scholarly journals Combating COVID-19—The role of robotics in managing public health and infectious diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (40) ◽  
pp. eabb5589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang-Zhong Yang ◽  
Bradley J. Nelson ◽  
Robin R. Murphy ◽  
Howie Choset ◽  
Henrik Christensen ◽  
...  

COVID-19 may drive sustained research in robotics to address risks of infectious diseases.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 725-730
Author(s):  
Emily Stanton ◽  
Anita Bell

Health protection is a key function of Public Health England, encompassing emergency preparedness, resilience and response, environmental health, and communicable disease control. The aim of this article is to discuss the role of health protection, its structure in England, and how GPs are integral to the reporting, surveillance and actions to protect public health. Case studies are included. Finally, the article will highlight knowledge that GPs will find useful when considering notifiable infectious diseases and the role of GP and health protection in the NHS Long Term Plan.


Author(s):  
Maria Ines Zanoli Sato

This chapter provides a review of infectious disease to date and the challenges they may present in the future. The main pandemics that have driven the history of humanity are described, from the first to be recorded in 3180 BC to more recent ones such as AIDIS, SARS and others associated with emerging pathogens. The essential role of emerging scientific specialisms (particularly microbiology, public health and sanitary engineering) to our understanding of the causes of these diseases (and how they may be better monitored, controlled and prevented) is presented. Globalization and climate change, determining factors for the ecology of infectious diseases and their emergence and re-emergence, are discussed and point to the urgent need for research to deal with these threats that continue to have a significant impact on human development and wellbeing.


Author(s):  
Phyllis Freeman ◽  
Anthony Robbins

AbstractSince Jenner's time, there have always been enthusiasts and skeptics about the role of vaccines in the prevention of disease. This introduction explains why, at this time, it is crucial to assess the historical role vaccines have played in limiting damage caused by infectious diseases, the role they can play in the future, and the technologies that are best suited to achieving optimal gains for public health and development worldwide.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
MarliC Cupertino ◽  
MichelyB Resende ◽  
NicholasAJ Mayer ◽  
LorendaneM Carvalho ◽  
Rodrigo Siqueira-Batista

Epidemics of smallpox, cholera, plague and other infectious diseases in the world in the past were accompanied by the deaths of millions of people and often threatened humanity with destruction as a biological species. Therefore, society was forced to join forces to create an organization that would provide health protection on a global scale. On April 7, 1948, 26 UN member states created the World Health Organization, the main goal of which was to help provide the protection of health of the population of all countries of the world. Purpose of the study - analysis of the historical data of the process of creating the World Health Organization, achievements for all the years of its existence, financing in last years and formation of the opinions of authors on the role of this organization in solving health problems of all humanity. Results. The article presents data on stages of the formation of the World Health Organization. Information about positive results for more than 70 years in solving reproductive health problems, maternal and child mortality, eradicating many infectious diseases in different parts of the world and other problems is detailed. Joint resolutions of the World Health Organization with the United Nations were adopted about general and complete disarmament, protection of humanity from atomic radiation, ban on the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons, defining of the role of doctors and other health workers in the preservation and strengthening of the world. Information on the World Health Organization funding is provided. The prospects for the development of the organization are described. Conclusions. The World Health Organization actively continues its work – maintains contact with international experts, governments and partners for quick collection of scientific data on a new virus, tracks its distribution and assesses its virulence, provides to countries and population recommendations on health protection measures and preventing the spread of infection. The global climatic crisis and the coronavirus infection pandemic showed that the role of the World Health Organization should increase to prevent cataclysms in some countries and globally. It is the World Health Organization that has a huge positive international experience in fighting various public health problems and it remains the only effective organization that consolidates the efforts of most countries of the world to overcome the problems of all humanity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veena D. Singh ◽  
Sarah L. Lathrop

Context.—Medical examiners and coroners have long been an integral component of public health, often being the first to recognize and describe emerging infectious diseases. Given their experience and access, medical examiners and coroners will provide valuable contributions to better understanding Zika virus infection and its sequelae. Objective.—To review past examples of medical examiner/coroner involvement in recognition of emerging infectious diseases and describe how medical examiners and coroners will be critical in understanding the pathophysiology of Zika infections. Design.—Review of the existing literature on the role of medical examiners and coroners in the identification of emergent infections and the available literature on Zika virus. Results.—Medical examiners and coroners have played a crucial role in identifying numerous emerging infectious diseases such as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and West Nile virus, and have the expertise and experience to aid in elucidating the pathophysiologic effects of Zika virus and tracking its distribution and risk factors. Conclusions.—Medical examiners and coroners will be a significant factor in the unified public health approach needed to mitigate the effects of Zika virus and other, heretofore unrecognized, infectious diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Syed Muhammad Imran Majeed ◽  
Aisha Mohyuddin

For every nation state with a large population (Pakistan being the 5 largest), it is imperative to have indigenouscapability to meet one's own requirement of vaccines for one's own set of prevailing diseases. Imports arecostly and not always readily available as became evident globally during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.Microbial antigenicity may also vary significantly from region to region on account of mutations. Henceefficiency of vaccine too can vary accordingly.Vaccines have dramatically reduced the burden of numerous infectious diseases, promoted individual andsocial growth, prosperity and wellbeing across the globe. In the coming decade, vaccines are likely to savetwenty-five million lives1 , and will continue to be the cornerstone of public health programmes. It is estimatedthat six out of every ten infectious diseases in humans are transmitted by animals and 70% of emerging and reemergingdiseases are either spread from animals to humans or infected animals to the healthy ones throughinsects.2 The role of vaccines in human health is therefore not only limited to humans but is vital to controldisease transmission from animals to humans as well.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tijana Karić ◽  
Janko Mileta Međedović

The roles of conspiracy beliefs and political trust for public health behaviour have been seldomly studied prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we tested whether conspiracy beliefs affect containment-related behaviour in relation to the COVID-19 epidemic, and whether this relationship is mediated by political trust, preference for saving economy or for saving lives. The data were collected at two time points, at the beginning of the epidemic and after the state of emergency was introduced. The sample consisted of 802 adults from Serbia (356 at time 1 and 446 at time 2), of which around 60% female, with the mean age of around 33. The results indicate that holding more conspiracy beliefs is related to less adherence to containment-related behaviour, both directly and indirectly, via decreased political trust. Preference for saving lives has a direct effect on containment-related behaviour, while preference for saving economy plays no important role in this relationship, although it has a negative zero-order association with containment-related behaviour. The findings are interpreted in the light of the importance of governmental epidemic management for containing, i.e. preventing the spread of infectious diseases.


Author(s):  
Maria Ines Zanoli Sato

This chapter provides a review of infectious disease to date and the challenges they may present in the future. The main pandemics that have driven the history of humanity are described, from the first to be recorded in 3180 BC to more recent ones such as AIDIS, SARS and others associated with emerging pathogens. The essential role of emerging scientific specialisms (particularly microbiology, public health and sanitary engineering) to our understanding of the causes of these diseases (and how they may be better monitored, controlled and prevented) is presented. Globalization and climate change, determining factors for the ecology of infectious diseases and their emergence and re-emergence, are discussed and point to the urgent need for research to deal with these threats that continue to have a significant impact on human development and wellbeing.


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