scholarly journals Household transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 in the time of unprecedented travel lockdown in China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Ke Xu ◽  
Xiao-Fan Liu ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Sheikh Taslim Ali ◽  
Zhanwei Du ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Hubei Province ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Epidemiological Features ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics

AbstractImportanceSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the city of Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and then spread globally. Limited information is available for characterizing epidemiological features and transmission patterns in the regions outside of Hubei Province. Detailed data on transmission at the individual level could be an asset to understand the transmission mechanisms and respective patterns in different settings.ObjectiveTo reconstruct infection events and transmission clusters of SARS-CoV-2 for estimating epidemiological characteristics at household and non-household settings, including super-spreading events, serial intervals, age- and gender-stratified risks of infection in China outside of Hubei Province.Design, Setting, and Participants9,120 confirmed cases reported online by 264 Chinese urban Health Commissions in 27 provinces from January 20 to February 19, 2020. A line-list database is established with detailed information on demographic, social and epidemiological characteristics. The infection events are categorized into the household and non-household settings.ExposuresConfirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections.Main Outcomes and MeasuresInformation about demographic characteristics, social relationships, travel history, timelines of potential exposure, symptom onset, confirmation, and hospitalization were extracted from online public reports. 1,407 infection events formed 643 transmission clusters were reconstructed.ResultsIn total 34 primary cases were identified as super spreaders, and 5 household super-spreading events were observed. The mean serial interval is estimated to be 4.95 days (standard deviation: 5.24 days) and 5.19 days (standard deviation: 5.28 days) for households and non-household transmissions, respectively. The risk of being infected outside of households is higher for age groups between 18 and 64 years, whereas the hazard of being infected within households is higher for age groups of young (<18) and elderly (>65) people.Conclusions and RelevanceThe identification of super-spreading events, short serial intervals, and a higher risk of being infected outside of households for male people of age between 18 and 64 indicate a significant barrier to the case identification and management, which calls for intensive non-pharmaceutical interventions (e.g. cancellation of public gathering, limited access of public services) as the potential mitigation strategies.Key PointsQuestionWhat epidemiological characteristics and risk factors are associated with household and non-household transmissions of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in China outside of Hubei Province?FindingsIn this epidemiological study analyzing 1,407 SARS-CoV-2 infection events reported between 20 January 2020 and 19 February 2020, 643 transmission clusters were reconstructed to demonstrate the non-negligible frequency of super-spreading events, short duration of serial intervals, and a higher risk of being infected outside of household for male people of age between 18 and 64 years.MeaningThese findings provide epidemiological features and risk estimates for both household and non-household transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 in China outside of Hubei Province.

Inequality in active ageing: evidence from a new individual-level index for European countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
MIKKEL BARSLUND ◽  
MARTEN VON WERDER ◽  
ASGHAR ZAIDI
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Share Data ◽  
The Individual

ABSTRACTIn the context of emerging challenges and opportunities associated with population ageing, the study of inequality in active-ageing outcomes is critical to the design of appropriate and effective social policies. While there is much discussion about active ageing at the aggregate country level, little is known about inequality in active-ageing experiences within countries. Based on the existing literature on active ageing, this paper proposes an individual-level composite active ageing index based on Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data. The individual-level nature of the index allows us to analyse inequality in experiences of active ageing within selected European countries. One important motivation behind measuring active ageing at the individual level is that it allows for a better understanding of unequal experiences of ageing, which may otherwise be masked in aggregate-level measures of active ageing. Results show large differences in the distribution of individual-level active ageing across the 13 European countries covered and across age groups. Furthermore, there is a positive association between the country-level active ageing index and the equality of its distribution within a country. Hence, countries with the lowest average active ageing index tend to have the most unequal distribution in active-ageing experiences. For nine European countries, where temporal data are also available, we find that inequality in active-ageing outcomes decreased in the period 2004 to 2013.

scholarly journals Validation of energy intake by 24-hour multiple pass recall: comparison with total energy expenditure in children aged 5–7 years

2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colette Montgomery ◽  
John J. Reilly ◽  
Diane M. Jackson ◽  
Louise A. Kelly ◽  
Christine Slater ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Expenditure ◽  
Total Energy ◽  
Energy Intake ◽  
School Children ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Total Energy Expenditure ◽  
Doubly Labelled Water ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Multiple Pass ◽  
The Individual

