scholarly journals The epidemiology of meningococcal disease in Latin America 1945–2010: an unpredictable and changing landscape

2012 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. P. SÁFADI ◽  
S. GONZÁLEZ-AYALA ◽  
A. JÄKEL ◽  
H. WIEFFER ◽  
C. MORENO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Invasive Disease ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Made In

SUMMARYMeningococcal disease is mostly endemic in Latin America, with periodic occurrences of outbreaks and epidemics over the last few decades. This literature review summarizes the available epidemiological data for this region between 1945 and 2010. Incidence rates and serogroup distribution differ from country to country and over time. Serogroups A, B, and C have all been major causes of meningococcal disease since the 1970s. In the last decade serogroups W135 and Y may now be emerging in certain countries, with serogroup A virtually disappearing. Although progress has been made in improving and coordinating the surveillance of invasive disease, the uniformity and quality of reported data reflect the fact that the current surveillance systems focus on passive rather than active reporting, hence the reliability of data may vary between countries. Consideration of vaccination policies to control meningococcal disease can only be made with a sufficient understanding of the changing epidemiology in the region.

scholarly journals Number of cases of hepatitis acquired in occupational accidents in Brazil between 2009 and 2018

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Naara Perdigão Cota de Almeida ◽  
Idelbrando Araújo Lima Júnior ◽  
Lucas do Rêgo Góes Azevedo ◽  
Romulo Maia Martins ◽  
Gustavo Aurélio Linhares Magalhães ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Hepatitis ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Occupational Accidents ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Compulsory Notification ◽  
Effective Contribution ◽  
Made In

Viral hepatitis is a serious public health problem in the world and in Brazil. These are diseases of compulsory notification instituted by the Brazilian Ministry of Health (MS). The records of the affected persons should be made in the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN), which should notify all probable cases, confirmed and outbreaks. The objective of this work is to quantify the number of cases of hepatitis acquired in occupational accidents in Brazil between 2009 and 2018. It is a study is a retrospective observational quantitative analysis of the epidemiological data investigated. In this sense, research was carried out in the databases of the national portal DATASUS (https://datasus.saude.gov.br/). There is an effective contribution of accidents at work to the current incidence rates of viral hepatitis in Brazil, as well as to the reduction of the quality of life of workers – especially those of health. Inconsistencies between epidemiological data recorded in SINAN and studies in the literature may demonstrate the presence of underreporting. Due to the relative scarcity and contradiction of studies, there is no well-established profile for contamination in health services, and there is a need for further studies on the subject.

scholarly journals Leptospirosis in Latin America: exploring the first set of regional data

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Cristina Schneider ◽  
Deise Galan Leonel ◽  
Patricia Najera Hamrick ◽  
Eduardo Pacheco de Caldas ◽  
Reina Teresa Velásquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Cumulative Incidence ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
First Year ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
New Information ◽  
Open Access Database ◽  
Surveillance Programs ◽  
Health Organization

Objectives.To demonstrate the importance of country surveillance systems for leptospirosis and their use for preliminary epidemiological analysis, as well as to generate research questions for future, morecomprehensive studies on the disease.Methods.In 2015, for the first time, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) included human cases of leptospirosis in its Regional Core Health Data Initiative, an open-access database that collects annual health indicators from the countries and territories of the Americas. This new information was used to analyze leptospirosis cases by country and sex and to calculate cumulative incidence rates. Maps were used to help present the results. To supplement that general review of leptospirosis in the Americas, more detailed descriptions of the epidemiological situation and the surveillance programs of four selected countries (Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, and Honduras) were provided.Results.In this first year of PAHO requesting leptospirosis data, of the 49 countries and territories in the Americas, 38 of them (77.6%) reported information. Among those 38, 28 of them (73.7%) reported the presence of human cases; the majority of instances of zero cases were in Caribbean territories. From those 28, a total of 10 702 human cases were recorded. The largest numbers of cases in Latin America were in Brazil (40.2%), Peru (23.6%), Colombia (8.8%), and Ecuador (7.2%). The cumulative incidence rate for Latin America was estimated to be 2.0 per 100 000 population. On average, 65.1% of cases were males.Conclusions.This study demonstrates that many countries in Latin America are making efforts to establish strong surveillance systems and programs for leptospirosis. The study also shows the importance of having leptospirosis surveillance systems as well as how the information generated can be used for evidence-based decision-making on leptospirosis.

scholarly journals Estimation of the real burden of invasive meningococcal disease in Argentina

2019 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Gómez ◽  
P. Wetzler Malbrán ◽  
G. Vidal ◽  
M. Seoane ◽  
N. D. Giglio
Keyword(s):  
Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Invasive Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Reported Data

