Spatio-temporal dynamics of schistosomiasis in Rwanda between 2001 and 2012: impact of the national Neglected Tropical Disease control programme

Schistosomiasis is recognised as a major public health problem in Rwanda. We aimed to identify the spatio-temporal dynamics of its distribution at a fine-scale spatial resolution and to explore the impact of control programme interventions. Incidence data of Schistosoma mansoni infection at 367 health facilities were obtained for the period 2001-2012. Disease cluster analyses were conducted using spatial scan statistics and geographic information systems. The impact of control interventions was assessed for three distinct sub-periods. Findings demonstrated persisting, emerging and re-emerging clusters of schistosomiasis infection across space and time. The control programme initially caused an abrupt increase in incidence rates during its implementation phase. However, this was followed by declining and disappearing clusters when the programme was fully in place. The findings presented should contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of schistosomiasis distribution to be used when implementing future control activities, including prevention and elimination efforts.

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A multi-state spatio-temporal Markov model for categorized incidence of meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268812001926 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 141 (8) ◽

pp. 1764-1771 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

L. AGIER ◽

M. STANTON ◽

G. SOGA ◽

P. J. DIGGLE

Keyword(s):

Positive Predictive Value ◽

Predictive Value ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Incidence Rates ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Temporal Dependence ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Annual Scale

SUMMARYMeningococcal meningitis is a major public health problem in the African Belt. Despite the obvious seasonality of epidemics, the factors driving them are still poorly understood. Here, we provide a first attempt to predict epidemics at the spatio-temporal scale required for in-year response, using a purely empirical approach. District-level weekly incidence rates for Niger (1986–2007) were discretized into latent, alert and epidemic states according to pre-specified epidemiological thresholds. We modelled the probabilities of transition between states, accounting for seasonality and spatio-temporal dependence. One-week-ahead predictions for entering the epidemic state were generated with specificity and negative predictive value >99%, sensitivity and positive predictive value >72%. On the annual scale, we predict the first entry of a district into the epidemic state with sensitivity 65·0%, positive predictive value 49·0%, and an average time gained of 4·6 weeks. These results could inform decisions on preparatory actions.

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Exploring spatial variation in BCG vaccination among children 0–35 months in Ethiopia: spatial analysis of Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2016

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-043565 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. e043565

Author(s):

Chilot Desta Agegnehu ◽

Adugnaw Zeleke Alem

Keyword(s):

Spatial Variation ◽

Health Survey ◽

Addis Ababa ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Demographic And Health Survey ◽

Scan Statistics ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Hotspot Analysis ◽

Bcg Vaccination ◽

South West

ObjectiveTuberculosis is a major public health problem and is the second leading cause of death worldwide. BCG vaccination is a life-saving and important part of standard tuberculosis control measures, particularly in Ethiopia where tuberculosis is endemic. The End Tuberculosis Strategy targets of 2020 have not been achieved. Exploring spatial variations in BCG vaccination among children is vital to designing and monitoring effective intervention programmes. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the spatial variation in BCG vaccination among children in Ethiopia.DesignCross-sectional study design.SettingEthiopia.ParticipantsChildren aged 0–35 months.Primary outcomeBCG vaccination coverage.MethodsData from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey were used and a total of 4453 children aged 0–35 months were included. Spatial autocorrelation analysis, cluster and outlier analysis, hotspot analysis, spatial interpolation, and spatial scan statistics were carried out to identify geographical risk areas for BCG vaccine utilisation. ArcGIS V.10.6 and SaTScan V.9.6 statistical software were employed to explore spatial pattern and significant hotspot areas for BCG vaccination among children.ResultsBCG vaccination was spatially clustered in Ethiopia at the regional level (Global Moran’s I=0.516, p<0.001). A total of 51 most likely clusters of low BCG vaccination were identified in the Somali and Afar regions (log-likelihood ratio=136.58, p<0.001). Significant secondary clusters were also identified in North West Gambela, South Amhara, South West Addis Ababa, North East Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region, and South West Oromia.ConclusionA low probability of receiving BCG vaccination was found among children in the Somali and Afar regions. Therefore, these areas should be given attention when designing effective immunisation strategies to improve BCG vaccination among children in order to reduce the burden of tuberculosis in Ethiopia.

