Socio-Environmental Vulnerability of Water in the Estuary of the Metropolitan Region of Santos (Brazil)

Abstract Santos and São Vicente Estuarine Complex (SSEC) is a densely populated coastal area that houses the main port in Latin America and the most prominent Brazilian industrial complex. Irregular occupations in preservation areas result in a disorderly increase in population, with negative social and environmental impacts. We evaluated the average annual growth of 74 slums occurring in this area and variations in water quality from 2005 to 2018. We monitor the growth of the occupied areas and estimate their respective populations. The average annual population growth was over 6% per year (p.a.). Invasions of new areas and verticalisation of already occupied areas represent 85% of the growth seen. The monthly polluting loads exceeded 450 tonnes or 2,086,000 m3, compromising the waters and local and regional public health. We strongly recommend re-urbanising the area using the resource savings caused by water loss to reduce the risks of ecosystem degradation, damage to health and disease spread.

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Under-notification of giardiasis in Auckland, New Zealand: a capture–recapture estimation

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268804003255 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 133 (1) ◽

pp. 71-79 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. E. HOQUE ◽

V. T. HOPE ◽

R. SCRAGG ◽

J. GRAHAM

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Water Quality ◽

New Zealand ◽

Disease Surveillance ◽

Adult Population ◽

Economic Conditions ◽

Public Health Services ◽

Disease Notification ◽

Capture Recapture ◽

Regional Public Health

Estimation of the degree of undercount is important for disease surveillance. Capture–recapture techniques are now being used to evaluate the completeness of disease ascertainment. This study estimated the level of under-notification of giardiasis in the Auckland adult population using a capture–recapture method. Two independent datasets of giardiasis cases [ges ]15 years were generated from the 1998–1999 Auckland Giardiasis Study (AGS) case database and cases notified to Auckland Regional Public Health Services (ARPHS) for the same period of time. Cases were matched and under-notification was estimated using a two-sample capture–recapture method. During the 12-month period, 199 cases participated in the AGS and 413 cases were notified to ARPHS. The capture–recapture calculation indicated that only 49% of cases were notified. Under-notification by a factor of 2 obscures the true burden of giardiasis. Socio-economic conditions and water quality may influence disease notification inversely. Capture–recapture techniques are useful in evaluating the completeness of surveillance.

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Understanding Economic and Health Factors Impacting the Spread of COVID-19 Disease (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.19386 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Aleksandr Farseev ◽

Yu-Yi Chu-Farseeva ◽

Yang Qi ◽

Daron Benjamin Loo

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Quantitative Research ◽

Health Indicators ◽

Initial Study ◽

Disease Spread ◽

Factors Affecting ◽

Country Level ◽

Development Scenarios ◽

Health Factors ◽

Country Clusters

UNSTRUCTURED The rapid spread of the Coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19) had drastically impacted life all over the world. While some economies are actively recovering from this pestilence, others are experiencing fast and consistent disease spread, compelling governments to impose social distancing measures that have put a halt on routines, especially in densely-populated areas. Aiming at bringing more light on key economic and public health factors affecting the disease spread, this initial study utilizes a quantitative statistical analysis based on the most recent publicly-available COVID-19 datasets. The study had shown and explained multiple significant relationships between the COVID-19 data and other country-level statistics. We have also identified and statistically profiled four major country-level clusters with relation to different aspects of COVID-19 development and country-level economic and health indicators. Specifically, this study has identified potential COVID-19 under-reporting traits as well as various economic factors that impact COVID-19 Diagnosis, Reporting, and Treatment. Based on the country clusters, we have also described the four disease development scenarios, which are tightly knit to country-level economic and public health factors. Finally, we have highlighted the potential limitation of reporting and measuring COVID-19 and provided recommendations on further in-depth quantitative research.

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The case for tracking misinformation the way we track disease

Big Data & Society ◽

10.1177/20539517211013867 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 205395172110138

Author(s):

Erika Bonnevie ◽

Jennifer Sittig ◽

Joe Smyser

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Real Time ◽

Supervised Machine Learning ◽

Disease Spread ◽

The Public ◽

Monitoring Tools ◽

Core Function ◽

Public Health Organizations ◽

Front Line Workers ◽

Media Data

While public health organizations can detect disease spread, few can monitor and respond to real-time misinformation. Misinformation risks the public’s health, the credibility of institutions, and the safety of experts and front-line workers. Big Data, and specifically publicly available media data, can play a significant role in understanding and responding to misinformation. The Public Good Projects uses supervised machine learning to aggregate and code millions of conversations relating to vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic broadly, in real-time. Public health researchers supervise this process daily, and provide insights to practitioners across a range of disciplines. Through this work, we have gleaned three lessons to address misinformation. (1) Sources of vaccine misinformation are known; there is a need to operationalize learnings and engage the pro-vaccination majority in debunking vaccine-related misinformation. (2) Existing systems can identify and track threats against health experts and institutions, which have been subject to unprecedented harassment. This supports their safety and helps prevent the further erosion of trust in public institutions. (3) Responses to misinformation should draw from cross-sector crisis management best practices and address coordination gaps. Real-time monitoring and addressing misinformation should be a core function of public health, and public health should be a core use case for data scientists developing monitoring tools. The tools to accomplish these tasks are available; it remains up to us to prioritize them.

