scholarly journals 188. Visualizing the Impact of a Wedding Leading to COVID-19 Outbreaks in Healthcare Settings, Washington State, July – August 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S114-S114
Author(s):  
Audrey Brezak ◽  
Anna Unutzer ◽  
James W Lewis ◽  
Shauna Clark ◽  
Jessica Ferro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Home Health Services ◽  
Effective Contact ◽  
Supported Living ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Large social gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic have been linked to extensive community transmission. Healthcare workers (HCW) that engage in these social gatherings pose a risk to the vulnerable patients they serve. Public Health—Seattle & King County identified a COVID-19 outbreak associated with a wedding in July 2020 when the 14-day incidence rate was 105 cases per 100,000 residents. HCW who attended the wedding were subsequently linked to 45 outbreaks in healthcare settings across three counties in the next month. Methods COVID-19 case interview data was used to identify HCW cases who reported the wedding as their exposure event. The Washington Disease Reporting System (WDRS), the state database in which COVID-19 cases and epi-linkages are tracked, was queried to identify healthcare outbreaks linked to the HCW wedding-attendee cases and the HCW that they infected. NodeXL was used to visualize the resulting chains of wedding-associated healthcare transmission using a Harel-Koren Fast Multiscale layout where the network visualization’s directed arrows represent putative links and direction of transmission. Numbers of associated settings, cases, and deaths were calculated. Results Seven HCW wedding attendees were linked to outbreaks in healthcare facilities that they worked at while infectious; HCWs linked to as many as six subsequent healthcare outbreaks. In total, the wedding was connected to 45 healthcare facilities: adult family homes (N=1), hospitals (N=1), supported living agencies (N=7) and associated group homes (N=38), assisted living (N=1), home health services (N=1), behavioral health (N=2), and rehab centers (N=1). Across the settings, 277 cases were identified, including 15 deaths. Conclusion A series of COVID-19 healthcare outbreaks was traced back to a wedding. Cases worked in multiple homes, agencies, and other healthcare settings which likely facilitated rapid and wide transmission; the structure of these healthcare settings often do not facilitate a single job providing enough hours and income to support an individual. In terms of public health learnings, addressing these outbreaks require effective contact tracing, multijurisdictional coordination, and for supported living, interventions need to be applied across households sharing staff. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

The complication of cyber manhunt: How cyber manhunt further complicated the ethical conflict between breaching the confidentiality and endangering the society in face of the COVID-19 pandemic (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Chang Chen ◽  
Yen-Yuan Chen
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Online Activity ◽  
Contact Investigation ◽  
The Impact

UNSTRUCTURED While health care and public health workers are working on measures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an unprecedentedly large number of people spending much more time indoors, and relying heavily on the Internet as their lifeline. What has been overlooked is the influence of the increasing online activities on public health issues. In this article, we pointed out how a large-scale online activity called cyber manhunt may threaten to offset the efficacy of contact tracing investigation, a public health intervention considered highly effective in limiting further transmission in the early stage of a highly contagious disease outbreak such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first section, we presented a case to show how personal information obtained from contact investigation and disclosed in part on the media provoked a vehement cyber manhunt. We then discussed the possible reasons why netizens collaborate to reveal anonymized personal information about contact investigation, and specify, from the perspective of public health and public health ethics, four problems of cyber manhunt, including the lack of legitimate public health goals, the concerns about privacy breach, the impact of misinformation, and social inequality. Based on our analysis, we concluded that more moral weight may be given to protecting one's confidentiality, especially in an era with the rapid advance of digital and information technologies.

scholarly journals Assessing the role of inter-facility patient transfer in the spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae: the case of France between 2012 and 2015

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Narimane Nekkab ◽  
Pascal Crépey ◽  
Pascal Astagneau ◽  
Lulla Opatowski ◽  
Laura Temime
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Patient Transfer ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Patient Transfers ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Local Transmission

Abstract The spread of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) in healthcare settings is a major public health threat that has been associated with cross-border and local patient transfers between healthcare facilities. Since the impact of transfers on spread may vary, our study aimed to assess the contribution of a patient transfer network on CPE incidence and spread at a countrywide level, with a case study of France from 2012 to 2015. Our results suggest a transition in 2013 from a CPE epidemic sustained by internationally imported episodes to an epidemic sustained by local transmission events through patient transfers. Incident episodes tend to occur within close spatial distance of their potential infector. We also observe an increasing frequency of multiple spreading events, originating from a limited number of regional hubs. Consequently, coordinated prevention and infection control strategies should focus on transfers of carriers of CPE to reduce regional and inter-regional transmission.