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Evaluation of coverage of mass drug administration programme conducted in Nalgonda district of Telangana state

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20184786 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (12) ◽

pp. 5178

Author(s):

Praveena Ganapa ◽

Kishore Y. Jothula ◽

Vishweswara Rao Guthi ◽

P. Abhishek ◽

V. Jyothi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lymphatic Filariasis ◽

Drug Administration ◽

Mass Drug Administration ◽

Compliance Rate ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Control Programme ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Endemic District ◽

Study Population ◽

Coverage Rates

Background: Lymphatic filariasis has been a major public health problem in India. Government of India during 2004 initiated Mass Drug Administration (MDA) with annual single dose of DEC tablets to all the population living at the risk of filariasis. Nalgonda is endemic district where MDA programme is undertaken every year to eliminate lymphatic filariasis. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the coverage and compliance rates of the MDA programme conducted during January 2018.Methods: The guidelines of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) were used to select a total of 129 households from four clusters (three rural and one urban). Each household was visited by a team and data was recorded on pre-structured questionnaire available in operational guidelines manual of NVBDCP. Data analyzed by SPSS version 22.Results: Total of 129 households were included in the study, Among the 523 study population, only 494 were eligible population to receive MDA. Current study shows that coverage rate was 79.84% and compliance rate was 84.6%. Fear of side effects was most common reason for noncompliance.Conclusions: Efforts should be made to improve coverage rates by involving more human resources, supervision and incentives. Though compliance rates were higher than required there is need to maintain these rates by IEC activities and community participation.

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SQoF-WEAR Project. The Use of Wearable Devices to Identify the Impact of Stress on Workers’ Quality of Life

Engineering Proceedings ◽

10.3390/engproc2021007025 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 25

Author(s):

Patricia Concheiro-Moscoso ◽

Betania Groba ◽

Sílvia Monteiro-Fonseca ◽

Nereida Canosa ◽

Cristina Queirós

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Wearable Devices ◽

Assessment Tools ◽

Self Report ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

The University ◽

And Control ◽

The Impact

(1) Background: Stress is a major public health problem due to its relevant health, social and economic repercussions. Moreover, stress can be associated with work; when stress increases over time, burnout can occur, an occupational phenomenon recognized by the WHO in 2019. There is interest in the use of wearable devices to monitor and control stressors and their influence on the condition of workers. This study aims to identify the level of job stress and its influence on the quality of life of workers. (2) Methods:This longitudinal study was carried out between the end of May and mid-July 2021. Three assessment tools along with a daily and a weekly questionnaire were computerized through the RedCap platform. The participants had to fill out the diary and weekly questionnaires and wear a Xiaomi Mi Band 5 during the project. (3) Results and discussion: Thirty-six workers from the University of Coruña and from the University of Porto participated in the project. This study promotes the awareness of workers regarding their work stress and the influence of this factor on their quality of life using physiological (e.g., activity, sleep, and heart rate) and psychological indicators (self-report questionnaires in different moments).

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Update on the drug-food interactions

Batna Journal of Medical Sciences (BJMS) ◽

10.48087/bjmstf.2014.1211 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 100-106

Author(s):

Hafid Bahri ◽

◽

Abdelkader Douaoui ◽

Moufida Gharbi ◽

Djamila Amroun

Keyword(s):

Drug Interactions ◽

Renal Clearance ◽

Enzyme Inhibitor ◽

Plasma Concentrations ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Therapeutic Index ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Urine Ph ◽