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An analysis of COVID-19 clusters in India

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-10491-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Pooja Sengupta ◽

Bhaswati Ganguli ◽

Sugata SenRoy ◽

Aditya Chatterjee

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Cluster Analysis ◽

Population Density ◽

Case Studies ◽

Compartment Model ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Disease Spread ◽

Second Phase ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Homogeneous Groups

Abstract Background In this study we cluster the districts of India in terms of the spread of COVID-19 and related variables such as population density and the number of specialty hospitals. Simulation using a compartment model is used to provide insight into differences in response to public health interventions. Two case studies of interest from Nizamuddin and Dharavi provide contrasting pictures of the success in curbing spread. Methods A cluster analysis of the worst affected districts in India provides insight about the similarities between them. The effects of public health interventions in flattening the curve in their respective states is studied using the individual contact SEIQHRF model, a stochastic individual compartment model which simulates disease prevalence in the susceptible, infected, recovered and fatal compartments. Results The clustering of hotspot districts provide homogeneous groups that can be discriminated in terms of number of cases and related covariates. The cluster analysis reveal that the distribution of number of COVID-19 hospitals in the districts does not correlate with the distribution of confirmed COVID-19 cases. From the SEIQHRF model for Nizamuddin we observe in the second phase the number of infected individuals had seen a multitudinous increase in the states where Nizamuddin attendees returned, increasing the risk of the disease spread. However, the simulations reveal that implementing administrative interventions, flatten the curve. In Dharavi, through tracing, tracking, testing and treating, massive breakout of COVID-19 was brought under control. Conclusions The cluster analysis performed on the districts reveal homogeneous groups of districts that can be ranked based on the burden placed on the healthcare system in terms of number of confirmed cases, population density and number of hospitals dedicated to COVID-19 treatment. The study rounds up with two important case studies on Nizamuddin basti and Dharavi to illustrate the growth curve of COVID-19 in two very densely populated regions in India. In the case of Nizamuddin, the study showed that there was a manifold increase in the risk of infection. In contrast it is seen that there was a rapid decline in the number of cases in Dharavi within a span of about one month.

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Dynamic quarantine: a comparative analysis of the Chilean public health response to COVID-19

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268820002678 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 148 ◽

Author(s):

Gonzalo Grebe ◽

Javier A. Vélez ◽

Anton Tiutiunnyk ◽

Diego Aragón-Caqueo ◽

Javier Fernández-Salinas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Comparative Analysis ◽

Transmission Rate ◽

National Level ◽

Metropolitan Region ◽

Public Health Response ◽

Country Level ◽

Health Response ◽

Primary Vector

Abstract In this study, an analysis of the Chilean public health response to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 is presented. The analysis is based on the daily transmission rate (DTR). The Chilean response has been based on dynamic quarantines, which are established, lifted or prolonged based on the percentage of infected individuals in the fundamental administrative sections, called communes. This analysis is performed at a national level, at the level of the Metropolitan Region (MR) and at the commune level in the MR according to whether the commune did or did not enter quarantine between late March and mid-May of 2020. The analysis shows a certain degree of efficacy in controlling the pandemic using the dynamic quarantine strategy. However, it also shows that apparent control has only been partially achieved to date. With this policy, the control of the DTR partially falls to 4%, where it settles, and the MR is the primary vector of infection at the country level. For this reason, we can conclude that the MR has not managed to control the disease, with variable results within its own territory.

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“The Hoist of the Yellow Flag”: Vulnerable Port Cities and Public Health

Journal of Planning History ◽

10.1177/1538513221998716 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 153851322199871

Author(s):

Dirk Schubert ◽

Cor Wagenaar ◽

Carola Hein

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Water Quality ◽

Close Contact ◽

Social Darwinism ◽

Health Issues ◽

Port City ◽

Port Cities ◽

Slum Dwellers ◽

Yellow Flag ◽

Dutch City

Port cities have long played a key role in the development, discovery, and fight against diseases. They have been laboratories for policies to address public health issues. Diseases reached port cities through maritime exchanges, and the bubonic plague is a key example. Port city residents’ close contact with water further increased the chance for diseases such as cholera. Analyzing three European port cities, this article first explores the relevance of water quality for public health through the lens of the Dutch city of Rotterdam. It then examines plans and projects for London that were shaped by social Darwinism and stressed the moral failings of slum dwellers as a major cause for their misery. It finally explores the case of Hamburg as the perfect example of a city that cultivated ideals of purity and cleanliness by addressing all issues at stake in public health. This article on urban hygiene in three port cities shows how remarkably rich this field of study is; it also demonstrates that the multifaceted aspects of public health in port cities require further attention.

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COVID-19 Has Revealed America’s Broken Health Care System: What Can We Learn?

International Journal of Health Services ◽

10.1177/0020731420985640 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002073142098564

Author(s):

John Geyman

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Insurance Industry ◽

International Comparisons ◽

Economic Downturn ◽

Industrial Complex ◽

For Profit ◽

Urgent Task ◽

Single Payer ◽

Health Insurance Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed long-standing system problems of U. S. health care ranging from access barriers, uncontrolled prices and costs, unacceptable quality, widespread disparities and inequities, and marginalization of public health. All of these have been well documented by international comparisons. Our largely privatized market-based system and medical-industrial complex have been ill equipped to respond effectively to the pandemic. The accompanying economic downturn exacerbates these problems that further reveal the failures of our largely for-profit private health insurance industry, dependent as it is on continued government subsidies while it profiteers on the backs of vulnerable Americans. This article brings historical perspective to these problems, and provides markers of the extent of our unpreparedness and ineffective response to the pandemic. Coherent national health and public health policies are urgently needed based on evidence-based science, not political pressures. Financing reform is necessary, such as through single-payer Medicare for All. Eight takeaway lessons are summarized that can help to inform now best to rebuild U. S. health care and public health, an urgent task for the incoming Biden administration.

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