Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Leptin, tumor necrosis factor-? and insulin resistance in heart failure [Leptina, factor de necrosis tumoral-? y resistencia a la insulina en insuficiencia cardiaca]

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a frequent chronic disease characterized by a heart's pumping inability. There is controversy regarding to changes in leptin and pro-inflammatory cytokines levels in HF, as well as, the compromising of myocardial contractility by insulin sensitivity decreased. The aim of this study was to determine the association of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) with leptin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-?) and insulin resistance in patients with HF. 1 Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 19 HF patients and in 19 healthy volunteers. In all of them, LVEF, cardiac anatomical wholeness and functional class were evaluated; besides, leptin, TNF-?, glucose, creatinine, uric acid, insulin and lipid profile were measured, as well as, insulin resistance by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-RI) was estimated. Statistical analyses were calculated with Student's t and Pearson's tests. Results. In HF group predominated the functional class II (37%). HF patients in comparison with the control group showed, greater creatinine and uric acid concentrations, as well as, smaller high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol levels and a tendency to be greater the glucose concentrations. There were no significant correlations of LVEF with leptin, TNF-? and HOMA-RI in both groups. Conclusions. LVEF was not associated with leptin, TNF-? and insulin resistance in HF patients

Leptin, tumor necrosis factor-α and insulin resistance in heart failure [Leptina, factor de necrosis tumoral-α y resistencia a la insulina en insuficiencia cardiaca]

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a frequent chronic disease characterized by a heart's pumping inability. There is controversy regarding to changes in leptin and pro-inflammatory cytokines levels in HF, as well as, the compromising of myocardial contractility by insulin sensitivity decreased. The aim of this study was to determine the association of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) with leptin, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and insulin resistance in patients with HF. 1 Material and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 19 HF patients and in 19 healthy volunteers. In all of them, LVEF, cardiac anatomical wholeness and functional class were evaluated; besides, leptin, TNF-α, glucose, creatinine, uric acid, insulin and lipid profile were measured, as well as, insulin resistance by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-RI) was estimated. Statistical analyses were calculated with Student's t and Pearson's tests. Results. In HF group predominated the functional class II (37%). HF patients in comparison with the control group showed, greater creatinine and uric acid concentrations, as well as, smaller high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol levels and a tendency to be greater the glucose concentrations. There were no significant correlations of LVEF with leptin, TNF-α and HOMA-RI in both groups. Conclusions. LVEF was not associated with leptin, TNF-α and insulin resistance in HF patients