Resurgence Of COVID-19 Research Articles

Integrating socio-psychological factors in the SEIR model optimized by a genetic algorithm for COVID-19 trend analysis

The global spread of COVID-19 has profoundly affected health and economies, highlighting the need for precise epidemic trend predictions for effective interventions. In this study, we used infectious disease models to simulate and predict the trajectory of COVID-19. An SEIR (susceptible, exposed, infected, removed) model was established using Wuhan data to reflect the pandemic. We then trained a genetic algorithm-based SEIR (GA-SEIR) model using data from a specific U.S. region and focused on individual susceptibility and infection dynamics. By integrating socio-psychological factors, we achieved a significant enhancement to the GA-SEIR model, leading to the development of an optimized version. This refined GA-SEIR model significantly improved our ability to simulate the spread and control of the epidemic and to effectively track trends. Remarkably, it successfully predicted the resurgence of COVID-19 in mainland China in April 2023, demonstrating its robustness and reliability. The refined GA-SEIR model provides crucial insights for public health authorities, enabling them to design and implement proactive strategies for outbreak containment and mitigation. Its substantial contributions to epidemic modelling and public health planning are invaluable, particularly in managing and controlling respiratory infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

XBB.1, BQ1.1 and atypical BA.4.6/XBB.1 recombinants predominate current SARS-CoV-2 Wavelets with flu-like symptoms in Cameroon: A snapshot from genomic surveillance.

As of December 2022, Cameroon had observed a slight resurgence of COVID-19, raising concerns on genomic surveillance of related-SARS-CoV-2 variants under circulation. Following a laboratory-based survey, positive SARS-CoV-2 samples detected from December-2022 through March-2023 were processed for targeted sequencing at the Chantal BIYA International Reference Centre (CIRCB) in Yaoundé-Cameroon. From all positive cases detected, 13 were successfully sequenced (mean age 34 years, 70% female); the majority of the cases were unvaccinated (70%, 9/13) and symptomatic (92%, 12/13); all with flu-like symptoms (100%, 12/12). Following RT-PCR, the median cycle threshold was 22.23 [18-24] for the N gene; and 24.09 [20-26] for the ORF gene, underscoring high viral loads. Phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences identified four major sub-variants in circulation, of which BA.5 (3/13), the recombinants BQ.1.1 (4/13), XBB.1 (4/13) and novel atypical variant of BA.4.6/XBB.1 (2/13). This snapshot surveillance indicates the introduction/emergence and circulation of new Omicron sub-variants, all accompanied by minor/mild symptoms. However, these new sub-variants and recombinants call for continuous genomic surveillance to prevent further resurgence of Covid-19 epidemiological wave.

Racial-ethnic socialization among Asian American families with preadolescent children.

