scholarly journals Impact of dogs with deltamethrin-impregnated collars on prevalence of visceral leishmaniasis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mondal Hasan Zahid ◽  
Christopher M. Kribs
Keyword(s):  
Visceral Leishmaniasis ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Control Measure ◽  
Reservoir Host ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Primary Host ◽  
Blood Meal Source ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
The Impact

AbstractLeishmaniasis is a vector borne zoonosis which is classified as a neglected tropical disease. Among the three most common forms of the disease, Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is the most threatening to human health, causing 20,000 to 30,000 deaths worldwide each year. Areas where VL is mostly endemic have unprotected dogs in community and houses. The presence of dogs usually increases VL risk for humans since dogs are the principal reservoir host for the parasite of the disease. Based on this fact, most earlier studies consider culling dogs as a control measure for the spread of VL. A more recent control measure has been the use of deltamethrin-impregnated dog collars (DIDCs) to protect both humans and dogs by putting DIDCs on dogs neck. The presence of dogs helps to grow the sandfly population faster by offering a more suitable blood-meal source. On the other hand, the presence of DIDCs on dogs helps to reduce sandfly population by the lethality of deltamethrin insecticide. This study brings an ecological perspective to this public health concern, aiming to understand the impact of an additional host (here, protected dogs) on disease risk to a primary host (here, humans). To answer this question, we compare two different settings: a community without dogs, and a community with dogs protected with DIDC. Our analysis shows the presence of protected dogs can reduce VL infection risk in humans. However, this disease risk reduction depends on dogs’ tolerance for sandfly bites.

scholarly journals Resistance to Experimental Visceral Leishmaniasis in Mice Infected With Leishmania infantum Requires Batf3

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Soto ◽  
Laura Ramírez ◽  
José Carlos Solana ◽  
Emma C. L. Cook ◽  
Elena Hernández-García ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visceral Leishmaniasis ◽  
Leishmania Infantum ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Leucine Zipper ◽  
Basic Leucine Zipper ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Deficient Mice

Unveiling the protective immune response to visceral leishmaniasis is critical for a rational design of vaccines aimed at reducing the impact caused by this fatal, if left untreated, vector-borne disease. In this study we sought to determine the role of the basic leucine zipper transcription factor ATF-like 3 (Batf3) in the evolution of infection with Leishmania infantum, the causative agent of human visceral leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean Basin and Latin America. For that, Batf3-deficient mice in C57BL/6 background were infected with an L. infantum strain expressing the luciferase gene. Bioluminescent imaging, as well as in vitro parasite titration, demonstrated that Batf3-deficient mice were unable to control hepatic parasitosis as opposed to wild-type C57BL/6 mice. The impaired microbicide capacities of L. infantum-infected macrophages from Batf3-deficient mice mainly correlated with a reduction of parasite-specific IFN-γ production. Our results reinforce the implication of Batf3 in the generation of type 1 immunity against infectious diseases.

scholarly journals Are normoglycaemic individuals at risk of depression? The depression-dysglycaemic phenotype from a European population-based cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Cuschieri ◽  
Julian Mamo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Phenotypic Characteristics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Depression Prevalence ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Depression is a chronic non communicable disease. It is a growing public health concern with established links with a number of co-morbidities, including diabetes mellitus. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression at a population level, establish the depression sub-population phenotypic characteristics while exploring for links between depression and a spectrum of glycemic abnormalities. Methods A nationally representative cross-sectional study was conducted in Malta between 2014 and 2016. Participants were categorized into different sub-populations according to their glycaemic status. Depression prevalence rates and phenotypic characteristics for each sub-population were established. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify links with depression. Results Depression was prevalent in 17.15% (CI 95%: 16.01 – 18.36) with a female predominance. Those with known (as opposed to newly diagnosed) diabetes had the highest depression prevalence when compared to other glycemic sub-groups. These also exhibited a significant link with self-reported depression. However, at a population level, depression was mostly prevalent within the normoglycaemic sub-population. Conclusions The study confirms the strong link between diabetes and depression, especially, in a high risk dysglycaemic population. Of public health concern is the high depression occurrence within the normoglycaemic sub-population, which attributed for the majority of the Maltese population. In order to reduce the impact of mental health on the population, physicians may consider implementing depression screening clinical tools as part of their routine health check-ups at primary care level, irrespective of the glycaemic status of their patients.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Quarantine Reveals Grade-specific Behavioral Modification of Myopia: One-Million Chinese Schoolchildren Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liangde Xu ◽  
Yunlong Ma ◽  
Jian Yuan ◽  
Yaru Zhang ◽  
Hong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Myopia ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Global Public Health ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Grade Group ◽  
Myopia Progression ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Normal Period ◽  
Prevention Methods ◽  
The Impact

