Documents disease control 165 results

"Since World War II, a tradition of fighting infectious diseases had proven its worth in stopping chains of contamination and controlling diseases. Contradicting this tradition, the choices made in France regarding the COVID-19 pandemic failed to prevent deaths and protect the most exposed populations. Workers, in particular, are the victims of this failure. Based on the experience of tuberculosis control, this article shows that another strategy is not only possible, but crucial to overcome such epidemic."

"In an attempt to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries have implemented various social restrictions, such as closing schools and asking people to work from home. Nevertheless, after months of strict quarantine, a reopening of society is required. Many countries are planning exit strategies to progressively lift the lockdown without leading to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Identifying exit strategies for a safe reopening of schools and places of work is critical in informing decision-makers on the management of the COVID-19 health crisis. This scoping review describes multiple population-wide strategies, including social distancing, testing, and contact tracing. It highlights how each strategy needs to be based on both the epidemiological situation and contextualize at local circumstances to anticipate the possibility of COVID-19 resurgence. However, the retrieved evidence lacks operational solutions and are mainly based on mathematical models and derived from grey literature. There is a need to report the impact of the implementation of country-tailored strategies and assess their effectiveness through high-quality experimental studies."

"In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, health has become a top priority for EU leaders. The first steps to revamp and strengthen the EU health agenda have been taken. However, to ‘build back better' and make the most out of EU action in health, Europe must now lay the foundations for more resilient national health systems while centering the recovery on people's well-being. All of this should be underpinned by a serious reflection on how the EU can bring added value.
In this Policy Brief, Simona Guagliardo proposes how this vision can turn into reality:

Despite its limited competences, the EU can support member states in making their national healthcare systems more effective, accessible, and resilient, for instance, by encouraging them to prioritise investments in health system reforms in the context of the 2021 European Semester and the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
People's health and well-being should be at the core of all policymaking. The EU must move away from only measuring progress in terms of economic growth.
A reflection on the feasibility and desirability of transferring some health competences to the EU level can no longer be ignored. The Conference on the Future of Europe should serve as a platform to engage with citizens and civil society and start the debate on levelling up the EU's role in health policy.
The COVID-19 pandemic will not be the last pandemic Europe will ever have to face. Any tangible progress that the EU27 achieves in building a robust Health Union will not only be invaluable for managing today's crisis, but also for preparing for future – and perhaps even more severe – health challenges."

"Background:
The disease burden of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not uniform across occupations. Although healthcare workers are well-known to be at increased risk, data for other occupations are lacking. In lieu of this, models have been used to forecast occupational risk using various predictors, but no model heretofore has used data from actual case numbers. This study assesses the differential risk of COVID-19 by occupation using predictors from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database and correlating them with case counts published by the Washington State Department of Health to identify workers in individual occupations at highest risk of COVID-19 infection.
Methods:
The O*NET database was screened for potential predictors of differential COVID-19 risk by occupation. Case counts delineated by occupational group were obtained from public sources. Prevalence by occupation was estimated and correlated with O*NET data to build a regression model to predict individual occupations at greatest risk.
Results:
Two variables correlate with case prevalence: disease exposure (r = 0.66; p = 0.001) and physical proximity (r = 0.64; p = 0.002), and predict 47.5% of prevalence variance (p = 0.003) on multiple linear regression analysis. The highest risk occupations are in healthcare, particularly dental, but many nonhealthcare occupations are also vulnerable.
Conclusions:
Models can be used to identify workers vulnerable to COVID-19, but predictions are tempered by methodological limitations. Comprehensive data across many states must be collected to adequately guide implementation of occupation-specific interventions in the battle against COVID-19."

"Governments around the world have adopted unprecedented policies to deal with COVID-19. This paper zooms in on business shutdowns and investigates their effectiveness in reducing mortality. We leverage highly granular death registry data for almost 5,000 Italian municipalities in a diff-in-diff approach that allows us to mitigate endogeneity concerns credibly. Our results, which are robust to controlling for a host of co-factors, offer strong evidence that business shutdowns are very effective in reducing mortality. We calculate that the death toll from the first wave of COVID-19 in Italy may have been about twice as high in their absence. Our findings also highlight that timeliness is key – by acting one week earlier, the death toll may have been reduced by up to an additional 25%. Finally, shutdowns should be targeted. Closing service activities with a high degree of interpersonal contact saves the most lives. Shutting down production activities – while substantially reducing mobility – only has mild effects on mortality."

"Una particolare stagione è attraversata dall'obbligo di sicurezza che, nell'attuale emergenza epidemiologica, assume su di sé il peso importante della gestione degli snodi più delicati del rapporto di lavoro ed impone una messa a fuoco di questioni nuove per i giuristi del lavoro.
Quasi inutile, si potrebbe dire, esaminare il tema dell'obbligo di sicurezza prendendo in considerazione i valori costituzionali rispetto ai quali viene in considerazione un necessario bilanciamento (una valutazione comparativa) tra il diritto alla salute e, a ben vedere, il diritto alla vita, da una parte e la libertà di iniziativa economica privata dall'altra. ..."

"Grocery store workers are essential workers, but often have not been provided with appropriate protection during the current pandemic. This report describes efforts made by one union local to protect workers, including negotiated paid sick leave and specific safety practices. Union representatives from 319 stores completed 1612 in-store surveys to assess compliance between 23 April 2020 and 31 August 2020. Employers provided the union with lists of workers confirmed to have COVID-19 infection through 31 December 2020. Worker infection rates were calculated using store employees represented by the union as the denominator and compared to cumulative county infection rates; outcome was dichotomized as rates higher or lower than background rates. Restrictions on reusable bags and management enforcement of customer mask usage were most strongly associated with COVID-19 rates lower than rates in the surrounding county. Stores that responded positively to worker complaints also had better outcomes. The union is currently engaging to promote improved ventilation and vaccination uptake."

"Dans un contexte de pandémie, l'un des moyens de lutter contre les risques de transmission d'un virus est d'accentuer le renouvellement de l'air des locaux de travail et d'éviter son recyclage. Or les dispositifs existants pour mesurer les apports d'air neuf peuvent être complexes et coûteux à mettre en œuvre. Des travaux de l'INRS ont permis de développer une méthode pour quantifier le taux de renouvellement de l'air d'un local et de déterminer si celui-ci est en adéquation avec le nombre d'occupants et leur activité. L'approche décrite dans cet article pourrait, au-delà de la prévention du risque biologique, améliorer significativement la qualité de l'air dans les locaux du secteur tertiaire."