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Sand Fly Fever: What Have We Learned In One Hundred Years?, David Brett-Major, David M. Claborn

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Sand fly fever has severely impacted military missions in southern Europe and the Middle East for hundreds of years. After a brief respite following the malaria eradication programs of World War II, it has returned as a significant disease among residents in and travelers to the Mediterranean rim. It is a more severe disease now, with potential vectors in the United States. Sand fly fever is discussed in terms of its viruses, vectors, disease, control, and potential domestic impact.

Infidelity, Trust, And Condom Use Among Latino Youth In Dating Relationships, S. S. Brady, Jeanne M. Tschann, J. M. Ellen, Elena Flores

School of Education Faculty Research

Background: Latino youth in the United States are at greater risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in comparison with non-Hispanic white youth.

Methods: Sexually active heterosexual Latino youth aged 16 to 22 years (N = 647) were recruited for interviews through a large health maintenance organization or community clinics.

Results: Adjusting for gender, age, ethnic heritage, and recruitment method, woman’s consistent use of hormonal contraceptives, ambivalence about avoiding pregnancy, longer length of sexual relationship, and greater overall trust in main partner were independently associated with inconsistent condom use and engagement in a greater number of sexual intercourse acts that …

Ua94/6/1 Student / Alumni Personal Papers Western Kentucky University Small Collections, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Small collections of personal papers and oral histories relating to the Western Kentucky University.

Identification Of Francisella Tularensis Subsp. Tularensis A1 And A2 Infections By Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Claudia R. Molins, Jennifer K. Carlson, Jana Coombs, Jeannine M. Petersen

United States Public Health Resources

Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis (type A) is subdivided into clades A1 and A2. Human tularemia infections caused by A1 and A2 differ with respect to clinical outcome; A1 infections are associated with a higher case fatality rate. In this study, we develop and evaluate TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for identification of A1 and A2. Both assays were shown to be specific to either A1 or A2, with sensitivities of 10 genomic equivalents. Real-time PCR results for identification of A1 and A2 were in complete agreement with results obtained by pulsed field gel electrophoresis analysis or conventional PCR when …

The Afford Health Marketing Initiative In Uganda: Mid-Term Evaluation, Oleksandr Rohozynsky, Christie Billingsley, Annette Bongiovanni

HIV and AIDS

AFFORD is a five-year (2005–10) social marketing initiative financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Uganda. It supports the Uganda Ministry of Health’s strategic plan to promote positive health-care-seeking behavior and reduce the shortage of health products and services related to family planning and reproductive health; child health; malaria prevention and treatment; and HIV prevention, care, and treatment. AFFORD seeks to achieve the sustainable marketing of products and services that prevent transmission of HIV, malaria, and diarrheal diseases; to help couples plan their families; and to help people living with HIV enjoy improved quality of life. Target groups …

Technical Assistance To The Uganda Aids Commission For Operationallisation Of The Performance Monitoring And Management Plan, Frederick Makumbi, Roy Mayega, David Kisitu, Juliet Sekandi, Denis A. Bwesigye, Robert Miller, Sam Kalibala

HIV and AIDS

The Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC) has committed to rolling out and making operational a new National Performance Monitoring and Management Plan (PMMP) to monitor and evaluate the national response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The PMMP has at its core the collection and processing of 58 national indicators, 47 district output indicators, and 22 outcome indicators covering prevention, care, treatment, and social support. The rollout is challenging because at least seven organizations must collaborate at the national level, and appropriate staff at the district level need to be in place and trained in new procedures of data collection. In addition, these …

Childhood Obesity: The Law's Response To The Surgeon General's Call To Action To Prevent And Decrease Overweight And Obesity, Leah Loeb

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Freedom To Live, Freedom To Die: Health Disparities In El Salvador, Shaina Elizabeth Rose

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Kawasaki Syndrome In Texas, Alberto Coustasse, Julius J. Larry, Witold Migala, Cody Arvidson, Karan P. Singh

Management Faculty Research

The authors examined hospitalization rates of Kawasaki Syndrome (KS) among Texas children to isolate clusters, identify demographic disparities, and suggest possible causative factors. Using a retrospective cross-sectional study design, they studied 330 KS cases from 2,818,460 hospital discharges. The majority of the cases (61.5%) occurred within the 1-4-years-old category, representing the highest hospitalization rate (14.3 per 100,000 children). Almost 75% of the KS population was less than 5 years old, with hospitalization rates approximately 8 times higher than that of all other children (p < .05). KS diagnosis occurred for only 49.4% of all KS cases upon admission. Along with high-density clusters identified in major metropolitan areas, the authors found the highest rates of KS among Asian and Pacific Islander and non-Hispanic black children. Genetic predispositions and access to healthcare issues may explain the results. The authors recommend improving educational initiatives with healthcare providers and establishing KS as a reportable condition.

