Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene最新文献

Introduction: Lassa fever (LF), a public health problem of great importance endemic in West Africa, is an acute and sometimes fatal viral haemorrhagic disease which leads to mortality. The current study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of Lassa fever prevention among adults in Bali Local Government Area, Taraba State, Nigeria.

Methods: Descriptive study design and Cross sectional study design was used for this study. A simple and systematic random sampling technique was used to draw samples of 399 participants for the study. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection after being validated and its reliability tested. The data collected was analysed using frequencies, percentage the hypotheses were tested using Data analysis was done using SPSS version 21, frequency, mean standard deviation, and chi square were performed to ascertain the value of the variables the hypotheses were tested using chi-square statistics at ≤ 0.05 level of significance.

Results: Findings from the study revealed that 75% of the respondents had knowledge of the Lassa fever and the preventive practices. It was also shown that about 66.7% were aware of the varied preventive measures at their disposal. The study further shows that 56% had positive attitudes that could affect their practice of preventive measures of Lassa fever. The acceptability level according to this study was very high (89%) among the adults of Bali L.G.A in Taraba state.

Conclusions: The study therefore, recommends that there should be a call for educational intervention to improve the knowledge of Lassa fever among community members in Bali LGA this will help towards its preventive practices. This is based on the expectation that good knowledge of Lassa fever can reduce the rate and spread of the Infection.

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality and they're primarily caused by viruses such as rhinovirus, coronavirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and to a lesser extent by bacteria like Streptococcus pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The study examines the impact of COVID-19 control measures on the circulation of respiratory pathogens, indicating a reduction in infections during the pandemic period. A retrospective study was conducted on 1,286 patients at the "G. Martino" University Hospital of Messina to evaluate the prevalence of respiratory pathogens. The results showed that SARS-CoV-2, rhinovirus, and RSV are the most frequently isolated pathogens, with a clear seasonality from December to March. Co-infections were detected in 14.1% of cases, predominantly in young children. The study suggests the need for enhanced surveillance strategies to improve the management of respiratory infections and healthcare resources.

Background: Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) is a condition in which the body is underweight or thin and the body has insufficient reserves of energy intake, this condition occurs due to a lack of nutrients. A person's condition can be said to be CED if the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) is low or < 23,5 cm. Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) who experience CED will have an impact on pregnancy. Based on the 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) the percentage of CED in pregnancy globally is 35-75% and deaths in developing countries related to CED are 40%.

Methods: Research design Descriptive analytic cross-sectional approach. The population WRA with a population of 7,183 the sample being 143 WRA. The analysis is univariate, bivariate (Chi-square), and multivariate (Regression Logistic).

Results: Found that the determinants of CED were factors affecting CED for WRA in the Kandang Health Center in Bengkulu City in 2023 are age (p-value = 0.018; ORa95% CI=2,495: 1.171-5.317), energy intake (p-value = 0.013; ORa95% CI = 2.990: 1.256-7.117), and the interaction of protein intake by several family members (p-value = 0.03; ORa 95%CI = 21.327: 1.343-338.671). The dominant factor is the interaction between protein intake and the number of family members. WRA with large families when protein intake is not enough risk 21 times to experience chronic lack of energy compared to adequate protein intake.

Conclusions: Health workers need to make promotive and preventive efforts that can be done through community empowerment through health education about nutritional intake and family planning, so WRA understands about prevention of Chronic Energy Deficiency.

As known, influenza presents a multifaceted challenge to public health, causing disease that ranges from mild cases to severe pandemics with significant morbidity and mortality. Effective pandemic preparedness demands a comprehensive strategy that integrates research, surveillance, response coordination and community engagement, to mitigate the impact of future health emergencies. The pandemic preparedness cycle involves dynamic, cyclical phases of preparation and response aimed at enhancing response capacity. Italy's 2021-2023 National Strategic-Operational Plan for Pandemic Influenza (PanFlu) incorporates lessons learned from past pandemics and serves as a framework for regional plans, such as Liguria's. The Ligurian plan delineates governance structures, surveillance strategies, healthcare services and communication measures necessary for effective pandemic management. It emphasizes the need to strengthen links between emergency structures, to avoid duplication and to adopt flexible approaches to scale actions appropriately and highlights the need for risk/benefit analysis to support evidence-based decision-making as well as clear guidance on data collection and communication activities. By integrating these elements, the region's overall readiness and resilience against influenza pandemics are expected to be reinforced.

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 has changed the demand for in-person health care. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyzed data on access to San Martino Hospital Emergency Department (ED), Genoa, Italy, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Descriptive statistics for 180,117 records of patients accessing the ED between 2019 and 2021 were reported. A linear regression model was built to evaluate the relationship between the weekly number of COVID-like illness cases and ED attendances.

