Lower Intent to Comply with COVID-19 Public Health Recommendations Correlates to Higher Disease Burden in Following 30 Days

Introduction:C. difficile causes 25 percent of the antibiotic associated infectious nosocomial diarrhoeas. C. difficile infection is a high-priority problem of public health in each country. The available literature of C. difficile infection’s epidemiology and disease burden is limited. Aim: Review of the epidemiology, including seasonality and the risk of recurrences, of the disease burden and of the therapy of C. difficile infection. Method: Review of the international and Hungarian literature in MEDLINE database using PubMed up to and including 20th of March, 2012. Results: The incidence of nosocomial C. difficile associated diarrhoea is 4.1/10 000 patient day. The seasonality of C. difficile infection is unproved. 20 percent of the patients have recurrence after metronidazole or vancomycin treatment, and each recurrence increases the chance of a further one. The cost of C. difficile infection is between 130 and 500 thousand HUF (430 € and 1665 €) in Hungary. Conclusions: The importance of C. difficile infection in public health and the associated disease burden are significant. The available data in Hungary are limited, further studies in epidemiology and health economics are required. Orv. Hetil., 2013, 154, 1188–1193.

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Burden of foodborne disease in the Netherlands: from science to policy

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.949 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

L Mughini Gras

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Cost Of Illness ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Food Groups ◽

Source Attribution ◽

Productivity Losses ◽

Disability Adjusted Life ◽

Life Years ◽

Animal Contact

Abstract In the Netherlands, the Ministry of Health mandates the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) to provide annual updates of the number of illnesses, disease burden and cost-of-illness caused by an agreed-upon standard panel of 14 enteric pathogens. These pathogens are mainly transmitted by food, but also via direct contact with animals, environment-mediated and human-to-human transmission routes. The disease burden is expressed in DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years), a metric integrating morbidity and mortality into one unit. Furthermore, the cost-of-illness (COI) related to these 14 pathogens is estimated and expressed in euros. The COI estimates include healthcare costs, the costs for the patient and/or his family, such as travel expenses, as well as costs in other sectors, for example due to productivity losses. Moreover, using different approaches to source attribution, the estimated DALYs and associated COI estimates are attributed to five major transmission pathways (i.e. food, environment, direct animal contact, human-human transmission, and travel) and 11 food groups within the foodborne pathway itself. The most recent DALY and COI estimates referring to the year 2018 show that the 14 pathogens in question are cumulatively responsible for about 11,000 DALYs and €426 million costs for the Dutch population in 2018, with a share for foodborne transmission being estimated at 4,300 DALYs and €171 million costs, which is comparable to previous years. These estimates have been providing vital insights for policy making as to guide public health interventions and resource allocation for over two decades in the Netherlands. Herewith, the approach and outcomes of the burden of disease and COI estimates in the Netherlands will be presented, with a focus on how these estimates enable policy-makers and the scientific community to monitor trends, generate scientific hypotheses, and undertake public health actions.

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The global distribution of the arbovirus vectors Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.08347 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 771

Author(s):

Moritz UG Kraemer ◽

Marianne E Sinka ◽

Kirsten A Duda ◽

Adrian QN Mylne ◽

Freya M Shearer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Aedes Aegypti ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Health Planning ◽

Global Distribution ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Global Public Health ◽

Future Health ◽

Autochthonous Transmission

Dengue and chikungunya are increasing global public health concerns due to their rapid geographical spread and increasing disease burden. Knowledge of the contemporary distribution of their shared vectors, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus remains incomplete and is complicated by an ongoing range expansion fuelled by increased global trade and travel. Mapping the global distribution of these vectors and the geographical determinants of their ranges is essential for public health planning. Here we compile the largest contemporary database for both species and pair it with relevant environmental variables predicting their global distribution. We show Aedes distributions to be the widest ever recorded; now extensive in all continents, including North America and Europe. These maps will help define the spatial limits of current autochthonous transmission of dengue and chikungunya viruses. It is only with this kind of rigorous entomological baseline that we can hope to project future health impacts of these viruses.

