Abstract
Background
Global pandemics have occurred with increasing frequency over the past decade reflecting the sub-optimum operationalization of surveillance systems handling human health data. ...Despite the wide array of current surveillance methods, their effectiveness varies with multiple factors. Here, we perform a systematic review of the effectiveness of alternative infectious diseases Early Warning Systems (EWSs) with a focus on the surveillance data collection methods, and taking into consideration feasibility in different settings.
Methods
We searched PubMed and Scopus databases on 21 October 2022. Articles were included if they covered the implementation of an early warning system and evaluated infectious diseases outbreaks that had potential to become pandemics. Of 1669 studies screened, 68 were included in the final sample. We performed quality assessment using an adapted CASP Checklist.
Results
Of the 68 articles included, 42 articles found EWSs successfully functioned independently as surveillance systems for pandemic-wide infectious diseases outbreaks, and 16 studies reported EWSs to have contributing surveillance features through complementary roles. Chief complaints from emergency departments’ data is an effective EWS but it requires standardized formats across hospitals. Centralized Public Health records-based EWSs facilitate information sharing; however, they rely on clinicians’ reporting of cases. Facilitated reporting by remote health settings and rapid alarm transmission are key advantages of Web-based EWSs. Pharmaceutical sales and laboratory results did not prove solo effectiveness. The EWS design combining surveillance data from both health records and staff was very successful. Also, daily surveillance data notification was the most successful and accepted enhancement strategy especially during mass gathering events. Eventually, in Low Middle Income Countries, working to improve and enhance existing systems was more critical than implementing new Syndromic Surveillance approaches.
Conclusions
Our study was able to evaluate the effectiveness of Early Warning Systems in different contexts and resource settings based on the EWSs’ method of data collection. There is consistent evidence that EWSs compiling pre-diagnosis data are more proactive to detect outbreaks. However, the fact that Syndromic Surveillance Systems (SSS) are more proactive than diagnostic disease surveillance should not be taken as an effective clue for outbreaks detection.
Up to May 30th, the majority of UK cases were males. ...they were mostly bisexual, guys, or men having sexual intercourse with men, causing the most recent surge. ...laboratory testing is recommended ...6. There are currently two known distinct clades of the MPXV: the less virulent West African clade and the central African (virulent Congo Basin) with mortality rates ≤3.6%, and up to 10%, respectively 1,6,11. Because DNA viruses, which tend to have large genomes, accrue mutations somewhat slower than RNA viruses, finding the sequence by tracking human-to-human transmission would be less beneficial because minimal alterations to the genome could provide information on the propagation chain.
Objectives:
Despite most childhood infections being self-limiting, children are among the leading consumers of antibiotics. Little is known about parental expectations of antibiotics for childhood ...infections. A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to explore the nature and extent of parental expectations of antibiotic prescriptions for children with respiratory infections.
Design:
Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods:
An extensive literature search using six major scientific databases was conducted for all published articles until 7 December 2022. Primary studies reporting parents’ expectations of antibiotics for children with upper respiratory tract infections were included after assessment for quality. Heterogeneity between the studies was assessed using the I2 statistic and publication bias was analyzed using funnel plots and Egger regression tests. The primary outcome was a summary estimate of the percentage of parents who expect antibiotics from their physicians when their child presents with an upper respiratory tract infection.
Results:
From a total of 4510 studies found in the initial searches, a final pool of 19 eligible studies with 15,664 individuals was included in this meta-analysis. Nine of the 19 studies were from the United States or Saudi Arabia. The pooled prevalence of parental expectations of antibiotics in the population reviewed was 55.78% (95% CI = 44.60–66.41). There was significant heterogeneity between the studies, but funnel plot and meta-regression did not detect any publication bias.
Conclusion:
More than half of parents expect antibiotics for their children during consultation for upper respiratory tract infections. Such practices may cause undue side effects among children, contribute to the growing burden of antibiotic resistance, and lead to treatment failure for many common infections in the future. To optimize efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance, shared decision-making and education emphasizing the proper and judicious use of antibiotics are much needed in pediatric healthcare settings. This can also help to manage parents’ expectations when seeking antibiotics for their children. Despite pressure from parents, pediatric healthcare providers should continue to advocate for antibiotic use only when warranted and help improve knowledge and awareness amongst parents.
Registration:
The protocol has been registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022364198)
...from February 2021 to October 2022, the country acquired the highest number of COVID-19 vaccines administered and the lowest number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths compared to Thailand and Vietnam ...(Figure 1 and Figure 2) 2,3. A national COVID-19 vaccination committee, more comprehensively organized with holistic approaches from the central government to local regions compared to neighbouring countries, was established to provide training for health care workers on the vaccination procedure and to timely distribute vaccines across the nation. There has been a need to increase health care resources such as medical equipment, health institutions, and medical staff, and to update surveillance of COVID-19 positive cases, considering that Cambodia has a significantly low health capacity compared to the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
This is the report of the first pregnant woman having COVID-19 in Vietnam. The patient was at 21 weeks of gestation and a high level of serum D-dimer and fibrinogen was observed from admission day to ...day 5.The patient had lived in Russia before returning to Vietnam where she was diagnosed with COVID-19. Clinical characteristics of this patient were described and there was no major derangement of laboratory parameters. She was asymptomatic when being diagnosed and then developed mild symptoms of COVID-19 after three days of admission. The patient was treated with lopinavir/ritonavir, ampicillin/sulbactam, and Lovenox and continued being hospitalized until April 25th, 2020.We presented the clinical picture of the first COVID-19 pregnant case in Vietnam. This case report highlighted the increased risk of developing coagulopathy even in mild and asymptomatic patients.
