Some considerations concerning the challenge of incorporating social variables into epidemiological models of infectious disease transmission

Incorporation of ‘social’ variables into epidemiological models remains a challenge. Too much detail and models cease to be useful; too little and the very notion of infection —a highly social process in human populations—may be considered with little reference to the social. The French sociologist Emile Durkheim proposed that the scientific study of society required identification and study of ‘social currents.’ Such ‘currents’ are what we might today describe as ‘emergent properties,’ specifiable variables appertaining to individuals and groups, which represent the perspectives of social actors as they experience the environment in which they live their lives. Here we review the ways in which one particular emergent property, hope, relevant to a range of epidemiological situations, might be used in epidemiological modelling of infectious diseases in human populations. We also indicate how such an approach might be extended to include a range of other potential emergent properties to repre

Vaccination: Towards a balance between freedom of conscience and public interest : Comparative legal analysis during the COVID-19 crisis

Los debates sobre la vacunación obligatoria impactan en el corazón del Derecho Constitucional, la Teoría del Derecho, la Filosofía Política y el Derecho a la Salud. Giran en torno a un interrogante esencial, que puede expresarse del si- guiente modo: ¿Cómo lograr un equilibrio entre las excepciones de orden religioso a las leyes generalmente aplicables- y el interés público -incluida la salud pública-? SUMARIO: I. Planteo.— II. Enfoques jurídicos actuales en materia de vacunación.— III. Reticencia a la vacunación y derechos de los pacientes.— IV. Marco regulatorio y experiencia jurisprudencial latinoameri- cana.— V. Perspectivas europeas: la jurisprudencia del TEDH sobre la vacunación obligatoria.— VI. Reflexiones jurídicas en torno a la vacunación durante la pandemia de COVID-19.— VII. Palabras finales.Non peer reviewe

The lives of ‘facts’ in mathematical models: a story of population-level disease transmission of haemophilus influenzae type B bacteria

This article studies how our understanding of population-level disease transmission has evolved over time. The main question is: what happens to ‘facts’ in the course of their life history? The concept of life history captures the process that shapes the facts of disease transmission, mobilizes them via mathematical and graphical representations, and allows them to evolve and change over time. Hence, this concept provides continuity from knowledge production to utilization. Life history is developed through phases in the ‘lives’ of ‘facts’: birth and youth, adulthood and reproductive years, and old age. The life-history approach consists of a set of ‘facts’ binding together knowledge of a disease, its routes of transmission, and the susceptibility of the exposed population; it thus provides an adequate framework to explore the complex nature of population-level disease transmission. The analytical focus of this article is concerned with how these ‘facts’ are disseminated via model-based or mathematical representations. Just as life histories are stories full of interactions, surprises and struggles, this article highlights the underlying contingencies in the dissemination and accumulation of factual knowledge

Stem-cell research: the state of the art. Future regulations of embryonic-stem-cell research will be influenced more by economic interests and cultural history than by ethical concerns

Future regulations of embryonic-stem-cell research will be influenced more by economic interests and cultural history than by ethical concern