Situating ‘careful surveillance’

2021 ◽  
pp. 136787792199745
Author(s):  
Mark Andrejevic ◽  
Hugh Davies ◽  
Ruth DeSouza ◽  
Larissa Hjorth ◽  
Ingrid Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

In this article we explore preliminary findings from the study COVIDSafe and Beyond: Perceptions and Practices conducted in Australia in 2020. The study involved a survey followed by interviews, and aimed to capture the dynamic ways in which members of the Australian public perceive the impact of Covid practices – especially public health measures like the introduction of physical and social distancing, compulsory mask wearing, and contact tracing. In the rescripting of public space, different notions of formal and informal surveillance, along with different textures of mediated and social care, appeared. In this article, we explore perceptions around divergent forms of surveillance across social, technological, governmental modes, and the relationship of surveillance to care in our media and cultural practices. What does it mean to care for self and others during a pandemic? How does care get enacted in, and through, media interfaces and public interaction?

scholarly journals Clínica Radiológica em tempos de pandemia: impacto e condutas na prática odontológica

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leda Maria Pescinini Salzedas ◽  
Izabela Fornazari Delamura ◽  
Laís Ventura Barroti ◽  
Samyra Yukiko Tazaki Dote ◽  
Gabriela Lopes dos Santos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Dental Practice ◽  
Oral Radiology ◽  
Surface Stability ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Impact

Introdução: O novo coronavírus é responsável pela síndrome respiratória aguda grave, causando óbito, em 5 meses de pandemia, de 646 mil indivíduos mundialmente. As principais formas de transmissão identificadas são gotículas de saliva expelidas ao falar e tossir ou pelo contato em uma superfície com secreções salivares, com característica agressiva de contágio e potencial letalidade. Objetivo: Relatar as práticas do serviço radiológico em tempos de pandemia e evidenciar práticas seguras de biossegurança para o Cirurgião-Dentista. Métodos: Para elaboração deste trabalho foram selecionados 13 artigos utilizando a base de dados do Pubmed. Foram utilizados como descritores “Coronavirus Infections”, “Betacoronavirus”, “Dentistry”, “Radiology” e “Containment of Biohazards. Os critérios de inclusão foram artigos publicados em inglês, espanhol e português com os resumos disponíveis, do ano de 2020. Resultados: Os Cirurgiões-Dentistas estão entre os profissionais que mais sofrem risco de contaminação, uma vez que estão expostos a riscos biológicos e contato direto com a saliva, sendo necessário, neste cenário crítico de pandemia do coronavírus, adotar medidas mais eficazes de prevenção e controle de infecção a fim de evitar ou reduzir ao máximo a transmissão deste vírus. Na Radiologia Odontológica, a baixa incidência de aerossóis não exclui a possibilidade de contaminação pelo contato com fluido salivar nas tomadas radiográficas intrabucais, preconizando radiografias extrabucais. Conclusão: A presente revisão de literatura é baseada em relevantes diretrizes e pesquisas, introduzindo conhecimentos essenciais sobre o coronavírus, condutas a serem adotadas em ambiente odontológico e fornece protocolos de orientações recomendadas para dentistas e estudantes.Descritores: Infecções por Coronavirus; Betacoronavirus; Odontologia; Radiologia; Contenção de Riscos Biológicos.ReferênciasOrganização Mundial da Saúde (OMS). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. 2020. Disponível: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019Zhu HD, Zeng CH, Lu J, Teng GJ. COVID-19: What should interventional radiologists know and what can they do? J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2020; 31(6):876-81.Odeh ND, Babkair H, Abu-Hammad S, Borzangy S, Abu-Hammad A, Abu-Hammad O. COVID-19: present and future challenges for dental practice. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(9):3151.Conselho Federal de Odontologia (CFO). Manual de Boas Práticas em Biossegurança para Ambientes Odontológicos. 2020. Disponível em: http://website.cfo.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/cfo-lanc%CC%A7a-Manual-de-Boas-Pra%CC%81ticas-em-Biosseguranc%CC%A7a-para-Ambientes-Odontologicos.pdfSalzedas LMP, Oliva AH, Coclete GEG, Coclete GA. Protocolo de biossegurança e gerenciamento de resíduos no ensino de radiologia odontológica da Faculdade de Odontologia de Araçatuba-UNESP. Arch Healt Invest. 2014;3(6):20-27.Peng X, Xu X, Li Y, Cheng L, Zhou X, Ren B. Transmission routes of 2019-nCoV and controls in dental practice. Int J Oral Sci. 2020;12(1):9.Fini MB. What dentists need to know about COVID-19. Oral Oncol. 2020;105:104741.Société Française de Stomatologie, Chirurgie Maxillo-Faciale et Chirurgie Orale (SFSCMFCO). Praticiens de la cavité orale. Recommandations professionnelles. Risques infectieux par le COVID-19. Faire front pour faire face. J Stomatol Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2020;121(2):e3-6.Han P, Ivanovski S. Saliva – friend and foe in the COVID-19 outbreak. Diagnostics (Basel). 2020;10:290.Dziedzic A, Wojtyczka R. The impact of coronavírus infectious disease 19 (COVID-19) on oral health. Oral Dis. 2020;101111Wu R, Wang L, Kuo HCD, Shannar A, Peter P, Chuo PJ, Li S, Hudlikar, Liu X, Liu Z, Poiani, Amorosa L, Brunetti L, Kong AN. An update on current therapeutic drugs treating COVID-19. Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2020;11:1-15.Van Doremalen N, Bushmaker T, Morris DH, Holbrook MG, Gamble A, Williamson BN, Tamin A, Harcourt JL, Thornburg NJ, Gerber SI, Lloyd-Smith JO, Wit E, Munster VJ. Aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2 as compared with SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(16):1564-67.American Dental Association (ADA). What Constitutes a Dental Emergency? 2020. Disponível: https://success.ada.org/~/media/CPS/Files/Open%20Files/ADA_COVID19_Dental_Emergency_DDS.pdf?_ga=2.253879752.110187285.1584496315-1622146531.1565271894Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Interim Infection Prevention and Control for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings.  2020. Disponível em: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/dental-settings.htmlPeditto M, Scapellato S, Marcianò A, Costa P, Oteri G. Dentistry during the COVID-19 epidemic: an italian workflow for the management of dental practice. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(9):3325.Tuñas ITC, Silva ET, Santiago SBS, Maia KD, Silva-Júnior GO. Doença pelo Coronavírus 2019 (COVID-19): Uma abordagem preventiva para Odontologia. Rev Bras Odontol. 2020;77(1):1-6.Salzedas LMP, Oliva AH, Oliveira LQC, Simas MCO, Coclete GA. Biossegurança na clínica de radiologia odontológica. Arch Health Invest. 2014;3(6):6-13.Escola de Educação Permanente do Hospital das Clínicas da USP (HC). COVID-19: dicas e cuidados para enfrentar a pandemia. 2020. Disponível em: https://jornal.usp.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/e-book-covid-19.pdfSaki M, Haseli S, Iranpour P. Oral radiology center as a potential source of COVID-19 transmission; Points to consider.  Acad Radiol. 2020;27(7):1047-48.Yu J, Ding N, Liu XJ, He WJ, Dai WC, Zhou ZG et al. Infection control against COVID-19 in departments of radiology. Acad Radiol. 2020;27(5):614-17.

