Control Of Other Infectious Diseases Research Articles

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Incidence of Notifiable Infectious Diseases in China Based on SARIMA Models Between 2013 and 2021.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government implemented nationwide public health interventions to control its spread. However, the impact of these measures on other infectious diseases remains unclear. The incidence of three types of notifiable infectious diseases in China were analyzed between 2013 and 2021. The seasonal Mann-Kendall test and Mann-Kendall mutation test were employed to examine trends and mutations in the time series. Based on the counterfactual inference, historical incidence rates were employed to construct SARIMA models and predict incidence between January 2020 and December 2021. Differences between reported and predicted incidences during the pandemic were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Between 2013 and 2019, the incidence rate of three types of notifiable infectious diseases fluctuated between 494.05/100,000 and 550.62/100,000. No discernible trend was observed for types A and B infectious diseases (Z = -1.344, P = 0.18). A significant upward trend was observed for type C infectious diseases (Z = 2.56, P = 0.01). In 2020, the overall incidence rate of three types of notifiable infectious diseases decreased to 367.08/100,000. Compared to predicted values, the reported incidence of three types of infectious diseases was, on average, 30.05% lower in 2020 and 16.58% lower in 2021. The public health interventions implemented during the pandemic had a positive consequence on the prevention and control of other infectious diseases, with a particularly notable effect on type C infectious diseases. Among the diseases with different transmission routes, respiratory diseases and gastrointestinal or enteroviral diseases decreased significantly.

Scenario analysis of COVID-19 dynamical variations by different social environmental factors: a case study in Xinjiang.

With the rapid advancement of the One Health approach, the transmission of human infectious diseases is generally related to environmental and animal health. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been largely impacted by environmental factors regionally and globally and has significantly disrupted human society, especially in low-income regions that border many countries. However, few research studies have explored the impact of environmental factors on disease transmission in these regions. We used the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as the study area to investigate the impact of environmental factors on COVID-19 variation using a dynamic disease model. Given the special control and prevention strategies against COVID-19 in Xinjiang, the focus was on social and environmental factors, including population mobility, quarantine rates, and return rates. The model performance was evaluated using the statistical metrics of correlation coefficient (CC), normalized absolute error (NAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and distance between the simulation and observation (DISO) indices. Scenario analyses of COVID-19 in Xinjiang encompassed three aspects: different population mobilities, quarantine rates, and return rates. The results suggest that the established dynamic disease model can accurately simulate and predict COVID-19 variations with high accuracy. This model had a CC value of 0.96 and a DISO value of less than 0.35. According to the scenario analysis results, population mobilities have a large impact on COVID-19 variations, with quarantine rates having a stronger impact than return rates. These results provide scientific insight into the control and prevention of COVID-19 in Xinjiang, considering the influence of social and environmental factors on COVID-19 variation. The control and prevention strategies for COVID-19 examined in this study may also be useful for the control of other infectious diseases, especially in low-income regions that are bordered by many countries.

Analysis of the Practice of Community-Based Self-Sampling and Its Implication on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases - Fengtai District, Beijing Municipality, China, 2022.

So far, no descriptive analysis has been conducted on community residents with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acid self-sampling in China. This report found that self-sampling had a wide age and regional distribution, with the time from self-sampling to result-reporting typically taking less than one day. Additionally, self-sampling was found to save a considerable amount of manpower and medical resources compared to regular sampling. The experience of prevention and control measures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has provided a reference for the prevention and control of other infectious diseases through self-sampling.

The Social, Behavioral, and Ethical Modalities of COVID-19 on HIV Care in South Africa: A Systematic Review.

The profound public health impact of the novel outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2019 has been unparalleled in the last century. Rapid spread of the disease and a high death toll fueled the development and global rollout of effective vaccines regardless of the massive inequitable access. However, some public health measures intended to control COVID-19 have had collateral effects on the control of other infectious diseases. In this systematic review, we analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on efforts to control HIV in South Africa, emphasizing the social, ethical, and behavioral ramifications. The SCOPUS, PubMed, Ovid, PsychINFO, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for publications between March 2020 and January 2022. Of the 854 articles identified, 245 were found duplicated, and 609 were screened, 241 of which were potentially eligible, and 15 of which were ultimately included. Although no studies on the ethical implications were eligible for our study criteria due to insufficient primary data to perform an analysis on, we explored this topic in the Discussion section of this paper. We confirm declines in ART, PrEP, and HIV testing during the initial lockdown period, with slight variations across the South African provinces. Protecting routine services and reducing the disease burden on high-risk nations such as South Africa is imperative moving forward with the pandemic.

