Environmental Public Health Commons^™

The Effect Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Sanitation Practices And Anxiety In The General Population, Leah Cliatt, Joanna Petrides

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: Illness anxiety and fear of contracting coronavirus increased considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic. The media, being in lockdown, and cyberchondria had the largest impact on the population’s anxiety surrounding illness. While this kind of reaction to illness is expected during the pandemic, there is limited data on post-pandemic illness anxiety levels in the general population. Patients’ perception of disease impacts medicine at every level; medical professionals need to understand the concerns and fears of their patients in order to treat the post-pandemic patient. We hypothesized that sanitation practices and anxiety surrounding illness have not returned to baseline pre-COVID-19 …

The Climate Effect On Covid-19: Lessons Learned From The Pandemic In Jakarta, Vernonia Yora Saki, Ema Novita Deniati, Yoerdy Agusmal Saputra, Dewi Susanna, Efendi Efendi

Kesmas

The global COVID-19 pandemic has presented humanity with difficult and unforeseeable hurdles. Among these challenges is understanding how climate-related aspects impact the survival of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, and rainfall, and the spread of COVID-19 cases in different regions. A time-and-place-based ecological study design was adopted, integrating geographic information systems and statistical techniques. Statistical testing revealed a significant association between humidity (p-value = 0.000; r = -0.777) and rainfall (p-value = 0.001; r = -0.561) with COVID-19 instances. However, no statistically significant relationship was found between temperature …

Institute For Global Health And Development : Issue 5 - July 2023, Institute For Global Health And Development

IGHD Newsletter

• Research Highlights
• Key Publications
• IGHD in the News
• Webinars, Academics & Conferences
• ‘Choice’ Programme - Technical Advisory Group
• Welcome New Team Members
• Mark your Calendars: Upcoming Event
• Congratulations Team IGHD
• Collaborate With Us

Pandemic Response Officers: Integration Between Medical, Public Health, And Higher Education Systems To Expedite Prevention And Response., Anne C Jones, Genevive R Meredith, Donna Leong, Sabine Jamal, Rachel Buckwalter, John D Clarke, Marin Clarkberg, Allan Bishop, Frank Cantone, Claire Espey, Frank Kruppa, Mary George Opperman, Gary A Koretzky

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Faculty Scholarship

CONTEXT: Research and policy studies alike have enumerated population and community health benefits of system integration between medical, public health, and social entities. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the necessity of a well-trained and adequately staffed public health and medical workforce in order to process SARS-CoV-2 cases and prevent subsequent transmission. Higher education systems, in particular, represented defined populations of exposure and transmission. Opportunities existed for collaboration and task sharing between institutions of higher education and local public health departments to limit spread and impacts.

PROGRAM: This article describes the Pandemic Response Officer (PRO) program at Cornell University, …

Sustainable Management Of Facemask Waste Generated From Covid-19 Pandemic In Bhutan, Tshering Yangdon, Twisuk Punpeng, Sirima Mongkolosomit, Kampol Nanthapong, Kinzang Yangden

Journal of Health Research

Background: The rise in facemask waste with the uncertainty of deposition data and all its concomitant pressure on management has resulted in new risks and challenges for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). The purpose of this mixed methods study was to estimate facemask waste generation and examine management in Bhutan since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: One thousand five hundred and twenty-seventh (1,527) consenting members of the public from Class A Thromdes (self-governing municipalities) were surveyed online from February to April 2022, to estimate mask waste using descriptive statistics. This was supported by the waste characterization conducted in Memelhakha, the biggest …

Preparing For The Next Disaster: Lessons Learned From The Early Experiences Of Autistic Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Amber Pomponio Davidson, Cecilia Feeley, Beth Pfeiffer, Mark Salzer

