scholarly journals Emerging Tick-Borne Diseases

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Madison-Antenucci ◽  
Laura D. Kramer ◽  
Linda L. Gebhardt ◽  
Elizabeth Kauffman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Disease Prevalence ◽  
Immunological Methods ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Tick Borne Disease ◽  
Ecology Of Ticks ◽  
Selection Of

SUMMARY Increases in tick-borne disease prevalence and transmission are important public health issues. Efforts to control these emerging diseases are frustrated by the struggle to control tick populations and to detect and treat infections caused by the pathogens that they transmit. This review covers tick-borne infectious diseases of nonrickettsial bacterial, parasitic, and viral origins. While tick surveillance and tracking inform our understanding of the importance of the spread and ecology of ticks and help identify areas of risk for disease transmission, the vectors are not the focus of this document. Here, we emphasize the most significant pathogens that infect humans as well as the epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases that they cause. Although detection via molecular or immunological methods has improved, tick-borne diseases continue to remain underdiagnosed, making the scope of the problem difficult to assess. Our current understanding of the incidence of tick-borne diseases is discussed in this review. An awareness of the diseases that can be transmitted by ticks in specific locations is key to detection and selection of appropriate treatment. As tick-transmitted pathogens are discovered and emerge in new geographic regions, our ability to detect, describe, and understand the growing public health threat must also grow to meet the challenge.

scholarly journals Response to Wolf et al.: Furthering Debate over the Suitability of Trap-Neuter-Return for Stray Cat Management

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Calver ◽  
Heather M. Crawford ◽  
Patricia A. Fleming
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Stray Cats ◽  
Stray Cat ◽  
Poor Welfare

To continue dialogue over proposed Australian trials of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), we applied a framework requiring identification of areas of agreement, areas of disagreement, and identification of empirical data collection required to resolve disagreements. There is agreement that Australia has a problem with stray cats, causing problems of impacts on wildlife, nuisance, disease transmission (including public health issues and exchange of diseases between stray cat and pet cat populations), poor welfare outcomes for stray cats, and an emotional burden on staff euthanising healthy stray cats. There is disagreement on whether (i) current measures are failing, leading to unacceptably high euthanasia levels, (ii) some contributors to the debate misunderstand TNR, (iii) TNR trials will reduce urban cat populations and associated problems, (iv) TNR is an ethical solution to cat overpopulation, and (v) some contributors to the debate promulgated misinformation. Although not everyone agrees that TNR trials should proceed, as a hypothetical exploration, we propose an experimental approach explicitly comparing TNR to alternatives. Trials could only be considered if other detailed and well-funded attempts at stray cat control focusing across an entire Local Government Area (LGA) prove ineffective.

scholarly journals The Unexpected Holiday Souvenir: The Public Health Risk to UK Travellers from Ticks Acquired Overseas

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 7957
Author(s):  
Emma L. Gillingham ◽  
Benjamin Cull ◽  
Maaike E. Pietzsch ◽  
L. Paul Phipps ◽  
Jolyon M. Medlock ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Tick Species ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Travel History ◽  
The Public ◽  
Overseas Travel ◽  
Tick Borne Disease ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
The Uk

Overseas travel to regions where ticks are found can increase travellers’ exposure to ticks and pathogens that may be unfamiliar to medical professionals in their home countries. Previous studies have detailed non-native tick species removed from recently returned travellers, occasionally leading to travel-associated human cases of exotic tick-borne disease. There are 20 species of tick endemic to the UK, yet UK travellers can be exposed to many other non-native species whilst overseas. Here, we report ticks received by Public Health England’s Tick Surveillance Scheme from humans with recent travel history between January 2006 and December 2018. Altogether, 16 tick species were received from people who had recently travelled overseas. Confirmed imports (acquired outside of the UK) were received from people who recently travelled to 22 countries. Possible imports (acquired abroad or within the UK) were received from people who had recently travelled to eight European countries. Species-specific literature reviews highlighted nine of the sixteen tick species are known to vector at least one tick-borne pathogen to humans in the country of acquisition, suggesting travellers exposed to ticks may be at risk of being bitten by a species that is a known vector, with implications for novel tick-borne disease transmission to travellers.

scholarly journals Capture of Viruses and Microorganisms in Aerosols Using A Newly Designed Collection System: A Proof-of-concept Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dapeng Chen ◽  
Alese P Devin ◽  
Emily R Caton ◽  
Michael McLoughlin ◽  
Wayne A Bryden
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Capture Efficiency ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Collection System ◽  
Sampling System ◽  
System A ◽  
Monitoring Tools ◽  
New Type

Aerosols contain human pathogens that cause public health disasters such as tuberculosis (TB) and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The current technologies for the collection of viruses and microorganisms in aerosols face critical limitations, necessitating the development of a new type of sampling system to advance the capture technology. Herein, we presented a new type of collection system, which exploits the affinity between carbon chains and organic molecules on the surfaces of viruses and microorganisms. We demonstrated that the physical capture efficiency of the collection system was over 99% for particle sizes from 0.3 to 10 um. We further evaluated the biochemical capture efficiency of the collection system using mass spectrometry approaches and showed that the biochemical information of viruses and microorganisms was well preserved. Coupled with well-established molecular technologies, this new type of capture technology can be used for the investigation of aerosol-related disease transmission models, as well as the development of innovative screening and monitoring tools for human diseases and public health issues.

