scholarly journals Protection of healthcare workers against transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in hospitals: a review of the evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 00317-2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Diel ◽  
Albert Nienhaus ◽  
Peter Witte ◽  
Renate Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Multidrug Resistant ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
World Health ◽  
Hospital Infection Control ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

BackgroundEmployees in contact with infectious tuberculosis (TB) patients in healthcare facilities of low-incidence countries are still at considerable risk of acquiring TB infections. However, formal precautions recommended on the protection of healthcare workers may not only vary from country to country but also within a single country. The objective of this study was to compare current guidelines with respect to hospital infection control of TB, focusing on common shared priorities and discrepancies between sets of recommendations.MethodsFive types of procedures captured in guidelines of the World Health Organization, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Germany are compared and the underlying evidence is discussed.ResultsUncontroversially, personal protection by respirators in the TB ward and during aerosol-generating procedures is key to reducing Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure. However, there is no consensus on the types of masks that should be worn in different situations. Closely connected to this, there is considerable uncertainty with respect to the optimal date of removing sputum smear-negative and multidrug-resistant TB patients from isolation. Indeed, the use of notable new tools for this purpose, such as the highly sensitive PCR tests recommended by the World Health Organization for detecting TB/multidrug-resistant TB, have yet to be sufficiently incorporated into TB guidelines. Perceptions differ, too, as to whether long-term control measures for M. tuberculosis infections in healthcare workers by serial testing for latent TB infection should be established and, if so, how testing results should be interpreted.ConclusionsAlthough the current recommendations on protection of healthcare workers are otherwise homogeneous, there are considerable discrepancies that have important implications for daily practice.

The Ethics of COVID-19 Vaccine Passports

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Joseph Meaney ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
World Health ◽  
Medical Decisions ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Divided Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

COVID-19 vaccine passports run the risk of creating a divided society where social privileges or restrictions based on “fitness” lead to discrimination based on immunization status. Individuals have a strong right to be free of coercion to take a COVID-19 vaccine, and we should be very leery of further invasion of private medical decisions. These concerns are shared both internationally and in the United States, and the World Health Organization, the Biden administration, and many US governors oppose COVID-19 vaccine credentials. In addition, regulations for COVID-19 vaccine credentials face practical barriers, including lack of access globally, especially among the poor; and lack of scientific data on the efficacy of these vaccines.

(Mis)Information on Digital Platforms: Lessons from Twitter and Sina Weibo in the COVID-19 Pandemic (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Kreps
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sina Weibo ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Relative Prevalence

BACKGROUND Misinformation about COVID-19 has presented challenges to public health authorities during pandemics. Understanding the prevalence and type of misinformation across contexts offers a way to understand the discourse around COVID-19 while informing potential countermeasures. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to study COVID-19 content on two prominent microblogging platform, Twitter, based in the United States, and Sina Weibo, based in China, and compare the content and relative prevalence of misinformation to better understand public discourse of public health issues across social media and cultural contexts. METHODS A total of 3,579,575 posts were scraped from both Weibo and Twitter, focusing on content from January 30th, 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” and February 6th, 2020. A 1% random sample of tweets that contained both the English keywords “coronavirus” and “covid-19” and the equivalent Chinese characters was extracted and analyzed based on changes in the frequencies of keywords and hashtags. Misinformation on each platform was compared by manually coding and comparing posts using the World Health Organization fact-check page to adjudicate accuracy of content. RESULTS Both platforms posted about the outbreak and transmission but posts on Sina Weibo were less likely to reference controversial topics such as the World Health Organization and death and more likely to cite themes of resisting, fighting, and cheering against the coronavirus. Misinformation constituted 1.1% of Twitter content and 0.3% of Weibo content. CONCLUSIONS Quantitative and qualitative analysis of content on both platforms points to cross-platform differences in public discourse surrounding the pandemic and informs potential countermeasures for online misinformation.

scholarly journals Quality Evaluation of Ethambutol Hydrochloride Tablet Batches Available in Governmental Health Facilities of Jimma Town, Southwest Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Meseret Yirdaw ◽  
Belachew Umeta ◽  
Yimer Mokennen
Keyword(s):  
World Health Organization ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Facilities ◽  
World Health ◽  
Southwest Ethiopia ◽  
Weight Variation ◽  
The World ◽  
Storage Area ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Jimma Town

Background. The availability of poor-quality drugs on the drug market might favor the ineffectiveness of the drug and/antimicrobial resistance. Aim. To evaluate the quality of similar batches of ethambutol hydrochloride tablets available in different governmental health facilities of Jimma town, southwest Ethiopia. Methods. The World Health Organization checklist was used to inspect the storage area of health facilities and check medicines for the sign of counterfeit. The test was conducted as per the United States Pharmacopeia on six similar batches of ethambutol hydrochloride sampled from different governmental health facilities. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20, and one-way ANOVA was used for comparing the dissolution profile and weight variation of batches. Results. Three health facilities did not comply with the storage area specifications for pharmaceuticals. No batches have shown any sign of counterfeit. All of the tablet batches tested complied with USP specifications for weight variation, percentage purity, and dissolution test. Conclusions and Recommendation. The entire tablet batches complied with the World Health Organization specification for packaging and labelling of pharmaceuticals. All tablet batches complied with the test for weight variation, purity of drug substance, and dissolution. Since some health facilities did not comply with at least one specification for storage of pharmaceuticals, regulatory agencies and stack holders are advised to inspect the health facilities to ensure appropriate storage of pharmaceuticals in health facilities.

scholarly journals The World Health Organization excludes Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the 2017 priority pathogens list

2017 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nesri Padayatchi ◽  
Sharana Mahomed ◽  
Max O’Donnell ◽  
Francesca Conradie ◽  
Kogieleum Naidoo
Keyword(s):  
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

scholarly journals Protecting healthcare workers from SARS-CoV-2 infection: practical indications

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (155) ◽  
pp. 200068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Ferioli ◽  
Cecilia Cisternino ◽  
Valentina Leo ◽  
Lara Pisani ◽  
Paolo Palange ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
Noninvasive Ventilation ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
World Health ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Respiratory Devices

The World Health Organization has recently defined the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection a pandemic. The infection, that may cause a potentially very severe respiratory disease, now called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has airborne transmission via droplets. The rate of transmission is quite high, higher than common influenza. Healthcare workers are at high risk of contracting the infection particularly when applying respiratory devices such as oxygen cannulas or noninvasive ventilation. The aim of this article is to provide evidence-based recommendations for the correct use of “respiratory devices” in the COVID-19 emergency and protect healthcare workers from contracting the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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