Difficulties in Making the Ethically Correct Choice in the Management of a Case of Proven Dangerousness of a Shelter Dog

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-84
Author(s):  
R. Benedetti ◽  
A. Malfatti ◽  
A. Marchegiani
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Clinical Case ◽  
Correct Choice ◽  
Rehabilitation Program ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Considerable Importance ◽  
Shelter Dogs ◽  
Shelter Dog

Abstract The management of shelter dogs whose dangerousness to people has been verified is an aspect of considerable importance as it assesses animal welfare, public health, and the management of human and economic resources. In this paper, we briefly discuss the case of a large sized male dog that had bitten people several times and was declared to be at high risk of causing danger. Despite a behavioral rehabilitation program, the initial evidence of dangerousness remained unchanged, thus, there was no possibility of putting the dog up for adoption. This clinical case is an example of how conflicting it is for a behaviorist to choose ethically when considering euthanasia and animal welfare.

scholarly journals Characteristics and Adoption Success of Shelter Dogs Assessed as Resource Guarders

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 982 ◽  
Author(s):  
McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Domestic Dogs ◽  
Comprehensive Description ◽  
Animal Shelters ◽  
Dog Bites ◽  
Shelter Dogs ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Shelter Dog

Some domestic dogs aggressively guard resources. Canine resource guarding impacts public health through dog bites and affects dog welfare through adoption and euthanasia policies at animal shelters. However, little is known about the demographic characteristics and adoption success of dogs assessed as resource guarders during shelter behavioral evaluations. I reviewed nearly five years of records from a New York (NY) SPCA and categorized 1016 dogs by sex; age; size; reproductive status; and resource guarding. I then examined how these characteristics influenced the returns of dogs by adopters. The prevalence of resource guarding in this shelter dog population was 15%. Resource guarding was more common in adult and senior dogs than in juvenile dogs; and it was more common in small and large dogs than medium-sized dogs. Spayed females were more likely than intact females to guard food; neutered males and intact males did not differ in their likelihood of food guarding. Most dogs identified as resource guarders showed mild to moderate guarding. Severe guarders were more likely to be returned by adopters; although almost all were eventually re-adopted and not returned to the shelter. Data presented here provide the most comprehensive description of resource guarders in a shelter dog population and show the successful re-homing of most.

Screening at ports of entry for Ebola Virus Disease in England—a descriptive analysis of screening assessment data, 2014–2015

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicki L Boddington ◽  
Sophia Steinberger ◽  
Richard G Pebody
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Secondary Care ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Virus Disease ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Ebola Virus Disease ◽  
Screening Assessment

Abstract Background In response to the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa in 2014 and evidence of spread to other countries, pre-entry screening was introduced by PHE at five major ports of entry in the England. Methods All passengers that entered the England via the five ports returning from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leonne were required to complete a Health Assessment Form and have their temperature taken. The numbers, characteristics and outcomes of these passengers were analysed. Results Between 14 October 2014 and 13 October 2015, a total of 12 648 passengers from affected countries had been screened. The majority of passengers were assessed as having no direct contact with EVD cases or high-risk events (12 069, 95.4%), although 535 (4.2%) passengers were assessed as requiring public health follow-up. In total, 39 passengers were referred directly to secondary care, although none were diagnosed with EVD. One high-risk passenger was later referred to secondary care and diagnosed with EVD. Conclusions Collection of these screening data enabled timely monitoring of the numbers and characteristics of passengers screened for EVD, facilitated resourcing decisions and acted as a mechanism to inform passengers of the necessary public health actions.

scholarly journals Mask-Ematics: Modeling the Effects of Masks in COVID-19 Transmission in High-Risk Environments

Epidemiologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-226
Author(s):  
Anthony Morciglio ◽  
Bin Zhang ◽  
Gerardo Chowell ◽  
James M. Hyman ◽  
Yi Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Transmission Model ◽  
Reproductive Number ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Moderate Quality ◽  
Epidemic Size

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an unprecedented burden on public health and strained the worldwide economy. The rapid spread of COVID-19 has been predominantly driven by aerosol transmission, and scientific research supports the use of face masks to reduce transmission. However, a systematic and quantitative understanding of how face masks reduce disease transmission is still lacking. We used epidemic data from the Diamond Princess cruise ship to calibrate a transmission model in a high-risk setting and derive the reproductive number for the model. We explain how the terms in the reproductive number reflect the contributions of the different infectious states to the spread of the infection. We used that model to compare the infection spread within a homogeneously mixed population for different types of masks, the timing of mask policy, and compliance of wearing masks. Our results suggest substantial reductions in epidemic size and mortality rate provided by at least 75% of people wearing masks (robust for different mask types). We also evaluated the timing of the mask implementation. We illustrate how ample compliance with moderate-quality masks at the start of an epidemic attained similar mortality reductions to less compliance and the use of high-quality masks after the epidemic took off. We observed that a critical mass of 84% of the population wearing masks can completely stop the spread of the disease. These results highlight the significance of a large fraction of the population needing to wear face masks to effectively reduce the spread of the epidemic. The simulations show that early implementation of mask policy using moderate-quality masks is more effective than a later implementation with high-quality masks. These findings may inform public health mask-use policies for an infectious respiratory disease outbreak (such as one of COVID-19) in high-risk settings.

scholarly journals Nurse-led PrEP-RN clinic: a prospective cohort study exploring task-Shifting HIV prevention to public health nurses

