Transmission Of Other Infectious Diseases Research Articles

Decreased influenza activity during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant effect on influenza activity globally. In this study, we analyzed trends of influenza activity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. This was a cross-sectional study using active prospective influenza surveillance data from 29 sentinel sites. At the sentinel sites, we enrolled patients presenting with symptoms based on the WHO case definition for influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). Oro and nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from patients and tested for the presence of influenza viruses using specific primers and probes described by the US-CDC. The percentage of positivity for influenza between 2017-2019 and 2021 was compared to 2020. Using the test for proportions in STATA 17.0 we estimated the difference in influenza activities between two periods. Influenza activity occurred in a single wave during the 2020 surveillance season into 2021, September 28 2020-March 7 2021 (week 40, 2020-week 9, 2021). Influenza activity in 2020 was significantly lower compared to previous years (2017- 2019, 2021). Influenza A (H3) was more commonly detected during the early part of the year (December 30, 2019-March 8, 2020), while influenza B Victoria was more commonly detected toward the end of the year (September 28-December 28). In Ghana, adherence to the community mitigation strategies introduced to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which affected the transmission of other infectious diseases, may have also impacted the transmission of influenza. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Ghana to describe the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on influenza activity. The continuation and strict adherence to the non-pharmaceutical interventions at the community level can help reduce influenza transmission in subsequent seasons.

Effects of different levels of non-pharmaceutical interventions on hand, foot and mouth disease in Guangzhou, China

BackgroundNon-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may have suppressed the transmission of other infectious diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of different degrees of NPIs during the COVID-19 pandemic on hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Guangzhou, China.MethodsWeekly reported HFMD cases and pathogens information during 2015–2021 in Guangzhou were collected from the China National Notifiable Disease Reporting System. The observed number of HFMD cases in 2020 and 2021 was compared to the average level in the same period during 2015–2019. Then, an interrupted time-series segmented regression analysis was applied to estimate the impact of NPIs on HFMD, such as social distancing, suspension of schools, community management and mask wearing. The effects across different subgroups stratified by gender, children groups and enterovirus subtype of HFMD were also examined.ResultsA total of 13,224 and 36,353 HFMD cases were reported in 2020 and 2021, which decreased by 80.80% and 15.06% respectively compared with the average number of cases in the same period during 2015–2019. A significant drop in the number of HFMD cases during time when strict NPIs were applied (relative change: 69.07% [95% confidence interval (CI): 68.84%–69.30%]). The HFMD incidence rebounded to historical levels in 2021 as the lockdown eased. The slightest reduction of HFMD cases was found among children at kindergartens or childcare centres among the three children groups (children at kindergartens or childcare centres: 55.50% [95% CI: 54.96%–56.03%]; children living at home: 72.64% [95% CI: 72.38%–72.89%]; others: 74.06% [95% CI: 73.19%–74.91%]).ConclusionsThe strong NPIs during the COVID-19 epidemic may have a significant beneficial effect on mitigating HFMD. However, the incidence of HFMD rebounded as the NPIs became less stringent. Authorities should consider applying these NPIs during HFMD outbreaks and strengthening personal hygiene in routine prevention.

The Continuous and Discrete Stability Characterization of Hepatitis B Deterministic Model

The hepatitis B infection is a global epidemic disease which is a huge risk to the public health. In this paper, the transmission dynamics of hepatitis B deterministic model are presented and studied. The basic reproduction number is attained and by applying it, the local as well as global stability of disease-free and endemic equilibria of continuous hepatitis B deterministic model are discussed. To better understand the dynamics of the disease, the discrete nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) scheme is produced for the continuous model. Different criteria are employed to check the local and global stability of disease-free and endemic equilibria for the NSFD scheme. Our findings demonstrate that the NSFD scheme is convergent for all step sizes and consequently reasonable in all respect for the continuous deterministic epidemic model. All the aforementioned properties and their effects are also proved numerically at each stage to show their mathematical as well as biological feasibility. The theoretical and numerical findings used in this paper can be employed as a helpful tool for predicting the transmission of other infectious diseases.

A Time Series Analysis Evaluating Antibiotic Prescription Rates in Long-Term Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alberta and Ontario, Canada.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected access to care, and the associated public health measures influenced the transmission of other infectious diseases. The pandemic has dramatically changed antibiotic prescribing in the community. We aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting control measures on oral antibiotic prescribing in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in Alberta and Ontario, Canada using linked administrative data. Antibiotic prescription data were collected for LTCF residents 65 years and older in Alberta and Ontario from 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2020. Weekly prescription rates per 1000 residents, stratified by age, sex, antibiotic class, and selected individual agents, were calculated. Interrupted time series analyses using SARIMA models were performed to test for changes in antibiotic prescription rates after the start of the pandemic (1 March 2020). The average annual cohort size was 18,489 for Alberta and 96,614 for Ontario. A significant decrease in overall weekly prescription rates after the start of the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic was found in Alberta, but not in Ontario. Furthermore, a significant decrease in prescription rates was observed for antibiotics mainly used to treat respiratory tract infections: amoxicillin in both provinces (Alberta: −0.6 per 1000 LTCF residents decrease in weekly prescription rate, p = 0.006; Ontario: −0.8, p < 0.001); and doxycycline (−0.2, p = 0.005) and penicillin (−0.04, p = 0.014) in Ontario. In Ontario, azithromycin was prescribed at a significantly higher rate after the start of the pandemic (0.7 per 1000 LTCF residents increase in weekly prescription rate, p = 0.011). A decrease in prescription rates for antibiotics that are largely used to treat respiratory tract infections is in keeping with the lower observed rates for respiratory infections resulting from pandemic control measures. The results should be considered in the contexts of different LTCF systems and provincial public health responses to the pandemic.

