Protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease
Abstract Background During outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infections, the lack of effective drugs and vaccines increases reliance on non-pharmacologic public health interventions and behavior change to limit human-to-human transmission. Interventions that increase the speed with which infecte...
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doaj-d998daf2336f42e68f761d3ec796826b2021-06-20T11:08:08ZengBMCBMC Infectious Diseases1471-23342021-06-012111710.1186/s12879-021-06299-xProtective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious diseaseEvans K. Lodge0Annakate M. Schatz1John M. Drake2Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillOdum School of Ecology and Center for Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of GeorgiaOdum School of Ecology and Center for Ecology of Infectious Diseases, University of GeorgiaAbstract Background During outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infections, the lack of effective drugs and vaccines increases reliance on non-pharmacologic public health interventions and behavior change to limit human-to-human transmission. Interventions that increase the speed with which infected individuals remove themselves from the susceptible population are paramount, particularly isolation and hospitalization. Ebola virus disease (EVD), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are zoonotic viruses that have caused significant recent outbreaks with sustained human-to-human transmission. Methods This investigation quantified changing mean removal rates (MRR) and days from symptom onset to hospitalization (DSOH) of infected individuals from the population in seven different outbreaks of EVD, SARS, and MERS, to test for statistically significant differences in these metrics between outbreaks. Results We found that epidemic week and viral serial interval were correlated with the speed with which populations developed and maintained health behaviors in each outbreak. Conclusions These findings highlight intrinsic population-level changes in isolation rates in multiple epidemics of three zoonotic infections with established human-to-human transmission and significant morbidity and mortality. These data are particularly useful for disease modelers seeking to forecast the spread of emerging pathogens.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06299-xInfectious diseaseOutbreakPublic healthEbolaSARSMERS |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Evans K. Lodge Annakate M. Schatz John M. Drake |
spellingShingle |
Evans K. Lodge Annakate M. Schatz John M. Drake Protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease BMC Infectious Diseases Infectious disease Outbreak Public health Ebola SARS MERS |
author_facet |
Evans K. Lodge Annakate M. Schatz John M. Drake |
author_sort |
Evans K. Lodge |
title |
Protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease |
title_short |
Protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease |
title_full |
Protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease |
title_fullStr |
Protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease |
title_full_unstemmed |
Protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease |
title_sort |
protective population behavior change in outbreaks of emerging infectious disease |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Infectious Diseases |
issn |
1471-2334 |
publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
description |
Abstract Background During outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infections, the lack of effective drugs and vaccines increases reliance on non-pharmacologic public health interventions and behavior change to limit human-to-human transmission. Interventions that increase the speed with which infected individuals remove themselves from the susceptible population are paramount, particularly isolation and hospitalization. Ebola virus disease (EVD), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are zoonotic viruses that have caused significant recent outbreaks with sustained human-to-human transmission. Methods This investigation quantified changing mean removal rates (MRR) and days from symptom onset to hospitalization (DSOH) of infected individuals from the population in seven different outbreaks of EVD, SARS, and MERS, to test for statistically significant differences in these metrics between outbreaks. Results We found that epidemic week and viral serial interval were correlated with the speed with which populations developed and maintained health behaviors in each outbreak. Conclusions These findings highlight intrinsic population-level changes in isolation rates in multiple epidemics of three zoonotic infections with established human-to-human transmission and significant morbidity and mortality. These data are particularly useful for disease modelers seeking to forecast the spread of emerging pathogens. |
topic |
Infectious disease Outbreak Public health Ebola SARS MERS |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06299-x |
work_keys_str_mv |
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