Teaching communicable disease epidemiology.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Communicable Disease Control↗
SEARCH · Search PubMed
Results for “COMMUNICABLE DISEASES”
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Assessment of marginal nutrition and means of preventing communicable diseases in twins: an implication for intensive follow-up.
Of the 101 mothers who delivered twins at the Ife State Hospital in 1979, 58 mothers were traceable. The twins were assessed for growth by weighing; mothers were interviewed as to feeding practices, means of protecting children from common diseases. Seventy-six percent of the children were underweight for age; 9 of the children died of preventable diseases. Corn pap (maize gruel) in addition to breast milk was the major weanling food among the lower socio-economic mothers. Sixty-two percent of the mothers employed traditional methods, either singly or combined with immunization, to protect their infants from preventable disease. The role of regular home visits by the health workers in developing countries to monitor the growth progress and health status of twins in the first 18 months is emphasized.
Birth Weight↗
[Affinity sorbents having magnetic properties in the clinical picture and diagnosis of communicable and non-communicable diseases].
Affine magnetic sorbents which have no analogs in the practice of our country have been for the first time developed for the rapid diagnosis of various life-threatening diseases (plague, cholera, anthrax, glanders, meliodosis, tularemia, leptospirosis, dysentery, viral hepatitis A) and for the identification of their causative agents. The efficacy of new magnet-controlling test systems has been repeatedly confirmed by their applications in epidemiological events and emergencies: in the epidemiological surveillance of viral hepatitis A in Stavropol and in the Caucasian Mineralnye Vody towns, Stavropol Territory (1994), in the identification of cholera patients, in the detection of transmission factors, when monitoring during large epidemic out-bursts of cholera in Stavropol (1990), Daghestan (1994), as well as in the microbiological monitoring during military conflicts in the Chechen Republic (1995). The application of the sorbents has shown that their sensitivity is 4-5 times as much as that of conventional serological assays. In addition, biotechnologies for the production of polyacrylamide and composite aluminosilicate affine immunosorbents with magnetic properties have been developed. They have been used as the basis for designing immobilized granulated antigen reagents for the immunodiagnosis, differential diagnosis, evaluation of the time course and severity of a disease, the efficiency of therapy in patients with systemic scleroderma, proliferative arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, osteochondrosis.
Affinity Labels↗
[Evolution of isolation in communicable diseases: knowledge in contemporary practice].
The identification of new infectious agents and the ever increasing expansion of known infections and diseases have been stimulating the revision of biosafety measures in the activities of professional health care workers. In the present article, the evolution of knowledge and practices of isolation and precautions were reviewed, which allowed us to recover the concepts and the interventions that were formulated and implemented. Since the beginning of the modern nursing, in the XIX century, the elements of the isolation practice for contagious diseases have remained basically the same. In other words, the emphasis on the use of mechanical, chemical and environmental barriers are given, based on inherent specificities of each part of the infectious chain process.
Brazil↗
[Evolutive mechanisms in the epidemiology of the communicable diseases (author's transl)].
Selective pressures playing on the interaction between an infectious agent and its host lead to a condition of maximal survival for both. Based on simple epidemiological relationships, we propose a model which permits the evaluation of the degree of adaptation of a host to the infectious agent.
Adaptation, Physiological↗
Alzheimer's disease: communication techniques to facilitate perioperative care.
Extensive, progressive deterioration in cognition affects the Alzheimer's patient's ability to receive, store, retrieve, and send information. An Alzheimer's patient who will undergo surgery may be overwhelmed by the increased number and rapidity of changes. To help the individual comprehend the situation, nurses' communication with the patient should be slow, simple, concrete, and repetitive. A supportive, positive approach and the use of nonverbal channels facilitate communication with an Alzheimer's patient. Knowledge of the patient's past and customary modes of communication also will help nurses understand his or her attempts to communicate. These techniques will not transform the Alzheimer's patient into an accurate historian or a knowledgeable, fully informed patient. They will, however, assist nurses in reaching the patient, and they make caring for the Alzheimer's patient a far more satisfying experience for both nurses and the patient.
Alzheimer Disease↗
[Communicable disease problems of sewage sludge].
Sewage sludge is a concentrate of pathogenic agents which survived the sewage purification processes. Such hazardous sludges therefore should be disinfected prior to their utilization in agriculture. Necessary technologies for each size of treatment plant are on the market available. The new ordinance for the agricultural utilization of sewage sludge which comes into force the 1 April 1983 meets to a large extent the expectations of hygienists.
