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BMC Health Services Research Nov 2019Addiction health service researchers have focused efforts on opioid use disorder (OUD) and strategies to address the emerging public health threats associated with the... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Addiction health service researchers have focused efforts on opioid use disorder (OUD) and strategies to address the emerging public health threats associated with the epidemics of opioid use and opioid overdose. The increase in OUD is associated with widespread access to prescription opioid analgesics, enhanced purity of heroin, the introduction of potent illicit fentanyl compounds, and a rising tide of opioid overdose fatalities. These deaths have become the face of the opioid epidemic.
MAIN TEXT
OUD is a chronic disorder that usually requires both medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and psychosocial treatment and support. Research has found that MOUD with an opioid receptor agonist (methadone), partial agonist (buprenorphine), or opioid antagonist (extended-release naltrexone) can support recovery. Despite compelling evidence that MOUD are effective, they remain underutilized. More research is needed on these therapies to understand the feasibility of implementation in clinic settings.
CONCLUSION
This special issue focuses on how health services research has emerged as an important contributor to efforts to control the opioid epidemic in North America and Europe.
Topics: Epidemics; Europe; Health Services Research; Humans; North America; Opioid-Related Disorders
PubMed: 31767011
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-019-4751-4 -
Current Biology : CB Feb 2021Herd immunity is an important yet often misunderstood concept in epidemiology. As immunity accumulates in a population - naturally during the course of an epidemic or...
Herd immunity is an important yet often misunderstood concept in epidemiology. As immunity accumulates in a population - naturally during the course of an epidemic or through vaccination - the spread of an infectious disease is limited by the depletion of susceptible hosts. If a sufficient proportion of the population is immune - above the 'herd immunity threshold' - then transmission generally cannot be sustained. Maintaining herd immunity is therefore critical to long-term disease control. In this primer, we discuss the concept of herd immunity from first principles, clarify common misconceptions, and consider the implications for disease control.
Topics: Animals; Communicable Disease Control; Epidemics; Humans; Immunity, Herd; Mice; Vaccination
PubMed: 33621500
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.006 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2023This paper explores the concept of a holistic approach in preventing and responding to epidemics. Epidemics are defined as the occurrence of an illness or health-related... (Review)
Review
This paper explores the concept of a holistic approach in preventing and responding to epidemics. Epidemics are defined as the occurrence of an illness or health-related event exceeding normal expectations within a specific community or region. Holism emphasizes viewing systems as a whole rather than a collection of parts. In the context of epidemics, a holistic approach considers not only medical interventions but also social, economic, psychological and environmental factors that influence disease transmission and management. The impact of climate change on epidemic response, the understanding of the significance of animal health and agriculture, the consideration of art, culture and societal factors, the exploration of the use of technology and innovation, the addressing of limitations in resources and the provision of enhanced support for the mental and emotional well-being of individuals and affected communities, are parts of this holistic approach. By integrating them, innovative practices as well as cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary techniques can be employed. Such an approach has the potential to enhance epidemic prevention and response strategies, ultimately contributing to positive public health outcomes.
Topics: Humans; Epidemics; Public Health
PubMed: 38026383
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1263293 -
International Journal of Environmental... Nov 2022In the post-epidemic era, China's urban communities are at the forefront of implementing the whole chain of accurate epidemic prevention and control. However, the... (Review)
Review
In the post-epidemic era, China's urban communities are at the forefront of implementing the whole chain of accurate epidemic prevention and control. However, the uncertainty of COVID-19, the loopholes in community management and people's overly optimistic judgment of the epidemic have led to the frequent rebound of the epidemic and serious consequences. Existing studies have not yet formed a panoramic framework of community anti-epidemic work under the concept of resilience. Therefore, this article first summarizes the current research progress of resilient communities from three perspectives, including ideas and perspectives, theories and frameworks and methods and means, and summarizes the gap of the current research. Then, an innovative idea on the epidemic resilience of urban communities in China is put forward: (1) the evolution mechanism of community anti-epidemic resilience is described through the change law of dynamic networks; (2) the anti-epidemic resilience of urban communities is evaluated or predicted through the measurement criteria; (3) a simulation platform based on Multi-Agent and dynamic Bayesian networks simulates the interactive relationship between "epidemic disturbance-cost constraint--epidemic resilience"; (4) the anti-epidemic strategies are output intelligently to provide community managers with decision-making opinions on community epidemic prevention and control.
Topics: Humans; Bayes Theorem; COVID-19; Epidemics; China
PubMed: 36430012
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192215293 -
Mathematical Biosciences and... Apr 2022This paper presents a free-boundary epidemic model with subclinical infections and vaccination.We prove the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the model.Moreover,...