SummaryBackgroundHigh prevalence of myopia of adolescent has been a global public health concern. Their risk factors and effective prevention methods for myopia across schoolchildren developmental stages are critically needed but remain uncertain due to the difficulty in implementing intervention measurements under normal life situation. We aimed to study the impact of the COVID-19 quarantine on myopia development among over one-million schoolchildren.MethodsWe designed the ongoing longitudinal project of Myopic Epidemiology and Intervention Study (MEIS) to biannually examine myopia among millions of schoolchildren for ten years in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. In the present study, we performed three examinations of myopia in 1,305 elementary and high schools for schoolchildren in June 2019, December 2019 and June 2020. We used the normal period (June-December 2019) and COVID-19 quarantine period (January-June 2020) for comparisons. Myopia was defined as an uncorrected visual acuity of 20/25 or less and a spherical equivalent refraction (SER) of -0.5 diopters (D) or less. High myopia was defined as an SER of -6.0 D or less.FindingsIn June 2019, 1,001,749 students aged 7-18 were eligible for examinations. In the 6-month and 12-month follow-up studies, there were 813,755 eligible students (81.2%) and 768,492 eligible students (76.7%), respectively. Among all students, we found that half-year myopia progression increased approximate 1.5 times from -0.263 D (95% CI, -0.262 to -0.264) during normal period to -0.39 D (95% CI, -0.389 to -0.391) during COVID-19 quarantine (P < 0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified grade rather than age was significantly associated with myopia (Hazard ratio [HR]: 1.10, 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.13; P < 0.001) and high myopia (HR: 1.40, 95% CI, 1.35 to 1.46; P < 0.001) after adjustment for other factors. The prevalence, progression, and incidence of myopia and high myopia could be categorized into two grade groups: I (grades 1-6) and II (grades 7-12). Specifically, COVID-19 quarantine for 6 months sufficiently increased risk of developing myopia (OR: 1.36, 95% CI, 1.33 to 1.40) or high myopia (OR: 1.30, 95% CI, 1.22 to 1.39) in Grade Group I, but decreased risk of developing myopia (OR: 0.45, 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.48) or high myopia (OR: 0.57, 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.59) in Grade Group II.InterpretationThe finding that behavioral modifications for six months during COVID-19 quarantine sufficiently and grade-specifically modify myopia development offers the largest human behavioral intervention data at the one million scale to identify the grade-specific causal factors and effective prevention methods for guiding the formulation of myopia prevention and control policies.FundingKey Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China; the National Natural Science Foundation of China; Scientific Research Foundation for Talents of Wenzhou Medical University; Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province.Research in contextEvidence before this studyMyopia is the most-common refractive error worldwide. Myopia with younger onset may result in developing high myopia, which is associated with sight-threatening ocular diseases such as maculopathy, retinal detachment, opticneuropathy, glaucoma, retinal atrophy, choroidal neovascularization. In light of the increasing prevalence of myopia and high myopia has been a global public health concern, the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on myopia development has gained substantial attention. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, and MEDLINE databases for original articles reported between database inception and November 10, 2020, using the following search terms: (coronavirus OR COVID* OR SARS-COV-2 OR lockdown OR quarantine) AND (myopia OR short-sightedness OR refractive error). To date, there was no original study reported to uncover the influence of COVID-19 quarantine on myopia progression.Added value of this studyThis study provides the largest longitudinal intervention data on myopia progression in Chinese schoolchildren covering all grades of schoolchildren at one-million scale. COVID-19 quarantine model uncovers that behavioral modifications for six months may lead to significant increase of overall prevalence of myopia associated with their increased screen times and decreased outdoor activity times. Importantly, their effects on developing myopia or high myopia of students are grade-dependent, which were risk factors for elementary schools period but protective factors for high schools period partly due to reduced school education burden.Implications of all the available evidenceThis one-million schoolchildren myopia survey offers evidence that six months behavioral modifications sufficiently and grade-specifically change the progression of myopia and high myopia. In view of the increased use of electronic devices is an unavoidable trend, effective myopia prevention strategy according to grade among students is urgently needed. Since COVID-19 outbreak is still ongoing and spreading, international collaborate efforts are warranted to uncover the influence of COVID-19 on myopia progression to further substantiate these findings.