COVID-19: the current situation in Afghanistan Shah, Jaffer; Karimzadeh, Sedighe; Al-Ahdal, Tareq Mohammed Ali ...
The Lancet global health,
06/2020, Letnik:
8, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, physical meetings and continuing medical education (CMEs) are being conducted in virtual mode. Digital sobriety has been advocated as a strategy for controlling the ...environmental emission from online events. The present study was undertaken to assess the impact of virtual CMEs on the environment and the participants' perception, knowledge, attitude, and practices of digital sobriety during the CMEs.
A retrospective cross-sectional Google form-based online study was conducted among the 1,311 registrants of 23 virtual CMEs hosted in India. A pre-tested English questionnaire was used to collect the data. The potential carbon footprint of the significant physical CME activities and the carbon emission (CE) of the virtual CMEs were estimated. Among the registrants contacted, 251 consented and participated in the study.
The CE of the virtual CMEs was 0.787 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO
Eq). If the CMEs were conducted physically, the potential CE was estimated to be 290.094 MT CO
Eq. The awareness rate of digital sobriety was 35%. Most of the participants (58.7%) from the current study preferred the hybrid mode of CMEs.
Virtual, digitally sober CMEs have reduced the potential CE by 99.7% compared to physical CMEs in India. The awareness and knowledge about digital sobriety is low in India. Knowledge, networking, social interactions, and overall satisfaction were relatively lower in the virtual mode of CMEs than in the physical mode.
Internal validation techniques alone do not guarantee the value of a model. This study aims to investigate the external validity of the Parental Attitude toward Childhood Vaccination (PACV) scale for ...assessing parents' attitude toward seasonal influenza vaccination.
Using a snowball sampling approach, an anonymous online questionnaire was distributed in two languages (English and Arabic) across seven countries. To assess the internal validity of the model, the machine learning technique of "resampling methods" was used to repeatedly select various samples collected from Egypt and refit the model for each sample. The binary logistic regression model was used to identify the main determinants of parental intention to vaccinate their children against seasonal influenza. We adopted the original model developed and used its predictors to determine parents' intention to vaccinate their children in Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and Sudan. The area under the curve (AUC) indicated the model's ability to distinguish events from non-events. We visually compared the observed and predicted probabilities of parents' intention to vaccinate their children using a calibration plot.
A total of 430 parents were recruited from Egypt to internally validate the model, and responses from 2095 parents in the other six countries were used to externally validate the model. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the PACV score, child age (adolescence), and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in children were significantly associated with the intention to receive the vaccination. The AUC of the developed model was 0.845. Most of the predicted points were close to the diagonal line, demonstrating better calibration (the prediction error was 16.82%). The sensitivity and specificity of the externally validated model were 89.64 and 37.89%, respectively (AUC = 0.769).
The PACV showed similar calibration and discrimination across the six countries. It is transportable and can be used to assess attitudes towards influenza vaccination among parents in different countries using either the Arabic or English version of the scale.
: Ghana ranked 31st worldwide and 3rd in Africa in the number of confirmed cases worldwide. We aimed to assess the intention to receive the monkeypox (MPOX) vaccine and its associated psychological ...antecedents among the Ghanaian population.
: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Ghana from November to December 2022. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants via social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Facebook. The validated 5C scale was used to assess five psychological factors that influence vaccination behavior and intent: confidence, complacency, constraints, calculation, and collective responsibility.
: The study drew 605 participants; their mean age was 30.0 ± 6.8; 68.1% were single; 60.8 % were males, and 51.9% were living in Greater Accra (The capital and largest city of Ghana). About 53.9% of the studied Ghanaian population did not intend to receive the MPOX vaccination. Vaccine acceptance among non-healthcare workers (non-HCWs) was significantly lower than among HCWs (41.7 vs. 55.3,
< 0.001). The determinants of vaccine acceptance were male gender (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI, 1.00-2.18,
= 0.049), urban residence (AOR = 0.63, 95% CI, 0.41-0.96,
= 0.033), refusal of coronavirus 2019 vaccine (AOR = 0.29, 95% CI, 0.16-0.52,
< 0.001), confidence in vaccination ((AOR = 2.45, 95% CI, 1.93-3.15, and
< 0.001), and collective responsibility (AOR = 1.34, 95% CI, 1.02-1.75,
= 0.034)).
: The participants in this study did not show high levels of intention to accept the MPOX vaccination. Consequently, tailoring the efforts aiming to promote MPOX vaccination is needed especially among non-HCWs through increasing their confidence in vaccine effectiveness and safety and promoting the importance of self-vaccination to protect others.
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