Accurate measurement of energy intake (EI) is essential in studies of energy balance in all age groups. Reported values for EI can be validated against total energy expenditure (TEE) measured using doubly labelled water (DLW). Our previous work has indicated that the use of the standardized 24 h multiple pass recall (24 h MPR) method produces slight overestimates of EI in pre-school children which are inaccurate at individual level but acceptable at group level. To extend this work, the current study validated EI by 24 h MPR against TEE by DLW in sixty-three (thirty-two boys) school-aged children (median age 6 years). In both boys and girls, reported EI was higher than TEE, although this difference was only significant in the girls (median difference 420 kJ/d, P=0·05). On analysis of agreement between TEE and EI, the group bias was an overestimation of EI by 250 kJ/d with wide limits of agreement (−2880, 2380 kJ/d). EI was over-reported relative to TEE by 7 % and 0·9 % in girls and boys, respectively. The bias in the current study was lower than in our previous study of pre-school children, suggesting that estimates of EI become less inaccurate as children age. However, the current study suggests that the 24 h MPR is inaccurate at the individual level.

scholarly journals Comparison Between Non-Invasive Methane Measurement Techniques in Cattle

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rey ◽  
Atxaerandio ◽  
Ruiz ◽  
Ugarte ◽  
González-Recio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Genetic Selection ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Population Means ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Ch4 Concentration ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Methane Measurement

The aim of this trial was to study the agreement between the non-dispersive infrared methane analyzer (NDIR) method and the hand held laser methane detector (LMD). Methane (CH4) was measured simultaneously with the two devices totaling 164 paired measurements. The repeatability of the CH4 concentration was greater with the NDIR (0.42) than for the LMD (0.23). However, for the number of peaks, repeatability of the LMD was greater (0.20 vs. 0.14, respectively). Correlation was moderately high and positive for CH4 concentration (0.73 and 0.74, respectively) and number of peaks (0.72 and 0.72, respectively), and the repeated measures correlation and the individual-level correlation were high (0.98 and 0.94, respectively). A moderate concordance correlation coefficient was observed for the CH4 concentration (0.62) and for the number of peaks (0.66). A moderate-high coefficient of individual agreement for the CH4 concentration (0.83) and the number of peaks (0.77) were observed. However, CH4 concentrations population means and all variance components differed between instruments. In conclusion, methane concentration measurements obtained by means of NDIR and LMD cannot be used interchangeably. The joint use of both methods could be considered for genetic selection purposes or for mitigation strategies only if sources of disagreement, which result in different between-subject and within-subject variabilities, are identified and corrected for.

scholarly journals Late reinfection with a different severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 clade in a patient with refractory arterial hypertension: a case report

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier García-Abellán ◽  
Antonio Galiana ◽  
Marta Fernández-González ◽  
Nieves Gonzalo-Jiménez ◽  
Montserrat Ruiz-García ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Arterial Hypertension ◽  
Primary Infection ◽  
Individual Risk ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Initial Infection ◽  
Viral Shedding ◽  
Complete Dataset ◽  
The Individual

Abstract Background Differentiating between persistent infection with intermittent viral shedding and reinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 remains challenging. Although a small number of cases with genomic evidence of second infection have been reported, limited information exists on frequency and determinants of reinfection, time between infections, and duration of immunity after the primary infection. Case presentation We report a reinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in a 52-year-old caucasian male whose primary infection was diagnosed in May 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic in Spain, and the second occurred 8 months later, in January 2021. We present a complete dataset including results from real-time polymerase chain reaction, serology, and genome sequencing confirming reinfection with a different clade. Noteworthy was that the patient was immunocompetent but had multiple cardiometabolic comorbidities, including refractory arterial hypertension, that might increase the individual risk in coronavirus disease 2019. Conclusions This case of reinfection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 occurring several months after the primary infection reports the longest time interval between reinfection and initial infection described to date. It raises concerns on the duration of protective immunity, suggesting that it may begin to wane in patients who acquired the initial infection during the first wave of the pandemic. The potential contributing role of arterial hypertension and cardiometabolic comorbidities as risk factors for reinfection deserves investigation.

scholarly journals Evolving Epidemiology and Impact of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions on the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Wuhan, China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaolong Wang ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
Xingjie Hao ◽  
Huan Guo ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Attack Rate ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Credible Interval ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Pharmaceutical Interventions