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Ensuring COVID-19 Vaccines for Migrant and Immigrant Farmworkers

American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene ◽

10.4269/ajtmh.21-0199 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christine M. Thomas ◽

Amy K. Liebman ◽

Alma Galván ◽

Jonathan D. Kirsch ◽

William M. Stauffer

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Vaccination Campaign ◽

Geographic Location ◽

The United States ◽

Health Centers ◽

Coordination Of Care ◽

Faith Based ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Health Authorities

Migrant and immigrant farmworkers are cornerstones to food security and production in many nations. In the United States, farmworkers have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Because they are considered essential workers, vaccines may be made imminently available to them and offer an opportunity to reduce these COVID-19–related impacts. It is essential for a successful vaccination campaign to address the unique challenges arising from this workforce’s inherently mobile nature and limited access to healthcare. Proposed strategies to overcome these challenges include ensuring farmworkers are prioritized in vaccine allocation and provided cost-free vaccines at convenient locations through partnerships among health authorities, community- and faith-based groups, and health centers with trusted community relationships. Further, a portable immunization record should be used, and coordination of care continued when a farmworker moves to a new geographic location. If implemented well, vaccinating farmworkers can reduce the COVID-19 disease burden among these essential workers, improve public health, and protect food and agriculture production.

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The time to act is now: pseudo-systematic review

BMJ ◽

10.1136/bmj.m4143 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. m4143

Author(s):

Nathan Ford ◽

Grania Brigden ◽

Tom Ellman ◽

Edward J Mills

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Data Sources ◽

Study Selection

Abstract Objective To identify any medical or public health rationale for claims that the time to act is now. Design Pseudo-systematic review. Data sources PubMed. Study selection Studies that included the claim “time is now” in the title, with or without exclamation marks. No language or date restriction was applied. Results 512 articles were included for review. No relationship was identified between time to act and disease burden, severity, or specialty. Claims that the time to act was Christmas were almost entirely without basis. A clustering of claims that it is time to act in the first quarter of the year suggested a possible association with New Year’s resolutions. Conclusions Now is as good a time as any.

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Assessing the geographical distribution of comorbidity among commercially insured individuals in South Africa

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-020-09771-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Cristina Mannie ◽

Hadi Kharrazi

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

South Africa ◽

Geographical Distribution ◽

Healthcare Utilization ◽

Risk Score ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Risk Scores ◽

Individual Risk ◽

Average Risk ◽

Healthcare Needs

Abstract Background Comorbidities are strong predictors of current and future healthcare needs and costs; however, comorbidities are not evenly distributed geographically. A growing need has emerged for comorbidity surveillance that can inform decision-making. Comorbidity-derived risk scores are increasingly being used as valuable measures of individual health to describe and explain disease burden in populations. Methods This study assessed the geographical distribution of comorbidity and its associated financial implications among commercially insured individuals in South Africa (SA). A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis was performed comparing the geographical distribution of comorbidities for 2.6 million commercially insured individuals over 2016–2017, stratified by geographical districts in SA. We applied the Johns Hopkins ACG® System across the insurance claims data of a large health plan administrator in SA to measure comorbidity as a risk score for each individual. We aggregated individual risk scores to determine the average risk score per district, also known as the comorbidity index (CMI), to describe the overall disease burden of each district. Results We observed consistently high CMI scores in districts of the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal provinces for all population groups before and after age adjustment. Some areas exhibited almost 30% higher healthcare utilization after age adjustment. Districts in the Northern Cape and Limpopo provinces had the lowest CMI scores with 40% lower than expected healthcare utilization in some areas after age adjustment. Conclusions Our results show underlying disparities in CMI at national, provincial, and district levels. Use of geo-level CMI scores, along with other social data affecting health outcomes, can enable public health departments to improve the management of disease burdens locally and nationally. Our results could also improve the identification of underserved individuals, hence bridging the gap between public health and population health management efforts.

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Stroke in Patients with Diabetes: Is It Time to Expand Public Health Priority to Encompass High-Risk Patients with Increased Insulin Resistance?