Pharmacodynamic Interaction ◽

The Impact

Drug interactions are a major public health problem, which partly attributed to some 10,000 deaths/year in Canada. Besides the interactions between two drugs, drug interactions are also due to the effect of other substances such as foods or nutrients. The drug-food interaction will be pharmacokinetic (affecting the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination) or pharmacodynamic interaction. It is in the intestine that food may have the greatest impact with mainly a change in the amount of drugs absorbed that may be clinically significant for some drugs with narrow therapeutic index (cyclosporine, phenytoin, theophylline, etc.). The absorption of the drug in the presence of food will be determined by the particular physicochemical properties of the drug but also by the impact of food on one of the parameters determining the absorption such as: modified gastric acidity and emptying, the fat content of the food, the use of common transport between the drug and nutrients, chemical reactions between elements and drugs. Fasting situations or malnutrition can affect the distribution of drugs by increasing the free drug fraction, involving sometimes the risk of overdose. Diet affects drug metabolism by changing the activity of cytochrome P450. Most often is described the increase by grapefruit juice (enzyme inhibitor) of plasma concentrations of some drugs (cyclosporine, some statins, and calcium antagonists). Other foods (garlic, smoked meats and fish, caffeine) may increase metabolism. Diet can influence two stages of renal clearance (glomerular filtration - tubular reabsorption) by modifying urine pH or renal clearance. Pharmacodynamic interactions are also monitored, especially foods rich in vitamin k or tyramine with antivitamins K or MAOIs. Finally, health professionals must mobilize against these interactions, including through patient information.

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Predicting change in biogeochemical potential of subsurface systems with changing hydrogeological conditions

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6349 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Swamini Khurana ◽

Falk Heße ◽

Martin Thullner

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Preferential Flow ◽

Nutrient Loading ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Reaction Network ◽

Climate Scenario ◽

Ecosystem Functions ◽

External Forcing ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

The Impact

In a changing climate scenario, we expect weather event patterns to change, both in frequency and in intensity. The subsequent impacts of these changing patterns on ecosystem functions are of great interest. Water quality particularly is critical due to public health concerns. Already, seasonal variation of water quality has been attributed to varying microbial community assemblages and nutrient loading in the corresponding water body but the contribution of the variations in the quantity of groundwater recharge is a missing link. It is thus beneficial to establish links between external forcing such as changing infiltration rate or recharge on nutrient cycling in the subsurface. We undertake this study to investigate the impact of temporal variation in external forcing on the biogeochemical potential of spatially heterogeneous subsurface systems using a numerical modeling approach. We used geostatistical tools to generate spatial random fields by considering difference combinations of the variance in the log conductivity field and the anisotropy of the domain. Tuning these two parameters assists in effective representation of a wide variety of geologic materials with varying intensity of preferential flow paths in the heterogeneous domain. We ran simulations using OGS#BRNS that enables us to combine a flexibly defined microbial mediated reaction network with the mentioned spatially heterogeneous domains in transient conditions. We propose that a combination of estimated field indicators of Damk&#246;hler number, Peclet number (transformed Damk&#246;hler number: Dat), and projected temporal dynamics in surface conditions can assist us in predicting the change in biogeochemical potential of the subsurface system. Preliminary results indicate that we miss potentially critical variations in reactive species concentration if we neglect spatio-temporal heterogeneities for regimes where 1<Dat<40. For regimes characterized by values outside this range, we propose that spatio-temporal heterogeneities due to subsurface structure and changing hydrological forcing may not be relevant.

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The National Tuberculosis Control Programme of Liberia Laboratory Programme Performance

Journal of Environmental and Public Health ◽

10.1155/2019/5340263 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Kassaye Tekie Desta ◽

T. E. Masango ◽

Zerish Zethu Nkosi

Keyword(s):

Proficiency Testing ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Control Programme ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Tuberculosis Control ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Laboratory Performance ◽

Sputum Microscopy ◽

Tuberculosis Control Programme

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in Liberia. Little is known about the TB laboratory performance of Liberia and the challenges after the 14 years of civil war which ended in 2003. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the TB laboratory performance of Liberia. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted from 2014 to 2015. The study was conducted using quantitative data of TB case findings, sputum microscopy proficiency testing, and on-site assessment of sputum microscopy laboratories in Liberia. 80 laboratories participated in the proficiency testing. Besides, four years’ (2012–2015) TB case finding data obtained from the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Control Programme (NLTCP) were used to complement the study. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results. From the 80 TB sputum microscopy testing laboratories participating in proficiency testing, only 20 (25%) scored acceptable performance. 46 (58%) TB microscopy laboratories reported quantification errors for the proficiency panel slide 6 which was 3+. The national TB smear-positive cases notified were 4342 in 2012 but decreased to 3820 and 2448 in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The TB smear case detection rate showed an increase from 68% in 2010 to 78% in 2011 and a decrease to 60%, 57%, and 42% in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively. Conclusion. Between 2010 and 2013, the NLTCP succeeded in increasing the number of TB sputum microscopy laboratories. At most of the TB microscopy sites, the TB laboratory quality system was not implemented. The NLTCP of Liberia should develop strategies to overcome its challenges in TB laboratory testing.

