scholarly journals Epidemic Location Intelligence System as Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Almir Karabegovic ◽  
Mirza Ponjavic ◽  
Mirsada Hukic
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Medical Information ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
State Level ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Infected Case ◽  
The Public ◽  
Intelligence System

The outbreak of COVID-19 is a public health emergency that caused disastrous results in many countries. The global aim is to stop transmission and prevent the spread of the disease. To achieve it, every country needs to scale up emergency response mechanisms, educate and actively communicate with the public, intensify infected case finding, contact tracing, monitoring, quarantine of contacts, and isolation of cases. Responding to an emergency requires efficient collaboration and a multi-skilled approach (medical, information, statistical, political, social, and other expertise), which makes it hard to define one interface for all. As actors from different perspectives and domain backgrounds need to address diverse functions, the possibility to exchange available information quickly would be desirable. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a joint state-level public health institution has not been established, but is covered by entity competencies. In this sense, a geoportal has been developed as an epidemiological location-intelligence system (ELIS) that supports the exchange of such information between the entities and the cantons. For its development, open source software components in the cloud were used as a working platform with all the necessary functionalities. The geoportal provides an entry point for access to geospatial, epidemiological, environmental and statistical data used for analysis, geocoding of confirmed COVID-19 cases, identification of disease dynamics, identification of vulnerable groups, mapping of health capacities, and general modeling of infection spread with application support for communication and collaboration between all institutions and the public. The paper describes the challenges and ways to overcome them in the development and use of ELIS.

scholarly journals Epidemic Location Intelligence System as Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Almir Karabegovic ◽  
Mirza Ponjavic ◽  
Mirsada Hukic
Keyword(s):  
Medical Information ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Epidemiological Data ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Infected Case ◽  
The Public ◽  
Intelligence System ◽  
Spread Of Infection ◽  
Available Information

The outbreak of COVID-19 is a public health emergency that caused disastrous results in many countries. The global aim is to stop transmission and prevent the spread of the disease. To achieve it, every country needs to scale up emergency response mechanisms, educate and actively communicate with the public, intensify infected case finding, contact tracing, monitoring, quarantine of contacts, and isolation of cases. Responding to an emergency requires efficient collaboration and a multi-skilled approach (medical, information, statistical, political, social, and other expertise), which makes it hard to define one interface for all. As actors from different perspectives and domain backgrounds need to address diverse functions, the possibility to exchange available information quickly would be desirable. Geoportal provides an entry point to access a variety of data (geospatial data, epidemiological data) and could be used for data discovery, view, download, and transformation. It helps to deal with challenges like data analysis, confirmed cases geocoding, recognition of disease dynamics, vulnerable groups identification, and capacity mapping. Predicting and modeling the spread of infection, along with application support for communication and collaboration, are the biggest challenges. In response to all these challenges, we have established the Epidemic Location Intelligence System (ELIS) using open-source software components in the cloud, as a working platform with all the required functionalities.

scholarly journals A Panel Evaluation of the Changes in the General Public’s Social-Media-Following of United States’ Public Health Departments during COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272199545
Author(s):  
Areej Khokhar ◽  
Aaron Spaulding ◽  
Zuhair Niazi ◽  
Sikander Ailawadhi ◽  
Rami Manochakian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Health Department ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Departments ◽  
The Social ◽  
The U.S

