ABSTRACT
This publication focuses on a group of vignettes to help understand zoonotic diseases, the anthropogenic factors accelerating their emergence, and the consequences of these events. While human activities and behavior are mostly responsible for creating this new era, the world struggles to prepare, change behavior, and rethink strategies to effectively address the inevitability of more frequent occurrences and severity of disease outbreaks and pandemics. Although we know and have experienced the cost of failure, past disease outbreaks seem to be quickly lost from our collective memories and new innovative interventions have not been imagined or adopted. This publication highlights examples that challenge our traditional actions and thinking and emphasize the need to adopt new approaches to prevent or ameliorate zoonotic diseases. The consensus of the experts contributing to this publication is that One Health should be embraced to achieve these results. The growing costs and societal disruptions of outbreaks and pandemics demand that zoonoses be part of our national security planning and deserve commensurate investments in preparedness, prevention, research, and resilience. This publication also highlights the necessity to fundamentally rethink and reestablish new relationships among institutions, organizations, and countries and especially between humanity and our natural systems worldwide.
ABSTRACT
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rapid expansion of telehealth use. Telehealth has the potential to improve access for underserved populations who live far distances from well-equipped medical centers. This healthcare modality will likely be particularly important for patients with cancer. We hypothesized that there are disparities in the resources available to utilize telehealth and sought to study patient access and knowledge of associated technologies. Methods: We conducted a single-center cross-sectional survey study of patients at an NCCN-designated comprehensive cancer center over a two-month period. Demographics, education, internet, and cell phone access were assessed. Participant technological knowledge was determined with a validated 10-question quiz of terms regarding computers and the internet. Income was extrapolated using IRS data for individual zip codes. Analysis was performed using either an ordered logistic regression or mixed model ordered logistic regression (Stata SE 16.1). Results: There were 344 survey responses (rate 64.3%). Mean age of the respondents was 57.5 years, 70.0% were women, 67.3% were Caucasian, and 25.4% were Black. Many patients (35.0%) did not attend college, and 5.0% had not finished high school. The median estimated income was ≥45,820. Ninety-six patients (30.0%) did not have adequate internet access for telehealth use with 6.5% not having any internet access at all. Participants scored an average of 57.4% correct on the technology knowledge quiz. In unadjusted analysis, technological knowledge was predicted by age (Fig A), race (Fig B), income (Fig C), education level (Fig D), and cell phone type (Fig E). The type of home internet access and was not predictive of quiz score. Age, race, education level, and cell phone type remained significantly predictive of technological knowledge in multivariable analysis (Fig F). Home internet access (p =0.416) and median income (p =0.109) were not significantly associated with quiz score. Conclusions: In our sample, nearly one-third of cancer patients did not have adequate internet access for telehealth. There were significant disparities in technological knowledge among cancer patients which were associated with demographic characteristics. This study provides information for identifying patients that may have barriers to successful utilization of telehealth.
ABSTRACT
The International Water Association (IWA) initiated a Task Force in April 2020 to serve as a leadership team within IWA whose role is to keep abreast and communicate the emerging science, technology, and applications for understanding the impact and the ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and specifically designed for water professionals and industries. Expertise was nominated across the world with the purpose of collectively providing the water sector with knowledge products for the guidance on the control of COVID-19 and other viruses. This review paper developed by a working group of the IWA Task Force focuses on the control of COVID-19. The purpose of this review paper is to provide an understanding of existing knowledge with regards to COVID-19 and provide the necessary guidance of risk mitigation based on currently available knowledge of viruses in wastewater. This review paper considered various scenarios for both the developed world and the developing world and provided recommendations for managing risk. The review paper serves to pool the knowledge with regards to the pandemic and in relation to other viruses. The IWA Task Team envisage that this review paper provides the necessary guidance to the global response to the ongoing pandemic.