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Info 101: Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID)
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Pandemic outbreaks in megacities like New York City continue to pose health issues Department of Health and Human Services
Info 101: Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID)
The following articles will appear in the December 2009 edition of
Emerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and Prevention's monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal.
1. Public Health Crises in 21st Century Cities; David M. Bell et al., CDC
By 2025, almost three-quarters of the world's population will live in cities. When millions of people are crowded together in huge cities, responses to disease outbreaks that have worked in rural areas or smaller towns may not work as well. Pandemic 2009 H1N1 flu in two megacities (Mexico City and New York City) helped health experts understand the challenges posed by outbreak response in large cities.
Several questions emerged. For example, how do you get many overlapping governmental agencies to cooperate? How do you get drugs and vaccines to people who travel, live in slums with no addresses, or are homeless? How do you separate ill family members from well ones in tiny one- or two-room apartments? These are questions health experts will need to answer as the number and size of megacities continues to grow.
2. Cost-Effectiveness of Hospital Infection Control Response to an Epidemic Respiratory Virus Threat;
Paul A. Tambyah et al., National University Hospital, Singapore
When it comes to preventing the spread of respiratory infections in a hospital, is it better to adopt the most stringent measures possible or a more moderate approach? One might assume it is best to go with the strictest measures possible, but what if prevention comes with a hefty price tag? Researchers in Singapore, a country hit hard by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, compared costs of preventing the diseases spread in hospitals of three major respiratory diseases: SARS, pandemic 2009 H1N1 flu, and the Spanish flu which caused the 1918 pandemic. They found that the severity of the virus and high case fatality rates (when a large proportion of those who get sick die) were among the things that effected cost-effectiveness the most. Researchers determined that a calibrated approach based on the severity of the virus and community risks may help guide responses to future epidemics.
More on health:
- Healthy flu season
- Eating healthy while on the road
- Weight of a nation: the skinny on the cost of obesity
All Health and Happiness Examiner articles, photographs, and artwork © 2009-2010 by Gabriella D. Filippi. Reprints granted with written permission. All rights reserved.
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