Impact of Technological Developments on Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Lessons From the First 100 Years of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Technological developments in laboratory and epidemiologic methods, combined with increasing computing power, have synergistically increased our understanding of the epidemiology of infectious disease. Using historical examples from the first 100 years of the American Journal of Epidemiology, we illustrate how these developments provided the foundation for the rapid detection of the agent causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), from its transmission efficiency and modalities, risk factors, and natural history to the evaluation of new vaccines and treatments to control its spread and impact. Comparisons with timelines for elucidation of the epidemiology, natural history, and control of other infectious diseases, including viral hepatitis, humbly remind us of how much past discoveries have paved the way for more rapid discovery of and response to new pathogens. We close with some comments on a potential future role of the Journal in infectious disease epidemiology.

A Mutation Network Method for Transmission Analysis of Human Influenza H3N2.

Characterizing the spatial transmission pattern is critical for better surveillance and control of human influenza. Here, we propose a mutation network framework that utilizes network theory to study the transmission of human influenza H3N2. On the basis of the mutation network, the transmission analysis captured the circulation pattern from a global simulation of human influenza H3N2. Furthermore, this method was applied to explore, in detail, the transmission patterns within Europe, the United States, and China, revealing the regional spread of human influenza H3N2. The mutation network framework proposed here could facilitate the understanding, surveillance, and control of other infectious diseases.

Evaluating the Performance of Malaria Genetics for Inferring Changes in Transmission Intensity Using Transmission Modeling.

Substantial progress has been made globally to control malaria, however there is a growing need for innovative new tools to ensure continued progress. One approach is to harness genetic sequencing and accompanying methodological approaches as have been used in the control of other infectious diseases. However, to utilize these methodologies for malaria, we first need to extend the methods to capture the complex interactions between parasites, human and vector hosts, and environment, which all impact the level of genetic diversity and relatedness of malaria parasites. We develop an individual-based transmission model to simulate malaria parasite genetics parameterized using estimated relationships between complexity of infection and age from five regions in Uganda and Kenya. We predict that cotransmission and superinfection contribute equally to within-host parasite genetic diversity at 11.5% PCR prevalence, above which superinfections dominate. Finally, we characterize the predictive power of six metrics of parasite genetics for detecting changes in transmission intensity, before grouping them in an ensemble statistical model. The model predicted malaria prevalence with a mean absolute error of 0.055. Different assumptions about the availability of sample metadata were considered, with the most accurate predictions of malaria prevalence made when the clinical status and age of sampled individuals is known. Parasite genetics may provide a novel surveillance tool for estimating the prevalence of malaria in areas in which prevalence surveys are not feasible. However, the findings presented here reinforce the need for patient metadata to be recorded and made available within all future attempts to use parasite genetics for surveillance.

Leveraging Africa's preparedness towards the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Leveraging Africa's preparedness towards the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Hepatitis A Virus and Hepatitis E Virus: Emerging and Re-Emerging Enterically Transmitted Hepatitis Viruses

Over the past two decades, progress in understanding human infections with hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been eclipsed by the priority of combating persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. During that time, the global burden of liver disease caused by enteric hepatitis viruses has not abated. Because of vaccines, hepatitis A has become increasingly a disease of adults instead of early childhood in many regions of the world, resulting in an age-related shift toward more severe disease. HEV has remained endemic in many developing countries, and in well-developed, economically advanced countries it is now recognized as a cause of chronic, progressive liver disease in individuals with compromised immunity. The goal of this collection of articles is to review recent progress and to shine a bright light on gaps in our understanding of how these viruses replicate, cause disease, interact with the liver and host immune system, and are transmitted, along with prospects for improved control in human populations. Renewed efforts to study and compare HAV and HEV biology in humans and animal models have high potential to enhance our understanding of host-pathogen balance in the liver, and may contribute ultimately to the control of other infectious diseases of the liver.

Responding to the public health consequences of the Ukraine crisis: an opportunity for global health diplomacy.

IntroductionPeace and stability in Eastern Europe is now at a crossroads with the rapidly deteriorating foreign policy crisis continuing to unfold in the Ukraine. However, largely overlooked in the context of other foreign policy and diplomatic priorities are the serious public health consequences for the region following the annexation of Crimea and the subsequent decision to ban opioid substitution therapy in the disputed territory.DiscussionOn 1 May 2014, the Republic of Crimea officially announced it would end access to opioid substitution therapy, an essential harm reduction tool recognized by international organizations and virtually all other European countries. The policy development marks a critical reversal in the region’s fight against its growing HIV epidemic and also threatens years of public health gains aimed at providing evidence-based and integrated treatment approaches to combat drug dependence and HIV. Beyond these risks, the Ukrainian conflict could also negatively impact control of other infectious diseases that are converging with HIV and injection drug use, such as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and hepatitis C virus. The continuing conflict is also likely to have a significant negative impact on Ukraine’s fragile public health system leading to even worse population health outcomes than currently experienced by the country.ConclusionsIn response to this crisis, the application of global health diplomacy principles represents a possible route of advocacy to ensure that HIV prevention, humane treatment of substance using populations, and improving public health outcomes in the region are pursued among concerned international stakeholders. In order to be effective, global health diplomacy efforts must be coordinated and advocated in all forms of diplomatic engagement, including at the core, multistakeholder and informal levels and through existing channels such as the different human rights bodies of the United Nations as well as amongst other actors. Hence, the Ukraine crisis represents a critical moment for the practice and advancement of global health diplomacy in order to ensure global public health priorities are given their rightful place in foreign policy making to hopefully help in bringing resolution to the current conflict.