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Purpose: Disasters, such as the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, create significant disruptions for individuals and their communities. Understanding these disruptions is a first step towards planning for future events and disaster recovery. This research aims to explore how the initial COVID-19 restrictions, including lockdowns, impacted adults with Autism (ASD). Method: Using semi-structured interviews to understand how individuals with ASD experienced the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, twelve participants were interviewed: six individuals with ASD (ages 20-38), three parents of individuals with ASD, and three support staff for individuals with ASD. Analysis: Grounded theory methods were used to analyze the impacts …

Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook

Sustain Magazine

As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic quickly spread from country to country and continent to continent in 2020, governments and scientists needed a way to track COVID-19 through populations in order to position public health interventions in the most impactful locations. Having a decision-based risk framework may help to guide policy creation that could minimize or prevent possible outbreaks and surges of infection within communities. The University of Louisville in partnership with Louisville’s Department of Public Health and Wellness tested this strategy in 2021 and 2022. This Wastewater-Informed Public Health Intervention Playbook describes the decisions and actions of that academic and public …

Level Of Trust In Health Care Systems During Covid-19 Pandemic Among Health Care Workers Of Pakistan, Asmara Ahmed Malik, Sobia Awan, Ali Tahir Rana, Jahanzeb Malik, Uzma Ishaq, Mamoona Zahoor, Syed Muhammad Jawad Zaidi

Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives

This survey aimed to evaluate the levels of trust and satisfaction among healthcare workers towards the national healthcare delivery system and whether it has been affected by the global disruption created by COVID-19. This was an analytical cross-sectional study that took place from January to October 2021 at a tertiary level health care facility in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, using an online data collection tool. Our sample included 10, 133 healthcare workers of all cadres. Our study found a significant level of distrust of healthcare workers towards multiple aspects of the healthcare delivery system, particularly towards government agencies and other members of …

Quantifying The Relationship Between Sub-Population Wastewater Samples And Community-Wide Sars-Cov-2 Seroprevalence, Ted Smith, Rochelle H. Holm, Rachel J. Keith, Alok R. Amraotkar, Chance R. Alvarado, Krzysztof Banecki, Boseung Choi, Ian Santisteban, Adrienne M. Bushau-Sprinkle, Kathleen T. Kitterman, Joshua Fuqua, Krystal T. Hamorsky, Kenneth E. Palmer, J. Michael Brick, Aruni Bhatnagar, Grzegorz A. Rempala

Faculty Scholarship

Robust epidemiological models relating wastewater to community disease prevalence are lacking. Assessments of SARS-CoV-2 infection rates have relied primarily on convenience sampling, which does not provide reliable estimates of community disease prevalence due to inherent biases. This study conducted serial stratified randomized samplings to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 3717 participants and obtained weekly samples of community wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in Jefferson County, KY (USA) from August 2020 to February 2021. Using an expanded Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model, the longitudinal estimates of the disease prevalence were obtained and compared with the wastewater concentrations using regression analysis. The model analysis …

Book Review: Urban Health | Emerging Public Health Perspectives, Demi Miriam

Journal of Research Initiatives

Book Review

Book Title: Urban Health | Emerging public health perspectives

Editors: Fernandes & Grewal, 2021

Publisher: Global South Strategies

Publication: 02 September 2021

City: Mangalore, India

Total No. of Pages: 341

Price (in INR): 950 (Paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-8195336418

Dietary Habits Of Patients With Chronic Medical Conditions During Covid-19, Sahil Patel, Adarsh Gupta

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced drastic changes in various aspects of normal life for millions world-wide.

As of April 2022, there have been over reported 80.8 million cases and 989,000 reported deaths.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were numerous societal changes occurred such as social distancing protocols, mask recommendations and restrictions in public spaces.

With such drastic changes to normal life, investigators began examining how dietary habits in the general population could have been affected, but not investigated the impacts on patients with chronic medical conditions (CMC).