The COVID-19 pandemic and resurgence of overt anti-Asian racism have prompted many Asian American parents to grapple with ways to discuss race and ethnicity with their children. Racial-ethnic socialization (RES) has been shown to have promotive and protective influences on Asian American adolescents' adjustment but remains understudied among Asian American families with younger children. This study examined parent (i.e., racial-ethnic identity [REI], experiences of discrimination) predictors of RES among Asian American families with preadolescent-aged children and moderation by parental generational status. We surveyed a sample of 404 Asian American parents (Mage = 38.4, SD = 7.0; 66% female) with 6- to 12-year-olds (Mage = 8.9, SD = 2.0; 56% boys). Findings revealed that parents with higher levels of REI centrality were more likely to report engaging in cultural maintenance practices and those with higher levels of REI private regard were less likely to minimize race. Parents' experiences of racial discrimination were also associated with more frequent cultural maintenance practices and discussions of anti-Asian discrimination. Tests for moderation by parental generational status indicated that the positive association between experiences of racial discrimination and discussions of anti-Asian discrimination was stronger among first-generation than second+ generation parents. Findings highlight that among Asian American parents of preadolescent-aged children, RES approaches and practices are nuanced and differentially responsive to parents' views of their own REI, their experiences of racial discrimination, and by generational status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A Rationally Designed Synthetic Antiviral Peptide Binder Targeting the Receptor-Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus, is the causative agent responsible for the spread of the COVID19 pandemic across the globe. The global impact of the COVID19 pandemic, the successful approval of vaccines for controlling the pandemic, and the further resurgence of COVID19 necessitate the exploration and validation of alternative therapeutic avenues targeting SARS-CoV-2. The initial entry and further invasion by SARS-CoV-2 require strong protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors expressed on the cell surfaces of various tissues. In principle, disruption of the PPIs between the RBD of SARS-CoV-2 and the ACE2 receptor by designer peptides with optimized pharmacology appears to be an ideal choice for potentially preventing viral entry with minimal immunogenicity. In this context, the current study describes a short, synthetic designer peptide (codenamed SR16, ≤18 aa, molecular weight ≤2.5 kDa), which has a few noncoded amino acids, demonstrates a helical conformation in solution, and also engages the RBD of SARS-CoV-2 through a high-affinity interaction, as judged from a battery of biophysical studies. Further, the designer peptide demonstrates resistance to trypsin degradation, appears to be nontoxic to mammalian cells, and also does not induce hemolysis in freshly isolated human erythrocytes. In summary, SR16 appears to be an ideal peptide binder targeting the RBD of SARS-CoV-2, which has the potential for further optimization and development as an antiviral agent targeting SARS-CoV-2.

Distinct Patterns of Liver Chemistry Changes in Pediatric Acute Hepatitis of Unknown Origin and COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review.

In 2021 and 2022, there were noted to be clusters of pediatric acute hepatitis of unknown origin (AHUO) occurring across the globe. While there was not necessarily a global increase in cases, understanding the pattern of liver injury in AHUO is crucial to properly identify cases of this unexplained phenomenon, especially since it occurred simultaneously with a global resurgence of COVID-19. The objective of this study was to contrast the patterns in liver-relevant biochemical data from COVID-19 patients and AHUO. Studies reporting liver chemistries for cases of AHUO and COVID-19 were identified by a systematic review and search of the literature. For each case, alanine aminotransferase (ALT),aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, and international normalized ratio (INR) levels were extracted as available. These were normalized to multiples of the upper limit of normal by patient age. There were statistically significant greater elevations of ALT and AST in patients with AHUO than in those with COVID-19. Only a subset of patients with COVID-19 had an AST or ALT greater than the normal range. INR elevation could be substantial for both conditions but was also statistically higher in the AHUO group. Liver chemistry changes were not statistically correlated with age. The pattern of liver chemistry changes between AHUO and COVID-19 have some distinctions, which suggests that AHUO is not a phenomenon driven primarily by SARS-CoV-2 infection alone. Differentiating AHUO and COVID-19 would be challenging based on patterns of liver chemistry changes alone.

How health risk of COVID-19 resurgence may trigger individual tendencies regarding COVID-19-related cyberchondria: Investigating the I-PACE model

Cyberchondria during the COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges to public well-being. Previous lstudies have implicated perceived health risk in COVID-19-related cyberchondria. However, the effect of perceived COVID-19 health risk on cyberchondria and potential underlying mechanisms remains unclear. In this study, we developed a model based on the general addictive behavior framework of the I-PACE (Interaction-Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution) model to describe how induction of health risk of COVID-19 resurgence may influence individual tendencies regarding COVID-19-related cyberchondria. Through a scenario-based experiment, we tested this model with a balanced sample of 984 participants from China. The results revealed that the effect of induction of health risk of COVID-19 resurgence on tendencies regarding COVID-19-related cyberchondria was fully mediated by individual's risk perception and health information craving. Additionally, moderation analysis showed that an individual's general inhibitory control did not moderate the development of cyberchondria. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.

