scholarly journals Seroprevalence of polio antibodies in adult laboratory staff in South Africa, 2009 to 2013

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-60
Author(s):  
Shelina Moonsamy ◽  
Melinda Suchard
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Laboratory Staff ◽  
Population Immunity ◽  
Antibody Titres ◽  
Global Eradication ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Type 3 ◽  
Health Programme

The global eradication of polio has been a World Health Organization goal since May 1988 with the current target for global eradication set at 2018. A keystone of the eradication initiative is achieving and maintaining high immunisation coverage, producing high population immunity. Assessing infant vaccination coverage does not give a reliable indication of adult immunity levels as antibody titres decline with age. A requirement of the occupational health programme at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases is to test newly appointed personnel for immunity to polio. During the period 2009 to 2013, 352 sera were collected and tested by means of antibody neutralisation assays to determine immunity to all three polio serotypes. The objective of this study was to assess immunity to polio in personnel employed at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases as a proxy for the general adult South African population. The seroprevalence to polio serotypes 1, 2 and 3 were 85.5, 90.0 and 74.0%, respectively. Of the 352 samples tested, 2.3% were sero-negative for all three serotypes and 36.0% were sero-negative to at least one of the serotypes. The seroprevalence to polio serotype 3 falls below the target of 80.0%, and could pose a potential risk following importation or development of vaccine derived poliovirus type 3.

Non-Communicable Diseases and Global Health Politics

2019 ◽  
pp. 626-659
Author(s):  
Roger Magnusson
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Response ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Health Politics ◽  
Chronic Respiratory Diseases ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Control

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, are responsible for around 70 percent of global deaths each year. This chapter describes how NCDs have become prevalent and critically evaluates global efforts to address NCDs and their risk factors, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) system. It explores the factors that have prevented those addressing NCDs from achieving access to resources and a priority commensurate with their impact on people’s lives. The chapter evaluates the global response to NCDs both prior to and since the UN High-Level Meeting on Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, held in 2011, and considers opportunities for strengthening that response in future.

scholarly journals Circulation and Molecular Epidemiology of Enteroviruses in Paralyzed, Immunodeficient and Healthy Individuals in Tunisia, a Country with a Polio-Free Status for Decades

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 380
Author(s):  
Anissa Chouikha ◽  
Dorra Rezig ◽  
Nadia Driss ◽  
Ichrak Abdelkhalek ◽  
Ahlem Ben Yahia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detection Rate ◽  
Warning System ◽  
World Health ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Nucleotide Sequencing ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Type 3

This report is an overview of enterovirus (EV) detection in Tunisian polio-suspected paralytic cases (acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases), healthy contacts and patients with primary immunodeficiencies (PID) during an 11-year period. A total of 2735 clinical samples were analyzed for EV isolation and type identification, according to the recommended protocols of the World Health Organization. Three poliovirus (PV) serotypes and 28 different nonpolio enteroviruses (NPEVs) were detected. The NPEV detection rate was 4.3%, 2.8% and 12.4% in AFP cases, healthy contacts and PID patients, respectively. The predominant species was EV-B, and the circulation of viruses from species EV-A was noted since 2011. All PVs detected were of Sabin origin. The PV detection rate was higher in PID patients compared to AFP cases and contacts (6.8%, 1.5% and 1.3% respectively). PV2 was not detected since 2015. Using nucleotide sequencing of the entire VP1 region, 61 strains were characterized as Sabin-like. Among them, six strains of types 1 and 3 PV were identified as pre-vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs). Five type 2 PV, four strains belonging to type 1 PV and two strains belonging to type 3 PV, were classified as iVDPVs. The data presented provide a comprehensive picture of EVs circulating in Tunisia over an 11-year period, reveal changes in their epidemiology as compared to previous studies and highlight the need to set up a warning system to avoid unnoticed PVs.

scholarly journals Death of the King: The Introduction of Vaccination into Nepal in 1816

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Heydon
Keyword(s):  
Communicable Disease ◽  
World Health ◽  
Smallpox Vaccination ◽  
Communicable Disease Control ◽  
Eradication Programme ◽  
Early Appearance ◽  
Colonial Authority ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Eradication ◽  
Health Organization