Identification Of B-Cell Epitopes On Domain 4 Of Anthrax Protective Antigen, Cassandra D. Kelly-Cirino

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Protective Antigen (PA) is the receptor binding subunit common to both Lethal (LT) and Edema (ET) toxins, which contribute to the mortality associated with Bacillus anthracis infection. While recombinant PA (rPA) is likely to be an important constituent of second generation anthrax vaccines, evaluating the effectiveness of candidate vaccines is currently difficult, because the specific B cell epitopes involved in toxin neutralization have not been completely defined. The only well characterized antibody, 14B7, has been shown to disrupt the association of PA with the anthrax toxin receptors (ATR) by binding to domain 4 of PA. I hypothesized that other domain …

Animal Helminths In Human Archaeological Remains: A Review Of Zoonoses In The Past, Luciana Sianto, Marcia Chame, Cassius S. P. Silva, Marcelo L. C. Gonçalves, Karl Reinhard, Martín Horacio Fugassa, Adauto Araújo

Karl Reinhard Publications

The authors present a review of records of intestinal parasitic helminths from animals in human archaeological remains, reported since the emergence of paleopathological studies. The objective was to relate paleoparasitological findings to geographic, biotic, and abiotic factors from the environment in which the prehistoric populations lived, and understand some aspects related to the process of human dispersion and biological and cultural evolution. Modification of eating habits and the incorporation of new cultural practices are analyzed from the perspective of zoonoses from prehistory to the present day, especially in Brazilian indigenous populations. Three tables identifying the helminths, their natural hosts, dates, …

Antibiotic Prophylaxis For Leptospirosis, David Brett-Major, Robert J. Lipnick

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

BACKGROUND: Leptospira infection is a global zoonosis with significant health impact for agricultural workers and those persons whose work or recreation takes them into endemic areas.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review assessed the current literature for evidence for or against use of antibiotic prophylaxis against Leptospira infection (leptospirosis).

SEARCH STRATEGY: The authors searched The Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group Controlled Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCI-Expanded as well as relevant professional society meeting abstracts until January 2009.

SELECTION CRITERIA: Prospective, randomised clinical trials studying antibiotic prophylaxis against leptospirosis were selected.

DATA …

Results From A Mathematical Model For Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis, H. Gaff, L. Gross, E. Schaefer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Human monocytic ehrlichiosis (Ehrlichia chaffeensis), HME, is a tick-transmitted, rickettsial disease that has recently increased substantially in the USA from 142 reported cases in 2001 to 506 reported cases in 2005 [1,2]. There have been increasing surveys of tick populations over the past 10 years that have in turn supported the development of models for tick-borne disease transmission. Resulting HME models [3] suggest the importance of metapopulation structures, landscape environment parameters and periodic climatic effects in predicting the dynamics of HME transmission and the efficacy of control efforts, such as the reduction of the tick population through acaricide …

Using Decision Analysis To Improve Malaria Control Policy Making, Jonathan B. Wiener, Randall A. Kramer, Katherine L. Dickinson, Richard M. Anderson, Vance G. Fowler, Marie Lynn Miranda, Clifford M. Mutero, Kathryn A. Saterson

Faculty Scholarship

Malaria and other vector-borne diseases represent a significant and growing burden in many tropical countries. Successfully addressing these threats will require policies that expand access to and use of existing control methods, such as insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and artemesinin combination therapies (ACTs) for malaria, while weighing the costs and benefits of alternative approaches over time. This paper argues that decision analysis provides a valuable framework for formulating such policies and combating the emergence and re-emergence of malaria and other diseases. We outline five challenges that policy makers and practitioners face in the struggle against malaria, and demonstrate how decision …

Demographic Data For Development: Senegal, Rose Maruru, Wendy Baldwin, Sarah Engebretsen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Current global developmental frameworks, including the Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, require recent and reliable data to measure the achievement of targets. At the same time, increased decentralization and democratization have expanded the role that data play in informing development policies and evaluating development interventions at the national level. Increasingly, programs and policies are assessed by their ability to reach goals that have evidence-based indicators, placing a greater demand on countries to produce clear, timely, reliable, and relevant data. The Senegal case study that forms the basis of this report aimed to develop a general picture of …

