Spatial and temporal distribution of infectious disease epidemics, disasters and other potential public health emergencies in the World Health Organisation Africa region, 2016–2018

ABSTRACTCOVID-19 epidemic is declared as the public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation in the second week of March 2020. This disease originated from China in December 2019 has already caused havoc around the world, including India. The first case in India was reported on 30th January 2020, with the cases crossing 6000 on the day paper was written. Complete lockdown of the nation for 21 days and immediate isolation of infected cases are the proactive steps taken by the authorities. For a better understanding of the evolution of COVID-19 in the country, Susceptible-Infectious-Quarantined-Recovered (SIQR) model is used in this paper. It is predicted that actual infectious population is ten times the reported positive case (quarantined) in the country. Also, a single case can infect 1.55 more individuals of the population. Epidemic doubling time is estimated to be around 4.1 days. All indicators are compared with Brazil and Italy as well. SIQR model has also predicted that India will see the peak with 22,000 active cases during the last week of April followed by reduction in active cases. It may take complete July for India to get over with COVID-19.

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COVID-19: Avoiding a second tragedy in a tuberculosis burdened country

Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease ◽

10.4081/monaldi.2020.1338 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 90 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Siddharth Raj Yadav ◽

Rohit Kumar ◽

Nitesh Gupta ◽

Pranav Ish ◽

Shibdas Chakrabarti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

The Elderly ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

Public Health Emergency ◽

World Health ◽

Special Population ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

The World

To the EditorNovel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first notified in December 2019 from Wuhan, China. Now, it has spread rapidly and has been declared a pandemic affecting over 200 countries with widespread morbidity and mortality. It has been postulated that the most vulnerable population are the elderly, people living in crowded areas, children and immune-compromised individuals, such as people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The correlation of tuberculosis (TB), HIV and malnutrition are well documented and hence, people with tuberculosis should be considered as special population in this pandemic. TB is an ancient disease among humans recorded as far back as seventy thousand years which was declared a global public health emergency in 1993 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). India has the highest TB burden in the world.

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Max Wilson and the Principles and Practice of Screening for Disease

International Journal of Neonatal Screening ◽

10.3390/ijns6010015 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 15

Author(s):

Kate Hall

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

International Society ◽

Neonatal Screening ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

Population Screening ◽

World Health ◽

The World ◽

The Hague ◽

Opening Session

The name Wilson will be forever associated with co-author Jungner and ten principles of population screening published in 1968 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Public Health Papers No 34. These principles have since been used, modified or extended throughout much of Europe and beyond. Very little was known about Dr. J.M.G. Wilson and his life and how he came to write this monograph until the Silver Jubilee meeting of the International Society for Neonatal Screening held in The Hague in 2016. The opening session was chosen to be ‘The Wilson and Jungner criteria for screening for disease’.

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Vietnamese Public Health Practices in the Advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for Developing Countries

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1010539520927266 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 163-164

Author(s):

Jeconiah Louis Dreisbach

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Infectious Disease ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Short Communication ◽

Health Policies ◽

World Health ◽

Public Health Policies ◽

Health Measures ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents a great challenge to developing countries with limited access to public health measures in grassroots communities. The World Health Organization lauded the Vietnamese government for its proactive and steady investment in health facilities that mitigate the risk of the infectious disease in Vietnam. This short communication presents cases that could benchmark public health policies in developing countries.

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SARS: current overview, aetiology and epidemiology

Bosnian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences ◽

10.17305/bjbms.2003.3555 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 46-55

Author(s):