Abstract Among the different existing types of bacterial meningitis, the one caused by Neisseria meningitidis is the main presentation of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). IMD is a significant public health concern and has a reported incidence rate in Argentina of 0.44 cases per 100 000 inhabitants in 2015. However, the actual incidence is thought to be higher as passive surveillance systems neither report nor identify 100% of all cases. The aim of this study is to develop an estimation of the burden of IMD in Argentina closer to reality by adjusting/correcting several limitations observed in the surveillance data available. A retrospective observational study has been performed using four Argentinean national databases recording the number of IMD cases and deaths, serogroups of N. meningitidis and ages, between 2007 to 2016. The reported data were adjusted to account for underreporting and to also integrate the cases missed due to well-known limitations associated with the diagnosis of N. meningitidis detection methods. Data were further analysed by serogroups of N. meningitidis and by age groups. After these adjustments, the potential numbers of IMD cases and IMD-related deaths are estimated to be 3.1 and 1.9 higher than reported, respectively. The study corrects the previous underestimation of the disease burden and provides expectedly more robust estimates aligned with international evidence and highlights the importance of active surveillance, with high-quality methods, for a better definition of preventive strategies against IMD in Argentina.

scholarly journals Abandonment of dogs in Latin America: Strategies and ideas

2021 ◽  
pp. 2371-2379
Author(s):  
Daniel Mota-Rojas ◽  
Néstor Calderón-Maldonado ◽  
Karina Lezama-García ◽  
Leonardo Sepiurka ◽  
Rita de Cassia Maria Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Awareness Programs ◽  
Education And Awareness ◽  
Responsible Ownership ◽  
Made In

In this article, we gathered information from postgraduate theses and scientific articles published in several databases using inclusion criteria that had been made in Latin America, in countries with similar economic conditions, and also in the USA to present a point of comparison. The objective of this review is to broaden the readers' understanding of the causes of the increasing numbers of stray dogs and the reasons why people abandon pets in the streets, specifically in Latin America. It also discusses adoption and responsible ownership, identifies what failed in promoting positive human-dog interaction, and suggests strategies to address this problem. It concludes that adoption alone is not an effective solution but that it is necessary to offer education and awareness programs for owners, organize sterilization campaigns, and develop and apply – with the corresponding authorities – measures to ensure animal welfare that will provide benefits for society and improve animal quality of life. The role of veterinarians is fundamental in education and in disseminating the necessary information to orient people before they acquire a pet and prevent animal abandonment to resolve this problem.

scholarly journals Challenges in linking administrative data for monitoring bloodstream infection in neonatal units in England and Wales

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Fraser ◽  
Ruth Gilbert ◽  
Ruth Blackburn ◽  
Berit Muller-Pebody ◽  
Katie Harron
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Multiple Imputation ◽  
Bloodstream Infection ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Infection Surveillance ◽  
Probabilistic Linkage ◽  
Linkage Method ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Monitoring risk-adjusted trends of neonatal bloodstream infection is vital and linkage of neonatal electronic health records to national infection surveillance enables this. We demonstrate why changes in data quality over time must be accounted for to minimise spurious findings. First, we evaluated the impact of changes in identifier completeness over time in each database, and determined variation in infection rates according to linkage method (deterministic linkage on NHS number or probabilistic linkage). Second, we will use multiple imputation when link status cannot be determined due to missing identifiers. Completeness of NHS number in infection surveillance increased from 69% (3,296/4,792) in 2010 to 92% (3,037/3,307) in 2017. We linked 12,003 neonatal admissions to 15,571 infection episodes (2% of 497,936 admissions and 41% of 37,660 infections). The proportion of links that were deterministic changed from 83% (1,089/1,307) in 2010 to 96% (968/1,008) in 2017. Link status could not be determined for 12,094 infections due to missing identifiers; multiple imputation will be used to determine if any are links. Spurious infection incidence rates can arise from changes in data quality, impacting the quality of linkage to clinical data. Linkage and imputation of missing data minimises spurious findings due to data quality.

scholarly journals Invasive group A Streptococcus disease in Australian children: 2016 to 2018 – a descriptive cohort study

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Oliver ◽  
◽  
Elise Thielemans ◽  
Alissa McMinn ◽  
Ciara Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Group A Streptococcus ◽  
Invasive Disease ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Invasive Group ◽  
Australian State ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Group A

Abstract Objectives Invasive group A Streptococcus (iGAS) disease is serious and sometimes life-threatening. The Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance (PAEDS) Network collects voluntary notifications from seven major Australian paediatric hospitals on patients with certain conditions, including iGAS disease. Our aims were to: 1) Describe the epidemiological distribution of paediatric iGAS disease in Australia and correlate this with influenza notifications, 2) Identify GAS strains commonly associated with invasive disease in children. Methods IGAS and influenza notification data were obtained (from the PAEDS Network and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, respectively, for the period 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2018). Included iGAS patients had GAS isolated from a normally sterile body site. Data were described according to selected clinical and demographic characteristics, including by age group and Australian State, with proportions and minimum incidence rates estimated. Results A total of 181 patients were identified, with most (115, 63.5%) <5 years old. The mean annual minimum incidence rate was 1.6 (95% confidence interval: 1.1–2.3) per 100,000 children across the study period. An epidemiological correlation with the seasonal burden of influenza was noted. Contact prophylaxis was not consistently offered. Of 96 patients with emm-typing results available, 72.9% showed emm-1, −4 or − 12. Conclusions Robust surveillance systems and cohesive patient management guidelines are needed. Making iGAS disease nationally notifiable would help facilitate this. Influenza vaccination may contribute to reducing seasonal increases in iGAS incidence. The burden of disease emphasises the need for ongoing progress in GAS vaccine development.