This article explores the introduction of smallpox vaccination into Nepal in 1816 at the request of the Nepalese government; the king, however, was not vaccinated, contracted the disease and died. British hopes that vaccination would be extended throughout the country did not eventuate. The article examines the significance of this early appearance of vaccination in Nepal for both Nepalese and British, and relates it to the longer history of smallpox control and eventual eradication. When the Nepalese requested World Health Organization (WHO) assistance with communicable disease control in the mid-twentieth century little had changed for most Nepalese. We know about the events in 1816 through the letters of the newly imposed British Resident after Nepal’s military defeat in the Anglo-Nepal War (1814–16). By also drawing on other sources and foregrounding Nepal, it becomes possible to build up a more extensive picture of smallpox in Nepal that shows not only boundaries and limits to colonial authority and influence but also how governments may adopt and use technologies on their own terms and for their own purposes. Linking 1816 to the ultimately successful global eradication programme 150 years later reminds us of the need to think longer term as to why policies and programmes may or may not work as planned.

scholarly journals Implementation of a national electronic reporting system in Lithuania

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Domeika ◽  
G Kligys ◽  
O Ivanauskiene ◽  
J Mereckiene ◽  
V Bakasenas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reporting System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Aggregated Data ◽  
Electronic Reporting ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Control ◽  
Further Development

Electronic reporting systems improve the quality and timeliness of the surveillance of communicable diseases. The aim of this paper is to present the process of the implementation and introduction of an electronic reporting system for the surveillance of communicable diseases in Lithuania. The project which started in 2002 was performed in collaboration between Lithuania and Sweden and was facilitated by the parallel process of adapting the surveillance system to European Union (EU) standards. The Lotus-based software, SmittAdm, was acquired from the Department of Communicable Diseases Control and Prevention of Stockholm County in Sweden and adopted for Lithuania, resulting in the Lithuanian software, ULISAS. A major advantage of this program for Lithuania was the possibility to work offline. The project was initiated in the two largest counties in Lithuania where ULISAS had been installed and put in use by January 2005. The introduction was gradual, the national level was connected to the system during late 2005, and all remaining counties were included during 2006 and 2007. The reporting system remains to be evaluated concerning timeliness and completeness of the surveillance. Further development is needed, for example the inclusion of all physicians and laboratories and an alert system for outbreaks. The introduction of this case-based, timely electronic reporting system in Lithuania allows better reporting of data to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) compared to the former reporting system with paper-based, aggregated data.

scholarly journals Physical activity as a global risk factor for non-communicable diseases: time for action, what, why, when, who and how?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
E V Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Salt Intake ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Global Risk ◽  
Dietary Salt ◽  
Discussion Paper ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Dietary Salt Intake ◽  
Health Organization

Chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for more than two-thirds of global mortality, at least 50% of which is preventable on the basis of modifiable lifestyle behaviours. In the wake of the UN Global Summit on NCDs, the World Health Organization produced a discussion paper that emphasised the need for a global monitoring framework and voluntary global targets for the prevention and control of NCDs.1 The WHO discussion paper presents 10 suggested voluntary targets including the reduction in deaths due to NCDs, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, an overall reduction in blood pressure and obesity, as well as reduced smoking, alcohol and dietary salt intake, increased screening for cervical cancer and the elimination of trans-fats from the food supply. Physical activity is notable by its absence from this critical list of voluntary global targets for preventing and controlling NCDs

scholarly journals Human enterovirus infection in stray dogs. Some aspects of interest to public health

1996 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliseu Alves Waldman ◽  
Regina C. Moreira ◽  
Sueli G. Saez ◽  
Denise F.C. Souza ◽  
Rita de C.C. Carmona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutralizing Antibodies ◽  
Neutralizing Antibody ◽  
Human Enterovirus ◽  
Poliovirus Type ◽  
Stray Dogs ◽  
Wild Poliovirus ◽  
Antibody Titres ◽  
Global Eradication ◽  
Type 3 ◽  
Echovirus Type