scholarly journals Estimation of Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in sheep in Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
Abdelkrim Aroussi ◽  
Ahmed Megharbi ◽  
Meghit Boumediene Khaled ◽  
Hadj Labdouni ◽  
Kadi Diafi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Toxoplasma Gondii ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Elisa Kit ◽  
Sheep Meat ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Sheep are considered as an important reservoir of human Toxoplasma gondii infections, although more recent data on the prevalence of T. gondii in sheep in Algeria are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of T. gondii in sheep to obtain a better insight into the importance of sheep as reservoirs of human infection. A commercial ELISA kit, which detects antibodies against T. gondii, was utilized to test 269 sera collected from yearling sheep in the municipal slaughterhouse of Sidi-Bel-Abbes city between October 2020 and February 2021. Simultaneously, we assessed the cut-off as recommended by the manufacturer (S/P>50%) and the bootstrap statistical model to estimate the optimal cut-off value (OD = 0.12). The overall seroprevalence was estimated at 34.2% (92/269) using the ELISA kit cut-off and 50.5% (136/269) using the bootstrapped cut-off, being significantly higher compared to sheep from other regions in Algeria. In conclusion, the seroprevalence of T. gondii in sheep was elevated, constituting, therefore, a major public health concern, as sheep meat could be a significant source of T. gondii infection for human consumers. Further studies are required to estimate the impact of abortion among livestock animals caused by T. gondii infection such as sheep, where it could lead to considerable economic losses.

scholarly journals The Poor and the Pandemic- COVID 19

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 652-659
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Thakur
Keyword(s):  
Infected Individual ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Asymptomatic Individual ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Government ◽  
Spread Of Infection ◽  
Respiratory Droplets ◽  
The Impact

The pandemic of coronavirus disease commonly known as covid 19 is known to be caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to public health concern. The infection is known to be transmitted via respiratory droplets during close face to face contact with an infected individual or may be transmitted by asymptomatic individual. The time from exposure to symptom onset is estimated to be around 14 days. The most common symptoms are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. In fight against the infection, the Government of India imposed nationwide lockdown from 24 March ,2020 onwards to prevent the spread of infection. The Government of India claims to have won battle against the pandemic by stating that the number of cases would have been higher if nationwide lockdown had not been imposed. However this claimed is being questioned as the number of cases is on the rise each day we see. In this brief review, we aim to discuss the impact of pandemic covid 19 on poor people of India.

scholarly journals Are normoglycaemic individuals at risk of depression? The depression-dysglycaemic phenotype from a European population-based cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Cuschieri ◽  
Julian Mamo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Phenotypic Characteristics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Depression Prevalence ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Depression is a chronic non communicable disease. It is a growing public health concern with established links with a number of co-morbidities, including diabetes mellitus. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression at a population level, establish the depression sub-population phenotypic characteristics while exploring for links between depression and a spectrum of glycemic abnormalities. Methods A nationally representative cross-sectional study was conducted in Malta between 2014 and 2016. Participants were categorized into different sub-populations according to their glycaemic status. Depression prevalence rates and phenotypic characteristics for each sub-population were established. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify links with depression. Results Depression was prevalent in 17.15% (CI 95%: 16.01–18.36) with a female predominance. Those with known (as opposed to newly diagnosed) diabetes had the highest depression prevalence when compared to other glycemic sub-groups. These also exhibited a significant link with self-reported depression. However, at a population level, depression was mostly prevalent within the normoglycaemic sub-population. Conclusions The study confirms the strong link between diabetes and depression, especially, in a high risk dysglycaemic population. Of public health concern is the high depression occurrence within the normoglycaemic sub-population, which attributed for the majority of the Maltese population. In order to reduce the impact of mental health on the population, physicians may consider implementing depression screening clinical tools as part of their routine health check-ups at primary care level, irrespective of the glycaemic status of their patients.

scholarly journals An Asymptomatic Tropical Infection in a Pregnancy Complicated by a Hematological Neoplasm-accidental Passenger or Effect of Immunosuppression?

