The global epidemiology of chikungunya from 1999 to 2020: A systematic literature review to inform the development and introduction of vaccines

Chikungunya fever is an acute febrile illness that is often associated with severe polyarthralgia in humans. The disease is caused by chikungunya virus (CHIKV), a mosquito-borne alphavirus. Since its reemergence in 2004, the virus has spread throughout the tropical world and several subtropical areas affecting millions of people to become a global public health issue. Given the significant disease burden, there is a need for medical countermeasures and several vaccine candidates are in clinical development. To characterize the global epidemiology of chikungunya and inform vaccine development, we undertook a systematic literature review in MEDLINE and additional public domain sources published up to June 13, 2020 and assessed epidemiological trends from 1999 to 2020. Observational studies addressing CHIKV epidemiology were included and studies not reporting primary data were excluded. Only descriptive analyses were conducted. Of 3,883 relevant sources identified, 371 were eligible for inclusion. 46% of the included studies were published after 2016. Ninety-seven outbreak reports from 45 countries and 50 seroprevalence studies from 31 countries were retrieved, including from Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Americas, and Europe. Several countries reported multiple outbreaks, but these were sporadic and unpredictable. Substantial gaps in epidemiological knowledge were identified, specifically granular data on disease incidence and age-specific infection rates. The retrieved studies revealed a diversity of methodologies and study designs, reflecting a lack of standardized procedures used to characterize this disease. Nevertheless, available epidemiological data emphasized the challenges to conduct vaccine efficacy trials due to disease unpredictability. A better understanding of chikungunya disease dynamics with appropriate granularity and better insights into the duration of long-term population immunity is critical to assist in the planning and success of vaccine development efforts pre and post licensure.

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A comparative study to assess the knowledge and beliefs regarding AIDS among higher secondary students in rural schools of South Kerala and South Tamil Nadu

International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics ◽

10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20213223 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jose P. Cyril ◽

Baburaj Stephenson ◽

Joy John ◽

Anju Mirin Alex ◽

Sony S. Paul ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Secondary Students ◽

Rural Schools ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

Epidemiological Data ◽

Public Health Issue ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Knowledge And Beliefs ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Self Administered Questionnaire

Background: HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed 36.3 million lives so far. India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world, with 2.1 million people living with HIV. Epidemiological data on AIDS suggests that in many cases, HIV infection was acquired during adolescence and lack of knowledge is one of the most important reasons. Hence, an ardent need was felt to assess the knowledge and beliefs of adolescents regarding AIDS. The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and beliefs regarding AIDS among higher secondary students of rural schools in South Kerala and in South Tamil Nadu. Methods: After getting ethical committee clearance, the study was conducted among higher secondary students of twelfth standard using a predesigned and validated self-administered questionnaire. An educational intervention regarding AIDS lasting for 30 min was given after the test. Data analysis was done using appropriate software.Results: The mean knowledge scores of students from Kerala (11.57) and Tamil Nadu (11.51) were almost same. Television, newspaper and teachers were the main source of information about AIDS. Beliefs like Whiteman’s disease can spread through mosquito bite, sharing vessels and giving shake hands/touching were highly prevalent in the study subjects.Conclusions: Proper emphasis should be given to teachers on mentoring adolescents and imparting them with the needed knowledge on HIV/AIDS to enable them to overcome this period of stress and storm.

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Global Epidemiology of First 90 Days into COVID-19 Pandemic: Disease Incidence, Prevalence, Case Fatality Rate and Their Association with Population Density, Urbanisation and Elderly Population

Journal of Health Management ◽

10.1177/0972063420932762 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 117-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shivam Gupta ◽

Kamalesh Kumar Patel ◽

Shobana Sivaraman ◽

Abha Mangal

Keyword(s):

Population Density ◽

Case Fatality Rate ◽

Elderly Population ◽

Disease Incidence ◽

Case Fatality ◽

Population Level ◽

Epidemiological Data ◽

Fatality Rate ◽

Global Epidemiology ◽

First 90 Days

As the COVID-19 pandemic marches exponentially, epidemiological data is of high importance to analyse the current situation and guide intervention strategies. This study analyses the epidemiological data of COVID-19 from 17 countries, representing 85 per cent of the total cases within first 90 days of lockdown in Wuhan, China. It follows a population-level observational study design and includes countries with 20,000 cases (or higher) as of 21 April 2020. We sourced the data for these 17 countries from worldometers. info, a digital platform being used by several media and reputed academic institutions worldwide. We calculated the prevalence, incidence, case fatality rate and trends in the epidemiology of COVID-19, and its correlation with population density, urbanisation and elderly population. The analysis represents 85 per cent ( N = 2,183,661) of all cases within the first 90 days of the pandemic. Across the analysed period, the burden of the pandemic primarily focused on high- and middle-income countries of Asia, Europe and North America. While the total number of cases and deaths are highest in USA, the prevalence, incidence and case fatality rates are higher in the European countries. The prevalence and incidence vary widely among countries included in the analysis, and the number of cases per million and the case fatality rate are correlated with the proportion of the elderly population and to a lesser extent with the proportion of the urban population.