Importance: Social media is widely used by various segments of society. Its role as a tool of communication by the Public Health Departments in the U.S. remains unknown. Objective: To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social media following of the Public Health Departments of the 50 States of the U.S. Design, Setting, and Participants: Data were collected by visiting the Public Health Department web page for each social media platform. State-level demographics were collected from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention was utilized to collect information regarding the Governance of each State’s Public Health Department. Health rankings were collected from “America’s Health Rankings” 2019 Annual report from the United Health Foundation. The U.S. News and World Report Education Rankings were utilized to provide information regarding the public education of each State. Exposure: Data were pulled on 3 separate dates: first on March 5th (baseline and pre-national emergency declaration (NED) for COVID-19), March 18th (week following NED), and March 25th (2 weeks after NED). In addition, a variable identifying the total change across platforms was also created. All data were collected at the State level. Main Outcome: Overall, the social media following of the state Public Health Departments was very low. There was a significant increase in the public interest in following the Public Health Departments during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: With the declaration of National Emergency, there was a 150% increase in overall public following of the State Public Health Departments in the U.S. The increase was most noted in the Midwest and South regions of the U.S. The overall following in the pandemic “hotspots,” such as New York, California, and Florida, was significantly lower. Interesting correlations were noted between various demographic variables, health, and education ranking of the States and the social media following of their Health Departments. Conclusion and Relevance: Social media following of Public Health Departments across all States of the U.S. was very low. Though, the social media following significantly increased during the early course of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it still remains low. Significant opportunity exists for Public Health Departments to improve social media use to engage the public better.

scholarly journals Challenges in Contact Tracing by Mining Mobile Phone Location Data for COVID-19: Implications for Public Governance in South Africa

10.28945/4736 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 101-124
Author(s):  
Paul Kariuki ◽  
Lizzy O Ofusori ◽  
Prabhakar Rontala Subramanniam ◽  
Moses Okpeku ◽  
Maria L Goyayi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Location Data ◽  
Pertinent Data ◽  
Privacy And Confidentiality

Aim/Purpose: The paper’s objective is to examine the challenges of using the mobile phone to mine location data for effective contact tracing of symptomatic, pre-symptomatic, and asymptomatic individuals and the implications of this technology for public health governance. Background: The COVID-19 crisis has created an unprecedented need for contact tracing across South Africa, requiring thousands of people to be traced and their details captured in government health databases as part of public health efforts aimed at breaking the chains of transmission. Contact tracing for COVID-19 requires the identification of persons who may have been exposed to the virus and following them up daily for 14 days from the last point of exposure. Mining mobile phone location data can play a critical role in locating people from the time they were identified as contacts to the time they access medical assistance. In this case, it aids data flow to various databases designated for COVID-19 work. Methodology: The researchers conducted a review of the available literature on this subject drawing from academic articles published in peer-reviewed journals, research reports, and other relevant national and international government documents reporting on public health and COVID-19. Document analysis was used as the primary research method, drawing on the case studies. Contribution: Contact tracing remains a critical strategy in curbing the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. However, given increasing concern regarding its invasive nature and possible infringement of individual liberties, it is imperative to interrogate the challenges related to its implementation to ensure a balance with public governance. The research findings can thus be used to inform policies and practices associated with contact tracing in South Africa. Findings: The study found that contact tracing using mobile phone location data mining can be used to enforce quarantine measures such as lockdowns aimed at mitigating a public health emergency such as COVID-19. However, the use of technology can expose the public to criminal activities by exposing their locations. From a public governance point of view, any exposure of the public to social ills is highly undesirable. Recommendations for Practitioners: In using contact tracing apps to provide pertinent data location caution needs to be exercised to ensure that sensitive private information is not made public to the extent that it compromises citizens’ safety and security. The study recommends the development and implementation of data use protocols to support the use of this technology, in order to mitigate against infringement of individual privacy and other civil liberties. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should explore ways of improving digital applications in order to improve the acceptability of the use of contact tracing technology to manage pandemics such as COVID-19, paying attention to ethical considerations. Impact on Society: Since contact tracing has implications for privacy and confidentiality it must be conducted with caution. This research highlights the challenges that the authorities must address to ensure that the right to privacy and confidentiality is upheld. Future Research: Future research could focus on collecting primary data to provide insight on contact tracing through mining mobile phone location data. Research could also be conducted on how app-based technology can enhance the effectiveness of contact tracing in order to optimize testing and tracing coverage. This has the potential to minimize transmission whilst also minimizing tracing delays. Moreover, it is important to develop contact tracing apps that are universally inter-operable and privacy-preserving.

