1,478 research outputs found

    Protect Iowa Health, 2005

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    The Iowa Department of Public Health works with local, state and federal partners in developing plans and creating systems to increase the state’s ability to respond to bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies

    Scalable Approximation Algorithm for Network Immunization

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    The problem of identifying important players in a given network is of pivotal importance for viral marketing, public health management, network security and various other fields of social network analysis. In this work we find the most important vertices in a graph G = (V;E) to immunize so as the chances of an epidemic outbreak is minimized. This problem is directly relevant to minimizing the impact of a contagion spread (e.g. flu virus, computer virus and rumor) in a graph (e.g. social network, computer network) with a limited budget (e.g. the number of available vaccines, antivirus software, filters). It is well known that this problem is computationally intractable (it is NP-hard). In this work we reformulate the problem as a budgeted combinational optimization problem and use techniques from spectral graph theory to design an efficient greedy algorithm to find a subset of vertices to be immunized. We show that our algorithm takes less time compared to the state of the art algorithm. Thus our algorithm is scalable to networks of much larger sizes than best known solutions proposed earlier. We also give analytical bounds on the quality of our algorithm. Furthermore, we evaluate the efficacy of our algorithm on a number of real world networks and demonstrate that the empirical performance of algorithm supplements the theoretical bounds we present, both in terms of approximation guarantees and computational efficiency

    Antibody Architecture: Responding to Bioterrorism

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    Bioterrorism, the use of biological and chemical agents for terrorist purposes, is one of the most potentially significant health and security threats currently facing the United States. Healthcare facilities as isolated entities are alone unable to provide sufficient, adaptable emergency response options during a bioterrorist attack--an unpredictable, low probability, high consequence event. Bioterrorism response must be systemic, distributed, flexible, and responsive for a wide range of event incidents, scenarios and contexts. A significant problem yet to be adequately addressed is the mitigation of the walking well--those who are not sick or injured but have the potential to inundate any designated response setting. Architectural interventions alone are limited in their ability to provide an appropriate response to an act of bioterrorism. An analogy to the human immune system and how it operates in the body to overcome pathogens will be used to articulate a systematic bioterrorism response and a series of architectural interventions for dealing with the walking well. Similar to our immune system, a response network (or system) should be created that operates throughout high risk urban contexts and takes advantage of existing architectural settings in order to deploy as needed and where needed in response to a bioterrorist attack. An antibody response to bioterrorism must be able to adapt to meeting the needs of various scenarios and contexts in which an incident might occur. Drawing on this biological metaphor, any proposed architectural interventions must include latent capabilities while having the ability to be activated in place and scalable in order to accommodate the multiple potential threats and the many variables inherent with bioterrorism. The proposal for an architectural response to bioterrorism is situated in Washington, D.C., identified as the highest potential target city in the United States for acts of bioterrorism. Appropriate latent resources capable of acting as a part of the response network throughout the D.C. urban context will be identified and their potential activation will be explored through two example scenarios, which will be used to illustrate the proposed model for systematic response. The most architecturally significant locations for (activated) small scale interjections will be designed to meet the first response needs of the general population who would be moving about in the city during the detection of an event. These sites and features will allow for differing degrees of self-diagnosis during and following an event as well as provide general day to day and event related public health information. The proposed architectural interjections will be designed to respond to the predicted fear and panic exhibited by the walking well during a bioterrorist attack, and minimize their potential for overwhelming hospitals and other healthcare settings in the target region

    Public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities : national standards for state, local, tribal, and territorial public health

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    In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Public Health Preparedness Capabilities: National Standards for State and Local Planning, a set of 15 distinct, yet interrelated, capability standards designed to advance the emergency preparedness and response capacity of state and local public health systems. These standards pioneered a national capability-based framework that helped jurisdictional public health agencies structure emergency preparedness planning and further formalize their public health agency Emergency Support Function (ESF) #8 role(s) in partnership with emergency management agencies.CDC\u2019s 2018 Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Capabilities: National Standards for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Public Health include operational considerations that support the public health and medical components of the 32 core capabilities specified in the National Preparedness Goal. Jurisdictions should use these operational considerations to develop their public health agency response strategies in greater alignment with the jurisdictional public health agency ESF #8 role.Suggested Citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2018). Public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.CS290888-ACDC_PreparednesResponseCapabilities_October2018_Final_508.pdfIntroduction -- Using the Capability Standards for Strategic Planning -- At-A-Glance: Capability Definitions, Functions, and Summary of Changes -- Capability 1: Community Preparedness -- Capability 2: Community Recovery -- Capability 3: Emergency Operations Coordination -- Capability 4: Emergency Public Information and Warning -- Capability 5: Fatality Management -- Capability 6: Information Sharing -- Capability 7: Mass Care -- Capability 8: Medical Countermeasure Dispensing and Administration -- Capability 9: Medical Materiel Management and Distribution -- Capability 10: Medical Surge -- Capability 11: Nonpharmaceutical Interventions -- Capability 12: Public Health Laboratory Testing -- Capability 13: Public Health Surveillance and Epidemiological Investigation -- Capability 14: Responder Safety and Health -- Capability 15: Volunteer Management -- Glossary of Terms \u2013- Acknowledgements.201

