scholarly journals Evaluation of the Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Test Ag Card for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection by a local public health district with a rural population

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260862
Author(s):  
Rachel E. Pollreis ◽  
Clay Roscoe ◽  
Rachel J. Phinney ◽  
Surabhi S. Malesha ◽  
Matthew C. Burns ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Predictive Value ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
High Specificity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health District ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Antigen Tests

SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR, the gold standard for diagnostic testing, may not be readily available or logistically applicable for routine COVID-19 testing in many rural communities in the United States. In this validation study, we compared the BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Test Ag Card with SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR in 214 participants who sought COVID-19 testing from a local public health district in Idaho, USA. The median age of participants was 35 and 82.7% were symptomatic. Thirty-seven participants (17.3%) had positive RT-PCR results. Results between the two tests were 94.4% concordant. The sensitivity of the BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Test Ag Card was 67.6% (95% CI: 50.2–81.9%), and the specificity was 100.0% (95% CI: 97.9–100.0%). The positive predictive value (PPV) for the BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Test Ag Card was 100.0% (95% CI: 86.2–100.0%), and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 93.6% (95% CI: 89.1–96.6%). Although the sensitivity of BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Test Ag Card was lower than RT-PCR, rapid results and high specificity support its use for early detection of COVID-19, especially in settings where SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing is not readily available. Rapid antigen tests, such as the BinaxNOW™ COVID-19 Test Ag Card, may be a more convenient tool in quickly identifying and preventing COVID-19 transmission, especially in rural settings.

scholarly journals Using genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 to support contact tracing and public health surveillance in rural Humboldt County, California

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Stoddard ◽  
Allison Black ◽  
Patrick Ayscue ◽  
Dan Lu ◽  
Jack Kamm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Skilled Nursing Facility ◽  
The United States ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Outbreak Response ◽  
Skilled Nursing ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Humboldt County ◽  
Genomic Epidemiology

ABSTRACTDuring the COVID-19 pandemic within the United States, much of the responsibility for diagnostic testing and epidemiologic response has relied on the action of county-level departments of public health. Here we describe the integration of genomic surveillance into epidemiologic response within Humboldt County, a rural county in northwest California. Through a collaborative effort, 853 whole SARS-CoV-2 genomes were generated, representing ∼58% of the 1,449 SARS-CoV-2-positive cases detected in Humboldt County as of mid-March 2021. Phylogenetic analysis of these data was used to develop a comprehensive understanding of SARS-CoV-2 introductions to the county and to support contact tracing and epidemiologic investigations of all large outbreaks in the county. In the case of an outbreak on a commercial farm, viral genomic data were used to validate reported epidemiologic links and link additional cases within the community who did not report a farm exposure to the outbreak. During a separate outbreak within a skilled nursing facility, genomic surveillance data were used to rule out the putative index case, detect the emergence of an independent Spike:N501Y substitution, and verify that the outbreak had been brought under control. These use cases demonstrate how developing genomic surveillance capacity within local public health departments can support timely and responsive deployment of genomic epidemiology for surveillance and outbreak response based on local needs and priorities.

Cross-contamination in molecular laboratories: A challenge to COVID-19 testing in Bangladesh

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Jahidur Rahman Khan ◽  
◽  
Selim Reza ◽  
Farzana Mim ◽  
Md Abdullah Rumman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Diagnostic Errors ◽  
Laboratory Diagnosis ◽  
Cross Contamination ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Surveillance Programs ◽  
The Government

Rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is crucial for the management of COVID-19 patients and control of the spread of the virus. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh had only one government molecular laboratory where real-time RT-PCR will be performed to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection. With the increasing number of suspected cases requiring confirmation diagnostic testing, there was a requirement to quickly expand capacity for large-scale testing. The government of Bangladesh established over 100 molecular laboratories within one year to test COVID-19. To fulfil the requirement for expanded testing, the government was compelled to recruit laboratory employees with inadequate experience, technical knowledge, and skills in molecular assays, particularly in processing specimens, interpreting results, recognizing errors, and troubleshooting. As a result, the risk of diagnostic errors, such as cross-contamination, is increased, as is that the risk of false-positive results, which might risk the patient’s health and undermine the efficacy of public health policies, public health response, surveillance programs, and restrictive measures aimed toward containing the outbreak. This review article aims to explain different sources of crosscontamination in the COVID-19 RT-PCR laboratories and the way to forestall them in efficient and practical ways.

scholarly journals Early introductions and community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Alpert ◽  
Erica Lasek-Nesselquist ◽  
Anderson F. Brito ◽  
Andrew L. Valesano ◽  
Jessica Rothman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
The Uk

SummaryThe emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7, first detected in the United Kingdom, has become a national public health concern in the United States because of its increased transmissibility. Over 500 COVID-19 cases associated with this variant have been detected since December 2020, but its local establishment and pathways of spread are relatively unknown. Using travel, genomic, and diagnostic testing data, we highlight the primary ports of entry for B.1.1.7 in the US and locations of possible underreporting of B.1.1.7 cases. New York, which receives the most international travel from the UK, is likely one of the key hubs for introductions and domestic spread. Finally, we provide evidence for increased community transmission in several states. Thus, genomic surveillance for B.1.1.7 and other variants urgently needs to be enhanced to better inform the public health response.