The UK COVID-19 contact tracing app as both an emerging technology and public health intervention: The need to consider promissory discourses

2021 ◽  
pp. 136345932110607
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Samuel ◽  
Rosie Sims
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Health Intervention ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sociology Of Expectations ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Uk

The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) COVID-19 contact tracing app was announced to the British public on 12th April 2020. The UK government endorsed the app as a public health intervention that would improve public health, protect the NHS and ‘save lives’. On 5th May 2020 the technology was released for trial on the Isle of Wight. However, the trial was halted in June 2020, reportedly due to technological issues. The app was later remodelled and launched to the public in September 2020. The rapid development, trial and discontinuation of the app over a short period of a few months meant that the mobilisation and effect of the discourses associated with the app could be traced relatively easily. In this paper we aimed to explore how these discourses were constructed in the media, and their effect on actors – in particular, those who developed and those who trialled the app. Promissory discourses were prevalent, the trajectory of which aligned with theories developed in the sociology of expectations. We describe this trajectory, and then interpret its implications in terms of infectious disease public health practices and responsibilities.

Sri Lanka: Pandemic-Catalyzed Democratic Backsliding

2021 ◽  
pp. 349-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhavani Fonseka ◽  
Luwie Ganeshathasan ◽  
Asanga Welikala
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Comparative Constitutional Law ◽  
Front Line Workers ◽  
Public Health Challenge ◽  
Government Statistics

This chapter investigates Sri Lanka’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 has posed for Sri Lanka not only a public health challenge and an economic challenge but also, perhaps most seriously, a crisis of constitutional democracy. Although questions have been raised about the accuracy of government statistics, the scale of testing and contact tracing, and failures in providing protective equipment to front-line workers including military personnel, there is broad public approval of the government’s crisis response. However, much more alarming are the clear signs in the government’s response that the public health emergency has provided the impetus for an aggressive executive takeover of the state, steepening the curve of de-democratization. The chapter then describes the aspects of the governmental crisis response that are the cause of worry, and offers an analysis based on a framework drawn from comparative politics and comparative constitutional law as to the agentic, institutional, and causal dimensions of the democratic backslide underway in Sri Lanka. While the pandemic has undoubtedly boosted the process of executive aggrandizement that had already commenced, this catalysis may in fact also shorten the authoritarian cycle, because the accelerated de-democratization is likely to result in executive actions that cross the threshold of public tolerance sooner in what as yet remains a procedural democracy.

Assessing public health risk factors for internally displaced households in North Darfur, Sudan

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elfadil Mohammed Mahmoud ◽  
Indraijt Pal ◽  
Mokbul Morshed Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Health Risk Factors ◽  
Public Health Risk ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Household Level ◽  
The Public

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the public health risk factors of internally displaced households and suggest appropriate measures and strategies for health risk reduction in the context of IDPs.Design/methodology/approachThe composite Index (CI) method was used to compare the public health risk factors at the household level in three IDP camps. A set of 22 indicators were studied in 326 households. Households were selected by using a two-stage cluster sampling technique.FindingsThe findings indicate that the Shangil Tobaya camp is at the highest risk for communicable diseases (63.6%) followed by Zamzam (52.4%) and Abu Shouk (42.7%) at the household level. Eight indicators appeared to have made differential impacts between Abu Shouk and Shangil Tobaya, these include: level of education, walking time to health facilities, water source, latrines type, safe disposal of child feces, frequency of visit by pregnant women to antenatal care services, place of delivery and women delivering their children with the help of skilled birth attendants.Research limitations/implicationsSince the selection criteria of the camps were predefined; there are variations in the number of samples between the camps. Therefore, the generalizability may be compromised.Social implicationsIncreased access to healthcare services particularly reproductive health services to the most vulnerable groups (women). Community involvement in services management to promote ownership.Originality/valueThe methods used in this study is original and flexible and can be replicated for other emergency areas and risks.

scholarly journals The Public Health Intervention for International Students at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-106
Author(s):  
Hazeqa Salleh ◽  
Nicholas Tze Ping Pang ◽  
Mohammad Saffree Jeffree ◽  
Helen Lasimbang ◽  
Syed Sharizman Syed Abdul Rahim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
International Students ◽  
Early Phase ◽  
International Student ◽  
Public Health Intervention ◽  
Health Intervention ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Public