To investigate the possible role of domestic animals as reservoirs of human enteroviruses, we studied 212 stray dogs captured in different areas of the municipality of São Paulo. The captured animals were divided into 19 groups of 10 to 20 dogs each; faeces of 126 of the 212 dogs were processed for enterovirus isolation. The following viruses were isolated from 12 dogs: poliovirus type 1 (2 dogs), poliovirus type 3 (1 dog), echovirus type 7 (8 dogs) and echovirus type 15 (1 dog). Of the 12 infected animals, four had specific homotypic neutralizing antibody titres > 16. All 212 animals were tested for the presence of neutralizing antibodies to human enteroviruses. The frequency of neutralizing antibodies present in titres of > 16 was 10.3%, 3,8% and 4.3% for vaccinal prototypes of polioviruses 1, 2 and 3 respectively; 1,9%, 1.4% and 1.5% for wild prototypes of the same viruses, 11.3% for echovirus 7, and 2.4% for echovirus 15. The proportion of dogs with neutralizing antibodies varied with the virus studied. Some indication of the susceptibility of dogs to infection with human enteroviruses was demonstrated, and the importance of this fact for the Plan for Global Eradication of the Wild Poliovirus is discussed.

scholarly journals Detecting tuberculosis: rapid tools but slow progress

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-83
Author(s):  
K. England ◽  
T. Masini ◽  
E. Fajardo
Keyword(s):  
Point Of Care ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
World Health ◽  
High Turnover ◽  
Low Resource Settings ◽  
Laboratory Staff ◽  
Low Resource ◽  
Point Of Care Test ◽  
Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends Xpert® MTB/RIF as the initial test for all people with presumptive tuberculosis (TB). A number of challenges have been reported, however, in using this technology, particularly in low-resource settings. Here we examine these challenges, and provide our perspective of the barriers to Xpert scale-up as assessed through a survey in 16 TB burden countries in which the Médecins Sans Frontières is present. We observed that the key barriers to scale-up include a lack of policy adoption and implementation of WHO recommendations for the use of Xpert, resulting from high costs, poor sensitisation of clinical staff and a high turnover of trained laboratory staff; insufficient service and maintenance provision provided by the manufacturer; and inadequate resources for sustainability and expansion. Funding is a critical issue as countries begin to transition out of support from the Global Fund. While it is clear that there is still an urgent need for research into and development of a rapid, affordable point-of-care test for TB that is truly adapted for use in low-resource settings, countries in the meantime need to develop functional and sustainable Xpert networks in order to close the existing diagnostic gap.

Keeping the flu at bay: Methods for detecting and containing infectious disease

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Atresha Karra, JD ◽  
Emily Cornette, JD
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
United States ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Reporting Requirements ◽  
The World ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Health Organization

This article focuses on the existing methods for tracking and restricting the spread of communicable diseases, both within United States borders and across nations. It will first describe the roles played by the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization and will then explore how communicable diseases across the world are identified and monitored. This will be followed by a discussion of US and world reporting requirements and methods. Finally, the article will discuss the tactics used by the United States to control the spread of disease.

World Health Organization

1956 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-491
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
National Health ◽  
Health Personnel ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
And Training

The activities of the World Health Organization (WHO) during 1955 were surveyed in the anuual report to the World Health Assembly and to the UN of the WHO Director-General, Dr. Marcoline G. Candau. During 1955, Dr. Candau stated, substantial results had been achieved in three categories of programs: the fight against communicable diseases, the strengthening of national health services, and the raising of standards of education and training for all types of health personnel. Malaria, tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, and trachoma were among the communicable diseases towards the eradication of which WHO activities had been directed, with in many instances considerable progress. However, it had become increasingly evident that the beneficial effects of such campaigns against disease could only constitute concrete gains for public health if national health services could be effectively strengthened, and during 1955 a large part of WHO's work had continued to be devoted to that aim, in all regions but particularly in the Americas, southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. In the development of national health services, particular attention had been devoted to such matters as the principle of program integration, nutrition and health education, changes in health services necessitated by the aging of populations, mental health, and environmental sanitation. In regard to education and training of health personnel, an effort had been made in the regions to increase the use of all methods which had proved their value in the past, including direct training of health personnel at all levels, provision of fellowships for study abroad, assistance to institutions and the sponsoring of international conferences, training courses and seminars.

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