Public Health Issues Took Center Stage in Election

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (23) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY ELLEN SCHNEIDER
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Center Stage

Characteristics of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Sub-fertile Woman Attending to GOPD in ShSMCH

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Jinnat Ara Islam ◽  
Fatema Ashraf ◽  
Eva Rani Nandi
Keyword(s):  
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome ◽  
Polycystic Ovaries ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Medical College ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Pcos Group ◽  
Symptom Complex ◽  
Ovarian Syndrome ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Fertile Women

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a condition characterized by menstrual abnormalities (oligo/amenorrhea) and clinical or biochemical features of hyperandrogenism and may manifest at any age. It is a common cause of female subfertility. All the dimensions of PCOS have not been yet completely explored. Methods: It was a cross sectional comparative study carried out at-GOPD of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College & Hospital from January, 2016 to December 2016 on 162 subfertile women. Among them 54 were PCOS group and 108 were non PCOS group. PCOS was diagnosed by (Rotterdam criteria 2003) (i) Oligo or anovulation (ii) hyperandrogenism (iii) Polycystic ovaries. Study was done to evaluate and compare the demographic characteristics, clinical, biochemical and ultrasoundgraphic features of sub-fertile women with and without PCOS. Results: A total of 162 sub-fertile women aged 16-36 years. Mean age was 29.5±5.4. There were significant differences between the two groups in terms of (oligo/amenorrhea), hirsutism, WHR and ovarian ultrasound features. There were no significant differences between two groups in correlations between the level of obesity with the incidence of anovulation, hyperandrogenism or with hormonal features. Conclusion: PCOS is one of the important factors causing Infertility. It is an ill-defined symptom complex needed due attention. There is a need to increase awareness regarding. The clinical features of PCOS are heterogenous thus can be investigated accordingly of selection of appropriate treatment modality. J Shaheed Suhrawardy Med Coll, June 2019, Vol.11(1); 17-23

The Swiss Prison Study (SWIPS): Protocol for Establishing a Public Health Registry of Prisoners in Switzerland (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Gaisl ◽  
Naser Musli ◽  
Patrick Baumgartner ◽  
Marc Meier ◽  
Silvana K Rampini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Medical History ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Disease Prevalence ◽  
Vulnerable Population ◽  
International Classification ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Health Registry

BACKGROUND The health aspects, disease frequencies, and specific health interests of prisoners and refugees are poorly understood. Importantly, access to the health care system is limited for this vulnerable population. There has been no systematic investigation to understand the health issues of inmates in Switzerland. Furthermore, little is known on how recent migration flows in Europe may have affected the health conditions of inmates. OBJECTIVE The Swiss Prison Study (SWIPS) is a large-scale observational study with the aim of establishing a public health registry in northern-central Switzerland. The primary objective is to establish a central database to assess disease prevalence (ie, International Classification of Diseases-10 codes [German modification]) among prisoners. The secondary objectives include the following: (1) to compare the 2015 versus 2020 disease prevalence among inmates against a representative sample from the local resident population, (2) to assess longitudinal changes in disease prevalence from 2015 to 2020 by using cross-sectional medical records from all inmates at the Police Prison Zurich, Switzerland, and (3) to identify unrecognized health problems to prepare successful public health strategies. METHODS Demographic and health-related data such as age, sex, country of origin, duration of imprisonment, medication (including the drug name, brand, dosage, and release), and medical history (including the International Classification of Diseases-10 codes [German modification] for all diagnoses and external results that are part of the medical history in the prison) have been deposited in a central register over a span of 5 years (January 2015 to August 2020). The final cohort is expected to comprise approximately 50,000 to 60,000 prisoners from the Police Prison Zurich, Switzerland. RESULTS This study was approved on August 5, 2019 by the ethical committee of the Canton of Zurich with the registration code KEK-ZH No. 2019-01055 and funded in August 2020 by the “Walter and Gertrud Siegenthaler” foundation and the “Theodor and Ida Herzog-Egli” foundation. This study is registered with the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number registry. Data collection started in August 2019 and results are expected to be published in 2021. Findings will be disseminated through scientific papers as well as presentations and public events. CONCLUSIONS This study will construct a valuable database of information regarding the health of inmates and refugees in Swiss prisons and will act as groundwork for future interventions in this vulnerable population. CLINICALTRIAL ISRCTN registry ISRCTN11714665; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11714665 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/23973

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