scholarly journals Geography of Microcephaly in the Zika Era: A Study of Newborn Distribution and Socio-environmental Indicators in Recife, Brazil, 2015-2016

2018 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariani Impieri Souza ◽  
Marília Teixeira de Siqueira ◽  
Ana Laura Carneiro Gomes Ferreira ◽  
Clarice Umbelino de Freitas ◽  
Anselmo César Vasconcelos Bezerra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Hospital ◽  
Incidence Rate Ratio ◽  
Mixed Race ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
The North ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Incidence Risk ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Larvae Density

Objectives: We assessed sociodemographic and health care factors of mothers and newborns during a 2015-2016 outbreak of microcephaly in Recife, Brazil, and we analyzed the spatial distribution and incidence risk of newborns with microcephaly in relation to socio-environmental indicators. Methods: We collected data from August 2015 through May 2016 from Brazil’s Live Birth Information System and Bulletin of Microcephaly Notification, and we geocoded the data by maternal residence. We constructed thematic maps of districts, according to socio-environmental and vector indicators. We identified spatial aggregates of newborns with microcephaly by using the Bernoulli model. We performed logistic regression analyses to compare the incidence risk of microcephaly within socio-environmental indicator groups. Results: We geocoded 17 990 of 19 554 (92.0%) live births in Recife, of which 202 (1.1%) newborns were classified as having microcephaly, based on a head circumference of ≥2 standard deviations below the mean. Larger proportions of newborns with microcephaly (compared with newborns without microcephaly) were born to mothers who delivered in a public hospital, did not attend college, were aged ≤19, or were black or mixed race. A higher risk of microcephaly (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 3.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.88-8.06) occurred in districts with the lowest (vs highest) Municipal Human Development Index (ie, an index that assesses longevity, education, and income). The risk of microcephaly was significantly higher where rates of larvae density (IRR = 2.31; 95% CI, 1.19-4.50) and larvae detection (IRR = 2.04; 95% CI, 1.05-4.00) were higher and rates of sewage system (IRR = 2.20; 95% CI, 1.16-4.18) and garbage collection (IRR = 1.96; 95% CI, 0.99-3.88) were lower. Newborns with microcephaly lived predominantly in the poorest areas and in a high-risk cluster (relative risk = 1.89, P = .01) in the north. Conclusions: The disproportionate incidence of microcephaly in newborns in poor areas of Recife reinforces the need for government and public health authorities to formulate policies that promote social equity and support for families and their children with microcephaly.

scholarly journals Recent national French food and nutrient intake data

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (S1) ◽  
pp. S57-S59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Luc Volatier ◽  
Philippe Verger
Keyword(s):  
Saturated Fat ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Fat Intake ◽  
Dietary Survey ◽  
The North ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Food And Nutrient Intake ◽  
Saturated Fat Intake

In France, the first national dietary survey, called ASPCC, was done in 1993–1994. According to this survey, the mean fat intake in France is rather high, both for men (37.7 %) and women (40 %). Saturated fat intake is above 15 % of energy. The intake of fruit and vegetables is particularly low for younger people and manual workers. Fruit intake is also lower for people from the north of the country. These data show the necessity of a targeted nutritional policy in France. Therefore, public health authorities are determining new dietary guidelines. The fact that people with unsatisfactory nutritional status are often not concerned with nutrition proves the importance of simple understandable food-based dietary guidelines.

Abstract TP251: Onset-to-Door Times and Means of Transportation for Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Attending a Public Hospital in Bogota DC, Colombia. Is an Ambulance the Fastest Way to Reach the Hospital?

Stroke ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Vicini-Parra ◽  
Jenny Ospina ◽  
Cristian Correa ◽  
Natalia Gomez ◽  
Stephania Bohorquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ischemic Stroke ◽  
Acute Ischemic Stroke ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Public Hospital ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
First Year ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Ischemic Attack