ABSTRACTBACKGROUNDWe described the epidemiological features of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak, and evaluated the impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the epidemic in Wuhan, China.METHODSIndividual-level data on 25,961 laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases reported through February 18, 2020 were extracted from the municipal Notifiable Disease Report System. Based on key events and interventions, we divided the epidemic into four periods: before January 11, January 11-22, January 23 - February 1, and February 2-18. We compared epidemiological characteristics across periods and different demographic groups. We developed a susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered model to study the epidemic and evaluate the impact of interventions.RESULTSThe median age of the cases was 57 years and 50.3% were women. The attack rate peaked in the third period and substantially declined afterwards across geographic regions, sex and age groups, except for children (age <20) whose attack rate continued to increase. Healthcare workers and elderly people had higher attack rates and severity risk increased with age. The effective reproductive number dropped from 3.86 (95% credible interval 3.74 to 3.97) before interventions to 0.32 (0.28 to 0.37) post interventions. The interventions were estimated to prevent 94.5% (93.7 to 95.2%) infections till February 18. We found that at least 59% of infected cases were unascertained in Wuhan, potentially including asymptomatic and mild-symptomatic cases.CONCLUSIONSConsiderable countermeasures have effectively controlled the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. Special efforts are needed to protect vulnerable populations, including healthcare workers, elderly and children. Estimation of unascertained cases has important implications on continuing surveillance and interventions.

Self-organizing behavior in collective choice models: laboratory experiments

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Arango ◽  
Erik R. Larsen ◽  
Ann van Ackere
Keyword(s):  
System Performance ◽  
Information Diffusion ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Individual Performance ◽  
Queuing Systems ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider queuing systems where captive repeat customers select a service facility each period. Are people in such a distributed system, with limited information diffusion, able to approach optimal system performance? How are queues formed? How do people decide which queue to join based on past experience? The authors explore these questions, investigating the effect of information availability, as well as the effect of heterogeneous facility sizes, at the macro (system) and micro (individual performance) levels. Design/methodology/approach – Experimental economics, using a queuing experiment. Findings – The authors find little behavioural difference at the aggregate level, but observe significant variations at the individual level. This leads the authors to the conclusion that it is not sufficient to evaluate system performance by observing average customer allocation and sojourn times at the different facilities; one also needs to consider the individuals’ performance to understand how well the chosen design works. The authors also observe that better information diffusion does not necessarily improve system performance. Practical/implications – Evaluating system performance based on aggregate behaviour can be misleading; however, this is how many systems are evaluated in practice, when only aggregate performance measures are available. This can lead to suboptimal system designs. Originality/value – There has been little theoretical or empirical work on queuing systems with captive repeat customers. This study contributes to the understanding of decision making in such systems, using laboratory experiments based on the cellular automata approach, but with all agents replaced by humans.

scholarly journals Counting Carbon: The Politics of Carbon Footprints and Climate Governance from the Individual to the Global

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Morton Turner
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Science Studies ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Carbon Footprints ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Electricity Use ◽  
Conceptual Shift ◽  
Governmentality Studies ◽  
The Individual

This article considers carbon footprints as a form of climate governance. Drawing on science studies to consider the contingent nature of calculative devices and governmentality studies to examine the intrinsic relationship between how problems are framed and remedied, this article advances two arguments. First, it argues that efforts to define and deploy carbon footprints contributed to a conceptual shift in emissions accounting, from a narrower metric focused on emissions from fossil fuel and electricity use—Carbon Footprint 1.0—to a more expansive metric that includes emissions embodied in consumption and trade—Carbon Footprint 2.0. Second, this article argues that these approaches to carbon footprints at the individual level have intersected with broader discussions about allocating emissions responsibilities and examining mitigation strategies at the national and international levels, offering alternative grounds for assigning responsibility for climate-change mitigation and expanding the range of policy options available for addressing emissions.

scholarly journals Do Older Employees Have a Lower Individual Productivity Potential than Younger Employees?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pål Børing ◽  
Jens B. Grøgaard
Keyword(s):  
Formal Education ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Older Employees ◽  
Younger Workers ◽  
Individual Productivity ◽  
Productivity Potential ◽  
The Individual