Identifying Transmission Cycles at the Human-Animal Interface: The Role of Animal Reservoirs in Maintaining Gambiense Human African Trypanosomiasis

Many infections can be transmitted between animals and humans. The epidemiological roles of different species can vary from important reservoirs to dead-end hosts. Here, we present a method to identify transmission cycles in different combinations of species from field data. We used this method to synthesise epidemiological and ecological data from Bipindi, Cameroon, a historical focus of gambiense Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT, sleeping sickness), a disease that has often been considered to be maintained mainly by humans. We estimated the basic reproduction number of gambiense HAT in Bipindi and evaluated the potential for transmission in the absence of human cases. We found that under the assumption of random mixing between vectors and hosts, gambiense HAT could not be maintained in this focus without the contribution of animals. This result remains robust under extensive sensitivity analysis. When using the distributions of species among habitats to estimate the amount of mixing between those species, we found indications for an independent transmission cycle in wild animals. Stochastic simulation of the system confirmed that unless vectors moved between species very rarely, reintroduction would usually occur shortly after elimination of the infection from human populations. This suggests that elimination strategies may have to be reconsidered as targeting human cases alone would be insufficient for control, and reintroduction from animal reservoirs would remain a threat. Our approach is broadly applicable and could reveal animal reservoirs critical to the control of other infectious diseases.

Smooth incidence maps give valuable insight into Q fever outbreaks in The Netherlands

From 2007 through 2009, The Netherlands faced large outbreaks of human Q fever. Control measures focused primarily on dairy goat farms because these were implicated as the main source of infection for the surrounding population. However, in other countries, outbreaks have mainly been associated with non-dairy sheep and The Netherlands has many more sheep than goats. Therefore, a public discussion arose about the possible role of non-dairy (meat) sheep in the outbreaks. To inform decision makers about the relative importance of different infection sources, we developed accurate and high-resolution incidence maps for detection of Q fever hot spots. In the high incidence area in the south of the country, full postal codes of notified Q fever patients with onset of illness in 2009, were georeferenced. Q fever cases (n = 1,740) were treated as a spatial point process. A 500 x 500 m grid was imposed over the area of interest. The number of cases and the population number were counted in each cell. The number of cases was modelled as an inhomogeneous Poisson process where the underlying incidence was estimated by 2-dimensional P-spline smoothing. Modelling of numbers of Q fever cases based on residential addresses and population size produced smooth incidence maps that clearly showed Q fever hotspots around infected dairy goat farms. No such increased incidence was noted around infected meat sheep farms. We conclude that smooth incidence maps of human notifications give valuable information about the Q fever epidemic and are a promising method to provide decision support for the control of other infectious diseases with an environmental source.

Integration of Deworming into HIV Care and Treatment: A Neglected Opportunity

Integration of Deworming into HIV Care and Treatment: A Neglected Opportunity

Has Aid for AIDS Raised All Health Funding Boats?

Global health analysts have debated whether donor prioritization of HIV/AIDS control has lifted all boats, raising attention and funding levels for health issues aside from HIV/AIDS. We investigate this question, considering donor funding for 4 historically prominent health agendas-HIV/AIDS, health systems strengthening, population and reproductive health, and infectious disease control-over the decade 1998-2007. We employ funding data from the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which tracks donor aid. The data indicate that HIV/AIDS may have helped to increase funding for the control of other infectious diseases; however, there is no firm evidence that other health issues beyond the control of infectious diseases have benefited. Between 1998 and 2007, funding for HIV/AIDS control rose from just 5.5% to nearly half of all aid for health. Over the same period, funding for health systems strengthening declined from 62.3% to 23.9% of total health aid and that for population and reproductive health declined from 26.4% to 12.3%. Also, even as total aid for health tripled during this decade, aid for health systems strengthening largely stagnated. Overall, the data indicate little support for the contention that donor funding for HIV/AIDS has lifted all boats.

Lymphatic filariasis elimination: progress in global programme development.