Introduction: A prospective stroke database was implemented as part of a still-growing comprehensive stroke centre (CSC). This CSC is located within a referral public hospital (Hospital Occidente de Kennedy) in Bogota DC, Colombia , that serves 2.3 million people of mainly low economic income. In this abstract, we present the data pertaining patients who were thrombolysed in our institution during the first year of data collection, and specify onset-to-door (OTD) times as they relate to the means of transportation used. Hypothesis: Acute stroke patients who arrive in ambulance have the shortest onset-to-door times. Methods: Printed forms were filled for every patient who arrived with diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Data was transcribed to an electronic database (Numbers, Apple Inc.) and analyzed with SPSS Statistics version 23 (IBM Corporation). A retrospective descriptive analysis was performed for central tendency and dispersion measures. Results: Since August 1st 2014 until July 31st 2015, 39 patients (17.7% of AIS patients) were thrombolysed. Mean onset-to-door times are shown in table 1. Prenotification was received for only 1 patient. All patients came from their homes. Conclusions: Almost half of our thrombolysed patients arrived in taxi to our institution. Taxi was the fastest means of transportation, ambulance was the slowest and private cars were in the middle of those. This confirmed our suspicion that the state-owned emergency medical services (SEMD) are suboptimal and that stroke patients prefer to use public transportation rather than SEMD. This should warn public health authorities on he urgent need to improve our SEMD. In the meantime, this finding prompts us to include taxi drivers in our periodic stroke campaigns.

scholarly journals Previous COVID-19 Infection and Antibody Levels After Vaccination

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamad Ali ◽  
Barrak Alahmad ◽  
Abdullah A. Al-Shammari ◽  
Abdulmohsen Alterki ◽  
Maha Hammad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Previous Infection ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Vaccine Shortages ◽  
Antibody Levels ◽  
Ig G

Background: The emergence of new COVID-19 variants of concern coupled with a global inequity in vaccine access and distribution has prompted many public health authorities to circumvent the vaccine shortages by altering vaccination protocols and prioritizing persons at high risk. Individuals with previous COVID-19 infection may not have been prioritized due to existing humoral immunity.Objective: We aimed to study the association between previous COVID-19 infection and antibody levels after COVID-19 vaccination.Methods: A serological analysis to measure SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgA, and neutralizing antibodies was performed on individuals who received one or two doses of either BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 vaccines in Kuwait. A Student t-test was performed and followed by generalized linear regression models adjusted for individual characteristics and comorbidities were fitted to compare the average levels of IgG and neutralizing antibodies between vaccinated individuals with and without previous COVID-19 infection.Results: A total of 1,025 individuals were recruited. The mean levels of IgG, IgA, and neutralizing antibodies were higher in vaccinated subjects with previous COVID-19 infections than in those without previous infection. Regression analysis showed a steeper slope of decline for IgG and neutralizing antibodies in vaccinated individuals without previous COVID-19 infection compared to those with previous COVID-19 infection.Conclusion: Previous COVID-19 infection appeared to elicit robust and sustained levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in vaccinated individuals. Given the inconsistent supply of COVID-19 vaccines in many countries due to inequities in global distribution, our results suggest that even greater efforts should be made to vaccinate more people, especially individuals without previous COVID-19 infection.

scholarly journals Epidemiology of meningococcal disease in the Panamanian pediatric population, 1998-2008

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (05) ◽  
pp. 318-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Nieto-Guevara ◽  
Kathia Luciani ◽  
Abian Montesdeoca-Melían ◽  
Mercedes Mateos-Durán
Keyword(s):  
Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Pediatric Population ◽  
Circulation Pattern ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Invasive Disease ◽  
Epidemiological Surveillance ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Mean ◽  
One Year

Introduction: Worldwide public health authorities report 500,000 cases of invasive meningococcal disease with 50,000 deaths per year and 10-15% of sequelae in people affected. This study describes the epidemiology, microbiology, and clinical presentation of this disease in the Panamanian pediatric population. Methodology:  The discharge of patients with a meningococcal invasive disease diagnosis was reviewed in the statistical database and archives of the Hospital del Niño. Results: A total of 32 discharges with a meningococcal disease diagnosis were reported during the study period (1998-2008).  Ninety-one percent (n/N = 29/32) were confirmed as meningitis. The mean age of patients was 4.1 ± 4.6 years. The incidence in the period of the study was 0.25/100,000. Infants younger than one year old presented the highest incidence rate and number of cases. Four deaths were reported, three of which occurred in the group of 10-14 years and one in the group of 1-4 years. The overall fatality rate was 12.5%. The serogroup of the causative agent, Neisseria meningitidis, was documented in 30 of the 32 cases, with serogroup B the most frequent (66.7%). Ninety-percent (18/20) of serogroup B were isolated in the first five years of study. Serogroup C was identified in 8 of the 12 cases during the period 2004-2008. Conclusions: The present study showed a change in the epidemiological circulation pattern from serogroup B to serogroup C during the study period. Such epidemiological surveillance data is important in the implementation of preventive measures such as vaccination.