This paper presents a free-boundary epidemic model with subclinical infections and vaccination.We prove the existence and uniqueness of solutions to the model.Moreover, sufficient conditions for the disease vanishing and spreading are given.The disease will vanish if the basic reproduction number $ R_0 < 1 $, that the corresponding ODE model defines without spatial expansion. However, the disease will spread to the whole area if $ R^F_0(t_0) > 1 $ for some $ t_0 > 0 $ when it is introduced spatial heterogeneity. $ R^F_0(0) < R_0 $ implies that the spillovers from hotspots to areas with no confirmed cases will reduce the outbreak threshold and increase the difficulty of prevention and control in the whole region. Under the condition $ R^F_0(0) < 1 < R_0 $, if the free boundary condition of infectives $ h(t) < \infty $, $ t \to \infty $, then the disease is vanishing, which indicates that $ R^F_0(0) < 1 $ can also control the disease if the scope of hotspots expansion is limited. Furthermore, the numerical simulations illustrate that the routine vaccination would decrease the basic reproduction number and then change the disease from spreading to vanishing.
Topics: Asymptomatic Infections; Computer Simulation; Epidemics; Humans; Models, Biological; Vaccination
PubMed: 35730270
DOI: 10.3934/mbe.2022307 -
The Journal of Infectious Diseases Dec 2017Zika virus was discovered in East Africa in 1947 by the Rockefeller Foundation during investigations on the ecology of yellow fever. Although it was subsequently shown... (Review)
Review
Zika virus was discovered in East Africa in 1947 by the Rockefeller Foundation during investigations on the ecology of yellow fever. Although it was subsequently shown to have widespread distribution in Africa and Asia, it was not known to cause epidemics until 2007. This paper describes the history of the virus discovery, emergence and evolution as an epidemic virus, and the its evolving clinical spectrum.
Topics: Africa; Asia; Epidemics; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Humans; Zika Virus; Zika Virus Infection
PubMed: 29267917
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jix451 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2021With the global spread of the Coronavirus epidemic, search engine data can be a practical tool for decision-makers to understand the epidemic's trends. This article uses...
With the global spread of the Coronavirus epidemic, search engine data can be a practical tool for decision-makers to understand the epidemic's trends. This article uses trend analysis data from the Baidu search engine, the most widely used in China, to analyze the public's attention to the epidemic and the demand for N95 masks and other anti-epidemic materials and information. This kind of analysis has become an important part of information epidemiology. We have analyzed the use of the keywords "Coronavirus epidemic," "N95 mask," and "Wuhan epidemic" to judge whether the introduction of real-time search data has improved the efficiency of the Coronavirus epidemic prediction model. In general, the introduction of the Baidu index, whether in-sample or out-of-sample, significantly improves the prediction efficiency of the model.
Topics: COVID-19; China; Epidemics; Humans; SARS-CoV-2; Search Engine
PubMed: 34026721
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.685141 -
International Journal of Environmental... Apr 2020The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading fast globally. Vietnam's strict containment measures have significantly reduced the spread of the epidemic in the country. This was... (Review)
Review
The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading fast globally. Vietnam's strict containment measures have significantly reduced the spread of the epidemic in the country. This was achieved through the use of emergency control measures in the epidemic areas and integration of resources from multiple sectors including health, mass media, transportation, education, public affairs, and defense. This paper reviews and shares specific measures for successful prevention and control of COVID-19 in Vietnam, which could provide useful learning for other countries.
Topics: COVID-19; Coronavirus Infections; Epidemics; Humans; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral; Vietnam
PubMed: 32365851
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17093125 -
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics Dec 2017The author reviews the foundation of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations and the choices it has made for funding of vaccine development against... (Review)
Review
The author reviews the foundation of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations and the choices it has made for funding of vaccine development against epidemic diseases. He comments on those decisions as well as proposing how CEPI could remain relevant for the long term.
Topics: Capital Financing; Communicable Diseases; Drug Discovery; Epidemics; Humans; Vaccines
PubMed: 28375764
DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2017.1306615 -
Presse Medicale (Paris, France : 1983) Dec 2019Africa along side with south-east Asia are the epicentres of emerging and epidemic prone-infectious diseases and megacity biosecurity threat scenarios. Massive mobility... (Review)
Review
Africa along side with south-east Asia are the epicentres of emerging and epidemic prone-infectious diseases and megacity biosecurity threat scenarios. Massive mobility and reluctance in the populations exposed to epidemic and emerging prone-infectious diseases coupled by a weak health system made disease alert and control measures difficult to implement. The investigation of virus detection and persistence in semen across a range of emerging viruses is useful for clinical and public health reasons, in particular for viruses that lead to high mortality or morbidity rates or to epidemics. Innovating built facility to safely treat patients with highly pathogenic infectious diseases is urgently need, not only to prevent the spread of infection from patients to healthcare workers but also to offer provision of relatively invasive organ support, whenever considered appropriate, without posing additional risk to staff. Despite multiple challenges, the need to conduct research during epidemics is inevitable, and candidate products must continue undergoing rigorous trials. Preparedness including management of complex humanitarian crises with community distrust is a cornerstone in response to high consequence emerging infectious disease outbreaks and imposes strengthening of the public health response infrastructure and emergency outbreak systems in high-risk regions.
Topics: Communicable Diseases, Emerging; Disease Outbreaks; Epidemics; Global Health; Humans; Infection Control; Public Health; Public Health Administration
PubMed: 31784255
DOI: 10.1016/j.lpm.2019.09.036