Semra Čavaljuga ◽

Michael Faulde ◽

Jerrold J. Scharninghausen

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

The United States ◽

Air Travel ◽

World Health ◽

New Disease ◽

The Past ◽

Health Authorities ◽

The World ◽

Public Health Authorities

At this moment, public health authorities, physicians and scientists around the world are struggling to cope with a severe and rapidly spreading new disease in humans called severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) this appears to be the first severe and easily transmissible new disease to emerge in the 21st century. Though much about the disease remains poorly understood, including the details of the causative virus, we do know that it has features that allow it to spread rapidly along international air travel routes. As of 10 May 2003, a cumulative 7296 probable SARS cases with 526 deaths have been reported from 30 countries on three continents (WHO, ProMED). In the past week, more than 1000 new probable cases and 96 deaths were reported globally. This represents an increase of 119 new cases and 8 new deaths compared with 9 May 2003 (China (85), Taiwan (23), and Hong Kong (7) represented the overwhelming majority, with one additional case each reported from France, Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States). Only in China, as of 10 May 2003 (WHO) total of 4884 with 235 deaths have been reported. Some outbreaks have reassuring features.

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The use of Hydroxychloroquine in the Treatment of COVID-19

Flora the Journal of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology ◽

10.5578/flora.69845 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 283-291

Author(s):

Kamer Tecen-Yücel ◽

Emre Kara ◽

Kutay Demirkan ◽

Serhat Ünal

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

World Health ◽

Pharmacological Properties ◽

Potential Treatment ◽

The World ◽

The Many ◽

Potential Use ◽

Human Infectious Disease

COVID-19 is a newly emerging human infectious disease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) origin described as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, 2020. There is currently no definitive cure for COVID-19; however, among the many treatment strategies, hydroxychloroquine has been suggested as a potential treatment. The purpose of this article was to review the pharmacological properties and mechanism of COVID-19 treatment with hydroxychloroquine and its potential use on the current COVID-19 pandemic.

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Workshop: Sharing best practices and building effective training at European points of entry

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz185.132 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Infectious Disease ◽

Best Practices ◽

Disease Control ◽

Training Program ◽

World Health ◽

Infectious Disease Control ◽

Health Events ◽

Effective Training ◽

The World

Abstract Infectious diseases can spread all over the world due to the transportation of people and goods through ships, aircrafts and vehicles. During the transportation on board of conveyances (ships, aircrafts, trains, buses), diseases can spread from person-to-person, by infected food or water or through vectors. The same can happen when travelers pass through points of entry (PoE) such as: ports, airports and ground-crossings. To properly prevent and respond to public health events at PoE, designated ports, airports and ground-crossings core capacities for PoE are dictated in the IHR (2005), which should be in place at all designated PoE. According to the World Health Organization Global Health Observatory data, the IHR core capacities implementation at designated PoE at the European WHO region is 64%. In order to support countries with this implementation, exchange among countries of effective, legalized practices in accordance with IHR (2005), the so-called best practices, can be of important help. Besides the goal to improve mere capacity, professionals in charge of communicable diseases at PoE should be prepared to respond to public health events and prevent cross-border spread. Education, training and exercises are common ways to achieve this, but demand extensive expertise, time and financial means. As part of a EU Joint Action, a collective training program for designated PoE is being developed, to share efforts and resources, and to help countries better respond to public health events. However, regarding this training, many questions are still unanswered. What is effective training for public health events at designated PoE, and what components and methodology should it contain. What are the specific training needs of these people? What competencies should they have? What can we learn from previous trainings and what are best practices for designated PoE? The aim of this workshop is to provide a step-by-step overview of all elements that are essential to improve capacity and develop and organize effective training program for event management at designated points of entry in Europe. This study was funded by the European Union’s Health Programme (2014-2020). Key messages Extensive and long-term evaluation of training and exercising regarding infectious disease control at points of entry is needed, in order to design effective trainings and facilitate core capacities. Collection and dissemination of best practices in infectious disease control at points of entry, facilitate the challenging task of IHR core capacity implementation.