Prior to major vaccination efforts, …

Wastewater Surveillance Of Sars-Cov-2 On American University Campuses: A Comparison Of Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emily Gosnell

Senior Theses

Wastewater surveillance has been used for a variety of purposes but, in recent years, has most notably been utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many universities in the United States used it as a means of monitoring levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on their campuses. The University of South Carolina, University of Arizona, and University of North Carolina- Charlotte were three such schools. An analysis of data published by these three schools has been used to synthesize a proposed list of best methods to be used by other universities during the reemergence of SARS-CoV-2 or during the outbreak of a new …

Exploring Agricultural Worker Self-Efficacy During A Covid-19 Delta Variant Surge And Adverse Environmental Conditions, Hannah Lascano

All Master's Theses

Yakima County is a rural county with an urban core located in central Washington State. With over 60% of its workforce dedicated to agriculture, food production, and other essential industries, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly compounded in Yakima County populations. Factors such as low decision-making power, limited ability to social distance, and occupational limitations such as fear of job loss, non-compliance with immigration regulations, and lack of representation have yet to be explored during the COVID-19 Delta variant (Delta) surge in conjunction with environmental conditions. This study utilized a novel, online survey of Yakima County residents, …

Modelling Air Quality In An Aircraft Passenger Cabin Using Health Care Standards, Bert Silich

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The interest in aerosol contamination of aircraft passenger cabins has increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mathematical models have been developed to help describe how an aerosol behaves in a closed space. The number of infectious particles inhaled is of scientific interest because it can be related to the risk of getting ill from a pathogen. The data required to calculate these results is often difficult to obtain in real world settings. In fact, particle inhalation details are not obtained in the day-to-day routine of a health care environment and are they not required to maintain safety. Hospital …

How Comprehensive And Effective Are Waste Management Policies During The Covid-19 Pandemic? Perspectives From The Philippines, Geminn Louis C. Apostol, Angelina Gabrielle A. Acolola, Michelle Alexandra Edillon, Sary Valenzuela

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Publications

This study presents a comprehensive analysis on policies governing the management of COVID-19 waste in the Philippines, highlighting gaps in pre-existing policies and opportunities for further policy development and adaptation in the context of present and future public health emergencies. A hybrid search strategy and consultative process identified fifty (50) policy documents directly impacting the management of wastes (general domestic, healthcare, and household healthcare waste) released prior to and during the pandemic. Content analysis revealed comprehensive policy coverage on managing general domestic waste and healthcare waste. However, there remains a dearth in policies for managing household healthcare waste, an emerging …

Policy Implications Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Food Security In Rural America: Evidence From Appalachia, Kathryn M. Cardarelli, Emily M. Dewitt, Rachel Gillespie, Rachel Hogg-Graham, Heather Norman-Burgdolf, Janet T. Mullins

Dietetics and Human Nutrition Faculty Publications

Rural communities are disproportionally affected by food insecurity, making them vulnerable to the consequences of supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While access to food was initially diminished due to food supply disruptions, little is known about the mechanisms through which federal emergency assistance programs impacted food access in rural populations. Through a series of five focus groups in spring 2021, we examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food access in a rural Appalachian community in Kentucky. Data were analyzed using a Grounded Theory Approach. Findings revealed the following four primary themes: food scarcity in grocery stores; …

Breastfeeding Media Coverage And Beliefs During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Mexico: Implications For Breastfeeding Equity, Mireya Vilar-Compte, P. Gaitán‐Rossi, E. C. Rhodes, V. Cruz‐Villalba, R. Pérez‐Escamilla

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Because breastfeeding offers short- and long- term health benefits to mothers and children, breastfeeding promotion and support is a public health priority. Evidence shows that SARS-CoV-2 is not likely to be transmitted via breastmilk. Moreover, antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are thought to be contained in breastmilk of mothers with history of COVID-19 infection or vaccination. WHO recommends direct breastfeeding as the preferred infant feeding option during the COVID-19 pandemic, even among women with COVID-19; but conflicting practices have been adopted, which could widen existing inequities in breastfeeding. This study aims to describe how information about breastfeeding was communicated in Mexican …