Agriculture↗
Immunization for the common communicable diseases.
Infectious diseases have dropped from the limelight in developed countries with the advent of immunization and antibiotics, but their worldwide significance in the terms of morbidity and mortality is still considerable. Whereas there are grounds for substantial differences in immunization schedules between the developed and developing countries, the acceptance of simplified immunization schedules in the former remains a crucial factor for gaining significant cover of young children and success in control of the target diseases. In the developed countries, continuing surveillance and re-evaluation of programmes is necessary to ensure that the benefits so far obtained are maintained. This paper summarizes the approach to immunization programmes both in developing countries and in Australia, and outlines the schedule recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council at its 85th Session in June, 1978.
Adolescent↗
[Research and pharmaceutical development on the subject of communicable diseases in the intertropical region].
The development of the antimalarial drugs mefloquine and halofantrine in 1988 by American military research teams marked a start in the decline in investment in tropical disease research and drug development. The globalization of the market, increased clinical costs, and constraints on public health spending caused the pharmaceutical industry to concentrate on more profitable market segments (cardiovascular drugs, antineoplastics, anti-infection drugs, etc.). The market in developing countries represents a large volume, but a very low return because the added value is small, generic drugs are used and the state of the populations is impoverished. The ten or so drugs that have been developed recently result from chance (eflornithine), veterinary research (ivermectin), fortuitous analysis of traditional pharmacopoeia (artemether) or reevaluations of former drugs (amopyroquine). The deficiency of research and drug development for diseases of the intertropical zone has a direct negative effect on public health and also reveals health policy inconsistencies, particularly the incompatibility of the pharmaceutical industry's interests and international health priorities. The problem is also aggravated by the closed approach of external health assistance (official development aid) which aims to minimize costs by favoring primary health care.
Aminoquinolines↗
On the use of contour maps in the analysis of spread of communicable disease.
The co-ordinates of the dwellings where cases of variola minor (alastrim) occurred during a small epidemic were used in a worked example of contour mapping of disease spread. The contoured variable was the date of onset, relative to an arbitrary base date, of the case introducing the disease into each of twenty-two households. Three contour maps prepared with slightly different computer programmes or dates exhibited similar concentric loops whose centres were close to the first infected household. The average rate of spread of the disease was estimated by regression of the number of days to onset of the first case in the household on the average distance from an arbitrary origin to the relevant contour line. The calculated average rate of spread was 1.22 metres per day. An additional map was contoured using the cumulative number of cases as the contoured variable, relative to the onset of the example epidemic.
Brazil↗
Epidemiology of communicable disease in small populations.
We have recently shown how the outbreaks of measles virus infection in small isolated island communities exhibit an organised pattern in the distribution of epidemic sizes and distribution of epidemic durations. More conventional epidemiological analysis tends not to be useful in such highly intermittent dynamical regimes where there is frequent fade-out of infection. In this paper we discuss how our approach can be applied to an analysis of measles epidemics in highly vaccinated communities where susceptibles build up due to lack of vaccine uptake and also because of occasional vaccine failure.
Communicable Diseases↗
"Intermittent claudication intermittence" as a manifestation of adventitial cystic disease communicating with the knee joint.
In this report, we describe a patient with adventitial cystic disease of the popliteal artery, in which direct communication via a duct-like structure between the cystic lesion and the knee-joint synovium resulted in recurrent episodes of intermittent claudication and complete symptom-free intervals (intermittent claudication intermittence). This unusual observation could shed more light on the debated etiology of the disease. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of complete excision of the cyst along with the presenting anatomic connection with the knee joint.
Adult↗
Active and passive surveillance for communicable diseases in child care facilities, Seattle-King County, Washington.
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate models for public health surveillance of illnesses among children in out-of-home child care facilities. METHODS: Between July 1992 and March 1994, 200 Seattle-King County child care facilities participated in active or enhanced passive surveillance, or both. Reporting was based on easily recognized signs, symptoms, and sentinel events. Published criteria were used in evaluating surveillance effectiveness, and notifiable disease reporting of participating and nonparticipating facilities was compared. RESULTS: Neither surveillance model was well accepted by child care providers. Enhanced passive and active surveillance had comparable sensitivity. Reporting delays and the large amount of time needed for data entry led to problems with timeliness, especially in terms of written reporting during active surveillance. CONCLUSIONS: Widespread active public health surveillance in child care facilities is not feasible for most local health departments. Improvements in public health surveillance in child care settings will depend on acceptability to providers.
