Nucleic acid analysis on paper substrates (NAAPs): an innovative tool for Point of Care (POC) infectious disease diagnosis

Dengue is an infection caused by dengue virus and is the most important arthropod transmitted viral disease in the world, causing near 100 million cases and 50 000 fatalities each year. Health authorities believe that these numbers will grow in coming years. In Colombia, almost 600 municipalities are in regions with Aedes aegypti circulation, and the presence of four dengue serotypes has been demonstrated. Despite the increasing knowledge about disease pathogenesis and the dengue virus, some technical or scientific difficulties with diagnosing dengue remain, negatively affecting both public health surveillance and the appropriate attention to patients in health settings and hospitals. This paper reviews the principles and developments of the current diagnostic techniques for dengue, pointing out the difficulties with making accurate dengue diagnoses and case confirmations in public health and specialized laboratories. The principles and limitations of MAC-ELISA, IgG serology, viral NS1 detection and viral isolation by cell culture are presented. In addition, the review of immunochromatography techniques (rapid diagnostic tests) that have been put forward to help the point-of-care diagnosis is proposed. This paper is intended to bring forward some points of view about the issues related to dengue diagnosis and contribute to improve the discussion surrounding the strategies and techniques needed for reducing the impact of the disease and favoring its control.

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Point-of-care CD4 technology invalid result rates in public health care settings across five countries

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0219021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (7) ◽

pp. e0219021 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Katherine Lamp ◽

Seth McGovern ◽

Youyi Fong ◽

Biruhtesfa Abere ◽

Adisu Kebede ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Public Health Care ◽

Health Care Settings

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“Smart Diagnosis” of Parasitic Diseases by Use of Smartphones

Journal of Clinical Microbiology ◽

10.1128/jcm.01469-17 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 56 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Muhammad A. Saeed ◽

Abdul Jabbar

Keyword(s):

Point Of Care ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Rapid Diagnosis ◽

Diagnostic Tools ◽

Parasitic Diseases ◽

Effective Management ◽

Diagnostic Equipment ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Cost Effective Alternative

ABSTRACT Accurate and rapid diagnosis is crucial in combating parasitic diseases that cause millions of deaths worldwide. However, the scarcity of specialized diagnostic equipment in low- and middle-income countries is one of the barriers to effective management of parasitic diseases and warrants the need for alternative, inexpensive, point-of-care diagnostic tools. Due to their multiple built-in sensors, smartphones offer cost-effective alternative to expensive diagnostic devices. However, the use of smartphones in parasitic diagnoses remains in its infancy. This minireview describes various smartphone-based devices applied specifically for the diagnosis of parasitic diseases and discusses challenges and potential implications for their use in future.

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Integration of Mobile Devices and Point-Of-Care Diagnostic Devices—The Case of C-Reactive Protein Diagnosis

Diagnostics ◽

10.3390/diagnostics9040181 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 181 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Xin-Fang Wu ◽

Ching-Fen Shen ◽

Chao-Min Cheng

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Antibiotic Resistance ◽

Mobile Devices ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Health Concern ◽

Global Public Health ◽

C Reactive Protein ◽

Public Health Concern ◽

Reactive Protein

In recent years, the misuse and overuse of antibiotics has promoted antibiotic resistance, which has now become a global public health concern [...]

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Public health law and COVID-19: Human rights and global health security

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.501 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

E Petelos

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Human Rights ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Immunological Response ◽

Health Law ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Public Health Law ◽