AbstractWe examine the relationship between employees’ age and their individual productivity potential (IPP). IPP is measured by individual characteristics which are related to skills utilisation at work. Using PIAAC data for 27 European and non-European countries, we find that the oldest employees have a lower IPP score than the middle-aged employees in 17 of the 27 countries. It seems to be most demanding for the oldest workers to keep up with the IPP of younger workers in countries with high average skill loss for the oldest age group or high average skills level for all age groups (or both). The significant positive effects of formal education and the absence of significant effects of skills on the IPP score in many of the countries (the individual level), are easier to adapt to the human capital perspective on the importance of formal education than to the perspective of the signalling theory.

scholarly journals Clinical epidemiological characteristics of mycetoma in Eastern Sennar locality, Sennar State, Sudan

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0009847
Author(s):  
Rowa Hassan ◽  
Kebede Deribe ◽  
Ahmed Hassan Fahal ◽  
Melanie Newport ◽  
Sahar Bakhiet
Keyword(s):  
Disease Burden ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
The State ◽  
Cluster Sampling ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Epidemiological Features ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Administrative Units ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics

Mycetoma epidemiological features remain uncharacterised. Few studies have been conducted in a community-based setting to explore the epidemiological features and risk factors for mycetoma in Sudan. To bridge this gap, this study was conducted in Eastern Sennar Locality, Sennar State, Sudan, to report the clinical, epidemiological characteristics of mycetoma patients and the disease burden in the state. We used cluster sampling; sixty villages were randomly selected across the locality’s five administrative units, and a household-to-household survey was conducted. We collected data using pre-designed questionnaires at the community, household, and individual levels. We performed descriptive analyses of the data and produced prevalence maps using ArcGIS 10.5 ([ESRI] Inc., Redlands CA, USA). A total of 41,176 individuals were surveyed, and 359 mycetoma patients were identified. The overall prevalence of mycetoma was 0.87% (95%CI = 0.78–0.97%), the prevalence among males was 0.83% (95%CI = 0.71–0.96%), and females 0.92% (95% CI = 0.79–1.06%). Individuals in the age group 31–45 years had the highest prevalence among the different age groups (1.52%, 95% CI = 1.23–1.86%). The prevalence map showed patients clustered within the central and north-eastern part of the locality, while villages in the south-western part had few or no cases. In conclusion, this clinical epidemiological study is pioneering and shows that mycetoma is prevalent in certain parts of Sudan. This data obtained will support the design of measures to reduce the disease burden in the state. The survey procedures and protocols can be adopted for further studies in Sudan and beyond.

scholarly journals Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of measles in the Astrakhan region in 2013–2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-93
Author(s):  
G. A. Kharchenko ◽  
O. G, Kimirilova
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Immunoassay ◽  
Age Structure ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Past ◽  
Epidemiological Features ◽  
Measles Vaccination ◽  
Spread Of Infection ◽  
Measles Incidence ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics

In the first quarter of 2019, we registered 872 cases of measles in Russia, indicating a tense epidemic situation of this disease.Purpose. To determine clinical and epidemiological features of measles in the Astrakhan region (AR) from January 2013 to April 2019.Material and methods. We analyzed 663 cases of measles confirmed by enzyme immunoassay (293 children + 370 adults) in the AR from January 2013 to April 2019. Results. We found that in the age structure of measles incidence in AO prevail patients aged from 18 to 29 years old, unvaccinated or lacking vaccination information, unvaccinated children of 1-2 years old and children under 1 year old, not subject to measles vaccination. The main reasons for the lack of vaccination in children with measles under 17 years are medical withdrawal; and among adults – insufficient vaccination of people under 35 years and the absence of vaccination in people over 35 years. The main reasons for the incidence of measles among vaccinated children and adults is the violations of vaccination, inaccuracy of official measles vaccination data, which is confirmed by serological monitoring, indicating a decrease in the seropositive individuals among vaccinated persons. The presence of measles foci and the spread of infection can be explained by nosocomial outbreaks, spread of measles in the organized groups as a result of untimely identification and isolation of patients. Measles in children and adults of different age groups, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, occurred typically with a predominance of moderate form. The Filatov – Koplik symptom, despite its detection in only 54% of patients, remains the main sign for the diagnosis of measles in the catarrhal period of the disease, and pigmentation is a sign of the past illness. 

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