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Spatio-Temporal Patterns of the 2019-nCoV Epidemic at the County Level in Hubei Province, China

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17072563 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (7) ◽

pp. 2563 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Wentao Yang ◽

Min Deng ◽

Chaokui Li ◽

Jincai Huang

Keyword(s):

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Spatial Interaction ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Temporal Patterns ◽

Temporal Analysis ◽

Hubei Province ◽

Incidence Rates ◽

County Level ◽

Spatial Clusters ◽

Spatio Temporal

Understanding the spatio-temporal characteristics or patterns of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic is critical in effectively preventing and controlling this epidemic. However, no research analyzed the spatial dependency and temporal dynamics of 2019-nCoV. Consequently, this research aims to detect the spatio-temporal patterns of the 2019-nCoV epidemic using spatio-temporal analysis methods at the county level in Hubei province. The Mann–Kendall and Pettitt methods were used to identify the temporal trends and abrupt changes in the time series of daily new confirmed cases, respectively. The local Moran’s I index was applied to uncover the spatial patterns of the incidence rate, including spatial clusters and outliers. On the basis of the data from January 26 to February 11, 2020, we found that there were 11 areas with different types of temporal patterns of daily new confirmed cases. The pattern characterized by an increasing trend and abrupt change is mainly attributed to the improvement in the ability to diagnose the disease. Spatial clusters with high incidence rates during the period were concentrated in Wuhan Metropolitan Area due to the high intensity of spatial interaction of the population. Therefore, enhancing the ability to diagnose the disease and controlling the movement of the population can be confirmed as effective measures to prevent and control the regional outbreak of the epidemic.

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Progress in Research on SARS-CoV-2 Infection Causing Neurological Diseases and Its Infection Mechanism

Frontiers in Neurology ◽

10.3389/fneur.2020.592888 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Lintao Wang ◽

Zhiguang Ren ◽

Li Ma ◽

Yanjie Han ◽

Wenqiang Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Neurological Diseases ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Neurological Complications ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

The Impact ◽

Great Harm

COVID-19 has spread rapidly worldwide since its outbreak and has now become a major public health problem. More and more evidence indicates that SARS-CoV-2 may not only affect the respiratory system but also cause great harm to the central nervous system. Therefore, it is extremely important to explore in-depth the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the nervous system. In this paper, the possible mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 invading the central nervous system during COVID-19, and the neurological complications caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection were reviewed.

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Animal Models of Undernutrition and Enteropathy as Tools for Assessment of Nutritional Intervention.

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu11092233 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 2233 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Salameh ◽

Morel ◽

Zeilani ◽

Déchelotte ◽

Marion-Letellier

Keyword(s):

Growth Failure ◽

Public Health Problem ◽

Nutritional Intervention ◽

Experimental Models ◽

Major Public Health Problem ◽

Gut Function ◽

Environmental Enteric Dysfunction ◽

Clinical Models ◽

Novel Therapeutic Strategies ◽

The Impact

: Undernutrition is a major public health problem leading to 1 in 5 of all deaths in children under 5 years. Undernutrition leads to growth stunting and/or wasting and is often associated with environmental enteric dysfunction (EED). EED mechanisms leading to growth failure include intestinal hyperpermeability, villus blunting, malabsorption and gut inflammation. As non-invasive methods for investigating gut function in undernourished children are limited, pre-clinical models are relevant to elucidating the pathophysiological processes involved in undernutrition and EED, and to identifying novel therapeutic strategies. In many published models, undernutrition was induced using protein or micronutrient deficient diets, but these experimental models were not associated with EED. Enteropathy models mainly used gastrointestinal injury triggers. These models are presented in this review. We found only a few studies investigating the combination of undernutrition and enteropathy. This highlights the need for further developments to establish an experimental model reproducing the impact of undernutrition and enteropathy on growth, intestinal hyperpermeability and inflammation, that could be suitable for preclinical evaluation of innovative therapeutic intervention.

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