System of Monitoring and Response to Public Health Emergencies of Sanitary-Epidemiological Character in the CIS Countries

The most important component of strengthening the potential for responding to biological threats both at the national and interstate levels is the formation of a unified system for monitoring and responding to emergencies (ES) of sanitary-epidemiological nature in the CIS territory.The aim of the work was to review the systems for monitoring and responding to emergencies of sanitary-epidemiological character in the CIS countries by the example of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, to characterize the main areas of international cooperation on countering biological threats and coordinating international response measures in the CIS countries.Materials and methods. Information and analytical materials provided by organizations responsible for epidemiological surveillance and control in the CIS countries, Internet sources, and publications were used for the study.Results and discussion. The organization and functioning of the systems for monitoring and responding to emergencies in the CIS countries is a state function. It includes, as a rule, the national, regional (sub-national) and territorial (local) levels, which have horizontal and vertical connections. The legal framework is made up of documents of the legislative level. Interdepartmental interaction in response to emergencies is carried out both at the republican level and in administrative territories; the basis for interaction is the integrated planning of preventive and anti-epidemic measures and the functioning of the relevant organizational structures on an ongoing basis. Since 2015, with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation, programs have been implemented aimed at assisting partner countries in the implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005) in order to increase national response capacity and form a unified sanitaryepidemiological emergency response system in the CIS countries. The main areas of collaboration are strengthening the material and technical base and human resources of specialized institutions and scientific cooperation. As a result of the program implementation, a unified system for monitoring and prompt response to emergencies in the field of public health of sanitary-epidemiological nature has essentially been formed in the CIS countries to date, uniting more than 15 specialized institutions from 8 CIS countries

Field Epidemiological Study of the Risk Factors of Brucellosis Insidence in the Jalal-Abad Region of Kyrgyz Republic

Objective of this study was to determine the risk factors of brucellosis morbidity in the Jalal-Abad Region of Kyrgyzstan. Materials and methods. A case-control study was conducted in the process of field epidemiological survey of risk factors of brucellosis incidence that lasted for 6 month in the year 2018 in the Jalal-Abad Region. The study involved 180 respondents (90 cases and 90 controls). Cases of brucellosis were identified on the basis of epidemiological, clinical and laboratory criteria. Respondents were interviewed using the developed questionnaire to obtain information on the risk factors. To determine the exposure/ disease ratio, the odds ratio (OR) was calculated for each factor. Results and discussion. It was revealed that the intake of unpasteurized homemade cream (OR = 2.8; CI = 1.5–5.2; p = 0.0001), grilled meat (shish-kebabs) (OR = 5.1; CI = 2.5–10.4; p = 0.0001); cases of abortion or stillbirth among animals in households (OR = 11.3; CI = 4.2–30.6; p = 0.0001), stall cleaning (OR = 2.5; CI = 1.3–4.626; p = 0.0001), shearing of sheep (OR = 2.6; CI = 1.2–5.6; p = 0.01) and animal slaughter (OR = 2.9; CI = 1.2–6.5; p = 0.01) are statistically significant in relation to the risk of infection with brucellosis. To that end, the listed factors are the  key risk factors for brucellosis infection. The livestock keeping in private households (OR = 7.1; CI = 3.0–16.5; p = 0.0001) is also of great importance as a risk factor. For implementation of any preventive measures against brucellosis the value of the OR indicator (OR = 0.8, CI = 0.04–0.18; p = 0.0001) proves their reasonability

Molecular Diagnostics of Coronavirus Infection in the Kyrgyz Republic

Abstract. Objective of the study was to develop an effective method of sample pooling for the detection of SARSCoV-2 coronavirus RNA using PCR and evaluate that approach with various test systems.Materials and methods. SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus RNA was detected in samples containing nasal swabs placed in a transport medium. 5 samples were combined into one pool to perform the analysis. The effectiveness of the “in single test tube” pooling method for performing mass studies for COVID-19 was evaluated using the Vector-PCRrv-2019-nCoV-RG-19 test systems,Russia; “ArtTest COVID-19”,Belarus; “BioSpeedy”,Turkey.Results and discussion. A total of 587 pools were studied, consisting of 2935 test samples, in which 56 samples containing SARS-CoV-2 RNA were detected and confirmed by PCR. When studying the method of pooling samples, its specificity and optimal sensitivity for detecting SARS-CoV-2 RNA using the Vector-PCRrv-2019-nCoV-RG, ArtTest COVID-19, and BioSpeedy test systems were shown. The results of applying the pooling method correlated with the data obtained without pooling samples. The average deviation of the cycle amounted to 2 Ct; the fluorescence curve of positive samples corresponded to the «S» form

About the role of visual field defects in pure alexia

Pure alexia is an acquired reading disorder characterized by a disproportionate prolongation of reading time as a function of word length. Although the vast majority of cases reported in the literature show a right-sided visual defect, little is known about the contribution of this low-level visual impairment to their reading difficulties. The present study was aimed at investigating this issue by comparing eye movement patterns during text reading in six patients with pure alexia with those of six patients with hemianopic dyslexia showing similar right-sided visual field defects. We found that the role of the field defect in the reading difficulties of pure alexics was highly deficit-specific. While the amplitude of rightward saccades during text reading seems largely determined by the restricted visual field, other visuo-motor impairments-particularly the pronounced increases in fixation frequency and viewing time as a function of word length-may have little to do with their visual field defect. In addition, subtracting the lesions of the hemianopic dyslexics from those found in pure alexics revealed the largest group differences in posterior parts of the left fusiform gyrus, occipito-temporal sulcus and inferior temporal gyrus. These regions included the coordinate assigned to the centre of the visual word form area in healthy adults, which provides further evidence for a relation between pure alexia and a damaged visual word form area. Finally, we propose a list of three criteria that may improve the differential diagnosis of pure alexia and allow appropriate therapy recommendations

Arbovirus researchers unite: expanding genomic surveillance for an urgent global need

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