Cooperative Extension as a Force for Healthy, Rural Communities: Historical Perspectives and Future Directions

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (9) ◽  
pp. 1300-1303
Author(s):  
David R. Buys ◽  
Roger Rennekamp
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Cooperative Extension ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
Faculty And Staff ◽  
Policy Systems

Cooperative Extension (Extension), part of the land-grant university system, has been engaged in rural communities for more than a century. While the focus of Extension’s efforts has largely centered on agriculture, there is an important thread of work that has similarities to public health. As Extension settles into its second century, we are working to be even more engaged in efforts that improve the health and well-being of rural communities in particular. Extension faculty and staff are accomplishing this through direct-to-the-population education and through partnerships with more classically oriented public health organizations able to leverage Extension’s networks and positive reputation in communities to engage them and improve their health. A component of these partnerships includes Extension faculty and staff increasingly engaging in policy, systems, and environment work and other initiatives that help ensure longer-term, systemic changes more likely to improve health outcomes. In short, Extension clearly changed the agricultural system of the United States, and because of its reach into rural communities, it has the capacity to do for health in rural communities in this second century what it did for agriculture in the first century.

scholarly journals Mangroves, garbage, fishing: Bringing everyday ecology to Sydney’s industrial Georges River

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Goodall ◽  
Allison Cadzow ◽  
Denis Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
City Development ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Impact

Post war problems of rising urban, industrial pollution and intractable waste disposal are usually considered as technical and economic problems only, solutions to which were led by experts at State level, and filtered into Australia from the ferments occurring in the United States and Britain in the 1960s and 70s. This paper investigates the change which arose from the localities in which the impact of those effects of modern city development were occurring. In particular, this study looks at a working class, industrial area, the Georges River near Bankstown Municipality, which was severely affected by Sydney’s post-war expansion. Here, action to address urgent environmental problems was initiated first at the local level, and only later were professional engineers and public health officials involved in seeking remedies. It was even later that these local experts turned from engineering strategies to environmental science, embracing the newly developed ecological analyses to craft changing approaches to local problems. This paper centres on the perspective of one local public health surveyor, employed by a local municipal council to oversee waste disposal, to identify the motives for his decisions to intervene dramatically in river health and waste disposal programs. Rather than being prompted to act by influences from higher political levels or overseas, this officer drew his motivation from careful local data collection, from local political agitation and from his own recreational knowledge of the river. It was his involvement with the living environments of the area – the ways in which he knew the river - through personal and recreational experiences, which prompted him to seek out the new science and investigate emerging waste disposal technologies.

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Potential Supervised Injection Facility in San Francisco, California, USA

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amos Irwin ◽  
Ehsan Jozaghi ◽  
Ricky N. Bluthenthal ◽  
Alex H. Kral
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Supervised Injection ◽  
Overdose Deaths

Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) have been shown to reduce infection, prevent overdose deaths, and increase treatment uptake. The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, yet no sanctioned SIF currently operates in the United States. We estimate the economic costs and benefits of establishing a potential SIF in San Francisco using mathematical models that combine local public health data with previous research on the effects of existing SIFs. We consider potential savings from five outcomes: averted HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, reduced skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI), averted overdose deaths, and increased medication-assisted treatment (MAT) uptake. We find that each dollar spent on a SIF would generate US$2.33 in savings, for total annual net savings of US$3.5 million for a single 13-booth SIF. Our analysis suggests that a SIF in San Francisco would not only be a cost-effective intervention but also a significant boost to the public health system.

AIDS in the Pacific

1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 221-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
JT Villagomez
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States Public Health ◽  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Samoa ◽  
Marshall Islands ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

This article summarises current AIDS and HIV infection epidemiology, population risk behaviour factors, local public health and governmental responses to AIDS and cooperative strategic plans for a Pacific “War on AIDS” among the United States Public Health Service and the Pacific jurisdiction public health agencies. The Pacific Island Health Officers Association is comprised of the Republic of Palau, the Government of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, American Samoa and the State of Hawaii.

scholarly journals Supplementing SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance with PCR-based variant detection for real-time actionable information, the Netherlands, June to July 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (40) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Molenkamp ◽  
Ewout Fanoy ◽  
Leonie Derickx ◽  
Theun de Groot ◽  
Marcel Jonges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Rapid Identification ◽  
Regional Hospital ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Routine Testing ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Variant Detection

We evaluated routine testing with SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant-specific RT-PCR in regional hospital laboratories in addition to centralised national genomic surveillance in the Netherlands during June and July 2021. The increase of the Delta variant detected by RT-PCR correlated well with data from genomic surveillance and was available ca 2 weeks earlier. This rapid identification of the relative abundance and increase of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern may have important benefits for implementation of local public health measures.

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