scholarly journals Wild animal oral microbiomes reflect the history of human antibiotics use

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaelle C. Brealey ◽  
Henrique G. Leitão ◽  
Thijs Hofstede ◽  
Daniela C. Kalthoff ◽  
Katerina Guschanski
Keyword(s):  
Wild Animal ◽  
Oral Microbiome ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Museum Specimens ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Dental Calculus ◽  
Shotgun Metagenomics ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Antibiotics Use ◽  
History Of

AbstractFollowing the advent of industrial-scale antibiotics production in the 1940s, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been on the rise and now poses a major global health threat. Because AMR can be exchanged between humans, livestock and wildlife, evaluating the potential of wild animals to act as AMR reservoirs is essential. We used shotgun metagenomics sequencing of dental calculus, the calcified form of the oral microbial biofilm, to determine the abundance and repertoire of AMR genes in the oral microbiome of Swedish brown bears from museum specimens collected over the last 200 years. Our temporal metagenomics approach allowed us to establish a baseline of natural AMR in the pre-antibiotics era and to quantify a significant increase in total AMR load and diversity of AMR genes that is correlated with human antibiotics use. We also demonstrated that Swedish public health policies were effective in limiting AMR spillover into wildlife.

Epidemiological surveillance and performance assessment: the two roles of health indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-203
Author(s):  
Nathan Genicot
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Performance Assessment ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The One ◽  
Massive Development

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to the massive development and use of health indicators. Drawing on the history of international public health and of the management of infectious disease, this paper attempts to show that the normative power acquired by metrics during the pandemic can be understood in light of two rationales: epidemiological surveillance and performance assessment. On the one hand, indicators are established to evaluate and rank countries’ responses to the outbreak; on the other, the evolution of indicators has a direct influence on the content of public health policies. Although quantitative data are an absolute necessity for coping with such disasters, it is critical to bear in mind the inherent partiality and precarity of the information provided by health indicators. Given the growing importance of normative quantitative devices during the pandemic, and assuming that their influence is unlikely to decrease in the future, they call for close scrutiny.

scholarly journals Patterns of smallpox mortality in London, England, over three centuries

PLoS Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. e3000506
Author(s):  
Olga Krylova ◽  
David J. D. Earn
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Spectral Analysis ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Control

Smallpox is unique among infectious diseases in the degree to which it devastated human populations, its long history of control interventions, and the fact that it has been successfully eradicated. Mortality from smallpox in London, England was carefully documented, weekly, for nearly 300 years, providing a rare and valuable source for the study of ecology and evolution of infectious disease. We describe and analyze smallpox mortality in London from 1664 to 1930. We digitized the weekly records published in the London Bills of Mortality (LBoM) and the Registrar General’s Weekly Returns (RGWRs). We annotated the resulting time series with a sequence of historical events that might have influenced smallpox dynamics in London. We present a spectral analysis that reveals how periodicities in reported smallpox mortality changed over decades and centuries; many of these changes in epidemic patterns are correlated with changes in control interventions and public health policies. We also examine how the seasonality of reported smallpox mortality changed from the 17th to 20th centuries in London.

Addiction and Heroin-Assisted Treatment: Legal Discourse and Drug Reform

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Boyd ◽  
Alexa Norton
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
British Columbia ◽  
Drug Research ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Heroin Addiction ◽  
Care Society ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Drug Prohibition

This article analyzes the arguments put forth over a 3-day period at an injunction hearing, Providence Health Care Society v. Canada, held March 13–15, 2014 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The plaintiffs sought broad interlocutory relief from the Court for the provision of prescription heroin if requested by their physicians. This article fills an identified gap in scholarship by analyzing the civil Charter challenge, including the notice of civil claim, injunction court transcripts, judgment, and individual plaintiffs’ affidavits. We draw from Canada’s unique history of drug prohibition and critical drug research to contextualize our analysis and findings. We argue that the lives of people using criminalized drugs, such as heroin, are affected by legal realms that produce ideas about heroin, addiction, and criminality that ultimately impact public health policies and treatment initiatives.

BRINGING IN THE WILD: THE COMMODIFICATION OF WILD ANIMALS IN THE CAPE COLONY/PROVINCE c. 1850–1950

2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
LANCE VAN SITTERT
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Wild Animal ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Public Ownership ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
History Of ◽  
Urban Elite ◽  
Great Tradition ◽  
Relationship Of

The history of the imperial/colonial elite's preoccupation with saving a handful of specific ‘game’ species in reserves has come to stand for the relationship of all classes with all wild animals in both South Africa and the wider world of the British empire. The result is a narrative of process and periodization flawed in general and false in the specific case of the Cape Colony/Province, where economics rather than ideology was both the primary motor of game conservation and the mediating factor in human relationships with wild animal species. Here the general trend across the century from 1850 to 1950 was, contra MacKenzian orthodoxy, towards private not public ownership of game propelled by a rural rather than an urban elite. Public ownership was instead restricted to ‘vermin’ species in which the state created a market in which it became the chief consumer. The Cape's great tradition was refracted through its customary permissive legislation to yield a myriad of small traditions at the regional or local level. Rather than an argument for Cape exceptionalism, its wild animal history is a caution against glib generalizations from the elite archive and an indication of the need to broaden prevailing ‘game reserve history’ to include the full range of human and animal inhabitants as agents rather than as residual analytical categories in any narrative.