EMJ Diabetes ◽

10.33590/emjdiabet/21-00171 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 84-91

Author(s):

Sian Alexandra Bradley ◽

Francis Muttamthottil Varghese ◽

Bindu Menon ◽

Man Mohan Mehndiratta ◽

Sonu Menachem Maimonides Bhaskar

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Insulin Resistance ◽

Cardiovascular Disease ◽

High Risk ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Population Level ◽

Targeted Interventions ◽

High Risk Patients ◽

Risk Patients ◽

The Impact

Diabetes and stroke, with an interlinking aetiology, contribute to a growing cardiovascular disease burden and mortality around the world. Given the disproportionate prevalence and the burden of these conditions in the developing world, as well as the high risk of both Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease carried by patients with metabolic syndrome, public health strategies are vital to mitigate the impact. Systematic approaches towards identifying undiagnosed patients in the community and building health systems around those targeted interventions have been implemented. However, growing evidence indicates potential for approaches to capture high-risk patients, such as those who suffer from pre-diabetes or increased insulin resistance, to provide early and optimal treatments, which could translate to population-level benefits, including reduced prevalence, disability, and disease burden.

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Diabetes and Tuberculosis – Old Associates Posing a Renewed Public Health Challenge

US Endocrinology ◽

10.17925/use.2009.05.1.10 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 05 (01) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Anil Kapur ◽

Anthony D Harries ◽

Knut Lönnroth ◽

Ib C Bygbjerg ◽

Pierre Lefèbvre ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Implementation Research ◽

System Approach ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Clinical Importance ◽

Global Burden ◽

Double Burden ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Public Health Challenge ◽

Potential Public Health

Diabetes and tuberculosis (TB) have existed for thousands of years. Today, the global burden of disease from diabetes and TB is huge and, in the case of diabetes, rapidly increasing. Recent systematic reviews show that diabetes is associated with an increased risk of TB, yet the potential public health and clinical importance of the association seems to be largely ignored. Irrespective of whether the association is causal or a result of co-morbid factors, in low-resource societies with a dual disease burden, can a common health system approach for diabetes and TB be adapted to address prevention and care? How and to what extent can this be done? Good-quality implementation research is urgently needed to create robust action plans to address this double burden.

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Disease burden of echinococcosis in Tibetan communities—A significant public health issue in an underdeveloped region of western China

Acta Tropica ◽

10.1016/j.actatropica.2019.105283 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 203 ◽

pp. 105283 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Qian Wang ◽

Liu Yang ◽

Yifei Wang ◽

Guang-Jia Zhang ◽

Bo Zhong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Western China ◽

Health Issue ◽

Public Health Issue ◽

Significant Public Health ◽

Underdeveloped Region

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Disease burden metrics and the innovations of leading pharmaceutical companies: a global and regional comparative study

Globalization and Health ◽

10.1186/s12992-020-00610-2 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ye Lim Jung ◽

JeeNa Hwang ◽

Hyoung Sun Yoo

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Disease Burden ◽

Income Level ◽

High Income ◽

Pharmaceutical Innovation ◽

Innovation Activity ◽

Pharmaceutical Companies ◽

Middle Income ◽

Innovation Activities ◽

Country Specific

Abstract Background The recent innovation activities of global top-tier pharmaceutical companies in accordance with global and regional health concerns were investigated in order to identify their innovations contributing to population health. Methods “Innovation activity” was defined as the number of drugs for which R&D activities have been reported within the last three years. Such activities were measured by collecting the data on drug developments and classifying them by developer company, phase of development, therapeutic use, and the country in which the development conducted. Subsequently, we examined and compared the correlations between the global innovation activities of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and the disease burden measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by income level and region. In addition, this study analyzed the association between country-specific innovations and DALYs in the corresponding countries. Results At a global level, the innovation activities were not associated with global DALYs. However, when analyzed by income level, the innovation activities were associated with DALYs in high income and upper middle income countries while it was not associated with DALYs in low middle income and low income countries. In terms of region, correlations were found between the innovation activities and DALYs in the European region, the Americas, and the Western Pacific region whereas such correlations were not found in the African, Eastern Mediterranean, and South-East Asian regions. Similar to the analyses by income level and region, correlations between country-specific innovations and DALYs were only found in high income or high GDP countries. In addition, an empirical analysis of several cases including Canada, Germany, South Korea, and the United Kingdom revealed that pharmaceutical innovation is more closely related to market size than disease burden. Conclusions This study identified that discrepancies between pharmaceutical innovation and public health needs, i.e., disease burden values, have persisted until recently. To alleviate this imbalance, both public and private sectors should not only fulfill their respective roles and responsibilities regarding these issues, but also make strategic and collaborative efforts such as Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) directed toward public health improvement.

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