A sharp decrease in reported non-COVID-19 notifiable infectious diseases during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Rotterdam region, the Netherlands: a descriptive study

BackgroundThe Public Health Services in the Rotterdam region, the Netherlands, observed a substantial decrease of non-COVID-19 notifiable infectious diseases and institutional outbreaks during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic. We describe this change from mid-March to mid-October 2020 by comparing with the pre-COVID-19 situation.MethodsAll cases of notifiable diseases and institutional outbreaks reported to the Public Health Services Rotterdam-Rijnmond between 1st January and mid-October 2020 were included. Seven-day moving averages and cumulative cases were plotted against time and compared to those of 2017–2019. Additionally, Google mobility transit data of the region were plotted, as proxy for social distancing.ResultsRespiratory, gastrointestinal, and travel-related notifiable diseases were reported 65% less often during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic than in the same weeks in 2017–2019. Reports of institutional outbreaks were also lower after the initially imposed social distancing measures; however, the numbers rebounded when measures were partially lifted.ConclusionsInterpersonal distancing and hygiene measures imposed nationally against COVID-19 were in place between mid-March and mid-October, which most likely reduced transmission of other infectious diseases, and may thus have resulted in lower notifications of infectious diseases and outbreaks. This phenomenon opens future study options considering the effect of local outbreak control measures on a wide range of non-COVID-19 diseases. Targeted, tailored, appropriate and acceptable hygiene and distancing measures, specifically for vulnerable groups and institutions, should be devised and their effect investigated.

Movement dynamics: reduced dengue cases during the COVID-19 pandemic

Movement dynamics: reduced dengue cases during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 prevention measures reduce dengue spread in Yunnan Province, China, but do not reduce established outbreak

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic and measures against it provided a unique opportunity to understand the transmission of other infectious diseases and to evaluate the efficacy of COVID-19 prevention measures on them. Here we show a dengue epidemic in Yunnan, China, during the pandemic of COVID-19 was dramatically reduced compared to non-pandemic years and, importantly, spread was confined to only one city, Ruili. Three key features characterized this dengue outbreak: (i) the urban-to-suburban spread was efficiently blocked; (ii) the scale of epidemic in urban region was less affected; (iii) co-circulation of multiple strains was attenuated. These results suggested that countermeasures taken during COVID-19 pandemic are efficient to prevent dengue transmission between cities and from urban to suburban, as well to reduce the co-circulation of multiple serotypes or genotypes. Nevertheless, as revealed by the spatial analysis, once the dengue outbreak was established, its distribution was very stable and resistant to measures against COVID-19, implying the possibility to develop a precise prediction method.

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Tobacco-style public health campaigns are needed to spell out the extent of the harms of ultra-processed foods, say public health researchers Study findings suggest measures to control Covid-19 also reduced transmission of other infectious diseases in children

Emergence of universality in the transmission dynamics of COVID-19

The complexities involved in modelling the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 has been a roadblock in achieving predictability in the spread and containment of the disease. In addition to understanding the modes of transmission, the effectiveness of the mitigation methods also needs to be built into any effective model for making such predictions. We show that such complexities can be circumvented by appealing to scaling principles which lead to the emergence of universality in the transmission dynamics of the disease. The ensuing data collapse renders the transmission dynamics largely independent of geopolitical variations, the effectiveness of various mitigation strategies, population demographics, etc. We propose a simple two-parameter model—the Blue Sky model—and show that one class of transmission dynamics can be explained by a solution that lives at the edge of a blue sky bifurcation. In addition, the data collapse leads to an enhanced degree of predictability in the disease spread for several geographical scales which can also be realized in a model-independent manner as we show using a deep neural network. The methodology adopted in this work can potentially be applied to the transmission of other infectious diseases and new universality classes may be found. The predictability in transmission dynamics and the simplicity of our methodology can help in building policies for exit strategies and mitigation methods during a pandemic.

Overview of Biologically Active Nucleoside Phosphonates.

The use of the phosphonate motif featuring a carbon-phosphorous bond as bioisosteric replacement of the labile P–O bond is widely recognized as an attractive structural concept in different areas of medicinal chemistry, since it addresses the very fundamental principles of enzymatic stability and minimized metabolic activation. This review discusses the most influential successes in drug design with special emphasis on nucleoside phosphonates and their prodrugs as antiviral and cancer treatment agents. A description of structurally related analogs able to interfere with the transmission of other infectious diseases caused by pathogens like bacteria and parasites will then follow. Finally, molecules acting as agonists/antagonists of P2X and P2Y receptors along with nucleotidase inhibitors will also be covered. This review aims to guide readers through the fundamentals of nucleoside phosphonate therapeutics in order to inspire the future design of molecules to target infections that are refractory to currently available therapeutic options.

