The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has challenged the traditional public health balance between benefiting the good of the community through contact tracing and restricting individual liberty. This article first analyzes important technical and ethical issues regarding new smartphone apps that facilitate contact tracing and exposure notification. It then presents a framework for assessing contact tracing, whether manual or digital: the effectiveness at mitigating the pandemic; acceptability of risks, particularly privacy; and equitable distribution of benefits and risks. Both manual and digital contact tracing require public trust, engagement of minority communities, prompt COVID-19 testing and return of results, and high adherence with physical distancing and use of masks.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.7326/M20-5834 | DOI Listing |
Int J Environ Res Public Health
December 2024
Department of Computer Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5C9, Canada.
We engaged with health sector stakeholders and public health professionals within the health system through a participatory modeling approach to support policy-making in the early COVID-19 pandemic in Saskatchewan, Canada. The objective was to use simulation modeling to guide the implementation of public health measures and short-term hospital capacity planning to mitigate the disease burden from March to June 2020. We developed a hybrid simulation model combining System Dynamics (SD), discrete-event simulation (DES), and agent-based modeling (ABM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
January 2025
Department of Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan Aman, Ethiopia.
Objective: To synthesise the role of digital technologies in epidemic control and prevention, focussing on Ebola and COVID-19.
Design: A scoping review.
Data Sources: A systematic search was done on PubMed, HINARI, Web of Science, Google Scholar and a direct Google search until 10 September 2024.
Sci Adv
January 2025
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Oxygen controls most metazoan metabolism, yet in mammals, tissue O levels vary widely. While extensive research has explored cellular responses to hypoxia, understanding how cells respond to physiologically high O levels remains uncertain. To address this problem, we investigated respiratory epithelia as their contact with air exposes them to some of the highest O levels in the body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndian Dermatol Online J
December 2024
Department of Dermatology and Venereology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Introduction: The incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has increased disproportionately to STI services. It is uncertain how many residents trained in STI services continue them. This study assessed the self-rated quality of training and attitudes about STI services amongst residents of Indian teaching hospitals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEuro Surveill
January 2025
Irish Centre for Maternal and Child Health Research, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
This case report details the public health response to a multibacillary leprosy case in Ireland. The case presented with hypopigmented skin lesions and neurological symptoms. Challenges included delayed recognition in the clinical setting, contact tracing within a congregate setting and lack of specific Irish guidelines.
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