Results: In comparison to pre-pandemic levels, the median number of ED visits declined by 41.6% in 2020 and by 27.4% in 2021. The period of maximum drop in access (-61.9%) was the 2020 12-16th calendar weeks and coincided with the highest rates of COVID-like illness cases (+360%; 22.8% of total ED attendances). About 20% of the variation of the weekly number of ED attendances was explained by the number of COVID-like illness cases. In 2020 and 2021 non-urgent ED codes decreased (-6.7%; -7.3%) and both urgent and emergency ED codes increased (+4.8% and +3.9% the first; +1.9% and +3.5% the second). However, the absolute number of ED access fell drastically for all codes. In particular, the highest increase was registered in 2020 for acute respiratory infections (ARI), including COVID-19 (+3.28%), while traumas and eye diseases saw the highest decrease (-1.02%; -3.80%).

Conclusions: While the reduction in non-urgent visits suggests avoidable pre-pandemic access levels, the decline in non-COVID-19 urgent accesses potentially points to an increase in delayed and missed care.

Background: Low survival rates of breast cancer in developing countries are mainly due to the lack of early detection plans and adequate diagnosis and treatment facilities.

Objectives: This study aimed to apply machine learning techniques to recognize the most important breast cancer risk factors.

Methods: This case-control study included women aged 17-75 years who were referred to medical centers affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Science between March 21, 2015, and March 19, 2016. The study had two datasets: one with 516 samples (258 cases and 258 controls) and another with 606 samples (303 cases and 303 controls). Written informed consent has been observed. Decision Tree (DT), Random Forest (RF), Logistic Regression (LR), and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were applied using R studio software.

Results: Regarding the DT and RF, the most important features that impact breast cancer were family cancer, individual history of breast cancer, biopsy sampling, rarely consumption of a dairy, fruit, and vegetable meal, while in PCA and LR these features including family cancer, pregnancy number, pregnancy tendency, abortion, first menstruation, the age of first childbirth and childbirth number.

Conclusions: Machine learning algorithms can be used to extract the most important factors in the diagnosis of breast cancer in developing countries such as Iran.

Introduction: Appropriate communication models and strategies are crucial in order to strengthen preventive and health promotion interventions via digital platforms. Today, 52.23% of the Italian population use the Internet as a source of health-related information. The aim of the "Insegna Salute" project was to create a website that would enable people to satisfy their knowledge health needs and increase their awareness in the field of prevention.

Methods: To develop the website, a qualitative literature research was carried out to collect an overview of effective online health communication strategies and tools before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, we implemented the website insegnasalute.it according to the one-to-many (screen-to-face) communication model. The second part of the research focused on identifying tools to ensure the constant update of the platform. Finally, we proceeded with the creation of the visual identity.

Results: The research resulted in 28 sources regarding health communication, vaccine hesitancy, online health information seeking, visual identity, current digital and social trends and mis/disinformation. Many publications reported that healthcare professionals (HCPs) are the main providers of evidence-based information and the most effective agents against misinformation. Furthermore, most of the articles advocated the use of digital technologies, such as social media and websites, along with proactive and targeted communication strategies.

Conclusions: Vaccination hesitancy and other health prevention issues require accurate tools to build trust-based relationships between users and healthcare professionals. In line with the preventive guidelines issued by the Italian Ministry of Health, new tools, such as "Insegna Salute", integrate health knowledge with communication strategies. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventive measures are essential to protect the population from misinformation spread and the probability of getting ill.

Introduction: Hand hygiene in nurses is the most effective factor in controlling nosocomial infections. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of motivational interviews and teach-back on the rate of hand hygiene compliance in Intensive Care Unit nurses.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design was performed. Three Intensive Care Units with 88 nurses were randomly divided into three study groups. The control group received only the usual hospital teaching in hand hygiene, the experimental groups 1 and 2, in addition to the usual teaching, they received motivational interview and teach back in five weekly sessions, respectively. The rate of hand hygiene compliance in nurses was measured by Hand Hygiene Practices Inventory.

Results: There was a statistically significant difference for the rate of hand hygiene compliance before and after the intervention in the study groups with p < 0.001. In comparison before and after, in experimental group 1, the rate of hand rub increased from 8% to 18.5% and the rate of hand wash from 1.5% to 22%; and in the experimental group 2, these values increased from 4% to 19.5% in hand rub and from 3.5% to 17% in hand wash, respectively. However, in the control group, the rate of hand hygiene compliance before and after the test did not show a statistically significant difference with p > 0.05.

Conclusions: Motivational interview and teach back methods were effective in promoting hand hygiene compliance in nurses and thus improve the control of nosocomial infections.