scholarly journals Spreadable Virus of the 21stCentuary: COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1&2) ◽  
pp. 13-18
Author(s):  
Priya Chaudhary ◽  
Pracheta Janmeda
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Process ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Ground Glass Opacity ◽  
Nasal Discharge ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

The latest outbreak of a respiratory disease, known as coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), is the third virus spillover from animals to humans in the last two decades. The disease is caused by coronavirus and has converted into an epidemic in recent days. It spread via direct contact or droplets of nasal-discharge from one human-to-another within the mean-incubation period of 6.5 days. Dyspnea, cough and fever are the most common symptoms in the patients of COVID-19, though along with diarrhea in 3% cases. Bilateral pulmonary with ground-glass opacity and consolidation has been observed in 98% cases of the disease by the help of computed tomography.  The treatment process of COVID-19 with chloroquine and remdesivir drug is under the clinical trial worldwide and responding well to cure the disease. Under the prevalent circumstances, the main goal is to control the widespread infection of SARS-CoV-2 across the world and to aware the public regarding the possible preventive measures and treatments. However, the public health authorities should keep a close eye on the circumstances strictly, as the more we know about this novel coronavirus and its outbreak, the better we can respond or control the conditions worldwide.

scholarly journals Previous COVID-19 infection and antibody levels after vaccination

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamad Ali ◽  
Barrak Alahmad ◽  
Abdullah A. Al-Shammari ◽  
Abdelmohsen Al-Terki ◽  
Maha Hammad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Serological Analysis ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Vaccine Shortages ◽  
Antibody Levels

AbstractBackgroundThe emergence of new COVID-19 variants of concern coupled with a global inequity in vaccine access and distribution, prompted many public health authorities to circumvent the vaccine shortages by altering vaccination protocols and prioritizing high-risk individuals. Those with previous COVID-19 infection may have not been prioritized due to existing humoral immunity.ObjectiveWe aim to study the association between previous COVID-19 infection and antibody levels after COVID-19 vaccination.MethodsA serological analysis to measure SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgA and neutralizing antibodies was performed on individuals who received one or two doses of either BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 vaccines in Kuwait. Generalized linear regression models adjusted for individual characteristics and comorbidities were fitted to study the average levels of IgG and neutralizing antibodies in vaccinated individuals based who had previous COVID-19 infection compared to those who had not.ResultsA total of 1025 individuals were recruited. The mean levels of IgG, IgA and neutralizing antibodies were higher in vaccinated subjects with previous COVID-19 infection when compared with those vaccinated without previous COVID-19 infection. Regression analysis showed a steeper slope of decline for IgG in vaccinated individuals without previous COVID-19 infection in comparison with vaccinated individuals with previous COVID-19 infection.ConclusionPrevious COVID-19 infection appears to elicit robust and sustained levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in vaccinated individuals. Given the inconsistent supply of COVID-19 vaccines in many countries due to the global inequity, our results point towards wider vaccination plans to especially cover individuals without previous COVID-19 infection.

scholarly journals Reduction in time delay of isolation in COVID-19 cases in South Korea

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukhyun Ryu ◽  
Cheolsun Jang ◽  
Baekjin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Time Delay ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Symptom Onset ◽  
The Public ◽  
Mean Delay ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Novel Coronavirus

AbstractKorean public health authorities raised the public alert to its highest level on February 23, 2020 to mitigate the 2019 novel coronavirus disease epidemic. We have identified that the mean delay from symptom onset to isolation was reduced to one day after raising the alert. Vigilance can reduce this interval.

scholarly journals Modelling the impact of travel restrictions on COVID-19 cases in Newfoundland and Labrador

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Hurford ◽  
Proton Rahman ◽  
J. Concepción Loredo-Osti
Keyword(s):  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Contact Rates ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Stochastic Epidemic ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Substantial Risk ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Plausible Reason