Incidence and Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 Ophthalmopathy Following the Termination of Dynamic Zero COVID-19 Strategy in China

ABSTRACT Ocular involvement is not uncommon in patients with COVID-19. However, the incidence of COVID-19 ophthalmopathy in COVID-19 patients is still not clear. In this prospective case series study, we recruited 2445 consecutive cases presenting at Neuro-ophthalmology clinic of our Eye Center during the last resurgence of SARS-CoV-2 infection from 8 December 2022 to 15 March 2023 in China, 149 cases were diagnosed as COVID-19 ophthalmopathy, 87 cases were female, with a mean age of 43.2 years, and the mean follow-up time was 15.4 weeks. One hundred and twenty of 149 cases suffered from systemic symptoms mostly manifesting as fever, cough and muscle pain prior to or soon after ocular involvement. The most common COVID-19 ophthalmopathy was optic neuritis (51/149), followed by acute zonal occult outer retinopathy complex disease (31/149), uveitis (17/149), ocular mobility disorder-related (third, fourth, or sixth) cranial nerve neuritis (15/149), anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (9/149), retinal artery occlusion (8/149), retinal microangiopathy including retinal haemorrhage and cotton wool spot (8/149), viral conjunctivitis (7/149), retinal vein occlusion (3/149), viral keratitis (2/149), ptosis (2/149), and other rare ocular diseases. Except 5 cases with central retinal artery occlusion, other 144 COVID-19 ophthalmopathy cases showed good response to steroid therapy. Our study revealed an incidence of 6.09% for COVID-19 ophthalmopathy in outpatients at our Neuro-ophthalmology clinic during last resurgence of COVID-19 in China, and demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infection could induce an initial onset or a relapse of ophthalmic diseases, and that ocular involvement might manifest as the initial or even the only presentation of COVID-19.

White blood cells scattergram as a valuable tool for COVID-19 screening: A multicentric study.

New tools have been developed to distinguish the COVID-19 diagnosis from other viral infections presenting similar symptomatology and mitigate the lack of sensitivity of molecular testing. We previously identified a specific "sandglass" aspect on the white blood cells (WBC) scattergram of COVID-19 patients, as a highly reliable COVID-19 screening test (sensitivity: 85.9%, specificity: 83.5% and positive predictive value: 94.3%). We then decided to validate our previous data in a multicentric study. This retrospective study involved 817 patients with flu-like illness, among 20 centers, using the same CBC instrument (XN analyzer, SYSMEX, Japan). After training, one specialist per center independently evaluated, under the same conditions, the presence of the "sandglass" aspect of the WDF scattergram, likely representing plasmacytoid lymphocytes. Overall, this approach showed sensitivity: 59.0%, specificity: 72.9% and positive predictive value: 77.7%. Sensitivity improved with subgroup analysis, including in patients with lymphopenia (65.2%), patients presenting symptoms for more than 5 days (72.3%) and in patients with ARDS (70.1%). COVID-19 patients with larger plasmacytoid lymphocyte cluster (>15 cells) more often have severe outcomes (70% vs. 15% in the control group). Our findings confirm that the WBC scattergram analysis could be added to a diagnostic algorithm for screening and quickly categorizing symptomatic patients as either COVID-19 probable or improbable, especially during COVID-19 resurgence and overlapping with future influenza epidemics. The observed large size of the plasmacytoid lymphocytes cluster appears to be a hallmark of COVID-19 patients and was indicative of a severe outcome. Furthers studies are ongoing to evaluate the value of the new hematological parameters in combination with WDF analysis.