scholarly journals Fistula as a Public Health challenge in Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamoon Noushad ◽  
Shershah Syed ◽  
Sadaf Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Obstetric Fistula ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Public Health Interventions ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Public Health Challenge ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
The Impact

Aims: To explore the impact of obstetric fistula in the county and to propose effective public health interventions that can help to prevent the condition with a long-term goal of eradicating the condition. Methods: The survey and analysis included secondary data addressing women's experiences of fistula; dynamics and limitationsdetermining women's access to in healthcare facilities for fistula management; and restraintsof health professional as well as health inequities. Results: It was assessed that recently, many hospitals and organizations in the country go on board on intercessions to address the impact of the illness, however, much importance is on pinpointing and discussing the existing cases rather than focusing on public health interventions that can help to prevent and eventually eradicate the condition in Pakistan.

scholarly journals Impact of public health interventions on the COVID-19 epidemic: a stochastic model based on data from an African island

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Nuckchady
Keyword(s):  
Stochastic Model ◽  
Population Surveillance ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Point Of Entry ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Key Interventions

AbstractA stochastic model was created to simulate the impact of various healthcare measures on the COVID-19 epidemic. Travel restrictions and point of entry or exit screening help to delay the onset of the outbreak by a few weeks. Population surveillance is critical to detect the start of community transmission early and to avoid a surge in cases. Contact reduction and contact tracing are key interventions that can help to control the outbreak. To promptly curb the number of new cases, countries should diagnose patients using a highly sensitive test.

scholarly journals Protective impacts of household-based tuberculosis contact tracing are robust across endemic incidence levels and community contact patterns