Global Trends In Aids Mortality, John Bongaarts, Francois Pelletier, Patrick Gerland

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This working paper reviews the evolution of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and provides estimates of past trends and future projections of AIDS mortality indicators, including numbers of AIDS deaths, the proportion of all deaths that are due to AIDS, and life expectancy. A cumulative total of 24 million people have died from AIDS between 1980 and 2007, and by 2030 this total is projected to reach 75 million. Despite the rapid spread of this new disease during the 1980s and 1990s, the epidemic has reached a major turning point in recent years as the rate of new infections peaked and began …

Exploring Differences In The Representations Held By Clinicians And Those Held By Workers Suffering From Musculoskeletal Disorders, During The Occupational Rehabilitation Process, Marie-France Coutu, Raymond Baril, Marie-José Durand, Nicole Charpentier, Annick Rouleau, Daniel Côté, Geneviève Cadieux

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Cliquez ici pour la version française de ce rapport

Problématique :

Le travail occupe une place importante dans la vie active des individus et joue un rôle déterminant dans l’identité et la conformité sociale des adultes. Or, chaque année, un nombre important de personnes est exclu du travail en raison d’un trouble musculo-squelettique (TMS) engendrant chez 8 % d’entre eux une incapacité à maintenir une vie active au travail. Ce petit nombre compte pour la moitié des coûts d’indemnisation à la CSST. Plusieurs facteurs sont impliqués dans le développement et la persistance de l’incapacité au travail. Parmi ces facteurs, certains …

Health Communication Theories: Implications For Hiv Reporting In Asia And The Pacific, Trevor Cullen

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper focuses on the expanding HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) epidemic in parts of Asia and the Pacific region and recommends the adoption of insights from particular health communication theories. The author argues that these paradigms can assist in broadening the current scope and content of HIV reporting. One theory in particular - Social Change Communication (SCC) - challenges the media to extend the framing of HIV from primarily a health story to one that is linked to more macro socio-economic, cultural and political factors. Asian and Pacific countries that have an emerging or expanding HIV epidemic need to realise …

When To Spray: A Time-Scale Calculus Approach To Controlling The Impact Of West Nile Virus, Diana Thomas, Marion Weedermann, Lora Billings, Joan Hoffacker, Robert Washington-Allen

Department of Mathematics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

West Nile Virus (WNV) made its initial appearance in the New York City (NYC) metropolitan area in 1999 and was implicated in cases of human encephalitis and the extensive mortality in crows (Corvus sp.) and other avian species. Mosquitoes were found to be the primary vectors and NYC’s current policy on control strategies involved an eradication program that depends on the synchronicity of the summer mosquito population’s increases with the occurrence of cases in humans. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether this is the most effective control strategy because past mathematical models assumed discrete behavior that …

Disease In The Desert: Las Vegas As A Case Study Of How First Responders And Emergency Managers Understand Novel Threats To Human Health And Plan To Respond During Biological Emergencies, Monique Williamson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over recent years it has become clear that technological advancements, globalization, and ecological change, combined with the onset of increased terrorist incidents, are all currently working to create an extremely hazardous environment in terms of pathogenic invasion. Realizing that infectious diseases are both newly emerging and re-emerging in many parts of the world, the question of how prepared an expansive United States will be in the face of an oncoming global pandemic is easily raised. Using Las Vegas as an example of just how unequipped a largely visited U.S. city may be in the face of such a situation, this …

War Of The Worlds: Our Worlds Are Colliding And Infectious Disease Is Winning - Emerging Diseases And The One Health Initiative, Richard French

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

Public Health Perspectives On The 2009 Novel H1n1 Influenza Pandemic And Population Health, Julie Gleason-Comstock, Walter Davis, Melinda Dixon, Allen Heimann

Michigan Journal of Public Health

No abstract provided.

