolution ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Epidemic Threshold ◽  
Drug Usage ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Reproduction Numbers

We study the NERA model that describes the dynamic evolution of illicit drug usage in a population. The model consists of nonusers (N) and three categories of drug users: the experimental (E) category, the recreational (R) category and the addict (A) category. Two epidemic threshold term known as the reproduction numbers, R0 and μ are defined and derived. Sensitivity analysis of R0 on the parameters are performed in order to determine their relative importance to illicit drug prevalence. The local and global stability of the equilibrium states are also analysed. We also prove that a transcritical bifurcation occurs at R0 = 1. It is shown that an effective campaign of prevention can help to fight against the prevalence of illicit drug consumption. We demonstrate persistence when R0 > 1 and conditions for the extinction of drug consumption are also established. Numerical simulations are performed to verify our model. Our results show that the NERA model can assist policy makers in targeting prevention for maximum effectiveness and can be used to adopt evidence-based policies to better monitor and quantify drug use trends.

scholarly journals Successive Approximation, Variational Iteration, and Multistage-Analytical Methods for a SEIR Model of Infectious Disease Involving Vaccination Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-126
Author(s):  
Sudi Mungkasi
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Successive Approximation ◽  
Time Domain ◽  
Analytical Method ◽  
Vaccination Strategy ◽  
Approximate Solutions ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Seir Model ◽  
Variational Iteration ◽  
Iteration Methods

We consider a SEIR model for the spread (transmission) of an infectious disease. The model has played an important role due to world pandemic disease spread cases. Our contributions in this paper are three folds. Our first contribution is to provide successive approximation and variational iteration methods to obtain analytical approximate solutions to the SEIR model. Our second contribution is to prove that for solving the SEIR model, the variational iteration and successive approximation methods are identical when we have some particular values of Lagrange multipliers in the variational iteration formulation. Third, we propose a new multistage-analytical method for solving the SEIR model. Computational experiments show that the successive approximation and variational iteration methods are accurate for small size of time domain. In contrast, our proposed multistage-analytical method is successful to solve the SEIR model very accurately for large size of time domain. Furthermore, the order of accuracy of the multistage-analytical method can be made higher simply by taking more number of successive iterations in the multistage evolution.

Employing Agent-based Modeling to Mitigate Infectious Disease Spread

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 390-394
Author(s):  
Michael Schwartz ◽  
Paul Oppold ◽  
Boniface Noyongoyo ◽  
Peter Hancock
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Viral Infections ◽  
Agent Based Modeling ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Effective Measure ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Personal Learning ◽  
Business Operations ◽  
Interpersonal Factors ◽  
Reduce Risk

The current pandemic has tested systems in place as to how to fight infectious diseases in many countries. COVID-19 spreads quickly and is deadly. However, it can be controlled through different measures such as physical distancing. The current project examines through simulation model of the UCF Global building the potential spread of an infectious disease via AnyLogic Personal Learning Edition (PLE) 8.7.0 on a laptop running Windows 10. The goal is to determine the environmental and interpersonal factors that could be modified to reduce risk of illness while maintaining typical business operations. Multiple experiments were ran to see when there is a potential change in infection and spread rate. Results show that increases occur with density between 400 and 500. To curtail the spread it is therefore important to limit contact through physical distancing for it has been proven an effective measure for reducing the spread of viral infections.

scholarly journals Household members do not contact each other at random: implications for infectious disease modelling

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1893) ◽  
pp. 20182201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nele Goeyvaerts ◽  
Eva Santermans ◽  
Gail Potter ◽  
Andrea Torneri ◽  
Kim Van Kerckhove ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Household Contact ◽  
Epidemic Models ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Contact Density ◽  
Contact Networks ◽  
Household Transmission ◽  
Household Members ◽  
Contact Survey

Airborne infectious diseases such as influenza are primarily transmitted from human to human by means of social contacts, and thus easily spread within households. Epidemic models, used to gain insight into infectious disease spread and control, typically rely on the assumption of random mixing within households. Until now, there has been no direct empirical evidence to support this assumption. Here, we present the first social contact survey specifically designed to study contact networks within households. The survey was conducted in Belgium (Flanders and Brussels) from 2010 to 2011. We analysed data from 318 households totalling 1266 individuals with household sizes ranging from two to seven members. Exponential-family random graph models (ERGMs) were fitted to the within-household contact networks to reveal the processes driving contact between household members, both on weekdays and weekends. The ERGMs showed a high degree of clustering and, specifically on weekdays, decreasing connectedness with increasing household size. Furthermore, we found that the odds of a contact between older siblings and between father and child are smaller than for any other pair. The epidemic simulation results suggest that within-household contact density is the main driver of differences in epidemic spread between complete and empirical-based household contact networks. The homogeneous mixing assumption may therefore be an adequate characterization of the within-household contact structure for the purpose of epidemic simulations. However, ignoring the contact density when inferring based on an epidemic model will result in biased estimates of within-household transmission rates. Further research regarding the implementation of within-household contact networks in epidemic models is necessary.