scholarly journals Psicologia e políticas públicas: desafios para superação de práticas normativas / Psychology and puclib policies: challenges to overcoming normative practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Andrade Ferrazza
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social History ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Psychiatric Reform ◽  
History Of ◽  
Normative Practices ◽  
History Approach ◽  
Psychological Knowledge

ResumoO presente trabalho tem o objetivo de estudar a história daconstituição de um saber psicológico normativo e da reflexão sobre a inserção da psicologia no âmbito da Saúde Coletiva, com destaque a alguns pontos norteadores para a profissão no sentido de garantir a formação de profissionais com um perfil condizente para atuação no âmbito das Políticas Públicas de Saúde. Será adotado o enfoque histórico social inspirado na perspectiva genealógica foucaultiana na tentativa de propor transformações atuais de discursos e práticas. Na atualidade, algumas práticas psi vinculadas às concepções individualistas e normativas, historicamente influenciadas pelo movimento higienista, poderiam constituir novos tipos de subjetividadesdespolitizadas. Assim, conclui-se que os indivíduos deixariam de implicar-se em suas próprias condições de sujeitos devido o reducionismo aos discursos psicopatologizantes, regradospor concepções que guardam pouca ou nenhuma relação com a promoção de saúde e as propostas dos projetos brasileiros de Reforma Sanitária e Psiquiátrica.Palavras-chave: Psicologia normativa; Políticas Públicas de Saúde; Reforma Sanitária e Psiquiátrica.AbstractThis article studies the history of the constitution of normative psychological knowledge and offers reflection on the role of psychology within Social Health. We foreground variousguidelines for the profession to ensure the training of professionals towards an apposite profile for practice in accordance with Public Health Policies. We adopt a social history approach informed by a Foucauldian genealogical perspective in our attempt to propose actual transformations to discourses and practices. Currently, some of the psy practices related toindividualist and normative conceptions - historically influenced by the hygienist movement - could constitute new types of depoliticized subjectivities. Thus, we posit that individuals willno longer involve themselves in their own conditions assubjects due to reductionist psychopathologizing discourses which are regulated by concepts that bear little or no relationto the promotion of health and the Brazilian Health and Psychiatric Reform project.Keywords: Normative Psychology; Public Health Policies; Health and Psychiatric Reform.

scholarly journals Metagenomic analysis of dental calculus in ancient Egyptian baboons

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Ottoni ◽  
Meriam Guellil ◽  
Andrew T. Ozga ◽  
Anne C. Stone ◽  
Oliver Kersten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oral Microbiome ◽  
Dietary Behaviour ◽  
Wild Chimpanzee ◽  
Dental Calculus ◽  
Shotgun Metagenomics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Ancient Egyptian ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Human Management

AbstractDental calculus, or mineralized plaque, represents a record of ancient biomolecules and food residues. Recently, ancient metagenomics made it possible to unlock the wealth of microbial and dietary information of dental calculus to reconstruct oral microbiomes and lifestyle of humans from the past. Although most studies have so far focused on ancient humans, dental calculus is known to form in a wide range of animals, potentially informing on how human-animal interactions changed the animals’ oral ecology. Here, we characterise the oral microbiome of six ancient Egyptian baboons held in captivity during the late Pharaonic era (9th–6th centuries BC) and of two historical baboons from a zoo via shotgun metagenomics. We demonstrate that these captive baboons possessed a distinctive oral microbiome when compared to ancient and modern humans, Neanderthals and a wild chimpanzee. These results may reflect the omnivorous dietary behaviour of baboons, even though health, food provisioning and other factors associated with human management, may have changed the baboons’ oral microbiome. We anticipate our study to be a starting point for more extensive studies on ancient animal oral microbiomes to examine the extent to which domestication and human management in the past affected the diet, health and lifestyle of target animals.

scholarly journals Dental Calculus as a Tool to Study the Evolution of the Mammalian Oral Microbiome

