Disease Interactome

The disease interactome is a network of genes that are related to each other through some attributes. These genes, being part of various diseases, show a high correlation among many diseases. Genes being a major part of the interactome thus can be used to determine the relationship between various diseases, their symptoms, clinical similarity, and co-morbidity. Subgraphs and similarity factors such as Jaccardian distance, cosine similarities, and others have been exploited to calculate the relationship between two or more diseases. Many diseases that did not show much resemblance on the basis of gene similarity or symptom similarity were seen to be closely related according to network interactome. The quantitative analysis between disease-disease was also done. Clustering algorithms like hierarchical clustering involving single, complete, and average linkage were applied to get a visual representation in the form of a dendrogram. Thus, disease-disease interactome was created, analyzed for finding related secondary diseases, and their basic nature was understood.

Therapeutic Decision-Making Process

Therapeutic decision making is crucial to address any health problems. Household livelihood assets had significant impact on therapeutic decision making in the study village. The researchers administered participant observation, in-depth interview, and FGD for data collection by using purposive sampling during November 2010 to June 2011. Among 250 households, the number of ill persons were 316, of which 297 received treatments from popular, folk, and professional sectors while the rest did not seek any options. The decision makers were varied for newborn, children, adolescent, adult, and aged people, and it depended on the cyclical issues of an illness episode.

Outbreak Investigation

Investigating an outbreak involves naming the cause ofthe disease, the people affected, the facts that surround someone and mode of spread of the disease, and other related factors involved in spreading the disease, and to take effective actions to contain and prevent the spread of the disease. This chapter explores investigating an outbreak.

In Vitro and in Vivo Models for Pathogenic Neisseria gonorrhoeae Infections

The prevalence of gonorrhea has not discontinued in several countries and still remains as one of the top sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and it's caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae. This bacterium gains entry into the human host via receptors, and by the usage of several virulence factors, it manages to spread through the cells and leads to severe complications. The study of these bacteria in various in vitro and in vivo models have paved the way for gaining insights on various aspects of bacterial infection, such as the study of pathogenesis of the organism in the host. It also drove the development of more appropriate drugs for the treatment of the gonorrhea illness caused by this ‘superbug'. This chapter focuses on providing a concise overview on the general aspects of N. gonorrhoeaeas an update and the in vitro and in vivo models used for understanding this bacterium over the years. Despite gonorrhea not being a rare STD, it is still a big challenge for researchers, healthcare professionals, and communicators with public awareness to communicate effectively with the general community.

Hepatitis E

Hepatitis E (HEV) remains one of the foremost public health problems globally and it is estimated to have affected one-third of the human population. Usually, symptoms appear 2 to 9 weeks after exposure to the virus and include fever, fatigue, lack of appetite, abdominal pain, and jaundice. While the government has a duty to provide access to clean water, communities, and individuals can equally play an important role in practicing and maintaining good physical and environmental hygiene. In Namibia, the spread of HEV has been a public health concern since it's outbreak in 2017. Before then, the country had two outbreaks in 1983 and 1995-1996 which affected mainly areas lacking potable water and waste disposal facilities in Kavango region. This chapter ought to provide an overview and different prevention measures and supportive management approaches used to contain and prevent the spread of HEV. The above statistic calls for plans and actions from national, regional, district management teams to implement effective active surveillance interventions in place that are geared towards curbing the spread of HEV.

Towards the Development of IT-Enabled Immunization Monitoring Framework

In this chapter, the authors present a system that uses smart immunization and develops structures to allow collaboration between parents, healthcare workers, and government agencies to cooperate at a grass-roots level to help spread immunization, collect and upload demographics, and allow for its multi-instance analysis. This system will enhance the spread of vaccination and reduce vaccine hesitancy. Information is coagulated and presented as statistical results that are presented in an engaging visualization form. Further, a reminder system has been set up to enable automated email service for parents by reminding them of proper and timely vaccinations. It collates the immunization data to present usable demographics for timely interventions, as may be necessary. The immunization perspective is retrained by easy storage and retrieval and quick remedial measures to contain the spread of vaccine-preventable diseases and reduction in child mortality. Statistical analysis has been done to predict immunization spread among different regions and detect any possible epidemic.

The Study of the Epidemiology and Clinical Features of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Epidemiology is the technique used to detect the origins of health outcomes and diseases in inhabitants. In epidemiology, the patient, the individual, and community are viewed mutually. Epidemiology is not only the analysis of health in inhabitants; it also includes applying the information enlarged by the analysis of public-based practice. In case of medicine, the practice of epidemiology is both an art and science. Currently, COVID-19 has spread all around the world. It is basically a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Through the binding of receptor in gene region of its spike protein, ACE2 is bounded by corona virus. In this chapter, the authors summarized the epidemiological characteristics, clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment prognosis of COVID-19. A complete consideration will help to control the disease.

Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme in Malaysia and Nigeria

The developing countries of the world are still lagging in the implementation of the universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS). In other to eradicate unnecessary earshot impairments via suitable rehabilitation processes, there is need for more studies. Thus, this chapter is channeled to bridge this gap. This study used secondary data by comprehensively reviewing the published researches and other relevant and related works and found that UNHS practices in Malaysia and Nigeria have both differences and similarities. The two countries use AABR and OAE as their protocol, and the newborn hearing screening is not binding on the caregivers in both countries. However, their approaches differ in the area of finance, follow-up intervals, and the years of introduction among others. Nevertheless, there are some challenges impeding the effective implementation of the programme which includes include lack of awareness, death of personnel, inadequate diagnostic centers, among others. Given these findings, this chapter could be said to have practical implications for the stakeholders.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Persons in Quarantine and Isolation Facilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Namibia

In this chapter, the authors describe the essential need of mental health and psychosocial support for people accommodated in mandatory quarantine and isolation facilities during the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Namibia through a multi-sectoral response. Namibia recorded its first two index cases on 13 March 2020 when a married couple arrived in the Windhoek district in Namibia from Madrid, Spain on 11 March 2020. Namibia has since March 2020 provided supervised quarantine services to 12,128 persons in facilities around the country. The Ministry of Health and Social Services provides mental health and psychosocial support services, which were critical in the short and long-term response to COVID-19 pandemic. Public health measures were developed in line with WHO guidelines to contain the virus. These measures include the need of setting up quarantine and isolation facilities. Recommendations for future research in strengthening mental health and psychosocial support services and coping strategies are provided in the chapter.