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e040817
Author(s):  
Patrick O'Byrne ◽  
Amanda Vandyk ◽  
Lauren Orser ◽  
Marlene Haines
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Prospective Cohort Study ◽  
Prospective Cohort ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Bivariate Analysis ◽  
Transmitted Infection ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Risk Criteria

ObjectiveTo report the results of a nurse-led pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery service.DesignThis was a prospective cohort study conducted from 5 August 2018 to 4 March 2020. It involved manual chart review to collect data. Variables were described using frequencies and percentages and analysed using χ2 testing. Those significant in bivariate analysis were retained and entered into a binary multiple logistic regression. Hierarchical modelling was used, and only significant factors were retained.SettingThis study occurred in an urban public health unit and community-based sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinic in Ottawa, Canada.ParticipantsOf all persons who were diagnosed with a bacterial STI in Ottawa and everyone who presented to our STI clinic during the study period, there were 347 patients who met our high-risk criteria for PrEP; these criteria included patients who newly presented with any of the following: HIV contacts, diagnosed with a bacterial STI or single use of HIV PEP. Further, eligibility could be determined based on clinical judgement. Patients who met the foregoing criteria were appropriate for PrEP-RN, while lower-risk patients were referred to elsewhere. Of the 347 patients who met our high-risk criteria, 47% accepted and 53% declined. Of those who accepted, 80% selected PrEP-registered nurse (RN).Primary and secondary outcome measuresUptake, acceptance, engagement and attrition factors of participants who obtained PrEP through PrEP-RN.Findings69% of participants who were eligible attended their intake PrEP-RN visit. 66% were retained in care. Half of participants continued PrEP and half were lost to follow-up. We found no significant differences in the uptake, acceptance, engagement and attrition factors of participants who accessed PrEP-RN regarding reason for referral, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, annual income, education attainted, insurance status, if they have a primary care provider, presence or absence of depression or anxiety and evidence of newly acquired STI during the study period.ConclusionsNurse-led PrEP is an appropriate strategy for PrEP delivery.

Psychological treatment of trihotillomania: A case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S417-S417
Author(s):  
T. Sarmiento Luque ◽  
J.M. Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Case ◽  
Psychological Treatment ◽  
Cognitive Behavioral ◽  
Clinical Aspects ◽  
Hair Pulling ◽  
Behavioral Techniques ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Treatment Procedures

This paper presents a clinical case of trichotillomania. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present in detail the procedure followed in a case of trichotillomania in a public health context, using cognitive-behavioral techniques, in order to deepen the knowledge of the efficacy of these treatment procedures and demonstrate the feasibility of implementation.The results obtained show significant improvements in different clinical aspects: first, the hair pulling behavior disappeared completely; moreover, anxiety diminished significantly and mood normalized. All these results allow us to conclude that the intervention was successful.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Effects of Human Presence and Voice on the Behaviour of Shelter Dogs and Cats: A Preliminary Study

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 406
Author(s):  
Adele Tuozzi ◽  
Christine Arhant ◽  
Kristina Anderle ◽  
Jessica Backes ◽  
Catherine Cords ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Auditory Stimulation ◽  
Vertical Dimension ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Gaze Direction ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
Reading Condition ◽  
Shelter Dogs ◽  
Preliminary Study

Reading books to shelter animals combining auditory enrichment with human presence is increasingly used although its effects on animal welfare have not yet been investigated. This study compared the behaviour of single-housed shelter dogs and cats during a prerecorded reading condition in the absence or presence of an unfamiliar human (without direct physical contact). Fourteen dogs and twenty-one cats were observed in their enclosure in the two conditions in a counterbalanced order. Behaviours such as scratching the door, gaze direction and location in relation to the audio source/human were analysed from video recording for 10 min per condition. Dogs spent more time in their bed (p < 0.047) and looking at the auditory source (p < 0.004) when a human was present. Cats showed door scratching and rubbing when a human was present (p < 0.043), whereas they tended to spend more time in the vertical dimension (p = 0.051), where the hiding boxes were located, during auditory stimulation without a human present. These results show that the presence of a human induces greater interest compared to just audio stimulation in shelter dogs and cats but may induce frustration likely due to not being able to physically interact in some animals.

HYPERTENSION – A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adia Pilav ◽  
Emira Tanović-Mikulec ◽  
Suada Branković ◽  
Vedran Đido
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Population Approach ◽  
Hypertension Control ◽  
Adequate Model ◽  
High Prevalence

Aim. The aim of this paper is to present public health importance of hypertension in population as one of the major CVD risk factor as well as a model of integrated approach to hypertension control at community level. Background. In spite of wide knowledge of pathophysiology and epidemiology in development of hypertension, ability to easily diagnose it, availability of efficient medications, hypertension continues to have high prevalence and setting up hypertension controls poses significant public health challenge. High prevalence of hypertension exists in all countries of the world, regardless of socioeconomic status of the country. It is estimated that the number of people with hypertension by 2025 will rise by 15-20%, and the number of sick people will increase up to 1.5 billion people worldwide. Methods. A review of the relevant literature which discusses the importance of defining clear strategies and interventions in the control of hypertension in countries, with particular emphasis on integrated hypertension management that has the greatest impact. Discussion. Effective and efficient hypertension control requires two approaches: population approach and individual approach to high-risk individuals. The balanced combination of population approach and an approach to access high-risk individuals is vital for the effective control of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Conclusions. Health systems in every country must be flexible and ready to provide adequate model of integrated approach to hypertension control at community level understanding their own local needs.

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