scholarly journals Determination of alcohols in hand sanitisers: Are off-the-shelf hand sanitisers what they claim to be?

2021 ◽  
Vol 117 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullahi A. Yusuf

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 – the causative agent of COVID-19 – can be prevented through non-pharmaceutical interventions such as observing proper hand hygiene using alcohol-based hand rubs/sanitisers (ABHRs) as recommended by the WHO and local health authorities. However, this recommendation has led to high demand for ABHRs and proliferation of sub-standard products, which do not contain the recommended amount of alcohol. Fifty products of different origins and formulations obtained off-the-shelf and in public places in and around Pretoria (South Africa) were analysed for their alcohol content using gas chromatography. Ethanol was the most common alcohol used in the products, followed by isopropanol. Only 21 (42%) of the products analysed contained at least 70% alcohol; of these only 14 (28%) met the WHO recommended 80±5% alcohol content to have a virucidal effect on SARS-CoV-2. Of the 41 commercial off-the-shelf products analysed, 27 (66%) contained less than 70% alcohol in comparison to 13% of homemade products. Only 18% of gel products contained 70% alcohol, compared with 47% for liquid-based products. Most of the products did not contain the appropriate or correct declaration as recommended by the South African National Standards (SANS 289 and 490). The proliferation of substandard ABHRs is of great public health concern and calls for stricter regulations and enforcement in order to protect consumers, their rights and well-being during and post the COVID-19 pandemic period. However, in the interim, formulation of ABHRs using the WHO guidelines should be mandatory, as such formulations, when made correctly, do have the required virucidal effect against SARS-CoV-2.

BMJ ◽  
1924 ◽  
Vol 2 (3329) ◽  
pp. 741-742
Author(s):  
J. G. Bennett

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Fan Liu ◽  
Xiao-Ke Xu ◽  
Ye Wu

AbstractThe 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is pseudonymously linked to more than 100 million cases in the world as of January 2021. High-quality data are needed but lacking in the understanding of and fighting against COVID-19. We provide a complete and updating hand-coded line-list dataset containing detailed information of the cases in China and outside the epicenter in Hubei province. The data are extracted from public disclosures by local health authorities, starting from January 19. This dataset contains a very rich set of features for the characterization of COVID-19’s epidemiological properties, including individual cases’ demographic information, travel history, potential virus exposure scenario, contacts with known infections, and timelines of symptom onset, quarantine, infection confirmation, and hospitalization. These cases can be considered the baseline COVID-19 transmissibility under extreme mitigation measures, and therefore, a reference for comparative scientific investigation and public policymaking.


Vaccines ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 120
Author(s):  
Michela Sabbatucci ◽  
Anna Odone ◽  
Carlo Signorelli ◽  
Andrea Siddu ◽  
Andrea Silenzi ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected national healthcare systems worldwide, with around 282 million cumulative confirmed cases reported in over 220 countries and territories as of the end of 2021. The Italian National Health System was heavily affected, with detrimental impacts on preventive service delivery. Routine vaccination services were disrupted across the country during the first months of the pandemic, and both access to and demand for vaccines have decreased during the pandemic. In many cases, parents preferred to postpone scheduled appointments for routine paediatric vaccinations because of stay-at-home orders or fear of COVID-19 infection when accessing care. The objective of the current study was to assess the routine childhood vaccine coverage (VC) rates during the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy. We compared 2020 and 2019 VC by age group and vaccine type. The Italian Ministry of Health collected anonymised and aggregated immunisation national data through the local health authorities (LHAs). Results were considered statistically significant at a two-tailed p-value ≤ 0.05. VC rates for mandatory vaccinations decreased in 2020 compared to 2019 (range of VC rate decrease: −1% to −2.7%), while chicken pox increased (+2.2%) in 7-year-old children. Recommended vaccinations were moderately affected (range of VC rate decrease in 2020 vs. 2019: −1.4% to −8.5%), with the exception of anti-HPV in males, Men ACWY, and anti-rotavirus vaccination (VC increase 2020 vs. 2019: +1.8%, +4.7% and +9.4%, respectively). In the COVID-19 era, the implementation of coherent, transparent, and effective communication campaigns and educational programs on safe childhood vaccinations, together with the increase in the number of healthcare staff employed, is essential to support strategies to reinforce vaccination confidence and behaviour, thus avoiding health threats due to VPD during and beyond COVID-19 times.


