Major Pandemics Research Articles

The Impact of Higher Education on Health Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from China

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated illness significantly damage people’s physical and mental health. Previous studies focus on the role of strong government public-health management to improve people’s health conditions. The objective of this study is to explore the specific impact of higher education on health behavior and pandemic policy, which remains relatively unexplored. Using data from the 2021 Chinese Social Survey, we employ an OLS regression to examine the effect of education on the change in health behaviors. Then, we use China’s higher education expansion as an instrumental variable to mitigate the potential endogeneity. The results reveal a positive relationship between higher education and health behaviors, both due to improved socioeconomic conditions and enhanced psychological wellbeing. Additionally, we find that the health return of higher education differs significantly between rural and urban areas, suggesting the presence of education inequality. These findings underscore the importance of higher education and individual health behavior in controlling the spread of major pandemics, emphasizing the need for public policy to consider the role of higher education in pandemic management.

The abstraction of potentially zoonotic SARS-like coronavirus (BtSY2): A threat to global health.

This article highlights the discovery of a new virus lurking in bats in Yunnan province of China. The virus shows phylogenetic and genomic similarity to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, which was the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus, named Bat SARS-like virus BtSY2, along with four other viruses, has been named a "virus of concern." Recombination events in the viral genome due to coinfection by multiple viruses in related animal hosts can lead to disease emergence, a process that has repeated itself innumerable times throughout history and has given rise to some major viral pandemics. Zoonotic infections, if not contained at the right time, can cause significant harm to the public health sector as well as the global economy. Studies like this are required to acquire a good understanding of the phylogeny of the virus, mechanisms of its transmission, carriers, probable clinical picture, and similarity to previous outbreaks. This will help to devise preventive strategies and, in case of higher probability and hazardous potential of the disease, develop prototype vaccines and drugs to face the outbreak with adequate preparedness.

HTA-based modeling study of the process of medical transport tasks in high-speed health trains.

High-speed health trains are important tools and guarantees in major accidents, epidemic pandemics, disasters, and warfare health care, and the health trains currently developed for common train platforms have more functional defects. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the medical transfer system and the medical system, and to obtain a better medical transfer train formation through the established model. Based on the case study of medical transport tools, this paper analyzes the components and interrelationships of the medical transport system and the medical system, and then analyzes the medical transport task process of the health train by using the hierarchical task analysis (HTA) method. Combined with the Chinese standard EMU, a medical transport task model of the high-speed health train is established. Through this model, the functional compartment unit of the high-speed health train and the marshaling scheme of the high-speed health train are obtained. The expert system is used to evaluate the scheme. The results show that the train formation scheme formulated by the model in this paper is superior to other train formation schemes in three indicators, meeting the requirements of large medical transfer tasks. The results of this study can improve the ability of on-site treatment of patients, and can provide a basis for the research and development of a high-speed health train, which has a certain practical application value.

Immunization Coverage of Covid-19 among Attendants Accompanying Patients in Gulab Devi Hospital-Pakistan

Background: Covid-19 is one of the major pandemics and health crisis in global history along with SARS-CoV & MERS-CoV. Aim: To find the frequency and distribution of coverage of Covid-19 vaccination among attendants accompanying the patients in Gulab Devi Hospital. Methodology: This cross sectional study used convenience sampling technique. The study population comprised of 386 respondents estimated via S size software. Our data collection team visited various wards & OPDs of hospitals & conducted interviews for the purpose. A structured questionnaire was filled for obtaining the data. Frequency and percentages were calculated for categorical variables while mean and standard deviation was calculated for numeric variable by using SPSS v-23. Results: The vaccination coverage of Covid-19 Immunization was as follows: 69% of our respondents were partially Vaccinated (1 or 2 doses), 14% fully vaccinated (3 or more doses) 17% were non vaccinated. Conclusions: Significant proportion of the participants were partially vaccinated or not vaccinated against COVID-19, indicating the need for further efforts to improve vaccination coverage thus findings emphasized the need for targeted educational campaigns. Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccination Coverage, Attendants, Effectiveness and Response Rate.

