scholarly journals Fingerprint Biometric System Hygiene and the Risk of COVID-19 Transmission (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Okereafor ◽  
Iniobong Ekong ◽  
Ini Okon Markson ◽  
Kingsley Enwere

UNSTRUCTURED Biometric systems use scanners to verify the identity of human beings by measuring the patterns of their behavioral or physiological characteristics. Some biometric systems are contactless and do not require direct touch to perform these measurements; others, such as fingerprint verification systems, require the user to make direct physical contact with the scanner for a specified duration for the biometric pattern of the user to be properly read and measured. This may increase the possibility of contamination with harmful microbial pathogens or of cross-contamination of food and water by subsequent users. Physical contact also increases the likelihood of inoculation of harmful microbial pathogens into the respiratory tract, thereby triggering infectious diseases. In this viewpoint, we establish the likelihood of infectious disease transmission through touch-based fingerprint biometric devices and discuss control measures to curb the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

10.2196/19623 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. e19623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Okereafor ◽  
Iniobong Ekong ◽  
Ini Okon Markson ◽  
Kingsley Enwere

Biometric systems use scanners to verify the identity of human beings by measuring the patterns of their behavioral or physiological characteristics. Some biometric systems are contactless and do not require direct touch to perform these measurements; others, such as fingerprint verification systems, require the user to make direct physical contact with the scanner for a specified duration for the biometric pattern of the user to be properly read and measured. This may increase the possibility of contamination with harmful microbial pathogens or of cross-contamination of food and water by subsequent users. Physical contact also increases the likelihood of inoculation of harmful microbial pathogens into the respiratory tract, thereby triggering infectious diseases. In this viewpoint, we establish the likelihood of infectious disease transmission through touch-based fingerprint biometric devices and discuss control measures to curb the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (F) ◽  
pp. 601-607
Author(s):  
Nor Rumaizah Mohd Nordin ◽  
Fadly Syah Arsad ◽  
Puteri Sofia Nadira Megat Kamaruddin ◽  
Muhammad Hilmi ◽  
Mohd Faizal Madrim ◽  
...  

Background   Similar to other coronaviruses, COVID-19 is transmitted mainly by droplets and is highly transmissible through close proximity or physical contact with an infected person. Countries across the globe have implemented public health control measures to prevent onwards transmission and reduce burden on health care settings. Social or physical distancing was found to be one of appropriate measure based on previous experience with epidemic and pandemic contagious diseases. This study aims to review the latest evidence of the impact of social or physical distancing implemented during COVID-19 pandemic towards COVID-19 and other related infectious disease transmission.   Methodology   The study uses PRISMA review protocol and formulation of research question was based on PICO. The selected databases include Ovid MEDLINE and Scopus. Thorough identification, screening and eligibility process were done, revealed selected 8 articles. The articles then ranked in quality through MMAT.   Results   A total of eight papers included in this analysis. Five studies (USA, Canada, South Korea and the United Kingdom) showed physical distancing had resulted in a reduction in Covid-19 transmission. In comparison, three other studies (Australia, South Korea and Finland) showed a similar decline on other infectious diseases (Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), other sexually transmitted infections (STI), Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Vaccine-Preventive Disease (VPD). The degree of the distancing policy implemented differ between strict and lenient, with both result in effectiveness in reducing transmission of infectious disease.   Conclusion   Physical or social distancing may come in the form of extreme or lenient measure in effectively containing contagious disease like COVID-19, however the stricter the measure will give more proportionate impact towards the economy, education, mental health issues, morbidity and mortality of non-COVID-19 diseases. Since we need this measure to ensure the reduction of infectious diseases transmission in order to help flattening the curve which allow much needed time for healthcare system to prepare adequately to response, ‘Precision physical distancing” can be implemented which will have more benefit towards the survival of the community as a whole.


