'epidemic response' in Infectious Diseases

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Team finds 'footprint' of coronavirus outbreak from 20K years ago

From www.futurity.org - July 19, 2021 10:52 PM

A team of researchers analyzed the genomes of more than 2,500 modern humans from 26 worldwide populations, to better understand how humans have adapted to historical coronavirus outbreaks.

The team used computational methods to uncover genetic traces of adaptation to coronaviruses, the family of viruses responsible for three major outbreaks in the last 20 years, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Traces of the outbreak are evident in the genetic makeup of people from that area, they’ve found.

A coronavirus epidemic broke out in the East Asia region more than 20,000 years ago, as per their findings.

The discovery of a coronavirus outbreak from 20,000 years ago is "like finding fossilized dinosaur footprints instead of finding fossilized bones directly.

The work shows that over the course of the epidemic, selection favored certain variants of human genes involved in the virus-cell interactions that could have led to a less severe disease. Studying the “tracks” left by ancient viruses can help researchers better understand how the genomes of different human populations adapted to viruses that have emerged as important drivers of human evolution.

The study’s authors say their research could help identify viruses that have caused epidemics in the distant past and may do so in the future. Studies like theirs help researchers compile a list of potentially dangerous viruses and then develop diagnostics, vaccines, and drugs for the event of their return.

read the paper at https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00794-6

more at https://www.futurity.org/coronavirus-epidemic-viruses-2597742/

nrip's insight:

The promise of evolutionary genetic analyses as a new tool in fighting the outbreaks of the future

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nrip's curator insight, July 19, 2021 10:55 PM

The promise of evolutionary genetic analyses as a new tool in fighting the outbreaks of the future

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Case-Initiated COVID-19 Contact Tracing Using Anonymous Notifications

From mhealth.jmir.org - June 17, 2021 12:25 AM

We discuss the concept of a participatory digital contact notification approach to assist tracing of contacts who are exposed to confirmed cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19);

The core functionality of our concept is to provide a usable, labor-saving tool for contact tracing by confirmed cases themselves

the approach is simple and affordable for countries with limited access to health care resources and advanced technology.

The proposed tool serves as a supplemental contract tracing approach to counteract the shortage of health care staff while providing privacy protection for both cases and contacts.

This tool can be deployed on the internet or as a plugin for a smartphone app.
Confirmed cases with COVID-19 can use this tool to provide contact information (either email addresses or mobile phone numbers) of close contacts.
The system will then automatically send a message to the contacts informing them of their contact status, what this status means, the actions that should follow (eg, self-quarantine, respiratory hygiene/cough etiquette), and advice for receiving early care if they develop symptoms.
The name of the sender of the notification message by email or mobile phone can be anonymous or not.
The message received by the contact contains no disease information but contains a security code for the contact to log on the platform to retrieve the information.

Conclusion

The successful application of this tool relies heavily on public social responsibility and credibility, and it remains to be seen if the public would adopt such a tool and what mechanisms are required to prevent misuse.

This is a simple tool that does not require complicated computer techniques despite strict user privacy protection design with respect to countries and regions. Additionally, this tool can help avoid coercive surveillance, facilitate the allocation of health resources, and prioritize clinical service for patients with COVID-19. Information obtained from the platform can also increase our understanding of the epidemiology of COVID-19.

read this concept paper at https://mhealth.jmir.org/2020/6/e20369

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An analysis of compounding factors of #epidemics in complex emergencies

From www.emerald.com - July 15, 2021 3:29 PM

This study aims to describe the compounding factors in a complex emergency, which exacerbate a cholera epidemic among vulnerable populations due to supply chain disruptions. Basic needs such as food, medicine, water, sanitation and hygiene commodities are critical to reduce the incidence rate of cholera and control the spread of infection. Conflicts cause damage to infrastructure, displace vulnerable populations and restrict the flow of goods from both commercial and humanitarian organizations. This study assesses the underlying internal and external factors that either aggravate or mitigate the risk of a cholera outbreak in such settings, using Yemen as a case study.

Findings

Compounding factors that influenced the cholera outbreak in Yemen are visualized in a causal loop diagram, which can improve the understanding of relationships where numerous uncertainties exist. A strong link exists between humanitarian response and the level of infrastructure development in a country. Supply chains are affected by constraints deriving from the Yemeni conflict, further inhibiting the use of infrastructure, which limits access to basic goods and services. Aligning long-term development objectives with short-term humanitarian response efforts can create more flexible modes of assistance to prevent and control future outbreaks.

Practical implications

This study presents a systematic view of dynamic factors existing in complex emergencies that have cause-and-effect relationships. Several models of cholera outbreaks have been used in previous studies, primarily focusing on the modes and mechanisms of transmission throughout a population. However, such models typically do not include other internal and external factors that influence the population and context at the site of an outbreak. This model incorporates those factors from a logistics perspective to address the distribution of in-kind goods and cash and voucher assistance.

Social implications

This study has been aligned with six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using their associated targets in the model as variables that influence the cholera incidence rate. Recognizing that the SDGs are interlinked, as are the dynamic factors in complex humanitarian emergencies, the authors have chosen to take an interdisciplinary approach to consider social, economic and environmental factors that may be impacted by this research.

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Acceptability of App-Based Contact Tracing for COVID-19

From mhealth.jmir.org - June 17, 2021 12:26 AM

The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest public health crisis of the last 100 years. Countries have responded with various levels of lockdown to save lives and stop health systems from being overwhelmed. At the same time, lockdowns entail large socioeconomic costs.

One exit strategy under consideration is a mobile phone app that traces the close contacts of those infected with COVID-19.

Recent research has demonstrated the theoretical effectiveness of this solution in different disease settings. However, concerns have been raised about such apps because of the potential privacy implications. This could limit the acceptability of app-based contact tracing in the general population. As the effectiveness of this approach increases strongly with app uptake, it is crucial to understand public support for this intervention.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the user

acceptability of a contact-tracing app in five countries hit by the pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a largescale, multicountry study (N=5995) to measure public support for the digital contact tracing of COVID-19 infections.

We ran anonymous online surveys in France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States and measured intentions to use a contact-tracing app across different installation regimes (voluntary installation vs automatic installation by mobile phone providers) and studied how these intentions vary across individuals and countries.

Results: We found strong support for the app under both regimes, in all countries, across all subgroups of the population, and irrespective of regional-level COVID-19 mortality rates.

We investigated the main factors that may hinder or facilitate uptake and found that concerns about cybersecurity and privacy, together with a lack of trust in the government, are the main barriers to adoption.

Conclusions:

Epidemiological evidence shows that app-based contact tracing can suppress the spread of COVID-19 if a high enough proportion of the population uses the app and that it can still reduce the number of infections if uptake is moderate. Our findings show that the willingness to install the app is very high. The available evidence suggests that app-based contact tracing may be a viable approach to control the diffusion of COVID-19.

read the study at https://mhealth.jmir.org/2020/8/e19857

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nrip's curator insight, June 12, 2021 5:34 AM

A lot of research and anecdotal evidence shows that mHealth/Mobile App based contact tracing can suppress the spread of COVID-19 if a high enough proportion of the population uses the app.

that it can still reduce the number of infections if uptake is moderate is interesting to note.