scholarly journals Catheter-related infections: does the spectrum of microbial causes change over time? A nationwide surveillance study

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e023824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niccolò Buetti ◽  
Elia Lo Priore ◽  
Andrew Atkinson ◽  
Andreas F Widmer ◽  
Andreas Kronenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bloodstream Infections ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Blood Cultures ◽  
Coagulase Negative Staphylococci ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Gram Negative ◽  
Catheter Tip ◽  
Over Time

ObjectivesTo estimate the incidence and epidemiology of catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) on a national scale by using prospective epidemiological data from the SwissAntibiotic Resistance Surveillance System(ANRESIS).DesignObservational study.SettingNational surveillance from 2008 to 2015 of acute hospitals in Switzerland.ParticipantsWe included acute Swiss hospitals that sent blood cultures and catheter tip culture results on a regular basis during the entire study period to the ANRESIS database.Outcome measureA catheter-related bloodstream infection (termed ‘modified CRBSI’, mCRBSI) was defined as isolating the same microorganism with identical antibiogram from ≥1 blood cultures (performed ±7 days around the catheter removal) as the one recovered from the catheter tip. Incidence rates of mCRBSI were calculated per 1000 admissions.ResultsFrom 2008 to 2015, the mCRBSI incidence rate decreased from 0.83 to 0.58 episodes/1000 admissions (−6% per year, p<0.001). Coagulase-negative staphylococci,Staphylococcus aureusand fungi all exhibited decreasing trends, while rates of enterococci and Gram-negative bacteria remained stable.ConclusionsThe overall incidence of mCRBSI in Switzerland is decreasing; however, the incidence of mCRBSI due to Enterococci and Gram-negative micro-organisms did not change over time. These pathogens may grow in importance in catheter-related infections, which would have clinical implications for the choice of empirical treatment.

Epidemiological Health Information

2021 ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
J Patrick Vaughan ◽  
Cesar Victora ◽  
A Mushtaque R Chowdhury
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Burden Of Disease ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Geographical Access ◽  
Access To Health

Epidemiological health information is vital for planning and managing health services. This chapter examines importance of different diseases, local health surveillance systems and availability of data and how to use it. Information is reviewed for typical patterns of morbidity, mortality, and burden of disease. Local epidemiological data are useful to estimate expected numbers of cases, geographical access to health facilities, quality of services, and the coverage achieved for different programmes. Importance of understanding seasonality on health data and indicators of inequalities is explained. A local health information checklist is given.

A fair CoP? MRF sampling, testing and reporting: Big problems caused by small particles. Part 1: Compliance difficulties and data validity

2020 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2094109
Author(s):  
Alan Robert McKenzie Kirk ◽  
Zarreen Banon Mokaddam
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Code Of Practice ◽  
Mixed Wastes ◽  
Data Validity ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
Operational Data ◽  
Made In

The Regulations governing Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in England require that they report on the quality of both the incoming mixed wastes and the single-stream recyclate products, with the results being made available on a public register. In this investigation, tests were conducted on a number of mixed wastes from different suppliers being processed at a qualifying MRF to evaluate how effective the Regulations (or MRF Code of Practice (MRF CoP)) were in generating useful, meaningful information. The empirical evidence obtained showed that MRF CoP in its current form has a number of serious flaws which detract from the validity and value of the reported operational data. The statutory definition of ‘material particles’ in the mixed wastes given in the MRF CoP means that compliance with the MRF CoP is impracticable, and in order to overcome this it will be necessary to re-word the definition of ‘material particles’. Empirical evidence also invalidated the explicit assumption made in the MRF CoP that the composition of the material particles is identical to that of the bulk materials, and consequently the basis for the mandatory apportioning of the weight of the material particles has no logical foundation and apportioning leads to distortion in the reported data. Changes will be required to the present statutory requirements for reporting operational results if the recorded information is to have meaning and relevance for stakeholders in the system.

Psychological and Cognitive Aspects of Borderline Intellectual Functioning

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 159-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastianina Contena ◽  
Stefano Taddei
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Intellectual Functioning ◽  
Clinical Impact ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Borderline Intellectual Functioning ◽  
General Quality ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Over Time

Abstract. Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF) refers to a global IQ ranging from 71 to 84, and it represents a condition of clinical attention for its association with other disorders and its influence on the outcomes of treatments and, in general, quality of life and adaptation. Furthermore, its definition has changed over time causing a relevant clinical impact. For this reason, a systematic review of the literature on this topic can promote an understanding of what has been studied, and can differentiate what is currently attributable to BIF from that which cannot be associated with this kind of intellectual functioning. Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) criteria, we have conducted a review of the literature about BIF. The results suggest that this condition is still associated with mental retardation, and only a few studies have focused specifically on this condition.

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