scholarly journals Wastewater network infrastructure in public health: Applications and learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (12) ◽  
pp. e0000061
Author(s):  
Nour Sharara ◽  
Noriko Endo ◽  
Claire Duvallet ◽  
Newsha Ghaeli ◽  
Mariana Matus ◽  
...  

Accurate estimates of COVID-19 burden of infections in communities can inform public health strategy for the current pandemic. Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) leverages sewer infrastructure to provide insights on rates of infection by measuring viral concentrations in wastewater. By accessing the sewer network at various junctures, important insights regarding COVID-19 disease activity can be gained. The analysis of sewage at the wastewater treatment plant level enables population-level surveillance of disease trends and virus mutations. At the neighborhood level, WBE can be used to describe trends in infection rates in the community thereby facilitating local efforts at targeted disease mitigation. Finally, at the building level, WBE can suggest the presence of infections and prompt individual testing. In this critical review, we describe the types of data that can be obtained through varying levels of WBE analysis, concrete plans for implementation, and public health actions that can be taken based on WBE surveillance data of infectious diseases, using recent and successful applications of WBE during the COVID-19 pandemic for illustration.

Author(s):  
Nurul Rofiqo ◽  
Agus Perdana Windarto ◽  
Dedy Hartama

This study aims to utilize Clushtering Algorithm in grouping the number of people who have health complaints with the K-means algorithm in Indonesia. The source of this research data was collected based on the documents of the provincial population which had health complaints produced by the National Statistics Agency. The data used in this study are data from 2013-2017 consisting of 34 provinces. The method used in this research is K-means Algorithm. Data will be processed by clushtering in 3 clushter, namely clusther high health complaints, clusther moderate and low health complaints. Centroid data for high population level clusters 37.48, Centroid data for moderate population level clusters 27.08, and Centroid data for low population level clusters 14.89. So that obtained an assessment based on the population index that has health complaints with 7 provinces of high health complaints, namely Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, South Kalimantan, Gorontalo, 18 provinces of moderate health complaints, and 9 other provinces including low health complaints. This can be an input to the government to give more attention to residents in each region who have high health complaints through improving public health services so that the Indonesian population becomes healthier without health complaints.Keywords: data mining, health complaints, clustering, K-means, Indonesian residents


Author(s):  
Jennifer D. Allen ◽  
Rachel C. Shelton ◽  
Karen M. Emmons ◽  
Laura A. Linnan

There is substantial variability in the implementation of evidence-based interventions across the United States, which leads to inconsistent access to evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies at a population level. Increased dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions could result in significant public health gains. While the availability of evidence-based interventions is increasing, study of implementation, adaptation, and dissemination has only recently gained attention in public health. To date, insufficient attention has been given to the issue of fidelity. Consideration of fidelity is necessary to balance the need for internal and external validity across the research continuum. There is also a need for a more robust literature to increase knowledge about factors that influence fidelity, strategies for maximizing fidelity, methods for measuring and analyzing fidelity, and examining sources of variability in implementation fidelity.


Author(s):  
Kristin Voigt

This chapter considers normative issues that tobacco raises at the population level, particularly with respect to the anti-smoking strategies policymakers might pursue and the reasons and justifications underlying these strategies. After setting out several background factors that shape the debate, the chapter discusses different grounds on which state and public health actors might seek to restrict tobacco use, considering in turn those justifications that focus on protecting smokers and those that seek to protect third parties. The chapter then considers normative problems arising in relation to specific anti-smoking strategies, such as restrictions on the sale, use, and marketing of cigarettes; taxation; incentives for cessation; and denormalization strategies. Issues of paternalism and the stigma associated with smoking are also discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Barrett ◽  
Karen C. Patterson ◽  
Timothy M. James ◽  
Peter Krüger

AbstractAs we enter a chronic phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with uncontrolled infection rates in many places, relative regional susceptibilities are a critical unknown for policy planning. Tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection or antibodies are indicative but unreliable measures of exposure. Here instead, for four highly-affected countries, we determine population susceptibilities by directly comparing country-wide observed epidemic dynamics data with that of their main metropolitan regions. We find significant susceptibility reductions in the metropolitan regions as a result of earlier seeding, with a relatively longer phase of exponential growth before the introduction of public health interventions. During the post-growth phase, the lower susceptibility of these regions contributed to the decline in cases, independent of intervention effects. Forward projections indicate that non-metropolitan regions will be more affected during recurrent epidemic waves compared with the initially heavier-hit metropolitan regions. Our findings have consequences for disease forecasts and resource utilisation.