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A systematic literature review on the use of health care resources during pandemic response

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckab164.763 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽

Author(s):

A Peelen ◽

B Beishuizen ◽

M Stein ◽

A Tostmann ◽

C Bleeker-Rovers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Literature Review ◽

Systematic Literature Review ◽

Vaccine Efficacy ◽

Epidemiological Data ◽

Hospital Staff ◽

H1n1 Influenza ◽

Contact Tracing ◽

Care Capacity ◽

Eligibility Assessment

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need for better pandemic preparedness and response, and more international collaboration. The H2020 EU-funded PANDEM-2 project aims to prepare Europe for future pandemics. As part of the project, an European dashboard consisting of epidemiological data and insights on available pandemic health care capacity is developed. To model and map the availability of pandemic resources, data on the use of these resources and interdependencies between resources are needed to parametrize the resource model of the PANDEM-2 dashboard. Methods We conduct a systematic literature review. The database Embase.com was searched on articles that include a model, scenario, or simulation of pandemic resources and/or describe resource parameters, for example PPE usage, length of stay on the ICU, or vaccine efficacy. Our search included data from all continents and focuses on infectious diseases that have been declared a pandemic by the WHO in the last twenty years, which are the H1N1 influenza (2009-2010) and COVID-19 (ongoing). Preliminary results The search query and additional sources resulted in 1215 articles, of which 187 are included for the full text eligibility assessment. We identified several pandemic resources in the field of vaccination (vaccine efficacy), contact tracing (apps), general practitioners, the hospital (staff, PPE, ventilators), and national and regional public health institutes. Furthermore, interdependencies between resources and possible resource gaps were found, for example in hospital staff and PPE. Conclusions To be better prepared and to be able to respond fast to a pandemic outbreak, it is important to have insight in the availability of pandemic resources on a national and regional level, their use and mutual dependencies. This makes it possible to anticipate on fast changes and possible shortages by reallocating resources within and between regions.

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Review of Biomarkers and Analytical Methods for Organophosphate Pesticides and Applicability to Nerve Agents

Military Medicine ◽

10.1093/milmed/usz441 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 185 (3-4) ◽

pp. e414-e421 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jennifer Therkorn ◽

David G Drewry ◽

Olivia Tiburzi ◽

Mekbib Astatke ◽

Charles Young ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Systematic Literature Review ◽

Analytical Methods ◽

English Language ◽

Human Study ◽

Nerve Agents ◽

Nerve Agent ◽

Primary Data ◽

Pesticide Exposures ◽

Op Nerve Agents

Abstract Introduction Recent malicious use of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) is a reminder of their severity and ongoing threat. One of the main categories of CWAs is the organophosphate (OP) nerve agents. Presently, there is an urgent need to identify and evaluate OP nerve agent biomarkers that can facilitate identification of exposed individuals post-CWA incident. While exposures to OP nerve agents may be scenario-specific, the public is commonly exposed to OP compounds through the ubiquitous use of OP pesticides, which are chemically related to nerve agents. Therefore, a systematic literature review and methodological quality assessment were conducted for OP pesticide biomarker studies to serve as a baseline to assess if these approaches may be adapted to OP nerve agent exposures. Materials and Methods We conducted a systematic literature review to identify biomarkers of OP pesticide exposures. English language studies of any design that reported primary data on biomarkers for exposures in nonhuman primates or adult human study participants were eligible for inclusion. Using standard criteria for assessing the completeness of reported analytical methods, the quality of study methods was critically evaluated. Results A total of 1,044 studies of biomarkers of OP pesticide exposure were identified, of which 75 articles satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These studies described 143 different analyte/sample matrix combinations: 99 host-based biomarkers, 28 metabolites, 12 pesticides, and 4 adducts. The most commonly reported biomarkers were dialkyl phosphate urinary metabolites (22 studies), blood acetylcholinesterase, and plasma butyrylcholinesterase (26 studies each). None of the assessed quality review criteria were fully addressed by all identified studies, with almost all criteria scoring less than 50%. Conclusion Cholinesterase activity may have utility for identifying individuals with exposures surpassing a given threshold of OP nerve agent, but further investigation of how acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase levels correlate with observed patient symptoms may be required to ensure accuracy of results. As CWAs and nerve agents are more readily used, more standardized reporting of biomarker measurements are needed to develop new approaches for OP nerve agent biomarkers.

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FIGHTING AGAINST GLOBAL HIV EPIDEMIC: AVAILABLE OPTIONS TO FOCUS ON

International Journal of Research -GRANTHAALAYAH ◽

10.29121/granthaalayah.v7.i7.2019.721 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (7) ◽

pp. 102-105

Author(s):

Homa Nath Sharma ‘Raju’ ◽

Sagar Baral ◽

Yadav Baral

Keyword(s):

Vaccine Development ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Public Health Issue ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Great Progress ◽

Made In

HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 32 million lives so far. While great progress has been made in preventing and treating HIV, there is still much to do. A safe and cost-effective vaccine that prevents HIV infection is considered the best strategy for containing the epidemic. However; historically, the vaccine development for HIV prevention has been extremely difficult. Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) has improved the quality of life of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients worldwide. This reality suggests that continuing on HIV vaccine research, now we should also consider applying other short-term available prevention and treatment strategies to mitigate the effect of the epidemic.

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