Examining Public Health Risk Communication Via Social Media By Provincial And Local Health Authorities In Ontario During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Marc Resendes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Risk communication campaigns are essential during public health crises to inform the public about ways to mitigate, alleviate and manage potential risks. The purpose of this study was to describe risk communication on social media by Ontarian health authorities amid COVID-19, in addition to examining the strategies that guided their social media use. This was completed through (a) a narrative review of risk communication literature; (b) a qualitative content analysis of select health authority Twitter messaging following three major COVID-19 milestones; and (c) key informant interviews with those coordinating social media responses to COVID-19. Information giving and news updates were …

Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Loneliness And Social Isolation: A Multi-Country Study, Roger O’Sullivan, Annette Burns, Gerard Leavey, Iracema Leroi, Vanessa Burholt, James Lubben, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Christina Victor, Brian Lawlor, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Carla M. Perissinotto, Mark A. Tully, Mary Pat Sullivan, Michael Rosato, Joanna Mchugh Power, Elisa Tiilikainen, Thomas R. Prohaska

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

The COVID-19 global pandemic and subsequent public health social measures have challenged our social and economic life, with increasing concerns around potentially rising levels of social isolation and loneliness. This paper is based on cross-sectional online survey data (available in 10 languages, from 2 June to 16 November 2020) with 20,398 respondents from 101 different countries. It aims to help increase our understanding of the global risk factors that are associated with social isolation and loneliness, irrespective of culture or country, to support evidence-based policy, services and public health interventions. We found the prevalence of severe loneliness was 21% during …

Global Pediatric Pulmonology Alliance (Gppa) Proposal For Covid-19 Vaccination In Children., Lance E Rodewald, Kun-Ling Shen, Yong-Hong Yang, Gary Wing-Kin Wong, Leyla Namazova-Baranova, Lanny J Rosenwasser, Adel S Alharbi, Anne B Chang, Jim Buttery, Basil Elnazir, Ruth A. Etzel, Anne Goh, Hilary Hoey, Rosemary Horne, Eitan Kerem, Antonella Muraro, Chris O'Callaghan, Kazunobu Ouchi, Varinder Singh, Jiu-Yao Wang, Spencer Li, Yu Guan, Yue-Jie Zheng, Zhengde Xie, Gen Lu, Yi Jiang, Xing-Wang Li, Rong-Meng Jiang, Xiao-Chuan Wang, Ji-Kui Deng, Xiao-Xia Lu, Bao-Ping Xu, Zhuang Wei, Lu-Zhao Feng, Zheng-Yan Zhao

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Improving Social Justice In Covid-19 Health Research: Interim Guidelines For Reporting Health Equity In Observational Studies, Alba Antequera, Daeria O. Lawson, Stephen G. Noorduyn, Omar Dewidar, Marc Avey, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Catherine Chamberlain, Holly Ellingwood, Damian Francis, Sarah Funnell

Woman and Child Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the global imperative to address health inequities. Observational studies are a valuable source of evidence for real-world effects and impacts of implementing COVID-19 policies on the redistribution of inequities. We assembled a diverse global multi-disciplinary team to develop interim guidance for improving transparency in reporting health equity in COVID-19 observational studies. We identified 14 areas in the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) checklist that need additional detail to encourage transparent reporting of health equity. We searched for examples of COVID-19 observational studies that analysed and reported health equity analysis across one …

Exploring Social Determinants Of Covid-19 Related Sickness And Suffering In The Bronx, Hamida Chumpa

Student Theses and Dissertations

Through a positivistic and phenomenological approach, the study examines social determinants of COVID-19 related sickness and suffering in the Bronx, New York City, New York, ZIP codes 10462, 10472, 10467, 10458, 10474, and 10464. I utilize a violence paradigm (structural and everyday violence) to describe the social determinants of risk and sickness-related suffering and deploy an assemblage framework to shed light on how these determinants create negative synergies that undermine wellbeing and render certain communities vulnerable to extreme suffering. The mixed methods include 64 surveys and eight interviews. Analysis methods include a descriptive analysis of survey results and a thematic …