Author(s):  
David A Savitz

Abstract Interpreting the results of epidemiologic studies calls for objectivity and rigorous scrutiny, acknowledging the limitations that temper the applicability of the findings to public health action. Current trends have posed new challenges to balancing goal of scientific objectivity and validity with public health applications. The ongoing tension between epidemiology’s aspirations and capability has several sources: the need to overpromise in research proposals, compromising methodologic rigor because of public health importance, defending findings in the face of hostile critics, and appealing to core constituencies who have specific expectations from the research.


Author(s):  
Matthew Browne ◽  
Vijay Rawat ◽  
Catherine Tulloch ◽  
Cailem Murray-Boyle ◽  
Matthew Rockloff

Jurisdictions around the world have a self-declared mandate to reduce gambling-related harm. However, historically, this concept has suffered from poor conceptualisation and operationalisation. However, recent years have seen swift advances in measuring gambling harm, based on the principle of it being a quantifiable decrement to the health and wellbeing of the gambler and those connected to them. This review takes stock of the background and recent developments in harm assessment and summarises recent research that has validated and applied the Short Gambling Harms Screen and related instruments. We recommend that future work builds upon the considerable psychometric evidence accumulated for the feasibility of direct elicitation of harmful consequences. We also advocate for grounding harms measures with respect to scalar changes to public health utility metrics. Such an approach will avoid misleading pseudo-clinical categorisations, provide accurate population-level summaries of where the burden of harm is carried, and serve to integrate gambling research with the broader field of public health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
G Cassourret

Abstract The population is increasingly using emergency care services around the world. The underlying interrogation is whether this increase is a consequence from a dysfunction in healthcare provision, from a deterioration in the health status of the population or from socioeconomic determinants. We performed geospatial analyses with 3-year 1,081,026 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responses in Paris and its suburbs. Incidence of calls per population and complaints were compared, at the neighborhood level, with demographic and socioeconomic determinants. Associations with characteristics of the health system such as the density of primary care doctors were also studied. Spatial autocorrelations were searched with Moran's I analyses. We found a positive correlation between the incidence of EMS calls by population for respiratory problems, and the level of poverty as well as the unemployment rate (p < 0.001). There was no significant correlation between psychiatric complaints and socioeconomic determinants. There was a strong correlation between calls for birth or imminent birth by woman of childbearing age and the unemployment rate among women, the unemployment rate overall and household median household income (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between the density of primary care providers and EMS activity by population. EMS data allowed us to powerfully identify specific socioeconomic determinants of health for a 7 million-inhabitant population at the district level. Results could be used to design and implement tailored public health interventions for maximum impact. The overuse of emergency services does not seem to stem solely from the decrease in the supply of primary care doctors. Innovatively, monitoring the actual use of emergency services could responsively inform policy makers and agencies responsible for prevention and health promotion about the specific needs of the population and the consequences of decisions on the organization of the provision of care. Key messages The use of emergency services is a valid metric to evaluate the health status of the population and identify socioeconomic determinants. It gives specific guidelines for public health interventions. Geospatial analyses can efficiently identify the specific needs of a population at the neighborhood level. It can participate to the evaluation of the organization of healthcare provision.


Author(s):  
Sara E. Hallvik ◽  
Nazanin Dameshghi ◽  
Sanae El Ibrahimi ◽  
Michelle A. Hendricks ◽  
Christi Hildebran ◽  
...  

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