The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF) is an innovative, public-private partnership for health improvement. The progress made since the programme was initiated, in 1998, is here reviewed. The programme is largely based on the regular mass administration of albendazole with either ivermectin (Mectizan(R)) or diethylcarbamazine. Both albendazole and ivermectin have been donated by their manufacturers, for as long as necessary. The first national campaigns based on these drugs commenced in late 1999. Since then, rapid progress has been made in confirming the safety of the drug combinations, establishing a regional approach, and recognizing that experiences, epidemiological settings, health systems, the best drug combinations and disease burdens all vary with the country involved. There is a continuing trend towards decentralization, and this should lead to greater regional and national ownership and more inter-country activities. The progress made in mapping the geographical distribution of lymphatic filariasis (LF), by designated implementation units and, ultimately, by country, is also summarized. Country-specific methods of social mobilization and drug distribution, that are compatible with health planning at central and district level, need to be developed. However, the assessment of coverage by mass drug administration (MDA) needs to be strengthened, to allow reliable national monitoring and inter-country or inter-region comparisons. Valuable contributions made by non-governmental development organizations (NGDO) and civil society organizations (CSO) are acknowledged, such organizations (and particularly local NGDO) should be encouraged to help more in implementing the various activities at district level. The GPELF has developed during an era of considerable change in international health policy. The programme can contribute to the relief of poverty, as LF is closely associated with low-income communities in the least developed countries and MDA is a pro-poor intervention. There are clear opportunities for linking the activities of the GPELF (which uses cheap or free drugs that bring considerable incidental health benefits, in addition to arresting the transmission of the parasites causing LF) with other health interventions. New evidence indicates that annual treatments with antifilarial drugs greatly reduce the clinical abnormalities of the disease. The programme has expanded rapidly, with the annual number of people treated rising from 2.9 million (in 12 countries) in the year 2000 to 25.89 million (in 22 countries) in 2001 and an estimated 80 million (in 34 countries) in 2002. At the recent meeting of the Global Alliance, held in New Delhi in May 2002, a significant but realistic challenge - of scaling-up the programme to cover up to 350 million of those at risk, by the end of 2005 - was set. The rate of growth necessary to meet this target presents considerable strategic and managerial challenges to all of the partners involved in the programme, from the development of synergies with other, large-scale, public-health interventions to the logistics of drug manufacture, shipping and local transportation and resolving the problems of social mobilization, reporting, evaluation and monitoring on such a scale. Such challenges are, however, easily outweighed by the potential benefits of success. If the international health community cannot provide the necessary support to complement the investments being made by the endemic countries (as they scale-up their LF-elimination campaigns and ensure yearly access to two free and efficacious drugs that bring major benefits to those treated), significant progress in the control of other infectious diseases becomes a very distant goal.

Intradermal administration of viral vaccines.

Intradermal administration maybe useful in lowering the cost of vaccination against hepatitis B significantly, and may also be helpful for the rapid induction of antibodies, reversing non-responsiveness, improving postexposure prophylaxis and immunising immunocompromised people. In addition, delayed type hypersensitivity skin reaction to the vaccine could serve as a useful marker for the acquisition of T helper type 1 immunoreactivity in vivo. However, there are some disadvantages when using intradermal vaccinations, including the requirement for skilful administration, the absence of approval from licensing authorities, the development of local skin reactions and a lower antibody response when 1/10 of the standard vaccine dose is used. This requires that appropriate vaccination regimens, including the correct vaccine dosage, and vaccination schedule are followed. In the future, a similar vaccination strategy might also be applied for the prevention and control of other infectious diseases. Copyright 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The WHO programme for prevention and control of viral, chlamydial, and rickettsial diseases. Brief review.

SummaryThrough the advancement of biological and medical sciences and the application of modern technology, the disease burden imposed by viral, chlamydial and rickettsial disease has steadily decreased. Smallpox has been eradicated, poliomyelitis is under control in many countries, and measles, mumps and rubella viruses may eventually be eliminated in many developed countries. New and improved vaccines have also recently become available for rabies and hepatitis. These are major advancements. Not to be overshadowed however, are the developments which may lead to the prevention or control of other infectious diseases.For many agents, recently acquired knowledge relating to virology, replication, structural and genetic characteristics, and host responses to infection pave the way for disease intervention in numerous ways. For other agents, recent advances in molecular biology make possible new classes of effective vaccines. It is crucial that these advances be incorporated as soon as possible into effective public health programmes for developing as well as developed nations. Much work yet remains, particularly in the prevention and control of respiratory diseases, diarrhoeal diseases, vector-borne diseases and hepatitis.The WHO Viral Diseases Programme has a major role in supporting laboratory and field research on new technologies and intervention strategies, in disseminating technological advances through teaching and training, and in translating the newer knowledge into action programmes for the prevention and control of viral, chlamydial and rickettsial diseases.