Author(s):  
Mohd Danish Khan ◽  
Hong Ha Thi Vu ◽  
Quang Tuan Lai ◽  
Ji Whan Ahn

For decades, researchers have debated whether climate change has an adverse impact on diseases, especially infectious diseases. They have identified a strong relationship between climate variables and vector’s growth, mortality rate, reproduction, and spatiotemporal distribution. Epidemiological data further indicates the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases post every single extreme weather event. Based on studies conducted mostly between 1990-2018, three aspects that resemble the impact of climate change impact on diseases are: (a) emergence and re-emergence of vector-borne diseases, (b) impact of extreme weather events, and (c) social upliftment with education and adaptation. This review mainly examines and discusses the impact of climate change based on scientific evidences in published literature. Humans are highly vulnerable to diseases and other post-catastrophic effects of extreme events, as evidenced in literature. It is high time that human beings understand the adverse impacts of climate change and take proper and sustainable control measures. There is also the important requirement for allocation of effective technologies, maintenance of healthy lifestyles, and public education.


2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (12) ◽  
pp. 2582-2593 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. STRÖMGREN ◽  
E. HOLM ◽  
Ö. DAHLSTRÖM ◽  
J. EKBERG ◽  
H. ERIKSSON ◽  
...  

SUMMARYThis study aims to develop a typology of generic meeting places based on social contact and mixing of relevance for infectious disease transmission. Data were collected by means of a contact diary survey conducted on a representative sample of the Swedish population. The typology is derived from a cluster analysis accounting for four dimensions associated with transmission risk: visit propensity and its characteristics in terms of duration, number of other persons present and likelihood of physical contact. In the analysis, we also study demographic, socio-economic and geographical differences in the propensity of visiting meeting places. The typology identifies the family venue, the fixed activity site, the family vehicle, the trading plaza and the social network hub as generic meeting places. The meeting place typology represents a spatially explicit account of social contact and mixing relevant to infectious disease modelling, where the social context of the outbreak can be highlighted in light of the actual infectious disease.


Author(s):  
Seif Mahmoud ◽  
James S. Bennett ◽  
Mohammad H. Hosni ◽  
Byron Jones

Abstract With more than two billion passengers annually, in-flight transmission of infectious diseases is a major global health concern. It is widely believed that principal transmission risk associated with air travel for most respiratory infectious diseases is limited to within two rows of an infectious passenger. However, several passengers became infected despite sitting several rows away from the contagious passenger. This work thoroughly investigated the potential for disease spread inside airplane cabins using tracer gas to quantify airborne dispersion. Measurements were conducted in a full-scale, 11-row mock-up of a wide-body aircraft cabin. Heated mannequins to simulate passengers’ thermal load were placed on the cabin seats. Tracer gas was injected at the breathing level at four different hypothetical contagious passenger locations. The tracer gas concentration was measured radially up to 3.35 m away from the injection location representing four rows of a standard aircraft. A four-port sampling tree was used to collect samples at the breathing level at four different radial locations simultaneously. Each port was sampled for 30 minutes. A total of 42 tests were conducted in matching pairs to alleviate potential statistical or measurements bias. The results showed that the airflow pattern inside the mock-up airplane cabin plays a major role in determining tracer gas concentration meaning that the concentration at the same radial distance in different directions are not necessarily the same. Also, due to the air distribution pattern and cabin walls, concentrations at some seats may be higher than the source seat.


Author(s):  
Santa Maria Shithil ◽  
Mashiwat Tabassum Waishy ◽  
Lomat Haider Chowdhury

Biometric system is gaining popularity increasingly since it provides the most sophisticated technology for authentication, verification, and identification. This technology can identify each individual person on the basis of their biometric information such as their face, hand features, signatures, DNA, or iris pattern and thus can impart a secure and convenient method for authentication purposes. Hand biometrics is one of the most widely used biometric systems. There are two approaches for capturing hand biometrics: contact-based and contactless. In this paper, we present a thorough review of the state of the art contactless hand verification systems. We also present the various modules of the general contactless hand verification system and analyze various hand biometrics features.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 598
Author(s):  
Elaine Meade ◽  
Mark Anthony Slattery ◽  
Mary Garvey