scholarly journals Summary of Canadian Guidelines for the Initial Management of Community-Acquired Pneumonia: An Evidence-Based Update by the Canadian Infectious Disease Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 237-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lionel A Mandell ◽  
Thomas J Marrie ◽  
Ronald F Grossman ◽  
Anthony W Chow ◽  
Robert H Hyland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Community Acquired Pneumonia ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Mixed Infections ◽  
Joint Effort ◽  
Initial Management ◽  
Serious Illness ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nursing Home Patients ◽  
Current Guidelines

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a serious illness with a significant impact on individual patients and society as a whole. Over the past several years, there have been significant advances in the knowledge and understanding of the etiology of the disease, and an appreciation of problems such as mixed infections and increasing antimicrobial resistance. The development of additional fluoroquinolone agents with enhanced activity againstStreptococcus pneumoniaehas been important as well. It was decided that the time had come to update and modify the previous CAP guidelines, which were published in 1993. The current guidelines represent a joint effort by the Canadian Infectious Diseases Society and the Canadian Thoracic Society, and they address the etiology, diagnosis and initial management of CAP. The diagnostic section is based on the site of care, and the treatment section is organized according to whether one is dealing with outpatients, inpatients or nursing home patients.

The Power of Inclusion

2021 ◽  
pp. 421-438
Author(s):  
Erasmos Charamba
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Electronic Mail ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Science Students ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
The World ◽  
E Learning

The year 2019 saw the emergence of COVID-19, an infectious disease spread through human-to-human transmission. This resulted in the immediate worldwide suspension of contact classes as countries tried to contain the wide spread of the pandemic. Consequently, educational institutions were thus left with only one option: e-learning. E-learning is the delivery of learning experiences through the use of electronic mail, the internet, the world wide web, and it can either be synchronous or asynchronous. Through the translanguaging lens, this chapter reports on a qualitative study that sought to explore the crucial role language plays in the e-learning of multilingual science students at a secondary school in South Africa. The e-learning lessons were in the form of videos, multilingual glossaries, and narrated slides in English and isiZulu languages. Data was collected through lesson observations and interviews held via Microsoft Teams. This chapter suggests numerous cognitive and socio-cultural benefits of multilingual e-learning pedagogy and recommends its use in education.

scholarly journals Beyond Antibiotics: A Practical Guide for the Infectious Disease Physician to Treat Opioid Use Disorder in the Setting of Associated Infectious Diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikhil Seval ◽  
Ellen Eaton ◽  
Sandra A Springer
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Extended Release ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Infectious Disease Physician ◽  
Centered Care ◽  
Acute Injection

Abstract Infections are a common cause of hospitalization for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD), and hospital admissions are rising in the context of the worsening US opioid crisis. Infectious disease (ID) physicians are frequently the first point of medical contact for these patients. In this article, we discuss the integration of evidence-based management of OUD and patient-centered care of hospitalized persons with acute injection-related infections. We describe the following components of a comprehensive approach for OUD with inpatient ID consultations: (1) how to screen for OUD; (2) how to initiate the 3 US Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for OUD (buprenorphine, methadone, and extended-release naltrexone); (3) how to manage acute pain and opioid-related conditions; and (4) how to link and integrate ID and OUD treatment after hospital discharge. These strategies reduce unplanned discharges and increase completion of recommended antimicrobial regimens.

scholarly journals The Overton Window and a Less Dogmatic Approach to Antibiotics

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (11) ◽  
pp. 2439-2441
Author(s):  
Daniel J Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Traditional Treatment ◽  
Noninferiority Trial ◽  
New Antibiotics

Abstract This analysis summarizes a set of recent, innovative trials in infectious diseases that redefine previous, non–evidence based “rules” for antibiotics. Recent trials in infectious diseases have led to reconsidering the traditional treatment of infectious diseases by changing the duration or type of traditional antibiotics or evaluating new antibiotics for approval. These trials have used the noninferiority trial approach. The noninferiority trial design and recent infectious disease trials of relevance are discussed in this viewpoint. My objective was to analyze recent trials in infectious disease and consider needs for future trials.

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