scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2 Genetic diversity and lineage dynamics of in Egypt

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wael Hamed Roshdy ◽  
Mohamed K Khalifa ◽  
James Emmanuel San ◽  
Houriiyah Tegally ◽  
Eduan Wilkinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Genomic Epidemiology ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Whole Genomes ◽  
Previous Infection ◽  
The Face ◽  
Phylogenetic Framework

COVID-19 was first diagnosed in Egypt on 14 February 2020. By the end of November 2021, over 333,840 cases and 18,832 deaths had been reported. As part of national genomic surveillance, 1,027 SARS-CoV-2 near whole-genomes had been generated and published by the end of May 2021. Here we describe the genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Egypt over this period using a subset of 976 high-quality Egyptian genomes analysed together with a representative set of global sequences within a phylogenetic framework. We show that a single lineage, C.36, introduced early in the pandemic was responsible for most cases in Egypt. Furthermore, we show that to remain dominant in the face of mounting immunity from previous infection and vaccination, this lineage evolved into various sub-lineages acquiring several mutations known to confer adaptive advantage and pathogenic properties. These results highlight the value of continuous genomic surveillance in regions where VOCs are not predominant and enforcement of public health measures to prevent expansion of existing lineages.

Pandemic Disease, Public Health, and Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 796-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Smith ◽  
Ross Upshur
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Ethical Frameworks ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Face ◽  
Conducting Research

Infectious disease pandemics raise significant and novel ethical challenges to the organization and practice of public health. This chapter provides an overview of the salient ethical issues involved in preparing for and responding to pandemic disease, including those arising from deploying restrictive public health measures to contain and curb the spread of disease (e.g., isolation and quarantine), setting priorities for the allocation of scarce resources, health care workers’ duty to care in the face of heightened risk of infection, conducting research during pandemics, and the global governance of preventing and responding to pandemic disease. It also outlines ethical guidance from prominent ethical frameworks that have been developed to address these ethical issues and concludes by discussing some pressing challenges that must be addressed if ethical reflection is to make a meaningful difference in pandemic preparedness and response.

TRADITIONAL SAFETY MEASURES AND ACCIDENTAL POISONING IN CHILDHOOD

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 811-816
Author(s):  
Raymond Sobel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Accidental Poisoning ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Safety Education ◽  
Driver Education ◽  
Accidental Injury ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
The Face

Although few drugs, surgical technique, and public health measures are put into widespread use today without rigorous testing and evaluation, such assessment of efficacy is the exceplion rather than the rule with countermeasures against accidental injury. Many countermeasures now in use have never been evaluated; others continue in use long after they have been proved to be ineffective. Driver education, for example, is being widely adopted in the face of mounting evidence that it does nothing to prevent accidents. Programs of "home safety education" continue to be formulated despite considerable evidence that they do not produce the intended results. This unconcern for—if not downright resistance to—systematic research on effectiveness has several consequences: (1) It permits programs of questionable value to absorb funds and manpower that might better be used in developing effective programs. (2) It precludes the possibility of a cost-effectiveness approach, which promises to be at least as useful in injury control as it has been in other areas of social concern. (3) It develops and strengthens vested interests connected with established programs—and thus it increases the resistance against objective evaluation. (4) It lulls the lay public into a false sense of security, since the public is likely to assume that accident countermeasures have the same degree of validity as other public health measures. The signal contribution of the paper that follows lies in its challenge of a "safety measure" that has long been accepted and disseminated by professionals and laymen alike. Although the population studied is both small and in some respects atypical, the findings are strong enough to warrant further study of larger and different populations. The methodology employed is also worth emulating. Recognizing the bias inherent in medical records and the difficulty of obtaining valid and representative responses to mail questionnaires, the investigator resorted to both interviewing and observation, which, though unquestionably expensive, are probably the most effective methods of data collection available to the research worker studying accidental injury.

scholarly journals The PHA4GE SARS-CoV-2 Contextual Data Specification for Open Genomic Epidemiology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma J. Griffiths ◽  
Ruth E. Timme ◽  
Andrew J. Page ◽  
Nabil-Fareed Alikhan ◽  
Dan Fornika ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Contextual Information ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Contextual Data ◽  
Genomic Epidemiology ◽  
Bioinformatic Tools ◽  
The Face ◽  
Public Repositories ◽  
Data Specification