The Study of Co2 Concentration in A Classroom During The Covid-19 Safety Measures

The COVID-19 crisis has affected the process of how the study procedures are organized at schools in Latvia. Three different options were available for the school to choose from. However, most schools have opted for option A which states that the classes are organized face-to-face but various safety measures must be ensured. Each class or group is equated to a closed set where there are no distance requirements. In turn, the distance between the classes must be observed. This means that students stay in the same class all day and are accompanied by teachers of the respective classes. This can lead to improper ventilation as for most of the schools in Latvia it is organized through the opening of windows. To test this, measurements of CO2 concentration were done in a classroom Secondary School in Daugavpils. The results showed that the CO2 concentration was very high and often reached and exceeded the maximum measuring capacity of the device - 4000 ppm. It indicates that following the special safety procedures cause a negative effect on IAQ as the classrooms are not properly ventilated. This can lead to a drop in the performance of pupils as well as stimulate the transmission of other infectious diseases. Further measurements are necessary to gather data from different schools and best practices must be found.

Infectious disorders of the vulva

The vulva can be affected by a variety of sexually transmitted infections as well as other common infections that are not typically related to sexual transmission. Vulvar infections may adversely affect the quality of life of the patients by causing discomfort and pain. Some of these infections, especially the ulcerative ones, may also increase the risk of transmission of other infectious diseases, including HIV. Due to the recently increasing number of sexually transmitted infections and atypical presentations of these infections in immunocompromised patients, it is important for pathologists to be familiar with histopathologic features of the infectious diseases of the vulva, so that accurate diagnoses can be rendered as promptly as possible. This review discusses the clinicopathologic presentations of the non-HPV related infections of the vulva.

Social Distancing for COVID-19 and Diagnoses of Other Infectious Diseases in Children.

Social distancing (SD) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has largely removed children from school, day care, and other contact with peers. In addition to reducing transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, these changes would be expected to reduce the transmission of other infectious diseases among children. We sought to determine the effect of SD on 12 infectious diseases commonly diagnosed in pediatric primary care that are contagious to various extents: acute otitis media (AOM), bronchiolitis, common cold, croup, gastroenteritis, influenza, nonstreptococcal pharyngitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), streptococcal pharyngitis, and urinary tract infection (UTI).Using electronic health record data from a large Massachusetts pediatric primary care network that cares for ∼375 000 children, we analyzed the weekly incidence of each diagnosis from weekday in-person and telemedicine encounters (excluding holidays) for children age 0 to 17 years of age for the same calendar period in 2019 and 2020 starting from January 1. We defined the pre-SD period as calendar weeks 1 to 9 of each respective year; allowed for a 3-week implementation period as SD was enacted in 2020 (statewide state of emergency declared in week 10, school and nonessential businesses closed in week 11, and stay-at-home advisory issued in week 12); and defined the post-SD period as calendar weeks 13 to 18, the most recent data available for analysis. To isolate the effect of SD, we performed a difference-in-differences regression analysis1 using a multivariable Poisson regression model with diagnosis count as a function of calendar year, time period (pre-SD versus post-SD), and the interaction between the two.The diagnosis rates per 100 000 patients for each time period and the difference-in-differences analysis for 2020 vs 2019 are displayed in Table 1 and Fig 1. The prevalence of each condition was significantly lower in the 2020 post-SD period than would be expected for all conditions analyzed (P < .001 for all diagnoses).SD policies enacted in Massachusetts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a profound decrease in the diagnosis of common infectious diseases among children. This reduction could be due to 1, or both, of 2 factors: a decline in the prevalence of the conditions or a choice not to seek care when the conditions occurred.2 The smaller decrease in diagnoses for UTI, an infectious but not generally not contagious disease, suggests that changes in care-seeking behavior had a relatively modest effect on the other observed declines.Although it is not surprising that the transmission of infectious diseases decreased with SD, these data demonstrate the extent to which transmission of common pediatric infections can be altered when close contact with other children is eliminated. Notably, 3 of the studied diseases, namely, influenza, croup, and bronchiolitis, essentially disappeared with SD.The trajectory of influenza is especially interesting. Diagnoses in 2020 exceeded those in 2019 as expected from national surveillance data,3 but the spread of influenza appears to have ended abruptly with SD. This finding differs somewhat from a recent report from Japan revealing a significant but not as dramatic decline in influenza cases coincident with SD in that country.4 The differing results may relate to the timing of SD within the influenza season, different approaches to SD in the 2 locations, or the fact that the Japanese study included patients of all ages, whereas ours is focused only on children.The infectious disease risks of contact with others have always been implicitly weighed against the benefits of social interaction. The current natural experiment of abrupt, widespread SD during the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed for a more explicit appreciation of the magnitude of these risks in children and may inform strategies for infectious disease risk mitigation as social interaction increases in the future.