Public Health Control Measures for the Co-circulation of Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 During Influenza Seasons

On November 26, 2021, the B.1.1.529 COVID-19 variant was named as the Omicron variant of concern. Reports of higher transmissibility and potential immune evasion triggered flight bans and heightened health control measures across the world to stem its distribution. Wastewater-based surveillance has demonstrated to be a useful complement for community-based tracking of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Using design principles of our previous assays that detect SARS-CoV-2 variants (Alpha and Delta), here we report an allele-specific RT-qPCR assay that simultaneously targets mutations Q493R, G496S and Q498R for quantitative detection of the Omicron variant in wastewater. This method is open-sourced and can be implemented using commercially available RT-qPCR protocols, and would be an important tool for tracking the spread and introduction of the Omicron variant in communities for informed public health responses.

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Can Wastewater be Used to Improve our COVID-19 Surveillance Efforts?

CommonHealth ◽

10.15367/ch.v1i3.414 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 141-147

Author(s):

Shannon McGinnis ◽

Shane Mclouglin ◽

Tiffany Buturla ◽

Nishita D'Souza ◽

José Logo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Control Strategies ◽

Population Level ◽

The United States ◽

Control Measures ◽

Clear Understanding ◽

Health Control ◽

Health Authorities ◽

Public Health Authorities ◽

Wastewater Samples

As the spread of COVID-19 continues to significantly impact daily life in the United States and globally, there is a need for a clear understanding of disease prevalence in communities. Traditional methods that rely on counting individual cases often result in underreporting due to limited access to testing or healthcare. This issue is further exacerbated by the spread of COVID-19 by asymptomatic or presymptomatic individuals who may not seek testing. Historically, wastewater surveillance has been used to provide population-level data on the prevalence of infectious diseases in communities. Data collected through wastewater surveillance has been used to advise public health control measures, such as vaccination campaigns, and to detect local outbreaks before cases are reported to public health authorities. For this reason, researchers around the globe have been analyzing wastewater samples for SARS-CoV-2 to assist in our response to the existing COVID-19 pandemic. This commentary discusses the potential utility of wastewater-based surveillance to advise public health control strategies for COVID-19 and discusses how it may be used to strengthen local surveillance efforts in Philadelphia.

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Effectiveness of control measures during the SARS epidemic in Beijing: a comparison of the Rt curve and the epidemic curve

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268807008722 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 136 (4) ◽

pp. 562-566 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

B. J. COWLING ◽

L. M. HO ◽

G. M. LEUNG

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Quantitative Assessment ◽

Control Measures ◽

Transmission Dynamics ◽

Reproductive Number ◽

Primary Case ◽

Epidemic Curve ◽

Health Control

SUMMARYOne of the areas most affected by SARS was Beijing with 2521 reported cases. We estimate the effective reproductive number Rt for the Beijing SARS epidemic, which represents the average number of secondary cases per primary case on each day of the epidemic and is therefore a measure of the underlying transmission dynamics. Our results provide a quantitative assessment of the effectiveness of public health control measures. More generally, our results illustrate how changes in Rt will reflect changes in the epidemic curve.

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Disaster Public Health Considerations

Prehospital and Disaster Medicine ◽

10.1017/s1049023x00025267 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 32-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

David Abbott

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Hazardous Materials ◽

Control Measures ◽

Personal Hygiene ◽

The Public ◽

Health Control ◽

Public Health Information ◽

Response And Recovery ◽

Human Wastes

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of disaster public health preparedness, response, and recovery activities with particular reference to examples that have occurred in California. It discusses the public health considerations from two aspects: 1) general public health effects; and 2) public and environmental health control measures. The latter discussion is divided into: 1) drinking water; 2) human wastes; 3) food; 4) personal hygiene; 5) mass care and shelter; 6) solid waste and debris; 7) hazardous materials; 8) injury prevention programs and public health information; 9) vector control; and 10) disease control and surveillance. Two tables summarize the disaster medical and health functions as they relate to public health.

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Predicting COVID-19 spread and public health needs to contain the pandemic in West-Africa

10.1101/2020.05.23.20111294 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Beaugard Hémaho Taboe ◽

Kolawolé Valère Salako ◽

Calistus N. Ngonghala ◽

Romain Glèlè Kakaï

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

West Africa ◽

Baseline Level ◽

Transmission Rate ◽

Control Measures ◽

Contact Rate ◽

Health Control ◽

Disease Elimination ◽

Effective Contact ◽

Asymptomatic Individuals

AbstractThe novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is causing devastating demographic, social, and economic damage globally. Understanding current patterns of the pandemic spread and forecasting its long-term trajectory is essential in guiding policies aimed at curtailing the pandemic. This is particularly important in regions with weak economies and fragile health care systems such as West-Africa. We formulate and use a deterministic compartmental model to (i) assess the current patterns of COVID-19 spread in West-Africa, (ii) evaluate the impact of currently implemented control measures, and (iii) predict the future course of the pandemic with and without currently implemented and additional control measures in West-Africa. An analytical expression for the threshold level of control measures (involving a reduction in the effective contact rate) required to eliminate the pandemic is computed. Considering currently applied health control measures, numerical simulations of the model using baseline parameter values estimated from West-African COVID-19 data project a 60% reduction in the daily number of cases when the epidemic attains its peak. More reduction in the number of cases will be achieved if additional public health control measures that result in a reduction in the effective contact rate are implemented. We found out that disease elimination is difficult when more asymptomatic individuals contribute in transmission or are not identified and isolated in a timely manner. However, maintaining a baseline level of asymptomatic isolation and a low transmission rate will lead to a significant reduction in the number of daily cases when the pandemic peaks. For example, at the baseline level of asymptomatic isolation, at least a 53% reduction in the transmission rate is required for disease elimination, while disease elimination is also possible if asymptomatic individuals are identified and isolated within 2 days (after the incubation period). Combining two or more measures is better for disease control, e.g., if asymptomatic humans are contact traced or identified and isolated in less than 3 days then only about a 31% reduction in the disease transmission rate is required for disease elimination. Furthermore, we showed that the currently implemented measures caused the time-dependent effective reproduction number to reduce by approximately 37% from February 28, to August 24, 2020. We conclude that COVID-19 elimination requires more control measures than what is currently being applied in West-Africa and that mass testing and contact tracing in order to identify and isolate asymptomatic individuals early is very important in curtailing the burden of the pandemic.

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