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest dangers to public health of the 21st century, threatening the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases globally. Disinfection, the elimination of microbial species via the application of biocidal chemicals, is essential to control infectious diseases and safeguard animal and human health. In an era of antimicrobial resistance and emerging disease, the effective application of biocidal control measures is vital to protect public health. The COVID-19 pandemic is an example of the increasing demand for effective biocidal solutions to reduce and eliminate disease transmission. However, there is increasing recognition into the relationship between biocide use and the proliferation of Antimicrobial Resistance species, particularly multidrug-resistant pathogens. The One Health approach and WHO action plan to combat AMR require active surveillance and monitoring of AMR species; however, biocidal resistance is often overlooked. ESKAPE (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) pathogens and numerous fungal species have demonstrated drug and biocidal resistance where increased patient mortality is a risk. Currently, there is a lack of information on the impact of biocide application on environmental habitats and ecosystems. Undoubtedly, the excessive application of disinfectants and AMR will merge to result in secondary disasters relating to soil infertility, loss of biodiversity and destruction of ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-86
Author(s):  
Swati Tyagi ◽  
Shaifu Gupta ◽  
Syed Abbas ◽  
Krishna Pada Das ◽  
Baazaoui Riadh

Abstract In literature, various mathematical models have been developed to have a better insight into the transmission dynamics and control the spread of infectious diseases. Aiming to explore more about various aspects of infectious diseases, in this work, we propose conceptual mathematical model through a SEIQR (Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Quarantined-Recovered) mathematical model and its control measurement. We establish the positivity and boundedness of the solutions. We also compute the basic reproduction number and investigate the stability of equilibria for its epidemiological relevance. To validate the model and estimate the parameters to predict the disease spread, we consider the special case for COVID-19 to study the real cases of infected cases from [2] for Russia and India. For better insight, in addition to mathematical model, a history based LSTM model is trained to learn temporal patterns in COVID-19 time series and predict future trends. In the end, the future predictions from mathematical model and the LSTM based model are compared to generate reliable results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 336 ◽  
pp. 06010
Author(s):  
Chengzhen Zhao ◽  
Hui Zhao ◽  
Xun liang

Major infectious diseases have exerted a serious influence on people's lives. Through quantifying the effect of prevention and control, we can deeply understand the transmission mechanism of infectious diseases. This paper estimates the intensity of detection, the degree of isolation and other indicators, and analyzes the influence mechanism of these indicators on the scale of the epidemic, using computer programming to simulate the extended dynamics model of infectious diseases, based on the infectious disease in Hubei. The mortality rate and recovery rate, according to the data of Hubei, in the model are set as time variables, and the threshold is set at the same time. As a result, the improved analysis mechanism of the model will get more realistic simulation prediction results. It is concluded that isolation measures can effectively control the scale of the epidemic, but there is a phenomenon of marginal utility degression with excessively strict isolation measures by analysing and comparing. The increasing detection efforts will reduce the epidemic duration of the later stage, accelerating the arrival of the epidemic peak, although the peak will be slightly larger. All in all, we can comprehensively consider the testing cost and maintain a moderate detection intensity.


Author(s):  
Ali Kemal CAKIR

Tuberculosis and in some cases, flu, colds and other airborne diseases. Since research is one of the biggest concerns of causing influenza pandemics, most research surrounding aerosol contamination revolves around environmental influences on the influenza virus. Many literatures suggest that influenza is transmitted primarily through close contact, such as exposure to large respiratory droplets, direct mouth-to-mouth contact and short-term exposure to infectious aerosols. Diffusion can be accelerated or controlled by heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Researches continue that advances state of knowledge in the specific techniques that control airborne infectious disease transmission through HVAC systems, including ventilation rates, airflow regimes, filtration, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI). In this paper three methods of transmission of Airborne Infectious Diseases are discussed, namely through direct contact, large droplet contact, inhalation of droplet core. An extensive literature review of many papers was conducted infectious diseases spread in several different ways and the transmission of infectious viruses. This review targets direct and indirect contact as well as infectious viruses known to be transmitted from the air. And he focused on preventive ventilation systems for these targets. This paper will give idea to support further research on engineering controls to reduce infectious disease transmission.


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