   Background: COVID-19 pandemic that started in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, has spread globally, and Sabah is one of the states in Malaysia that is affected by it. The outburst in social media on discrimination against the people from China impacted the international students from China. Thus, University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) had to play a role in mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic and protecting its students. This article aimed to describe the actions taken by UMS for its international student from China during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design where all 379 students from China in UMS were screened from February 2020 until March 2020 during the early phase of COVID 19.  Results: During this study period, 0.5% of the students were classified as Persons under Investigation (PUI), while 99.5% were classified as Person under Surveillance (PUS).  Conclusion: The public health interventions included surveillance, contact tracing, monitoring, quarantine, isolation, social distancing, mental health support, and mental health intervention activities. These actions to control the pandemic reduce the state health department's health burden and help the students in need. 

scholarly journals Estimating the proportion of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in an Italian region with intermediate incidence during the first pandemic wave: an observational retrospective study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Martinelli ◽  
Francesca Fortunato ◽  
Sara Mazzilli ◽  
Lucia Bisceglia ◽  
Pier Luigi Lopalco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Virus Transmission ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Asymptomatic Infections ◽  
Public Health Strategies

Abstract Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, asymptomatic transmission represented an important challenge for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 through the traditional public health strategies. Further understanding of the contribution of asymptomatic infections to SARS-CoV-2 transmission has been of crucial importance for pandemic control. We conducted a retrospective epidemiological study to characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 cases occurred in the Apulia region, Italy, during the first epidemic wave of COVID-19 outbreak (February 29 - July 7, 2020). We analyzed data collected in a regional platform developed to manage surveillance activities, namely investigation and follow-up of cases and contacts, contact tracing, laboratory and clinical data collection. We included all asymptomatic cases that were laboratory-confirmed during the appropriate follow-up, defined as persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 who did not develop symptoms/clinical signs of the disease. Between February 29 and July 7, 2020, a total of 4,536 cases were diagnosed with COVID-19 among 193,757 tests performed. The group of persons with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection consisted of 903 cases; the asymptomatic proportion was 19.9% (95%CI: 18.8-21.1%); this decreased with increasing age (OR: 0.89, 95%CI: 0.83-0.96; p=0.001), in individuals with underlying comorbidities (OR: 0.55, 95%CI: 0.41-0.73; p<0.001), and in males (OR: 0.69, 95%CI: 0.54-0.87; p=0.002). The median asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 RNA positive period was 19 days (IQR: 14-31) and the cumulative proportion of persons with resolution of infection 14 days after the first positive PCR test was 74%. As the public health community is debating the question of whether asymptomatic and late spreaders could sustain virus transmission in the communities, such cases present unique opportunities to gain insight into SARS-CoV-2 adaptation to human host. This has important implications for future COVID-19 surveillance and prevention.

scholarly journals Measuring the scientific effectiveness of contact tracing: Evidence from a natural experiment

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (33) ◽  
pp. e2100814118
Author(s):  
Thiemo Fetzer ◽  
Thomas Graeber
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Public Health Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Random Breakdown ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Health Authorities

Contact tracing has for decades been a cornerstone of the public health approach to epidemics, including Ebola, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and now COVID-19. It has not yet been possible, however, to causally assess the method’s effectiveness using a randomized controlled trial of the sort familiar throughout other areas of science. This study provides evidence that comes close to that ideal. It exploits a large-scale natural experiment that occurred by accident in England in late September 2020. Because of a coding error involving spreadsheet data used by the health authorities, a total of 15,841 COVID-19 cases (around 20% of all cases) failed to have timely contact tracing. By chance, some areas of England were much more severely affected than others. This study finds that the random breakdown of contact tracing led to more illness and death. Conservative causal estimates imply that, relative to cases that were initially missed by the contact tracing system, cases subject to proper contact tracing were associated with a reduction in subsequent new infections of 63% and a reduction insubsequent COVID-19–related deaths of 66% across the 6 wk following the data glitch.

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