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Smallpox in the Post-Eradication Era

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v12020138 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 138 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hermann Meyer ◽

Rosina Ehmann ◽

Geoffrey L. Smith

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Human Population ◽

Health Benefit ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

World Health ◽

Viral Spread ◽

The World ◽

The Usa ◽

The Impact

Widespread vaccination programmes led to the global eradication of smallpox, which was certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and, since 1978, there has been no case of smallpox anywhere in the world. However, the viable variola virus (VARV), the causative agent of smallpox, is still kept in two maximum security laboratories in Russia and the USA. Despite the eradication of the disease smallpox, clandestine stocks of VARV may exist. In a rapidly changing world, the impact of an intentional VARV release in the human population would nowadays result in a public health emergency of global concern: vaccination programmes were abolished, the percentage of immunosuppressed individuals in the human population is higher, and an increased intercontinental air travel allows for the rapid viral spread of diseases around the world. The WHO has authorised the temporary retention of VARV to enable essential research for public health benefit to take place. This work aims to develop diagnostic tests, antiviral drugs, and safer vaccines. Advances in synthetic biology have made it possible to produce infectious poxvirus particles from chemicals in vitro so that it is now possible to reconstruct VARV. The status of smallpox in the post-eradication era is reviewed.

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The Content and Efficacy of Environmental Public Health Journal Homepages

Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/101053950001200107 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 32-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Elaine S. Lindars ◽

Jeff T. Spickett

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

World Health ◽

Environmental Health Sciences ◽

Environmental Public Health ◽

The Us ◽

The World ◽

Public Money ◽

Health Journal ◽

High Degree

The information on several environmental public health journal homepages has been assessed for its quality and quantity, using selected key criteria. These criteria included the extent of text available, the ability to search the website, the table of contents free via email, and the presence of hyper-links. A high degree of variability is seen, with services and facilities offered ranging from none to the entire journal available for no fee. The journal homepages that are the most comprehensive are those that are associated with major institutions and hence financed by contributions from their members or public money, i.e. the British Medical Association, the World Health Organisation and the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The journal homepages associated with these institutions offered full text of both current and archived issues as well as additions such as the ability to search other sites, web links, and in some cases hyper-linked references and information on related articles. The provision of text on the Internet should be an essential aim for all journal Homepages, to ensure fast and effective conveyance of information to health professionals. Asia Pac J Public Health 2000;12(1): 32-36

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Characterization of National Immunization Programs in the Context of Public Health Emergencies: A Case Study of 13 Countries in the WHO Africa Region

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.736532 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Viola Chepkurui ◽

Edina Amponsah-Dacosta ◽

Eposi Christiana Haddison ◽

Benjamin Mugo Kagina

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Immunization Coverage ◽

World Health Organisation ◽

Armed Conflicts ◽

World Health ◽

Limited Information ◽

Immunization Programs ◽

Public Health Emergencies ◽

National Immunization

Multiple public health emergencies (PHEs) experienced annually in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa region affect the provision of health services, including immunization. However, there is limited information on the performance of national immunization programs (NIPs) in WHO Africa countries that experience PHEs. This study assessed PHEs (armed conflicts, disasters, and disease outbreaks) and the performance of NIPs using global and regional immunization targets outlined for the Decade of Vaccines. Thirteen beneficiary countries of PHE mitigation funds from the African Public Health Emergency Fund were used as case studies. Data on PHEs and immunization indicators between 2010 and 2019 in selected countries were extracted from different PHE databases and the WHO/UNICEF immunization database, respectively. The data were stratified by country and summarized using descriptive statistics. Mann-Whitney U test was done to determine the association between the frequency of PHEs and the performance of NIPs. There were 175 disease outbreaks, 288 armed conflicts, and 318 disasters in the examined countries between 2010 and 2019. The Democratic Republic of Congo had the highest total PHE count (n = 208), while Liberia had the lowest (n = 20). Only three of the 13 countries had a median coverage value for the third dose of the combined Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis vaccine (DTP3) that had attained the target for ≥90% immunization coverage. Higher counts of armed conflict and total PHEs were associated with not meeting immunization targets for national DTP3 coverage of ≥90% and Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus elimination, p < 0.01. It was clear that in the WHO Africa region, PHEs are prevalent, irrespective of a country’s level of immunization maturity, and have the potential to derail the progress of NIPs in the absence of effective interventions. As we transition toward the Immunization Agenda 2030, we recommend that the WHO Africa region prioritizes interventions to mitigate the impacts of PHEs on NIPs.

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