Health Security ◽

Effective Measure ◽

Migrant Populations

Abstract The WHO has highlighted the technical challenges of assessing immunity status, cautioning against immunity passports. Similarly, the ECDC indicated that “current scientific knowledge that exists on the immunological response to SARS-CoV-2 (quality, quantity and duration of human antibodies) or the available testing methods (laboratory based and point-of-care)” does not support their use. Accordingly, the European Commission has emphasised the risks compulsory testing, noting that “border control [is not] an effective measure to limit the transmission of the virus, while the Council of Europe raises awareness of the interference of SARS-CoV-2 measures on human rights, underlining that “the major social, political and legal challenge facing our Member States will be their ability to respond to this crisis effectively, whilst ensuring that the measures they take do not undermine our genuine long-term interest in safeguarding Europe's founding values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law”. Nevertheless, immunity passports and immunity registries are being discussed more than ever before, with governments under pressure to find a viable solution. This presentation will examine the GDPR, and current legislation protecting rights vs. legislation allowing testing, quarantine, administration of medicines, recording of immunity vs. vaccination. It will debate the legal nature of immunity passports and the relevance to fundamental European freedoms, linking key concepts to global public health law. Implications regarding the personal right in Health/right of Public Health and legal substance and human rights limitations will also be examined. Criteria and the use of immunity passports as limitations of human rights -prescribed by law, legitimate aim and necessary in a democratic society- with extrapolation in terms of discrimination will be discussed. Finally, the jurisprudential approach and control (national, European, ECHR, global) will be mentioned, along with a brief highlight to the implications for migrant populations and cross-border care.

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A Simple, Cost Effective and Rapid Air Borne Mold-Monitoring Model Developed in St. Kitts for Ensuring Global Public Health Safety and Food Security

Virology & Mycology ◽

10.4172/2161-0517.1000139 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 04 (01) ◽

Author(s):

Elise Landa Harish C

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Food Security ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Health Safety ◽

Monitoring Model

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Hipertensão Arterial Sistémica Secundária: Incertezas do Diagnóstico

Acta Médica Portuguesa ◽

10.20344/amp.8007 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 493

Author(s):

Paulo Gomes Dinis ◽

Maria Carmo Cachulo ◽

Andreia Fernandes ◽

Luis Paiva ◽

Lino Gonçalves

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Arterial Hypertension ◽

Vascular Diseases ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Obstructive Sleep ◽

Primary Arterial Hypertension ◽

Secondary Causes ◽

Global Public Health Problem

Arterial hypertension is regarded today as a global public health problem, and the prevalence rate in Portugal is 26.9%. According to the etiology, is classified into primary or secondary arterial hypertension. In about 90% of cases it is not possible to establish a cause, so is called primary arterial hypertension. In the remaining 5 to 10%, it can be identified secondary causes, which are potentially treatable. For secondary arterial hypertension study to be cost-effective, it is essential to understand which patients investigate, and evaluate the best strategy to adopt. The main causes identified as responsible for secondary arterial hypertension are: kidney disease; endocrine and vascular diseases and obstructive sleep apnea. Among these some are consensual, and others more controversial in the literature. In this regard we present two cases of arterial hypertension, which are potentially secondary in etiology, but still focus of debate.

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Making medications stick: improving medication adherence by highlighting the personal health costs of non-compliance

Behavioural Public Policy ◽

10.1017/bpp.2019.1 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

JON M. JACHIMOWICZ ◽

JOE J. GLADSTONE ◽

DAN BERRY ◽

CHARLOTTE L. KIRKDALE ◽

TRACEY THORNLEY ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Medication Adherence ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Prescription Medication ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Public Health Care ◽

Health Costs ◽

Personal Health ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Comparison Groups

AbstractPoor compliance of prescription medication is an ongoing public health crisis. Nearly half of patients do not take their medication as prescribed, harming their own health while also increasing public health care costs. Despite these detrimental consequences, prior research has struggled to establish cost-effective and scalable interventions to improve adherence rates. We suggest that one reason for the limited success of prior interventions is that they make the personal health costs of non-adherence insufficiently prominent, while a higher saliency of these costs may motivate patients to adhere more. In the current research, we test whether an intervention that makes the personal health costs of non-compliance more salient for patients will increase their medication adherence. To do so, we conducted a randomized controlled trial with 16,191 patients across 278 UK pharmacies over a 9-month time period and manipulated the perceived consequences of medication non-adherence. We find that patients who received a treatment highlighting the personal health costs of non-compliance were significantly more likely to adhere to their medication than three comparison groups (odds ratio = 1.84, 95% confidence interval = 1.37–2.47). Shifting patients’ focus to the personal health costs of non-compliance may thus offer a potentially cost-effective and scalable approach to improving medication adherence.

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