Differentiating behavioral impact with or without vaccination certification under mass vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions on mitigating COVID-19

As COVID-19 vaccines became widely available worldwide, many countries implemented vaccination certification, also known as a “green pass”, to promote and expedite vaccination on containing virus spread from the latter half of 2021. This policy allowed those vaccinated to have more freedom in public activities compared to more constraints on the unvaccinated in addition to existing non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Accordingly, the vaccination certification also induced heterogeneous behaviors of unvaccinated and vaccinated groups. This makes it essential yet challenging to model the behavioral impact of vaccination certification on the two groups and the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 within and between the groups. Very limited quantitative work is available for addressing these purposes. Here we propose an extended epidemiological model SEIQRD^2 to effectively distinguish the behavioral impact of vaccination certification on unvaccinated and vaccinated groups through incorporating two contrastive transmission chains. SEIQRD^2 also quantifies the impact of the green pass policy. With the resurgence of COVID-19 in Greece, Austria, and Israel in 2021, our simulation results indicate that their implementation of vaccination certification brought about more than a 14-fold decrease in the total number of infections and deaths as compared to a scenario with no such a policy. Additionally, a green pass policy may offer a reasonable practical solution to strike the balance between public health and individual’s freedom during the pandemic.

Netizens' concerns during COVID-19: a topic evolution analysis of Chinese social media platforms

PurposeThis study analyzes the evolution of topics related to COVID-19 on Chinese social media platforms with the aim of identifying changes in netizens' concerns during the different stages of the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 793,947 posts were collected from Zhihu, a Chinese Question and Answer website, and Dingxiangyuan, a Chinese online healthcare community, from 31 December, 2019, to 4 August, 2021. Topics were extracted during the prodromal and outbreak stages, and in the abatement–resurgence cycle.FindingsNetizens' concerns varied in different stages. During the prodromal and outbreak stages, netizens showed greater concern about COVID-19 news, the impact of COVID-19 and the prevention and control of COVID-19. During the first round of the abatement and resurgence stage, netizens remained concerned about COVID-19 news and the prevention and control of the pandemic, however, less attention was paid to the impact of COVID-19. During later stages, popularity grew in topics concerning the impact of COVID-19, while netizens engaged more in discussions about international events and the raising of spirits to fight the global pandemic.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to the practice by providing a way for the government and policy makers to retrospect the pandemic and thereby make a good preparation to take proper measures to communicate with citizens and address their demands in similar situations in the future.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by applying an adapted version of Fink's (1986) crisis life cycle to create a five-stage evolution model to understand the repeated resurgence of COVID-19 in Mainland China.

Assessing the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Aviation Sector and Exploring Strategies for Industry Recovery

One of the most impacted industries among all, is the Airlines industry. Airlines need to study the consequences of a pandemic, what is important is that they adapt to the uncertainty and complex changes. Companies must understand how to manage their capabilities, strategy, mission, and vision, with a fast and changing environment. Each airline can get the benefit of having a low-cost strategy and use the cargo shipment strategy that makes it easy to ship different products. Basically, reaching efficiency and effectiveness to lead the uncertain changes. For the research report it considers the highly affected industry in covid era. Qatar airways operated in a high premium business model but in covid times, demand of the luxury segment got affected. Indigo does their business mainly in India, so they are the worst hit in these times since India shows the second highest number of covid cases in the world. Due to the resurgence of Covid-19, Cathay Pacific have struggled with staff rostering due to Hong Kong’s strict quarantine rules.

A longitudinal study of seaport selection: the perspective of container shipping companies

PurposeCompetition among seaports is rapidly increasing due to various factors such as the global recession, resurgence of COVID-19, tight environmental regulations of IMO, sharp rise in ocean freight charges, increasing global uncertainties and growth in ship sizes. It is essential to have precise knowledge of shipping companies' port selection factors to secure the competitive advantage of seaports. This study aims to empirically analyze recent changes in the importance of port selection factors.Design/methodology/approachBy employing a longitudinal study, this study conducted the t-test analysis. The first survey was conducted from January 2005 to April 2005. Then, the second survey was conducted in May 2021.FindingsFirst, the importance of port facilities (berth length and the number of berths, shed and terminal areas, possession of adequate equipment and maximum berth size) increased significantly. Second, while ship and cargo safety were the critical port service factors in previous studies, speed, flexibility and reliability for handling cargo and berthing schedule were found to be crucial in this study. Third, the importance of ship arrival/departure frequency, route diversity and ship arrival/departure information systems increased when shipping companies selected the port.Originality/valueThis study has academic significance in that it reveals the changing importance of port selection factors in the 2020s and has taken the form of a longitudinal study on the importance of port selection factors from 2005 to 2021, moving beyond the cross-sectional approach. This study can provide valuable insights into and implications for port policymakers and managers when developing and formulating port policies and strategies.

