Viruses pose a wide-ranging and significant risk to human health through acute and persistent infections that may confer risks for sequelae including musculoskeletal, immunological, and oncological disease. Infection prevention and control (IPAC) remains a highly effective, generic, global, and cost-effective means to mitigate virus spread. IPAC recommends proper disinfection of high-touch environmental surfaces (HITES) to reduce the risk of direct and indirect virus spread. The United States, Canada and many other countries mandate pre-market assessments of HITES disinfectants against viruses and other types of microbial pathogens. However, there are basic disparities in the regulation of disinfectants. Such incongruity in test protocols interferes with the determination of the true breadth of the microbicidal potential of a given product in the field where target pathogens are often unknown or may be encountered as mixtures. This review examines the various methodological disparities and recommends a more cohesive and harmonized approach. While there is particular emphasis on viruses here, an overall harmonization in microbicide testing of HITES disinfectants will greatly assist the numerous stakeholders involved in IPAC.

Single room isolation for respiratory viral infections (RVI), like influenza, puts hospitals under pressure. During the influenza season 2019/20, we implemented Droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) for RVI in two acute care hospitals and prospectively assessed the rate of hospital-acquired RVI (HARVI). 318 patients were admitted with RVI, 85 had Influenza or RSV, 75 stayed in multi-bed rooms with DroPS. From 764 patients at risk, hospitalised ≥ three days in a multi-bed room, 11 (1.4%) developed a clinical HARVI, and three tested positive (3/764, 0.4%; 2x RSV, 1x influenza). DroPS may represent an alternative strategy to deal with respiratory viral infections.

IntroductionBoth high- and low-income countries reported increased antibiotic consumption among COVID-19 patients during the first months of the pandemic. To date, however, no studies have examined changes in antibiotic consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic within humanitarian emergency contexts. MethodData was collected by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for the years 2018-2021 across the following humanitarian settings: Afghanistan (Lashkar Gah), Bangladesh (Kutupalong), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Mweso and Baraka), and South Sudan (Bentiu). Inpatient and outpatient antibiotic consumption was calculated as Daily Defined Dose (DDD) per 1000 inhabitants per day, as per the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology. Interrupted time series (ITS) analysis, using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used to analyse retrospective monthly antibiotic consumption. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated as total antibiotic consumption and according to WHO Access, Watch, Reserve (AWaRe) group classifications within each humanitarian setting. ResultsThe COVID-19 pandemic had no statistically significant impact on total antibiotic consumption in South Sudan (Bentiu) and Bangladesh (Kutupalong). Similarly, the pandemic had no impact on total antibiotic consumption in DR Congo (Baraka), despite an initial 0.27% (estimate=.274, p-value=0.006) increase in March 2020 driven by Access group antibiotics. Meanwhile, total antibiotic consumption in DR Congo (Mweso) and Afghanistan (Lashkar Gah) declined by 0.74% (estimate = -.744, p =0.003) and 0.26% (estimate = -0.26, p < 0.001), respectively with the COVID-19 pandemic. ConclusionFurther studies are required to investigate what may have contributed to these results.

Digital epidemiology is the process of investigating the dynamics of disease-related patterns, both social and clinical, as well as the causes of these trends in epidemiology. Digital epidemiology, utilising big data from a variety of digital sources, has emerged as a viable method for early detection and monitoring of viral outbreaks. The present review gives an overview of digital epidemiology, emphasising its importance in the timely detection of infectious disease outbreaks. Researchers may discover and track outbreaks in real time using digital data sources such as search engine queries, social media trends, and digital health records. However, data quality, concerns about privacy, and data interoperability must be addressed to maximise the effectiveness of digital epidemiology. As the global landscape of infectious diseases evolves, integrating digital epidemiology becomes critical to improving pandemic preparedness and response efforts. Integrating digital epidemiology into routine monitoring systems has the potential to improve global health outcomes and save lives in the event of viral outbreaks.