Strengthening health security at the Hajj mass gatherings: characteristics of the infectious diseases surveillance systems operational during the 2015 Hajj

Mass gatherings are believed to increase the transmission of infectious diseases although surveillance systems have shown a low impact. The Catholic Jubilee was held in Rome, Italy in 2000. We conducted a case-control study to analyse the risk factors of giardiasis among residents. All diseases reported to the laboratory surveillance system from January 2000 to May 2001 were compared with hospital controls concurrently selected in the same season as cases and frequency-matched for age and birth country. Fifty-two cases (44·1%) and 72 controls were enrolled. In the multivariable analysis factors associated with giardiasis among adults were: travelling abroad (OR 24·2, P>0·01), exposure to surface water (OR 4·80, P=0·05), high educational level (OR 3·8, P=0·03). Having a maid from a high-prevalence country was independently associated (OR 2·3) although not statistically significant. This is the only exposure that changed during the Jubilee.

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Awareness of symptomatic differences Covid-19, SARS, Swine Flu, Common cold among dental students

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences ◽

10.26452/ijrps.v11ispl1.3431 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽

pp. 1026-1033

Author(s):

Nivedha Valliammai Mahalingam ◽

Abilasha R ◽

Kavitha S

Keyword(s):

Infectious Diseases ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Common Cold ◽

Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽

Dental Students ◽

Swine Flu ◽

Viral Diseases ◽

Surveillance Systems ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Impact

Enormous successes have been obtained against the control of major epidemic diseases, such as SARS, MERS, Ebola, Swine Flu in the past. Dynamic interplay of biological, socio-cultural and ecological factors, together with novel aspects of human-animal interphase, pose additional challenges with respect to the emergence of infectious diseases. The important challenges faced in the control and prevention of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases range from understanding the impact of factors that are necessary for the emergence, to development of strengthened surveillance systems that can mitigate human suffering and death. The aim of the current study is to assess the awareness of symptomatic differences between viral diseases like COVID-19, SARS, Swine flu and common cold among dental students that support the prevention of emergence or re-emergence. Cross-sectional type of study conducted among the undergraduate students comprising 100 Subjects. A questionnaire comprising 15 questions in total were framed, and responses were collected in Google forms in SPSS Software statistical analysis. The study has concluded that dental students have an awareness of the symptomatic differences between infectious viral disease. The study concluded that the awareness of symptomatic differences between viral diseases like COVID-19, SARS, Swine flu, Common cold is good among the dental students who would pave the way for early diagnosis and avoid spreading of such diseases. A further awareness can be created by regular webinars, seminars and brainstorming sessions among these healthcare professionals.

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Evaluation of reporting timeliness of public health surveillance systems for infectious diseases

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/1471-2458-4-29 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 112

Author(s):

Ruth Ann Jajosky ◽

Samuel L Groseclose

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Infectious Diseases ◽

Public Health Surveillance ◽

Health Surveillance ◽

Surveillance Systems

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I-LAB: Connecting clinical laboratories to infectious diseases surveillance systems

Revue d Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique ◽

10.1016/j.respe.2018.05.519 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 66 ◽

pp. S426

Author(s):

L. Dia ◽

S. Papa ◽

P. Diallo ◽

N. Steenkeste ◽

L. Delorme ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infectious Diseases ◽

Surveillance Systems ◽

Clinical Laboratories

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Digital epidemiology and global health security; an interdisciplinary conversation

10.31235/osf.io/ne2g5 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Tim Eckmanns ◽

Henning Füller ◽

Stephen L. Roberts

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Global Health ◽

Disease Surveillance ◽

Expert Knowledge ◽

Surveillance Systems ◽

Global Health Security ◽

Health Security ◽

Infectious Disease Surveillance ◽

Digital Epidemiology ◽

Perception Of Health

Contemporary infectious disease surveillance systems aim to employ the speed and scope of big data in an attempt to provide global health security. Both shifts - the perception of health problems through the framework of global health security and the corresponding technological approaches – imply epistemological changes, methodological ambivalences as well as manifold societal effects. Bringing current findings from social sciences and public health praxis into a dialogue, this conversation style contribution points out several broader implications of changing disease surveillance. The conversation covers epidemiological issues such as the shift from expert knowledge to algorithmic knowledge, the securitization of global health, and the construction of new kinds of threats. Those developments are detailed and discussed in their impacts for health provision in a broader sense.