Virulence traits and novel drug delivery strategies for mucormycosis post-COVID-19: a comprehensive review.

The outbreak of a fatal black fungus infection after the resurgence of the cadaverous COVID-19 has exhorted scientists worldwide to develop a nutshell by repurposing or designing new formulations to address the crisis. Patients expressing COVID-19 are more susceptible to Mucormycosis (MCR) and thus fall easy prey to decease accounting for this global threat. Their mortality rates range around 32-70% depending on the organs affected and grow even higher despite the treatment. The many contemporary recommendations strongly advise using liposomal amphotericin B and surgery as first-line therapy whenever practicable. MCR is a dangerous infection that requires an antifungal drug administration on appropriate prescription, typically one of the following: Amphotericin B, Posaconazole, or Isavuconazole since the fungi that cause MCR are resistant to other medications like fluconazole, voriconazole, and echinocandins. Amphotericin B and Posaconazole are administered through veins (intravenously), and isavuconazole by mouth (orally). From last several years so many compounds are developed against invasive fungal disease but only few of them are able to induce effective treatment against the micorals. Adjuvant medicines, more particularly, are difficult to assess without prospective randomized controlled investigations, which are challenging to conduct given the lower incidence and higher mortality from Mucormycosis. The present analysis provides insight into pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical manifestations, underlying fungal virulence, and growth mechanisms. In addition, current therapy for MCR in Post Covid-19 individuals includes conventional and novel nano-based advanced management systems for procuring against deadly fungal infection. The study urges involving nanomedicine to prevent fungal growth at the commencement of infection, delay the progression, and mitigate fatality risk.

Awareness, Attitude, and Knowledge Among the Healthcare Workers in China at the Onset of the Oversea Monkeypox Outbreak.

The outbreak of monkeypox in several nonendemic countries has been reported since May 2022. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to examine how healthcare workers (HCWs) respond to the monkeypox epidemic. Having been involved in the fight against COVID-19 resurgence for nearly 3years, how HCWs in China respond to the oversea monkeypox outbreak remains unclear. To investigate the awareness, perceived risk, attitudeand knowledge about monkeypox among HCWs in China. A cross-sectional survey. Physicians and nurses from 13 hospitals in Suizhou, China, were contacted through membership of the Physicians' and Nurses' Association. Responses regarding their awareness, risk perception, attitude, behavior, and knowledge about the outbreak of monkeypox were collected anonymously during the second month of the outbreak between 15 and 21 June 2022. Of the 395 physician and 1793 nurse respondents, most had heard of theoversea monkeypoxoutbreak (physicians 93%, nurses 88%). More than 30% thought there existed an infection risk for themselves or family members (physicians 42%, nurses 32%). Most agreed that HCWs should pay attention to the outbreak (physicians 98%, nurses 98%). More than half had actively sought expertise (physicians 62%, nurses 52%). Approximately half believed that monkeypox may be transmitted through sexual activity or respiratory droplets, or from mother to fetus in utero (physicians 50%, 62%, 55%; nurses 40%, 60%, and 48%, respectively). Some believed that mask-wearing, hand-washing, and glove-wearing can prevent monkeypox transmission (physicians 78%, 89%, 83%; nurses 77%, 86%, 76%, respectively). This study identified high awareness, high perceived risk, and pro-prevention attitudes among HCWs in China at the onset of the overseamulti-country monkeypox outbreak, but low levels of monkeypox-related knowledge. Immediate efforts are needed to fill in their knowledge gap, particularly regarding the transmission routesand prevention measures.