Paradigm Shift Towards Federated Learning for COVID-19 Detection: A Survey

The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory syndrome with similar traits to common pneumonia. This major pandemic has affected nations both socially and economically, disturbing everyday life and urging the scientific community to develop solutions for the diagnosis and prevention of COVID-19. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) is the conventional approach used for detecting COVID-19. Nevertheless, the initial stage of the infection is less predictable in PCR tests, making early prediction challenging. A robust and alternative diagnostic method based on digital computerised technologies to support conventional methods would greatly help society. Therefore, this paper reviews recent research based on using machine and federated learning techniques on publicly available datasets comprising Computed Tomography (CT) images, Chest X-ray (CXR) and ultrasound of COVID-19 patients. This paper also analyses the analytical efficiency such as accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and F1-score of models to determine the efficacy. Based on our study, we observed that Machine Learning (ML) was proposed widely in COVID-19 prediction and diagnosis methods. But this method has challenges due to less dataset availability and privacy concerns. However, federated learning-based COVID-19 detection overcame the challenge and provided better efficacy with low datasets and supported medical data privacy. Thus, based on the advantage observed, federated learning-based COVID-19 detection systems should be developed in the future.

Ancient Yersinia pestis genomes lack the virulence-associated YpfΦ prophage present in modern pandemic strains.

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of at least three major plague pandemics (Justinianic, Medieval and Modern). Previous studies on ancient Y. pestis genomes revealed that several genomic alterations had occurred approximately 5000-3000 years ago and contributed to the remarkable virulence of this pathogen. How a subset of strains evolved to cause the Modern pandemic is less well-understood. Here, we examined the virulence-associated prophage (YpfΦ), which had been postulated to be exclusively present in the genomes of strains associated with the Modern pandemic. The analysis of two new Y. pestis genomes from medieval/early modern Denmark confirmed that the phage is absent from the genome of strains dating to this time period. An extended comparative genome analysis of over 300 strains spanning more than 5000 years showed that the prophage is found in the genomes of modern strains only and suggests an integration into the genome during recent Y. pestis evolution. The phage-encoded Zot protein showed structural homology to a virulence factor of Vibrio cholerae. Similar to modern Y. pestis, we observed phages with a common origin to YpfΦ in individual strains of other bacterial species. Our findings present an updated view on the prevalence of YpfΦ, which might contribute to our understanding of the host spectrum, geographical spread and virulence of Y. pestis responsible for the Modern pandemic.

SBCC Training in Francophone West Africa: Overview, Lessons Learned, Challenges and Future Directions

The study explores the SBCC training experience in Francophone West Africa and how training programs have been impacted by major pandemics that this region has experienced, COVID-19 particularly. To stay focused, we have selected Côte d’Ivoire as a case study because it is representative of Francophone African countries which faced political instability, pandemics and epidemics in the past two decades. Data were collected through desk review and interviews with key informants. Taking stock of the past to recent experience, both in long-term and academic training, and on-the-job and short-term training on one hand, and examining the influence of COVID-19 crisis on SBCC training in the country and sub-region on the other hand, lessons learned, and challenges ahead are identified. The paper focuses on multidisciplinary, multisectoral and sub-regional responses, e-learning, and professionalizing SBCC, as future directions.

New Advances and Perspectives of Influenza Prevention: Current State of the Art

The modern world, swaddled in the benefits of civilization, has fostered the development of science and the introduction of products of technological progress. This has allowed serious individual health problems, including those associated with viral diseases, to become targets for prophylaxis, treatment, and even cure. Human immunodeficiency viruses, hepatitis viruses, coronaviruses, and influenza viruses are among the most disturbing infectious agents in the human experience. Influenza appears to be one of the oldest viruses known to man; these viruses were among the first to cause major epidemics and pandemics in human history, collectively causing up to 0.5 million deaths worldwide each year. The main problem in the fight against influenza viruses is that they mutate constantly, which leads to molecular changes in antigens, including outer membrane glycoproteins, which play a critical role in the creation of modern vaccines. Due to the constant microevolution of the virus, influenza vaccine formulas have to be reviewed and improved every year. Today, flu vaccines represent an eternal molecular race between a person and a virus, which neither entity seems likely to win.