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. e1008713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Havumaki ◽  
Ted Cohen ◽  
Chengwei Zhai ◽  
Joel C. Miller ◽  
Seth D. Guikema ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Population Level ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Spatially Explicit Model ◽  
Household Transmission ◽  
Contact Patterns ◽  
Social Mixing ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

There is an emerging consensus that achieving global tuberculosis control targets will require more proactive case finding approaches than are currently used in high-incidence settings. Household contact tracing (HHCT), for which households of newly diagnosed cases are actively screened for additional infected individuals is a potentially efficient approach to finding new cases of tuberculosis, however randomized trials assessing the population-level effects of such interventions in settings with sustained community transmission have shown mixed results. One potential explanation for this is that household transmission is responsible for a variable proportion of population-level tuberculosis burden between settings. For example, transmission is more likely to occur in households in settings with a lower tuberculosis burden and where individuals mix preferentially in local areas, compared with settings with higher disease burden and more dispersed mixing. To better understand the relationship between endemic incidence levels, social mixing, and the impact of HHCT, we developed a spatially explicit model of coupled household and community transmission. We found that the impact of HHCT was robust across settings of varied incidence and community contact patterns. In contrast, we found that the effects of community contact tracing interventions were sensitive to community contact patterns. Our results suggest that the protective benefits of HHCT are robust and the benefits of this intervention are likely to be maintained across epidemiological settings.

scholarly journals Health Policy Issue Brief: COVID-19 in Mexico, an imperative to test, trace, and isolate.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Bernal-Serrano ◽  
Hector Carrasco ◽  
Lindsay Palazuelos ◽  
Joel M. Mubiligi ◽  
Catherine Oswald ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Respiratory Infections ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
Health Strategy ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

The Mexican government’sapproach to COVID-19 is failing. The strategy—to care for those that require hospitalization (20% of all cases), deliver mass communication messages, and regulate social distancing following a stoplight system for the rest of the population-is not aggressive enough for prevention. An anemic public health approach with scarce testing and no contact tracing or quarantine, has led to a sky-rocketing number of new infections and deaths. If the current trend continues, Mexico will see around 130 thousand deaths by December and a 53% annualized rate of decrease in the GDP. The government must implement a clear federal strategy to stop the spread of the virus: widespread testing, isolation of symptomatic cases; tracing, and quarantiningof their contacts. This comprehensive public health strategy with targeted social support to protect the vulnerable is a proven approach. Through evaluating other countries’ programs and extrapolating lessons for the Mexican context, we demonstrate thatimplementing testing and contact tracing for all acute respiratory infections is feasible with Mexico’s current resources. A strategy where symptomatic patients are tested and isolated and contacts are quarantined, can suppress community spread, save lives, reduce suffering, decrease the burden on hospitals, and restart the economic activity earlier and in a safer way. The more we wait to implement comprehensive testing and tracing to suppress the epidemic, the more people will become infected, and the impact of this measures will decrease.

scholarly journals Containing SARS-CoV-2 in Belize

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Habet ◽  
Diomne Habet ◽  
Gliselle Marin
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Central America ◽  
National Level ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Limited Resources ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Caribbean Country ◽  
Community Transmission

Belize is a small Caribbean country in Central America with limited resources in public health. Amidst a global pandemic, urgent attention was given to mitigating the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in order to prevent a public health catastrophe. Early intervention on a national level was key to preventing the importation of cases and subsequent community transmission. Limiting the conglomeration of people, implementation of curfews, closures of school and universities, government-mandated social distancing, and extensive contact tracing may have mitigated the exponential spread of COVID-19. Mandatory mask-wearing in public may have helped to prevent spread between asymptomatic carriers to susceptible individuals. A low population density may have also contributed to containing the virus.

scholarly journals Effective Contact Tracing for COVID-19 Using Mobile Phones: An Ethical Analysis of the Mandatory Use of the Aarogya Setu Application in India

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
SAURAV BASU
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Public Health Emergency ◽  
Ethical Analysis ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Smartphone Applications ◽  
Effective Contact ◽  
Mandatory Adoption ◽  
Mandatory Use

Abstract Several digital contact tracing smartphone applications have been developed worldwide in the effort to combat COVID-19 that warn users of potential exposure to infectious patients and generate big data that helps in early identification of hotspots, complementing the manual tracing operations. In most democracies, concerns over a breach in data privacy have resulted in severe opposition toward their mandatory adoption. This paper examines India as a noticeable exception, where the compulsory installation of such a government-backed application, the “Aarogya Setu” has been deemed mandatory in certain situations. We argue that the mandatory app requirement constitutes a legitimate public health intervention during a public health emergency.

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