The Public Health Alliance for Genomic Epidemiology (PHA4GE) (https://pha4ge.org) is a global coalition that is actively working to establish consensus standards, document and share best practices, improve the availability of critical bioinformatic tools and resources, and advocate for greater openness, interoperability, accessibility and reproducibility in public health microbial bioinformatics. In the face of the current pandemic, PHA4GE has identified a clear and present need for a fit-for-purpose, open source SARS-CoV-2 contextual data standard. As such, we have developed an extension to the INSDC pathogen package, providing a SARS-CoV-2 contextual data specification based on harmonisable, publicly available, community standards. The specification is implementable via a collection template, as well as an array of protocols and tools to support the harmonisation and submission of sequence data and contextual information to public repositories. Well-structured, rich contextual data adds value, promotes reuse, and enables aggregation and integration of disparate data sets. Adoption of the proposed standard and practices will better enable interoperability between datasets and systems, improve the consistency and utility of generated data, and ultimately facilitate novel insights and discoveries in SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.

scholarly journals Asymptomatic Employee Screening for SARS-CoV-2: Implementation of and Reactions to an Employer-Based Testing Program

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura H. Goetz ◽  
Tyler L. DeLaughder ◽  
Kathleen L. Kennedy ◽  
Nicholas J. Schork ◽  
Timothy K. McDaniel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Employee Survey ◽  
Testing Program ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Face

ABSTRACTIntroductionAsymptomatic testing for SARS-CoV-2 among healthcare workers or other essential personnel could remove infected carriers from the workforce, decreasing chances for transmission and workplace outbreaks. Results from one-time testing programs have been reported but data regarding longitudinal testing, including information about employee’s reactions to such programs, is not readily available.MethodsTo identify asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2, we implemented a longitudinal screening program for critical on-site employees within our research institute in early April 2020. We conducted a survey of both on-site employees and those working from home in order to measure their reactions to the testing program. Statistical analysis of the survey was conducted with general linear regression and Pearson’s Chi-Square tests.ResultsDespite an ongoing high community prevalence rate of COVID-19, to date only two asymptomatic employees tested positive out of 1050 tests run during 7 months of the program. However, 12 symptomatic employees not participating in the program have tested positive. The employee survey was completed by 132/306 (43%) employees, with 93% agreeing that asymptomatic employee screening led to a better and safer working environment and 75% agreeing with on-site public health measures to help contain the virus, but only 58% feeling COVID-19 was a serious threat to their health.ConclusionOur results suggest that a longitudinal asymptomatic employee screening program for SARS-CoV-2 can be accepted by employees and can be used to maintain the health of the workforce, potentially keeping positivity rates below community levels in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals COVID-19 crisis: epidemiological and social perspective of an unprecedented pandemic in our lives

ANALES RANM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 137 (137(02)) ◽  
pp. 104-112
Author(s):  
José Mª Martin-Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Epidemiological Analysis ◽  
Healthy Behaviors ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Face

Increasing globalization drives complex human, biological and commercial interactions that affect the way we live and get sick. The pandemic risk that has appeared with the COVID-19 had already been anticipated by many institutions and experts, yet our governments and decision-makers have not prepared themselves sufficiently. This has meant that the devastating epidemic we have suffered has caught our entire system off guard. The SARS in 2003 and the MERS in 2012 were previous warnings of coronavirus mutations that presented a worrying infectivity and lethality, although they managed to be controlled with public health measures. On this occasion, the arrogance of many of our countries has meant that although the pandemic was coming progressively and announced, we did not do enough to prepare and strengthen the health system and public health. In this paper, we basically review the etiological agent, the incubation period, the mechanisms of transmission, the risk factors, the summarized clinical manifestations, the epidemiological analysis of the situation (including incidence or new cases, mortality and lethality, and estimating the excess mortality associated with the COVID-19), and the confinement and gradual stages of de-escalation. From the social point of view, the vulnerable groups that have been particularly affected by COVID-19 in Spain are identified. The article concludes by reviewing preventive medicine and public health measures in the face of COVID-19. This is articulated through the measures of basic hygiene and to investigate what we can expect from primary prevention through the mechanism of immunization that can provide us with vaccines. In the final part, the problem is discussed in order to develop, select, prioritize, and distribute these vaccines as a universal good, and it is emphasized that for now, and while we lack vaccines, our obligation is to continue insisting on hygiene and… on healthy behaviors. And to emphasize the importance of education for a better world.

Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Frischhut
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
And Control

This chapter discusses the most important features of EU law on infectious diseases. Communicable diseases not only cross borders, they also often require measures that cross different areas of policy because of different vectors for disease transmission. The relevant EU law cannot be attributed to one sectoral policy only, and thus various EU agencies participate in protecting public health. The key agency is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Other important agencies include the European Environment Agency; European Food Safety Authority; and the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency. However, while integration at the EU level has facilitated protection of the public's health, it also has created potential conflicts among the different objectives of the European Union. The internal market promotes the free movement of products, but public health measures can require restrictions of trade. Other conflicts can arise if protective public health measures conflict with individual human rights. The chapter then considers risk assessment and the different tools of risk management used in dealing with the challenges of infectious diseases. It also turns to the external and ethical perspective and the role the European Union takes in global health.

scholarly journals Are public health measures and individualised care compatible in the face of a pandemic? A national observational study of bereaved relatives’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 026921632110198
Author(s):  
Catriona R Mayland ◽  
Rosemary Hughes ◽  
Steven Lane ◽  
Tamsin McGlinchey ◽  
Warren Donnellan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Professional Networks ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
The Face ◽  
Individualised Care ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Informative Communication

Background: COVID-19 public health restrictions have affected end-of-life care experiences for dying patients and their families. Aim: To explore bereaved relatives’ experiences of quality of care and family support provided during the last days of life; to identify the impact of factors associated with perceived support. Design: A national, observational, open online survey was developed and disseminated via social media, public fora and professional networks (June–September 2020). Validated instruments and purposively designed questions assessed experiences. Analysis used descriptive statistics, logistic regression and thematic analysis of free-text responses. Participants: Individuals (⩾18 years) who had experienced the death of a relative/friend (all care settings) within the United Kingdome during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Respondents ( n = 278, mean 53.4 years) tended to be female ( n = 216, 78%); over half were ‘son/daughter’ (174, 62.6%) to the deceased. Deceased individuals (mean 81.6 years) most frequently died in their ‘usual place of care’ ( n = 192, 69.3%). Analysis established five conceptual themes affecting individualised care: (1) public health restrictions compounding the distress of ‘not knowing’; (2) disparate views about support from doctors and nurses; (3) challenges in communication and level of preparedness for the death; (4) delivery of compassionate care; (5) emotional needs and potential impact on grief. Male respondents (OR 2.9, p = 0.03) and those able to visit (OR 2.2, p = 0.04) were independently associated with good perceptions of family support. Conclusion: Despite public health restrictions, individualised care can be enabled by proactive, informative communication; recognising dying in a timely manner and facilitating the ability to be present before death.

Dilemmas of nudging in public health: an ethical analysis of a Danish pamphlet

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Busch ◽  
Emilie Kirstine Madsen ◽  
Antoinette Mary Fage-Butler ◽  
Marianne Kjær ◽  
Loni Ledderer
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Screening Programme ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Ethical Analysis ◽  
Choice Making ◽  
The Face ◽  
Information Materials ◽  
The Individual ◽  
To Receive

Summary Nudging has been discussed in the context of public health, and ethical issues raised by nudging in public health contexts have been highlighted. In this article, we first identify types of nudging approaches and techniques that have been used in screening programmes, and ethical issues that have been associated with nudging: paternalism, limited autonomy and manipulation. We then identify nudging techniques used in a pamphlet developed for the Danish National Screening Program for Colorectal Cancer. These include framing, default nudge, use of hassle bias, authority nudge and priming. The pamphlet and the very offering of a screening programme can in themselves be considered nudges. Whether nudging strategies are ethically problematic depend on whether they are categorized as educative- or non-educative nudges. Educative nudges seek to affect people’s choice making by engaging their reflective capabilities. Non-educative nudges work by circumventing people’s reflective capabilities. Information materials are, on the face of it, meant to engage citizens’ reflective capacities. Recipients are likely to receive information materials with this expectation, and thus not expect to be affected in other ways. Non-educative nudges may therefore be particularly problematic in the context of information on screening, also as participating in screening does not always benefit the individual.

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