Spatial and Temporal Data Visualisation for Mass Dissemination: Advances in the Era of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the first major pandemic of the digital age and has been characterised by unprecedented public consumption of spatial and temporal disease data, which can enable greater transparency and accountability of governments to the public for their public health decisions. A variety of state and non-state actors have collated and presented maps, charts, and plots of data related to the pandemic in both static and dynamic formats. In particular, there has been a proliferation of online dashboards presenting data related to the pandemic. The sources and types of information displayed have evolved rapidly during the pandemic, with a general trend towards providing more specialised information pertinent to specific aspects of epidemiology or disease control, as opposed simply to disease and death notifications. Limited evaluation of the quality of COVID-19 data visualisation tools has been conducted and significant effort now needs to be spent on standardisation and quality improvement of national and international data visualisation systems including developing common indicators, data quality assurance mechanisms and visualisation approaches, and building compatible electronic systems for data collection and sharing. The increasing availability of disease data for public consumption presents challenges and opportunities for government, media organisations, academic research institutions, and the general public. A key challenge is ensuring consistency and effectiveness of public health messaging to ensure a coordinated response and public trust in intervention strategies. Capitalising on opportunities for greater government accountability for public health decision-making, and more effective mobilisation of public health interventions, is predicated on the provision of accurate and timely information.

Obesity, Gut Microbiota, and Metabolome: From Pathophysiology to Nutritional Interventions.

Obesity is a disorder identified by an inappropriate increase in weight in relation to height and is considered by many international health institutions to be a major pandemic of the 21st century. The gut microbial ecosystem impacts obesity in multiple ways that yield downstream metabolic consequences, such as affecting systemic inflammation, immune response, and energy harvest, but also the gut-host interface. Metabolomics, a systematized study of low-molecular-weight molecules that take part in metabolic pathways, represents a serviceable method for elucidation of the crosstalk between hosts' metabolism and gut microbiota. In the present review, we confer about clinical and preclinical studies exploring the association of obesity and related metabolic disorders with various gut microbiome profiles, and the effects of several dietary interventions on gut microbiome composition and the metabolome. It is well established that various nutritional interventions may serve as an efficient therapeutic approach to support weight loss in obese individuals, yet no agreement exists in regard to the most effective dietary protocol, both in the short and long term. However, metabolite profiling and the gut microbiota composition might represent an opportunity to methodically establish predictors for obesity control that are relatively simple to measure in comparison to traditional approaches, and it may also present a tool to determine the optimal nutritional intervention to ameliorate obesity in an individual. Nevertheless, a lack of adequately powered randomized trials impedes the application of observations to clinical practice.

COVID-19 surveillance in Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda: strengths, weaknesses and key Lessons

IntroductionAs part of efforts to rapidly identify and care for individuals with COVID-19, trace and quarantine contacts, and monitor disease trends over time, most African countries implemented interventions to strengthen their existing disease surveillance systems. This research describes the strengths, weaknesses and lessons learnt from the COVID-19 surveillance strategies implemented in four African countries to inform the enhancement of surveillance systems for future epidemics on the continent.MethodsThe four countries namely the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda, were selected based on their variability in COVID-19 response and representation of Francophone and Anglophone countries. A mixed-methods observational study was conducted including desk review and key informant interviews, to document best practices, gaps, and innovations in surveillance at the national, sub-national, health facilities, and community levels, and these learnings were synthesized across the countries.ResultsSurveillance approaches across countries included - case investigation, contact tracing, community-based, laboratory-based sentinel, serological, telephone hotlines, and genomic sequencing surveillance. As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, the health systems moved from aggressive testing and contact tracing to detect virus and triage individual contacts into quarantine and confirmed cases, isolation and clinical care. Surveillance, including case definitions, changed from contact tracing of all contacts of confirmed cases to only symptomatic contacts and travelers. All countries reported inadequate staffing, staff capacity gaps and lack of full integration of data sources. All four countries under study improved data management and surveillance capacity by training health workers and increasing resources for laboratories, but the disease burden was under-detected. Decentralizing surveillance to enable swifter implementation of targeted public health measures at the subnational level was a challenge. There were also gaps in genomic and postmortem surveillance including community level sero-prevalence studies, as well as digital technologies to provide more timely and accurate surveillance data.ConclusionAll the four countries demonstrated a prompt public health surveillance response and adopted similar approaches to surveillance with some adaptations as the pandemic progresses. There is need for investments to enhance surveillance approaches and systems including decentralizing surveillance to the subnational and community levels, strengthening capabilities for genomic surveillance and use of digital technologies, among others. Investing in health worker capacity, ensuring data quality and availability and improving ability to transmit surveillance data between and across multiple levels of the health care system is also critical. Countries need to take immediate action in strengthening their surveillance systems to better prepare for the next major disease outbreak and pandemic.