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Health-related research publications on religious mass gatherings of Muslims: a bibliometric analysis (1980–2020)

Tropical Diseases Travel Medicine and Vaccines ◽

10.1186/s40794-021-00158-y ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Waleed M. Sweileh

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Infectious Diseases ◽

Research Collaboration ◽

Travel Medicine ◽

International Health ◽

Field Research ◽

Middle Income ◽

Mass Gatherings ◽

Research Publications ◽

Wide Range

Abstract Objective Mass gatherings medicine is an emerging and important field at the national and international health security levels. The objective of the current study was to analyze research publications on religious mass gatherings of Muslims using bibliometric tools. Methods Keywords related to religious mass gatherings of Muslims were used in Scopus database. The duration of the study was from January 01, 1980 to December 31, 2020. Examples of keywords used include hajj, Umrah, mass gatherings/Mecca or Makkah, mass gatherings/Karbala, pilgrim/Makkah or Mecca, and others. Bibliometric indicators and mapping were presented. Results In total, 509 documents were retrieved. The average number of citations per article was 16.7 per document. Analysis of the retrieved documents indicated that (1) more than 90% of the retrieved documents were about the mass gatherings in Mecca/Makkah; (2) two-thirds of the retrieved documents were research articles; (3) a take-off phase in the number of publications was observed after 2008; (4) the retrieved documents were disseminated in a wide range of journals but specifically the ones in the fields of infectious diseases, public health, and travel medicine; (5) the retrieved documents were mainly published by scholars from Saudi Arabia with collaborative research ties with scholars in the US, France, the UK, and Australia; (6) Saudi Arabia contributed to more than half of the retrieved documents; and (7) four research themes were found: knowledge, attitude, and practices of pilgrims to Mecca/Makkah, vaccination, etiology of hospital admission among pilgrims, and epidemiology of various types of infectious diseases. Conclusions Research on mass gatherings, specifically the Hajj, is emerging. Researchers from the Saudi Arabia dominated the field. Research collaboration between scholars in Saudi Arabia and scholars in low- and middle-income countries is needed and must be encouraged since these countries have weaker health systems to screen, monitor, and control the spread of infectious diseases because of the Hajj season.

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Surveillance for infectious diseases in mass gatherings

Infectious Disease Surveillance ◽

10.1002/9781118543504.ch31 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 388-399

Author(s):

Andrea M. Forde

Keyword(s):

Infectious Diseases ◽

Mass Gatherings

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SARS: Political Pathology of the First Post-Westphalian Pathogen

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/j.1748-720x.2003.tb00117.x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 485-505 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

David P. Fidler

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Infectious Diseases ◽

The United States ◽

First Century ◽

World Health ◽

Health Security ◽

The World ◽

Twenty First Century ◽

The Stability ◽

Health Organization

In March 2003, the world discovered, again, that I humanity's battle with infectious diseases continues. The twenty-first century began with infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, being discussed as threats to human rights, economic development, and national security. Bioterrorism in the United States in October 2001 increased concerns about pathogenic microbes. The global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the spring of 2003 kept the global infectious disease challenge at the forefront of world news for weeks. At its May 2003 annual meeting, the World Health organization (WHO) asserted that SARS is “the first severe infectious disease to emerge in the twenty-first century” and “poses a serious threat to global health security, the livelihood of populations, the functioning of health systems, and the stability and growth of economies.”

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