    Prospects for the development of a subunit vaccine against Mycobacterium ulcerans disease (Buruli ulcer)

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    Buruli ulcer (BU) is a slow progressing disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. It presents in different clinical forms ranging from small non-ulcerative nodules to large ulcers and sometimes multiple ulcerations. The highest prevalence of the focally occurring disease is found in rural areas of West African countries. Both the mode of transmission as well as the potential environmental reservoir of M. ulcerans remain unidentified to date. In Cameroon, the remote Mapé dam region has recently been identified as a new BU endemic area. To assess the age-adjusted prevalence and local geographic distribution of BU, a house-by-house survey in the Bankim health district was conducted. Results showed that children between the age of five to 15 and elderly people were over proportionally affected by BU. To confirm the clinical diagnosis of BU during and after the health survey in Bankim, fine needle aspirates and swabs from undermined ulcer edges were transported to the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute for laboratory confirmation by quantitative real time PCR. In parallel we developed a protocol for primary culture initiation of M. ulcerans from patient lesions after a long time span between sampling and processing in a BSL3 culture laboratory. The established two sets of Cameroonian patient isolates from the Mapé and the Nyong river valleys were used for a comparative genome sequencing study revealing the presence of two distinct phylogenetic clonal complexes in Cameroon. Despite the fact that BU can be treated with antibiotics, the socioeconomic impact of the disease on affected populations remains devastating. As long as it is not clearly known how the disease is contracted, interruption of transmission is not an option. A vaccine against M. ulcerans on the other hand could be used both as preventive measure and therapeutically. While sero-epidemiological studies imply the presence of protective immunity in some individuals, no vaccine is available to date. Within the framework of the EU funded collaborative project BuruliVac we investigated the potential for developing a protein subunit vaccine against M. ulcerans by delivering vaccine candidate antigens with three different systems: i. as recombinant proteins with an adjuvant, ii. as vesicular stomatitis virus replicon and iii. incorporated into a genetically modified mouse malaria parasite (Plasmodium berghei) in an infection - treatment - approach. All three formulations were assessed for their immunogenicity and their protective potential in a mouse model of BU. Although all three vaccination approaches elicited strong humoral immune responses, no full protection was observed for any of the formulations. However a slight partial protection was seen for a replicon - prime / recombinant protein boost regimen with a vesicular stomatitis virus replicon incorporating an expression cassette for the M. ulcerans protein MUL2232. Additionally, a transient delay of foot pad swelling was observed in mice receiving infection - treatment - vaccination with P. berghei expressing MUL4987. Despite the mainly extracellular nature of M. ulcerans in infected tissue, antibody production against the protein vaccine candidates thus does not seem to be sufficient for protection. Considering marked differences between the mouse footpad model of BU and the disease in humans, we aimed at developing an animal model that better reflects local pathogenesis and host-pathogen interactions in the human BU lesions. Hence, we developed the pig as novel animal model for BU and showed that the observed histopathological changes in the infected pig skin closely represent those of human BU. Therefore the pig model has great potential for the validation of new therapeutic and prophylactic interventions

    2020-06-29/30 DAILY UNM GLOBAL HEALTH COVID-19 BRIEFING

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    Executive Summary: NM Highlights: NM cases update. ABQ nursing home hit hard. UNM student family housing closure. White Sands National Park reopening. 52% of federal COVID-19 relief money for tribal communities. Bill signed to help NM taxpayers. US Highlights: Polarization of political elite response on Twitter. International Highlights: China’s military to use Ad5-nCoV vaccine in trials. Economics, Workforce, Supply Chain, PPE: Decontaminate N95 respirators using a microwave. Epidemiology Highlights: Mask-wearing prevents transmission. Face-masks associated with Italy’s declining epidemic. Healthcare Policy Recommendations: Social distancing reassessed? Lessons learned from previous pandemics. Digital tools against COVID-19. Investigating cultural and psychological factors to reduce spread. Practice Guidelines: Preserving couple relationships during COVID-19. Testing: No difference in viral load between symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. A new fast point-of-care virus detection test. Few patient serum samples have virus RNA (at low viral load) and these are not associated with infectious disease. Symptoms and temperature reports are informative to screen health care workers. Drugs, Vaccines, Therapies, Clinical Trials: 37 new trials registered June 29-30. Other Science: Multisystem pediatric inflammatory syndrome. Hazardous postoperative outcomes. Childhood immunization in Africa. Citizen science and protein folding