Health, education, and climate change

Education faces great challenges at a global level, since knowledge of what is happening on the planet today with the increase in global temperature depends on it; the health of humanity is threatened, man is destroying the environment, the objective of this reflection is that each person who reads this material is able to internalize, disseminate and carry out actions to stop climate change to achieve a healthy environment and be sustainable in every part of the planet, where work is done to reduce the contamination processes which are associated with major pandemics.

Anti-science conspiracies pose new threats to US biomedicine in 2023.

Anti-science conspiracies pose new threats to US biomedicine in 2023.

Epidemics, pandemics and dentistry: a commentary

There is no doubt that epidemics and pandemics have transformed dentistry beyond recognition. In this commentary we recapitulate the possible reasons for the emergence of major global epidemics and pandemics, how and why they emerge, and the successful attempts of the dental profession to mitigate infectious transmission in the clinic, which in turn has metamorphosed our profession today. We also peer into the future of dentistry through the prism of the new conceptual approach of ‘one world, one health’ recently declared by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Finally, we discuss five realms of dentistry that have been irretrievably impacted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, viz vaccines, point of care diagnostics, teledentistry, reinforced infection control, and dental pedagogy. CPD/Clinical Relevance: Vaccines and vaccinations have become integral to societal wellbeing and the prevention of global pandemics.

Keeping our Healthcare Workers Safe–Ebola and COVID-19

Introduction:Over the past decade, the world has wrestled with two major pandemics: Ebola and COVID-19. While Ebola revealed that we needed a strategy, Covid-19 showed we still didn't have one. Apart from ensuring that we isolate and contain the virus, one of the major concerns in responding to a pandemic is limiting transmission to healthcare personnel.Method:This presentation describes a clinician's experience with employing the same infection control strategies used for Ebola in a makeshift Ebola Treatment Unit in a school in Sierra Leone and at a COVID-19 alternate care facility built in a convention center in the US.Results:Transmission control strategies used for healthcare workers during Ebola were also successful for COVID-19. Both facilities, despite grossly different access to financial resources, ensured all clinicians didn’t break protocol of safety, due to rigorous donning and doffing entrances and exits, internalized individual risk, separated spaces with tape, and zoned areas.Conclusion:Two facilities with access to vastly different resources to treat two distinct infectious diseases used the same infection control measures for staff with success. Highlighting the priority of internalization of risk by healthcare workers alongside critical infection control measures proves to be the most valuable resource over multi-million dollar facilities erected during COVID.

Major Pandemics in the History of Mankind

Major Pandemics in the History of Mankind

Yersinia pestis and plague in the 21st century: learning from a distant past

Plague is an often fulminant and fatal disease caused by the bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis. Three major historical plague pandemics have heavily influenced human societies, and recent evidence demonstrates that plague has also influenced human biology. Plague is still endemic in several continents and remains a potential public health risk. In this article, we examine the current situation of plague around the world and the different players that participate in plague ecosystems. We discuss in particular the recent research that allows us to understand plague in pre-historical times, as well as how past pandemics have modulated the evolution of human immune genes. We also highlight future challenges that await us in the study of this deadly but fascinating disease.