The food industry supply chain in the light of COVID-19: the constraint and development of measures to ensure food safety and quality control

The international borders opening led to goods and people migration with a significant change of consumer behavior, this favored new food-borne diseases uprising and outbreaks worldwide. Recently, the resurgence of COVID-19 has highlighted the limitations of the world-health surveillance measures and caused unprecedented effects on the food supply chain and the food industry. Amid this recent crisis, aroused population and scientific concerns and the demand for food safety and quality control improvement trough-out the food supply chain. To solve this constraint, it is primordial to understand food supply chain contamination stem and develop new, more sensitive, specific effective, and efficient point-of-care detection methods to segregate food items at an early pathogen contamination stage. 3D printing technology positioned itself as the solution because it enables the synergistic action of new molecular detection methods combined with the new 3D printing techniques for the production of high end-point biosensors capable of direct testing of food along the production line and the food supply chain. Because 3D printed biosensors are user and eco-friendly, convenient, fast, and take away the laboratory analysis constraints, 3D printed molecular biosensor devices are the new trend to enhance the food safety screening performances and guarantee food quality. We aimed to present how impactful COVID-19 was in the food industry and food supply chain across the globe and the adaptive measures that have been put in place to ensure consumer were provided with safe food with the usage of biosensors and 3D printed technology.

Simulation for Teaching on Racial Microaggressions and Bystander Intervention — A Theory-Based Guide for Health Profession Education

Microaggressions are words or behaviour that “subtly and unconsciously express a prejudiced attitude”, and racial microaggressions express these attitudes towards people from racial minority groups. The “Bystander Effect” is when the presence of other people means that an individual is less likely to offer assistance or get involved in a situation — bystander intervention training aims to inform about the best ways to avoid this, equipping students with the necessary strategies. In health profession education, teaching on microaggressions and bystander intervention can be done with the use of simulation. Simulated patients (SPs) and environments would be the most appropriate modality of simulation to use, as roleplay would be central. This guide focuses on how to use simulation for teaching on racial microaggressions and bystander training for healthcare students including tips on preparing the students and SPs, planning for the implementation of the simulation training, setting ground rules, showing different scenarios, checking student understanding throughout, using debriefs and course evaluation feedback, and signposting students to available support afterwards. These are topics which are particularly relevant because there have been calls in recent years for healthcare education to be more inclusive and representative of current issues, as the COVID-19 pandemic and resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement have highlighted curriculum gaps. So teaching students about this early is a good start, and simulation is an effective teaching method to help with this.

Vector Autoregression for Forecasting the Number of COVID-19 Cases and Analyzing Behavioral Indicators in the Philippines: Ecologic Time-Trend Study.

Traditional surveillance systems rely on routine collection of data. The inherent delay in retrieval and analysis of data leads to reactionary rather than preventive measures. Forecasting and analysis of behavior-related data can supplement the information from traditional surveillance systems. We assessed the use of behavioral indicators, such as the general public's interest in the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 and changes in their mobility, in building a vector autoregression model for forecasting and analysis of the relationships of these indicators with the number of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region. An etiologic, time-trend, ecologic study design was used to forecast the daily number of cases in 3 periods during the resurgence of COVID-19. We determined the lag length by combining knowledge on the epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 and information criteria measures. We fitted 2 models to the training data set and computed their out-of-sample forecasts. Model 1 contains changes in mobility and number of cases with a dummy variable for the day of the week, while model 2 also includes the general public's interest. The forecast accuracy of the models was compared using mean absolute percentage error. Granger causality test was performed to determine whether changes in mobility and public's interest improved the prediction of cases. We tested the assumptions of the model through the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test, Lagrange multiplier test, and assessment of the moduli of eigenvalues. A vector autoregression (8) model was fitted to the training data as the information criteria measures suggest the appropriateness of 8. Both models generated forecasts with similar trends to the actual number of cases during the forecast period of August 11-18 and September 15-22. However, the difference in the performance of the 2 models became substantial from January 28 to February 4, as the accuracy of model 2 remained within reasonable limits (mean absolute percentage error [MAPE]=21.4%) while model 1 became inaccurate (MAPE=74.2%). The results of the Granger causality test suggest that the relationship of public interest with number of cases changed over time. During the forecast period of August 11-18, only change in mobility (P=.002) improved the forecasting of cases, while public interest was also found to Granger-cause the number of cases during September 15-22 (P=.001) and January 28 to February 4 (P=.003). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that forecasted the number of COVID-19 cases and explored the relationship of behavioral indicators with the number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines. The resemblance of the forecasts from model 2 with the actual data suggests its potential in providing information about future contingencies. Granger causality also implies the importance of examining changes in mobility and public interest for surveillance purposes.