The Lived Experience Of Hiv-Positive Tanzanian Orphans, Carol A. Parker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this investigation was to generate a context- specific model of the lived experience of HIV positive Tanzanian orphans. With the advent of anti-retroviral drugs, Sub-Saharan African populations with high burdens of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) face annually accumulating increases in the number of HIV positive children, and ultimately adults. Perinatally infected, these children often become orphans while still young. Extended interviews were performed with a purposive sample of 12 HIV infected orphaned children between 9 and 12 years of age. Half of the research participants lived in an orphanage and half were children living with guardians in …

Prenatal Physical Activity Patterns And Determinants In An Urban Ecuadorian Population, Erika Gonzalez Beltran

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background & Significance. Evidence has accumulated over the past two decades suggesting that healthy pregnant women who engage in regular moderate physical activity (PA) may reduce their risk for certain adverse pregnancy and postnatal health outcomes. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans which recommends at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity aerobic PA for pregnant women. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG, 2002) recommends 30 min of moderate-intensity PA, specified as derived from recreational or leisure activities on most or all …

Public Water Fluoridation, Jessica Fohey

Honors Program Theses

This thesis project addresses the issue of public water fluoridation. There is a debate within the United States as to whether or not public water systems should be fluoridated. Because of the large scale potential health impact, it is critical to determine whether or not this practice is in the best interest of the public. This paper provides an extensive review of scientific literature on the effectiveness, safety, and cost effectiveness of public water fluoridation. Following the review of scientific literature, I will present an overview of pseudo-scientific literature which advocates against public water fluoridation that, although often not scientifically …

Establishing Public Health Security In A Postwar Iraq: Constitutional Obstacles And Lessons For Other Federalizing States, David P. Fidler, Kumanan Wilson, Christopher W. Mcdougall, Harvey Lazar

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The public health consequences of the conflict in Iraq will likely continue after the violence has subsided. Reestablishing public health security will require large investments in infrastructure and the creation of effective systems of governance. On the question of governance, the allocation of powers in the new constitution of Iraq is critical. Given the ease with which public health threats cross borders, the constitution needs to grant to the federal government the legal authority to manage such threats and simultaneously meet international requirements. Unfortunately, the draft constitution does not accomplish this objective. If politically possible, the constitution should be amended …

Validation Of Inverse Seasonal Peak Mortality In Medieval Plagues, Including The Black Death, In Comparison To Modern Yersinia Pestis-Variant Diseases, Mark R. Welford, Brian H. Bossak

Earth, Environment & Sustainability: Faculty Publications

Background: Recent studies have noted myriad qualitative and quantitative inconsistencies between the medieval Black Death (and subsequent ‘‘plagues’’) and modern empirical Y. pestis plague data, most of which is derived from the Indian and Chinese plague outbreaks of A.D. 1900615 years. Previous works have noted apparent differences in seasonal mortality peaks during Black Death outbreaks versus peaks of bubonic and pneumonic plagues attributed to Y. pestis infection, but have not provided spatiotemporal statistical support. Our objective here was to validate individual observations of this seasonal discrepancy in peak mortality between historical epidemics and modern empirical data.

Methodology/Principal Findings: …

When Every Drop Counts: The Public Health Impact Of Drought, Steven Konkel

Environmental Health Planning and Policy

No abstract provided.

Temporal And Spatial Stability Of Anopheles Gambiae Larval Habitat Distribution In Western Kenya Highlands, Li Li, Ling Bian, Laith Yakob, Guofa Zhou, Guiyun Yan

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Background: Localized mosquito larval habitat management and the use of larvicides have been proposed as important control tools in integrated malaria vector management programs. In order to optimize the utility of these tools, detailed knowledge of the spatial distribution patterns of mosquito larval habitats is crucial. However, the spatial and temporal changes of habitat distribution patterns under different climatic conditions are rarely quantified and their implications to larval control are unknown.

Results: Using larval habitat data collected in western Kenya highlands during both dry and rainy seasons of 2003-2005, this study analyzed the seasonal and inter-annual changes in the spatial …

Ecological Niche Of The 2003 West Nile Virus Epidemic In The Northern Great Plains Of The United States, Michael Wimberly, Michael B. Hildreth, Stephen P. Boyte, Erik Lindquist, Lon Kightlinger

United States Public Health Resources

Background: The incidence of West Nile virus (WNv) has remained high in the northern Great Plains compared to the rest of the United States. However, the reasons for the sustained high risk of WNv transmission in this region have not been determined. To assess the environmental drivers of WNv in the northern Great Plains, we analyzed the county-level spatial pattern of human cases during the 2003 epidemic across a seven-state region.
Methodology/Principal Findings: County-level data on WNv cases were examined using spatial cluster analysis, and were used to fit statistical models with weather, climate, and land use variables as predictors. …