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 3003-3022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaelle C Brealey ◽  
Henrique G Leitão ◽  
Tom van der Valk ◽  
Wenbo Xu ◽  
Katia Bougiouri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance Genes ◽  
Oral Microbiome ◽  
Oral Disease ◽  
Dental Calculus ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Shotgun Metagenomics ◽  
Host Diet ◽  
Genetic Profiles ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Dental calculus, the calcified form of the mammalian oral microbial plaque biofilm, is a rich source of oral microbiome, host, and dietary biomolecules and is well preserved in museum and archaeological specimens. Despite its wide presence in mammals, to date, dental calculus has primarily been used to study primate microbiome evolution. We establish dental calculus as a valuable tool for the study of nonhuman host microbiome evolution, by using shotgun metagenomics to characterize the taxonomic and functional composition of the oral microbiome in species as diverse as gorillas, bears, and reindeer. We detect oral pathogens in individuals with evidence of oral disease, assemble near-complete bacterial genomes from historical specimens, characterize antibiotic resistance genes, reconstruct components of the host diet, and recover host genetic profiles. Our work demonstrates that metagenomic analyses of dental calculus can be performed on a diverse range of mammalian species, which will allow the study of oral microbiome and pathogen evolution from a comparative perspective. As dental calculus is readily preserved through time, it can also facilitate the quantification of the impact of anthropogenic changes on wildlife and the environment.

scholarly journals Modeling COVID-19 with Uncertainty in Granada, Spain. Intra-Hospitalary Circuit and Expectations over the Next Months

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1132
Author(s):  
José M. Garrido ◽  
David Martínez-Rodríguez ◽  
Fernando Rodríguez-Serrano ◽  
Sorina-M. Sferle ◽  
Rafael-J. Villanueva
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Transmission Dynamics ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
Seir Model ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hospital Resources ◽  
Over Time

Mathematical models have been remarkable tools for knowing in advance the appropriate time to enforce population restrictions and distribute hospital resources. Here, we present a mathematical Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered (SEIR) model to study the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in Granada, Spain, taking into account the uncertainty of the phenomenon. In the model, the patients moving throughout the hospital’s departments (intra-hospitalary circuit) are considered in order to help to optimize the use of a hospital’s resources in the future. Two main seasons, September–April (autumn-winter) and May–August (summer), where the hospital pressure is significantly different, have been included. The model is calibrated and validated with data obtained from the hospitals in Granada. Possible future scenarios have been simulated. The model is able to capture the history of the pandemic in Granada. It provides predictions about the intra-hospitalary COVID-19 circuit over time and shows that the number of infected is expected to decline continuously from May without an increase next autumn–winter if population measures continue to be satisfied. The model strongly suggests that the number of infected cases will reduce rapidly with aggressive vaccination policies. The proposed study is being used in Granada to design public health policies and perform wise re-distribution of hospital resources in advance.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the LGBTQ+ Population: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 872-887
Author(s):  
Ishan Garg ◽  
Hamza Hanif ◽  
Nismat Javed ◽  
Ramsha Abbas ◽  
Samir Mirza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Common Factors ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
Health Policies ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Public Health Policies ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
History Of

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately impacted lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) people. Despite developing safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, LGBTQ+ communities still faces challenges due to inequitable access and vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in the acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services. Various studies have explored and tried to address factors influencing vaccine hesitancy. However, the LGBTQ+ population remains under- and misrepresented in many of these studies. According to the few studies that have focused on the LGBTQ+ population, several factors influencing vaccine hesitancy have been identified, with the most common factors in studies being concern about vaccine safety, vaccine efficacy, and history of bad experiences with healthcare providers. In order to rebuild the confidence of LGBTQ+ people in vaccines, governments, healthcare policymakers, and healthcare providers need to start by acknowledging, and then resolving, these disparities; building trust; dismantling systemic suppression and discrimination; and prioritizing the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in research studies and public health policies.

scholarly journals Tracking the transition to agriculture in Southern Europe through ancient DNA analysis of dental calculus

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (32) ◽  
pp. e2102116118
Author(s):  
Claudio Ottoni ◽  
Dušan Borić ◽  
Olivia Cheronet ◽  
Vitale Sparacello ◽  
Irene Dori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Oral Microbiome ◽  
Oral Microbiota ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Dental Calculus ◽  
Oral Flora ◽  
Shotgun Metagenomics ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Microbiome Composition ◽  
The Balkans

Archaeological dental calculus, or mineralized plaque, is a key tool to track the evolution of oral microbiota across time in response to processes that impacted our culture and biology, such as the rise of farming during the Neolithic. However, the extent to which the human oral flora changed from prehistory until present has remained elusive due to the scarcity of data on the microbiomes of prehistoric humans. Here, we present our reconstruction of oral microbiomes via shotgun metagenomics of dental calculus in 44 ancient foragers and farmers from two regions playing a pivotal role in the spread of farming across Europe—the Balkans and the Italian Peninsula. We show that the introduction of farming in Southern Europe did not alter significantly the oral microbiomes of local forager groups, and it was in particular associated with a higher abundance of the species Olsenella sp. oral taxon 807. The human oral environment in prehistory was dominated by a microbial species, Anaerolineaceae bacterium oral taxon 439, that diversified geographically. A Near Eastern lineage of this bacterial commensal dispersed with Neolithic farmers and replaced the variant present in the local foragers. Our findings also illustrate that major taxonomic shifts in human oral microbiome composition occurred after the Neolithic and that the functional profile of modern humans evolved in recent times to develop peculiar mechanisms of antibiotic resistance that were previously absent.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document