Administrative Personnel↗
Do CuSums have a role in routine communicable disease surveillance?
The swift identification of outbreaks of infection is essential for effective control in the population. One of the functions of surveillance is to detect outbreaks but it could be argued that this is one of the weaker aspects of routine surveillance at present. This paper describes a technique which might meet this surveillance need. The CuSum technique allows rapid measurement of change from expected values based on historical data. It is very simple and seems to be a highly sensitive technique which can signal the need for further scrutiny of the data and/or for public health action, long before a change in incidence is apparent from raw data. This is particularly true for low-incidence infections where large functions can make interpretation difficult. CuSums represent a potentially useful adjunct to other surveillance methods in infection control.
Communicable Disease Control↗
Emergency response vaccines: lessons learned in response to communicable diseases.
In response to recent political and epidemiological events, the availability of emergency response vaccines has received high priority on the global agenda. An emergency response vaccine is defined as a vaccine of public health importance that should be available to all people at risk against epidemic, pandemic or global threat situations. This review focuses on global threat vaccines, those that would be used in the case of an emerging pathogen or the intentional release of an agent to which there is a low level of population immunity. The development and use of such vaccines requires attention to simultaneous actions on seven fronts: development, forecasting, supply sources, regulation, procurement, financing and allocation. Neglect of any one of these aspects will threaten the success of the project. A case study on smallpox vaccines illustrates this. Although many public health experts fear that attention to stockpiling emergency response vaccines could draw resources from other areas, some aspects of such an effort could positively impact the supply of other needed vaccines.
Communicable Disease Control↗
Legal rights and communicable disease: AIDS, the police power, and individual liberty.
The policy debate over AIDS has focused on how to balance the rights of individuals who have the disease against the rights of the public. This paper examines the nature of both sets of rights by analyzing the development of public health law and its dominant visions today. The article argues that while once public health rights implied a vast reserve of community authority and obligation to prevent illness, today the rights of the public and those of individuals are seen as being in opposition. Public health jurisprudence now presupposes that illness is primarily a matter of individual concern. In this view, the science of medicine mediates the relationship between the individual and the public. This understanding of rights protects some of the interests of infected individuals, but is inadequate for addressing many of the major problems raised by the AIDS epidemic, particularly the spread of infection among the uninfected.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
[Summer 1997 viral meningitis in children Frankfurt/Main--a discussion of the revised communicable disease control regulation].
According to the current law of preventing infectious diseases in Germany, bacterial as well as aseptic meningitis have to be reported to the health authorities, whereas according to the amendment aseptic meningitis will no longer be notifiable. In Summer 1997, 63 children with aseptic meningitis were reported to the local health authorities of Frankfurt compared with 4 or 5 per year during the preceding years. In 40% enterovirus, resp. ECHO-30 virus could be detected. The local health authorities gave detailed information on the medical relevance as well as necessary hygienic measures to the families and kindergartens. During the same time reports on aseptic meningitis increased to double compared with 1996, with hot spots in 4 defined regions in Bavaria, Hesse and in Northern Germany. According to these data the duty of notification of aseptic meningitis should be maintained, so that health authorities can inform the population and ensure good hygiene methods.
Adolescent↗
Can syndromic surveillance data detect local outbreaks of communicable disease? A model using a historical cryptosporidiosis outbreak.
A national UK surveillance system currently uses data from a health helpline (NHS Direct) in an attempt to provide early warning of a bio-terrorist attack, or an outbreak caused by a more common infection. To test this syndromic surveillance system we superimposed data from a historical outbreak of cryptosporidiosis onto a statistical model of NHS Direct call data. We modelled whether calls about diarrhoea (a proxy for cryptosporidiosis) exceeded a statistical threshold, thus alerting the surveillance team to the outbreak. On the date that the public health team were first notified of the outbreak our model predicted a 4% chance of detection when we assumed that one-twentieth of cryptosporidiosis cases telephoned the helpline. This rose to a 72% chance when we assumed nine-tenths of cases telephoned. The NHS Direct surveillance system is currently unlikely to detect an event similar to the cryptosporidiosis outbreak used here and may be most suited to detecting more widespread rises in syndromes in the community, as previously demonstrated. However, the expected rise in NHS Direct call rates, should improve early warning of outbreaks using call data.
Communicable Disease Control↗