Author(s):  
Trevor Hoppe

As the HIV epidemic wore on in the 2000s, public health authorities became enamored with the idea of “ending AIDS.” That is, if they could just get HIV-positive people to take their pills and stop infecting other people. Health departments began to track HIV-positive clients more closely, aiming to control their behavior and ensure their adherence to treatment regimens. This chapter explores how local health authorities ensure that HIV-positive clients behave in a manner officials deem responsible—and how they catch and punish those who do not. While the state maintains that the work of local health officials is done solely in the interests of promoting public health, their efforts to control HIV-positive clients reveal that they are also engaged in policing and law enforcement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Dias ◽  
F. Rocha ◽  
F. M. Ulloa-Stanojlovic ◽  
A. Nitsche ◽  
C. Castagna ◽  
...  

AbstractIn Brazil, rabies surveillance is based on monitoring domestic and wild animals, although the most prevalent lineage of the rabies virus (RABV) currently diagnosed in Brazil is associated with bats, particularly non-haematophagous bats. Disease control is based on the mass vaccination of dogs and cats. We used data collected by the passive surveillance system of the city of Campinas from 2011 to 2015, to describe the temporal and geographic distributions of the bat specimens and RABV and discuss the current rabies surveillance with the advent of the declaration of canine and feline rabies-free areas in Brazil. We described the species, locations and health statuses of the collected bat specimens. Moreover, all samples were submitted for RABV diagnosis. Then, we performed a time series decomposition for each bat family. Additionally, we determined the spatiotemporal relative risk for RABV infection using the ratio of the kernel-smoothed estimates of spatiotemporal densities of RABV-positive and RABV-negative bats. From the 2537 bat specimens, the most numerous family was Molossidae (72%), followed by Vespertilionidae (14%) and Phyllostomidae (13%). The bat families behaved differently in terms of seasonal and spatial patterns. The distribution of bats varied geographically in the urban environment, with Molossidae and Phyllostomidae being observed downtown and Vespertilionidae being observed in peripheral zones. Concurrently, a significant relative risk of RABV infection was observed downtown for Vespertilionidae and in peripheral zones for Molossidae. No RABV-positive sample clusters were observed. As a result of the official declaration of RABV-free areas in southern Brazil, mass dog and cat vaccinations are expected to halt in the near future. This stoppage would make most dog and cat populations susceptible to other RABV lineages, such as those maintained by non-haematophagous bats. In this scenario, all information available on bats and RABV distribution in urban areas is essential. Currently, few studies have been conducted. Some local health authorities, such as that in Campinas, are spontaneously basing their surveillance efforts on bat rabies, which is the alternative in reality scenario of increased susceptibility to bat-associated RABV that is developing in Brazil.


1963 ◽  
Vol 109 (458) ◽  
pp. 29-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brice Pitt ◽  
Morris Markowe

Slowly but surely the emphasis of the mental health service is moving from the mental hospital into the community which it serves. The trend of these community developments can be seen as far back as the establishment of psychiatric out-patient clinics at general hospitals under the Mental Treatment Act, 1930, together with arrangements for after care, and continued by mental hospitals and regional hospital boards since the advent of the National Health Service. While the new era in British psychiatry awaits the implementation by local health authorities of their mandatory functions under the Mental Health Act, 1959, much can still be done within the hospital services proper to shift the emphasis into the community. One such method is described in this study of a Day Hospital developed within a large general hospital.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. S161
Author(s):  
Koichi Tokuda ◽  
Hideki Kawamura ◽  
Kazumi Torigoe ◽  
Shin Ogawa ◽  
Miyuki Yoshimori ◽  
...  

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