COVID-19: public health management of the first two confirmed cases identified in the UK

Abstract We report key learning from the public health management of the first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 identified in the UK. The first case imported, and the second associated with probable person-to-person transmission within the UK. Contact tracing was complex and fast-moving. Potential exposures for both cases were reviewed, and 52 contacts were identified. No further confirmed COVID-19 cases have been linked epidemiologically to these two cases. As steps are made to enhance contact tracing across the UK, the lessons learned from earlier contact tracing during the country's containment phase are particularly important and timely.

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Singapore’s Experience with Digital Technology in COVID-19 Epidemiological Investigations and Outbreak Management (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.28414 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Arjun Sayampanathan ◽

Abigail W L Wong ◽

Hwee Pin Phua ◽

Junxiong Pang ◽

Yee Leong Teoh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Information Integration ◽

Digital Technology ◽

Health Management ◽

Contact Tracing ◽

Ethical Considerations ◽

Outbreak Management ◽

The Public ◽

Digital Infrastructure ◽

Public Health Management

UNSTRUCTURED Singapore invested heavily in its digital infrastructure to strengthen the public health management of COVID-19. These included the adoption of contact tracing technology and information integration platforms. This article describes the various technology utilised specifically for epidemiological investigations and outbreak management during the COVID-19 pandemic, together with their limitations and ethical considerations.

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The UK COVID-19 contact tracing app as both an emerging technology and public health intervention: The need to consider promissory discourses

Health An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health Illness and Medicine ◽

10.1177/13634593211060768 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 136345932110607

Author(s):

Gabrielle Samuel ◽

Rosie Sims

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Public Health Intervention ◽

Health Intervention ◽

Contact Tracing ◽

The Public ◽

Sociology Of Expectations ◽

Short Period ◽

The Media ◽

The Uk

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 contact tracing app was announced to the British public on 12th April 2020. The UK government endorsed the app as a public health intervention that would improve public health, protect the NHS and ‘save lives’. On 5th May 2020 the technology was released for trial on the Isle of Wight. However, the trial was halted in June 2020, reportedly due to technological issues. The app was later remodelled and launched to the public in September 2020. The rapid development, trial and discontinuation of the app over a short period of a few months meant that the mobilisation and effect of the discourses associated with the app could be traced relatively easily. In this paper we aimed to explore how these discourses were constructed in the media, and their effect on actors – in particular, those who developed and those who trialled the app. Promissory discourses were prevalent, the trajectory of which aligned with theories developed in the sociology of expectations. We describe this trajectory, and then interpret its implications in terms of infectious disease public health practices and responsibilities.

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The costs associated with the public health management of a cluster of meningococcal infection in England

Vaccine ◽

10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.08.044 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 32 (43) ◽

pp. 5549-5551 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Dominique Letouze ◽

Guiqing Yao ◽

Stuart C. Clarke

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Management ◽

Meningococcal Infection ◽

The Public ◽

Public Health Management

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A review of the public health management of shigellosis in Australia in the era of culture-independent diagnostic testing

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1111/1753-6405.12590 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (6) ◽

pp. 588-591 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Alex Y.C. Tai ◽

Marion Easton ◽

Jess Encena ◽

Jessica Rotty ◽

Mary Valcanis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Management ◽

Diagnostic Testing ◽

The Public ◽

Culture Independent ◽

Public Health Management

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Waterborne transmission of protozoan parasites: A worldwide review of outbreaks and lessons learnt

Journal of Water and Health ◽

10.2166/wh.2006.002 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 457

Author(s):

Panagiotis Karanis ◽

Christina Kourenti ◽

Huw Smith

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Giardia Duodenalis ◽

Health Impact ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Protozoan Parasites ◽

Blastocystis Hominis ◽

The Public ◽

Waterborne Transmission ◽

The Uk ◽

Insight Into

At least 325 water-associated outbreaks of parasitic protozoan disease have been reported. North American and European outbreaks accounted for 93% of all reports and nearly two-thirds of outbreaks occurred in North America. Over 30% of all outbreaks were documented from Europe, with the UK accounting for 24% of outbreaks, worldwide. Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium parvum account for the majority of outbreaks (132; 40.6% and 165; 50.8%, respectively), Entamoeba histolytica and Cyclospora cayetanensis have been the aetiological agents in nine (2.8%) and six (1.8%) outbreaks, respectively, while Toxoplasma gondii and Isospora belli have been responsible for three outbreaks each (0.9%) and Blastocystis hominis for two outbreaks (0.6%). Balantidium coli, the microsporidia, Acanthamoeba and Naegleria fowleri were responsible for one outbreak, each (0.3%). Their presence in aquatic ecosystems makes it imperative to develop prevention strategies for water and food safety. Human incidence and prevalence-based studies provide baseline data against which risk factors associated with waterborne and foodborne transmission can be identified. Standardized methods are required to maximize public health surveillance, while reporting lessons learned from outbreaks will provide better insight into the public health impact of waterborne pathogenic protozoa.

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