    Responding to detection of aerosolized Bacillus anthracis by autonomous detection systems in the workplace

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    "Autonomous detection systems (ADSs) are under development to detect agents of biologic and chemical terror in the environment. These systems will eventually be able to detect biologic and chemical hazards reliably and provide approximate real-time alerts that an agent is present. One type of ADS that tests specifically for Bacillus anthracis is being deployed in hundreds of postal distribution centers across the United States. Identification of aerosolized B. anthracis spores in an air sample can facilitate prompt on-site decontamination of workers and subsequent administration of postexposure prophylaxis to prevent inhalational anthrax. Every employer who deploys an ADS should develop detailed plans for responding to a positive signal. Responding to ADS detection of B. anthracis involves coordinating responses with community partners and should include drills and exercises with these partners. This report provides guidelines in the following six areas: 1) response and consequence management planning, including the minimum components of a facility response plan; 2) immediate response and evacuation; 3) decontamination of potentially exposed workers to remove spores from clothing and skin and prevent introduction of B. anthracis into the worker's home and conveyances; 4) laboratory confirmation of an ADS signal; 5) steps for evaluating potentially contaminated environments; and 6) postexposure prophylaxis and follow-up." - p. 1Introduction -- -- Background -- Characteristics of Anthrax -- -- Response and Consequence Management Planning -- Immediate Response -- -- Management and Decontamination of Workers Potentially Exposed to B. anthracis -- Potential for Transporting Contamination Off-Site -- Recommendations for Evacuation and Personal Decontamination -- -- Laboratory Evaluation of a Positive ADS Signal -- Initial Environmental Evaluation -- -- Postexposure Prophylaxis and Follow-Up -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- Referencesprepared by Patrick J. Meehan, Nancy E. Rosenstein, Matthew Gillen, Richard F. Meyer, Max J. Kiefer, Scott Deitchman, Richard E. Besser, Richard L. Ehrenberg, Kathleen M. Edwards, Kenneth F. Martinez,"The material in this report originated in the National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Office of the Director, Henry Falk, M.D., Director; National Center for Infectious Diseases, James M. Hughes, M.D.; the Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, Mitchell L. Cohen, M.D., Director; and the Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program, Charles A. Schable, M.D., Director; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Office of the Director, John Howard, M.D., Director; and Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response, Office of the Director, Joseph M. Henderson, M.P.A., Director. " - p. 1Includes bibliographical references (p. 10-11).Infectious DiseaseOccupational HealthPublic Health Preparedness and ResponseTreatment and InterventionCurrent1517936

    The Public health response to biological and chemical terrorism: interim planning guidance for state public health officials

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    Title from title screen (viewed Jan. 13, 2004)."July 2001."Mode of access: Internet from CDC web site. Address as of 12/18/04: http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Documents/Planning/PlanningGuidance.PDF.Includes bibliographical references

    THERE'S A GAP FOR THAT: DETAILING POOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE OUTCOMES WHEN PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS PLANS LACK OPERATIONAL SUBSTANCE

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    Since the attacks of 9/11, the U.S. government has provided funding to federal, state, and local emergency response entities in order to prepare better for accidental, intentional, and natural threats. Public health departments have received grant funding in order to implement, maintain and exercise response plans within their purview. Grant requirements (deliverables) via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have included submitting preparedness plans and providing after-action reports from both real-world emergencies and exercise events to ensure the funds are invested appropriately and effectively. Analysis in this thesis of real-world emergencies and the lessons learned from them demonstrates the grant funding is falling short of its goal by not assessing for operational content and practicality. The subsequent development in this thesis of an all-hazards audit tool should ensure the ability to assess operational content and identify gaps, which will lead to an improved state of readiness.Civilian, Pinal County Public Health Services DistrictApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

    Epidemiologic Responses to Anthrax Outbreaks: A Review of Field Investigations, 1950–2001

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    We used unpublished reports, published manuscripts, and communication with investigators to identify and summarize 49 anthrax-related epidemiologic field investigations conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1950 to August 2001. Of 41 investigations in which Bacillus anthracis caused human or animal disease, 24 were in agricultural settings, 11 in textile mills, and 6 in other settings. Among the other investigations, two focused on building decontamination, one was a response to bioterrorism threats, and five involved other causes. Knowledge gained in these investigations helped guide the public health response to the October 2001 intentional release of B. anthracis, especially by addressing the management of anthrax threats, prevention of occupational anthrax, use of antibiotic prophylaxis in exposed persons, use of vaccination, spread of B. anthracis spores in aerosols, clinical diagnostic and laboratory confirmation methods, techniques for environmental sampling of exposed surfaces, and methods for decontaminating buildings
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