ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Repeated outbreaks of emerging pathogens underscore the need for preparedness plans to prevent, detect, and respond. As countries develop and improve National Action Plans for Health Security, addressing subnational variation in preparedness is increasingly important. One facet of preparedness and mitigating disease transmission is health facility accessibility, linking infected persons with health systems and vice versa. Where potential patients can access care, local facilities must ensure they can appropriately diagnose, treat, and contain disease spread to prevent secondary transmission; where patients cannot readily access facilities, alternate plans must be developed. Here, we use travel time to link facilities and populations at risk of viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) and identify spatial variation in these respective preparedness demands. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used geospatial resources of travel friction, pathogen environmental suitability, and health facilities to determine facility accessibility of any at-risk location within a country. We considered in-country and cross-border movements of exposed populations and highlighted vulnerable populations where current facilities are inaccessible and new infrastructure would reduce travel times. We developed profiles for 43 African countries. Resulting maps demonstrate gaps in health facility accessibility and highlight facilities closest to areas at risk for VHF spillover. For instance, in the Central African Republic, we identified travel times of over 24 h to access a health facility. Some countries had more uniformly short travel times, such as Nigeria, although regional disparities exist. For some populations, including many in Botswana, access to areas at risk for VHF nationally was low but proximity to suitable spillover areas in bordering countries was high. Additional analyses provide insights for considering future resource allocation. We provide a contemporary use case for these analyses for the ongoing Ebola outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: These maps demonstrate the use of geospatial analytics for subnational preparedness, identifying facilities close to at-risk populations for prioritizing readiness to detect, treat, and respond to cases and highlighting where gaps in health facility accessibility exist. We identified cross-border threats for VHF exposure and demonstrate an opportunity to improve preparedness activities through the use of precision public health methods and data-driven insights for resource allocation as part of a country's preparedness plans.
Subject(s)
Civil Defense/methods , Disease Outbreaks/prevention & control , Health Facilities/standards , Travel/trends , Humans , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Background and Objectives: Data on the seroprevalence of viral hepatitis are limited in Haiti; consequently, the epidemiology is poorly described. This study aims to provide a descriptive analysis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence of blood donations in Haiti. Materials and Methods: Using Haiti's National Blood Safety Program and Haitian Red Cross reports from 2005 to 2014, we analysed the results of screening tests of donor serum samples to assess HBV and HCV seroprevalence among adults aged 17 to 65 years. Results: A total of 198 758 donor samples were screened from 2005 to 2014, of which 0·56% were positive for antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) and 3·80% were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen. Over the 10-year study period, anti-HCV seroprevalence among blood donors increased by 31% from 0.66% to 0.86% (95% CI: 1·01-1·70); however, this trend was not uniform over time, with a significant decrease from 0·66% in 2005 to 0·39% in 2009 (95% CI: 0·43- 0·82) and 0·43% in 2012 (95% CI: 0·50-0·90). Conversely, HBV decreased significantly by 13% from 3·95% in 2005 to 3·42% in 2014 (95% CI: 0·77-0·97), a trend that was also observed in 2012 and 2013. Conclusion: The significant, uniform decrease in HBV seroprevalence in more recent years may represent the positive impact of public health interventions in preventing the transmission of blood-borne infections. More research is needed to understand why the trends in HCV transmission are non-uniform and to investigate the significant increase in more recent years.