Optimal adaptive nonpharmaceutical interventions to mitigate the outbreak of respiratory infections following the COVID-19 pandemic: a deep reinforcement learning study in Hong Kong, China.

Long-lasting nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) suppressed the infection of COVID-19 but came at a substantial economic cost and the elevated risk of the outbreak of respiratory infectious diseases (RIDs) following the pandemic. Policymakers need data-driven evidence to guide the relaxation with adaptive NPIs that consider the risk of both COVID-19 and other RIDs outbreaks, as well as the available healthcare resources. Combining the COVID-19 data of the sixth wave in Hong Kong between May 31, 2022 and August 28, 2022, 6-year epidemic data of other RIDs (2014-2019), and the healthcare resources data, we constructed compartment models to predict the epidemic curves of RIDs after the COVID-19-targeted NPIs. A deep reinforcement learning (DRL) model was developed to learn the optimal adaptive NPIs strategies to mitigate the outbreak of RIDs after COVID-19-targeted NPIs are lifted with minimal health and economic cost. The performance was validated by simulations of 1000 days starting August 29, 2022. We also extended the model to Beijing context. Without any NPIs, Hong Kong experienced a major COVID-19 resurgence far exceeding the hospital bed capacity. Simulation results showed that the proposed DRL-based adaptive NPIs successfully suppressed the outbreak of COVID-19 and other RIDs to lower than capacity. DRL carefully controlled the epidemic curve to be close to the full capacity so that herd immunity can be reached in a relatively short period with minimal cost. DRL derived more stringent adaptive NPIs in Beijing. DRL is a feasible method to identify the optimal adaptive NPIs that lead to minimal health and economic cost by facilitating gradual herd immunity of COVID-19 and mitigating the other RIDs outbreaks without overwhelming the hospitals. The insights can be extended to other countries/regions.

Scaling-up Evidence-based Interventions for Communities of Color With Marked Health Disparities: Lessons Learned From COVID-19 Can Be Applied to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality and Achieve Health Equity.

Scaling-up Evidence-based Interventions for Communities of Color With Marked Health Disparities: Lessons Learned From COVID-19 Can Be Applied to Reduce Morbidity and Mortality and Achieve Health Equity.

PREVENTING THE RESURGENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND SIMILAR EPIDEMICS: THE NEED FOR ONE HEALTH APPROACH

Epidemiological evidences over the decades suggest that about 60% to 75% of emerging human infectious diseases are transmitted by animals, especially wildlife. This is as a result of the increasing interface between human, wild animals and environment caused by the destruction of natural habitats by human activities and climate change. The recent link of COVID-19 to the seafood and animals’ market in Wuhan China, and the 98.99% shared resemblance of the virus to the genetic sequence of bat coronavirus holds a strong suspicion for zoonotic transmission. However, efforts towards controlling the pandemic have been centered on human health, with little or no attention on the animal and environment hosts. This paper proposes one health approach as a strategy that could control the resurgence of COVID-19 and similar zoonotic diseases outbreak.