AbstractIn many jurisdictions, public health authorities have implemented travel restrictions to reduce coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread. Policies that restrict travel within countries have been implemented, but the impact of these restrictions is not well known. On May 4th, 2020, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) implemented travel restrictions such that non-residents were required to have exemptions to enter the province. We fit a stochastic epidemic model to data describing the number of active COVID-19 cases in NL from March 14th – May 4th. We then predicted possible outbreaks over 9 weeks, with and without the travel restrictions, and for contact rates 40% to 70% of pre-pandemic levels. Our results suggest that the travel restrictions reduced the mean number of clinical COVID-19 cases in NL by 92%. Furthermore, without the travel restrictions there is a substantial risk of very large outbreaks. Using epidemic modelling, we show how the NL COVID-19 outbreak could have unfolded had the travel restrictions not been implemented. Both physical distancing and travel restrictions affect the local dynamics of the epidemic. Our modelling shows that the travel restrictions are a plausible reason for the few reported COVID-19 cases in NL after May 4th.

scholarly journals Modelling the impact of travel restrictions on COVID-19 cases in Newfoundland and Labrador

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 202266
Author(s):  
Amy Hurford ◽  
Proton Rahman ◽  
J. Concepción Loredo-Osti
Keyword(s):  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Contact Rates ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Stochastic Epidemic ◽  
Travel Restrictions ◽  
Public Health Authorities ◽  
Substantial Risk ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Plausible Reason

In many jurisdictions, public health authorities have implemented travel restrictions to reduce coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spread. Policies that restrict travel within countries have been implemented, but the impact of these restrictions is not well known. On 4 May 2020, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) implemented travel restrictions such that non-residents required exemptions to enter the province. We fit a stochastic epidemic model to data describing the number of active COVID-19 cases in NL from 14 March to 26 June. We predicted possible outbreaks over nine weeks, with and without the travel restrictions, and for contact rates 40–70% of pre-pandemic levels. Our results suggest that the travel restrictions reduced the mean number of clinical COVID-19 cases in NL by 92%. Furthermore, without the travel restrictions there is a substantial risk of very large outbreaks. Using epidemic modelling, we show how the NL COVID-19 outbreak could have unfolded had the travel restrictions not been implemented. Both physical distancing and travel restrictions affect the local dynamics of the epidemic. Our modelling shows that the travel restrictions are a plausible reason for the few reported COVID-19 cases in NL after 4 May.

Evaluation of Low-Dose Gentamicin Once Daily Dosing Regimen at A General Hospital in Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ab Rahman A F ◽  
Md Sahak N. ◽  
Ali A. M.
Keyword(s):  
Medical Records ◽  
Public Hospital ◽  
Low Dose ◽  
Dosing Regimen ◽  
Once Daily ◽  
Neutropenic Sepsis ◽  
Wide Acceptance ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Initiation Of Therapy ◽  
Almost All

Objective: Once daily dosing (ODD) aminoglycoside is gaining wide acceptance as an alternative way of dosing. In our setting it is the regimen of choice whenever gentamicin is indicated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the practice of gentamicin ODD in a public hospital in Malaysia. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of medical records of patients on gentamicin ODD who were admitted to Hospital Melaka during January 2002 until March 2010. All adult patients who were on ODD gentamicin with various level of renal function were included in the study. Patients on gentamicin less than 72 hours and pregnant women were excluded. Results: From 110 patients, 75 (68.2%) were male and 35 (31.8%) were female. Indications for ODD gentamicin included pneumonia, 34 (31.0%) neutropenic sepsis, 27 (24.5%) and sepsis, 11 (10.0%). The mean dose and duration of gentamicin was 3.2 mg/kg/day and 7 days, respectively. Almost all patients were on gentamicin combined with other antibiotics. Clinical cure based on fever resolution was found in 89.1% of patients treated with ODD. Resolution of fever took an average of 48 hours after initiation of therapy. The evaluation for bacteriologic cure could not be performed because of insufficient data on culture and sensitivity. Out of 38 patients with analyzable serum creatinine data, four patients might have developed nephrotoxicity. Conclusion: In our setting, lower dosages of ODD gentamicin when used in combination with other antibiotics seemed to be effective and safe in treating most gram negative infections.

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