Channel activity of SARS-CoV-2 viroporin ORF3a inhibited by adamantanes and phenolic plant metabolites

SARS-CoV-2 has been responsible for the major worldwide pandemic of COVID-19. Despite the enormous success of vaccination campaigns, virus infections are still prevalent and effective antiviral therapies are urgently needed. Viroporins are essential for virus replication and release, and are thus promising therapeutic targets. Here, we studied the expression and function of recombinant ORF3a viroporin of SARS-CoV-2 using a combination of cell viability assays and patch-clamp electrophysiology. ORF3a was expressed in HEK293 cells and transport to the plasma membrane verified by a dot blot assay. Incorporation of a membrane-directing signal peptide increased plasma membrane expression. Cell viability tests were carried out to measure cell damage associated with ORF3a activity, and voltage-clamp recordings verified its channel activity. The classical viroporin inhibitors amantadine and rimantadine inhibited ORF3a channels. A series of ten flavonoids and polyphenolics were studied. Kaempferol, quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate, nobiletin, resveratrol and curcumin were ORF3a inhibitors, with IC50 values ranging between 1 and 6 µM, while 6-gingerol, apigenin, naringenin and genistein were inactive. For flavonoids, inhibitory activity could be related to the pattern of OH groups on the chromone ring system. Thus, the ORF3a viroporin of SARS-CoV-2 may indeed be a promising target for antiviral drugs.

Perspective on Two Major Pandemics: Syphilis and COVID-19, a Scoping Review

The syphilis and COVID-19 pandemics have marked a turning point in the history of mankind. The aim of this review is to analyze what two pandemics caused by different diseases have in common. It is a scoping review made up of papers covering everything related to syphilis and COVID-19. The dialectical structural model of care (DSMC) is applied, focusing on three thematic plots that explain the historical and current context of the topic addressed. To this end, we compiled information from books, journals, and databases such as Cochrane, National Library of Spain, PubMed/Medline, Scielo, and Google Scholar. Syphilis is a bacterial disease transmitted sexually. COVID-19 is a viral infection transmitted by droplets. Despite their similarities and differences, both have triggered pandemics that have claimed the lives of thousands of people. Both still exist as active diseases. The origin of both remains a scientific enigma; many human and material resources have been devoted to tackling these two infections, and a wide range of drugs have been developed to combat them.

Games in Times of a Pandemic: Structured Overview of COVID-19 Serious Games.

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced an urgent need for effective strategies to disseminate crucial knowledge and improve people's subjective well-being. Complementing more conventional approaches to knowledge dissemination, game-based interventions were developed to create awareness and educate people about the pandemic, hoping to change their attitudes and behavior. This study provided an overview and analysis of digital and analog game-based interventions in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As major pandemics and other large-scale disruptive events are expected to increase in frequency in the coming decades, this analysis aimed to inform the design, uptake, and effects of similar future interventions. From November 2021 to April 2022, Scopus, Google, and YouTube were searched for articles and videos describing COVID-19-themed game-based interventions. Information regarding authorship, year of development or launch, country of origin, license, deployment, genre or type, target audience, player interaction, in-game goal, and intended transfer effects was extracted. Information regarding intervention effectiveness was retrieved where possible. A diverse assortment of 23 analog and 43 digital serious games was identified, approximately one-third of them (25/66, 38%) through scientific articles. Most of these games were developed by research institutions in 2020 (13/66, 20%) and originated in Europe and North America (38/66, 58%). A limited number (20/66, 30%) were tested on relatively small samples, using a diversity of research methods to assess the potential changes in participants' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors as well as their gameplay experience. Although most of the evaluated games (11/20, 55%) effectively engaged and motivated the players, increased awareness, and improved their understanding of COVID-19-related issues, the games' success in influencing people's behavior was often unclear or limited. To increase the impact of similar future interventions aimed at disseminating knowledge and influencing people's attitudes and behaviors during a large-scale crisis, some considerations are suggested. On the basis of the study results and informed by existing game theories, recommendations are made in relation to game development, deployment, and distribution; game users, design, and use; game design terminology; and effectiveness testing for serious games.