2021 ◽  
pp. 33-36
Author(s):  
Sammya Bhowmick ◽  
Chandan Mishra ◽  
S. Arulselvi ◽  
Tushar Sehgal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia ◽  
Lymphatic Filariasis ◽  
Myeloid Leukemia ◽  
Tropical Disease ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Neglected Tropical Disease ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Hematological Neoplasm ◽  
Vector Borne

Lymphatic filariasis is a vector borne infection classified under the WHO category of Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD). It is a major public health concern globally. This study describes this vector-borne infection in a young pregnant lady, a known case of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) on chemotherapy. Such an association is hitherto unreported.

scholarly journals Food Adulteration: a serious public health concern in Bangladesh

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Arifur Rahman ◽  
Md Zakir Sultan ◽  
Mohammad Sharifur Rahman ◽  
Mohammad A Rashid
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Future Generation ◽  
Pharmaceutical Journal ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Food Adulteration ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
The Impact

Adulteration of foods has become a national issue. The problem is not only ignoring the human rights for safer food but also endangering public health seriously with numerous acute and chronic diseases. Our future generation will be seriously affected with vulnerable physical and mental growth inflicted by food adulteration. This paper describes the impact of consumption of adulterated foods on human health and the roles of the concerned authorities to eradicate it. The key objective of this paper is not to blame or undermine anyone. We intend to inform the current scenario of food adulteration and wish to bring a positive change through proper measures by the concerned regulatory authorities.Bangladesh Pharmaceutical Journal 18(1): 1-7, 2015

scholarly journals Incidence and Trends of Leishmaniasis and Its Risk Factors in Humera, Western Tigray

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawit Gebremichael Tedla ◽  
Fsahatsion Hailemariam Bariagabr ◽  
Hagos Hadgu Abreha
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Visceral Leishmaniasis ◽  
Potential Risk ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Infection Rates ◽  
Labor Migrants ◽  
Potential Risk Factors ◽  
The Impact

Introduction. Leishmaniasis is a neglected vector borne disease, which constitutes a major public health concern in several tropical and subtropical countries. An estimated 4500 to 4000 new cases of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) occur per year and over 3.2 million people are at risk of infection in the country. In Humera, VL epidemics are associated with migration of workers from nonendemic highlands into the visceral leishmaniasis endemic extensive farmlands. Therefore, the objective of this study is to estimate the incidence and the risk factors of leishmaniasis in Humera, Western Tigray. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted using the hospital admission database on all patients admitted who have been suspected of having leishmaniasis infection and tested for rK39-based immune chromatographic test (ICT) at Kahsay Abera Hospital in Humera town from January 2012 to December 2017. Potential risk factors for leishmaniasis infection in human were collected from the hospital, which included categorical variables: age, sex, origin of place, clinical forms of leishmaniasis, mortality rates, and the occurrence of infections according to format of hospital. Results. A total of 26511 hospital discharged patients with diagnosis of leishmaniasis were identified, out of which 2232 (8.42%) human leishmaniasis cases were registered and of them 71 were dead from January 2012 to December 2017. Mortality rates of leishmaniasis were 18 (3.3%) in 2012, 16 (3.1%) in 2013, 15 (2.4%) in 2014, 8 (3.3%) in 2015, 9 (4.1%) in 2016, and 5 (5.4%) in 2017. Univariate analysis of the infection rate of leishmaniasis was based on the potential risk factors and found higher male infection rates than female (P <0.05) in all the study years. Origin of place was also significantly associated (P< 0.05) where labor migrants from highland to agricultural fields had higher infection rates than those who permanently lived in and around Humera. Trends in season of occurrence revealed that weeding and harvesting time (July–December) had higher incidence of leishmaniasis than dry time (January–June). Conclusion. Male labor migrants from the highlands older than 15 years of age were at the highest risks of leishmaniasis during weeding and harvest season. Therefore, awareness creation on the risks of sleeping outdoors and the impact of using of bed nets is imperative especially for labor migrants during weeding and harvesting season.

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