Social Environment Changes During Covid-19 Quarantine, Aileen Jimenez

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research project is to understand perceptions of the psychological, behavioral, and social impacts of COVID-19. Students at the University of Mississippi were invited to participate in an online questionnaire administered through Qualtrics. The questionnaire was composed of questions concerning health behaviors, including questions from the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21, Perceived Vulnerability to Disease Scale, Fear of Coronavirus-19 Scale, and the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Snapshot Monitoring study. 274 students participated in the study. Overall, the results of this study suggested moderate distress across the sample, differences in sleep, exercise, and alcohol consumption during quarantine conditions, …

The Efficacy Of A Communication Guide On Stress Experienced By Family Members Of Patients Admitted In The Intensive Care Unit With Covid-19, Kandace Williams

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Student Works

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), first introduced in the United States on January 20, 2020, has created worldwide panic due insufficient research and understanding of the nature of this new disease. Patients suffering from COVID-19 often require intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, resulting in stress and confusion amongst patients and their families. The high transmissibility of the disease has caused hospitals to adopt firm visitor restrictions to protect the public from exposure and spread. Families experience increased anxiety and stress due to ineffective communication with staff and restricted access to their hospitalized loved ones. A needs assessment revealed a gap in care …

Mental Health Of Children And Adolescents Amidst Covid-19 And Past Pandemics: A Rapid Systematic Review, Salima Meherali, Neelam Punjani, Samantha Louie-Poon, Komal Abdul Rahim, Jai K. Das, Rehana A. Salam, Zohra S. Lassi

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: The COVID‑19 pandemic and associated public health measures have disrupted the lives of people around the world. It is already evident that the direct and indirect psychological and social effects of the COVID‑19 pandemic are insidious and affect the mental health of young children and adolescents now and will in the future. The aim and objectives of this knowledge-synthesis study were to identify the impact of the pandemic on children's and adolescent's mental health and to evaluate the effectiveness of different interventions employed during previous and the current pandemic to promote children's and adolescents' mental health.
Methodology: We conducted …

Sars-Cov-2 Transmission In Alberta, British Columbia, And Ontario, Canada, December 25, 2019, To December 1, 2020, Isaac Chun-Hai Fung, Yuen Wai Hung, Sylvia Ofori, Kamalich Muniz-Rodriguez, Po-Ying Lai, Gerardo Chowell

Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemiology in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario, Canada.

Methods:

Using data through December 1, 2020, we estimated time-varying reproduction number, R t , using EpiEstim package in R, and calculated incidence rate ratios (IRR) across the 3 provinces.

Results:

In Ontario, 76% (92 745/121 745) of cases were in Toronto, Peel, York, Ottawa, and Durham; in Alberta, 82% (49 878/61 169) in Calgary and Edmonton; in British Columbia, 90% (31 142/34 699) in Fraser and Vancouver Coastal. Across 3 provinces, R t dropped to ≤ 1 after April. …

Environmentally Marginalized Populations: The "Perfect Storm" For Infectious Disease Pandemics, Including Covid-19, Gabriella Y. Meltzer, Oyemwenosa Avenbuan, Christina Awada, Oluwakemi B. Oyetade, Tricia Blackman, Simona Kwon Drph, Mph, Esther Erdei Phd, Judith T. Zelikoff Phd

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

COVID-19 has exacted a severe toll on the United States population’s physical and mental health and its effects have been felt most severely among people of color and low socioeconomic status. Using illustrative case studies, this commentary argues that in addition to COVID-19 health disparities created by psychosocial stressors such as the inability to socially distance and access quality healthcare, environmental justice communities have the additional burden of disproportionate exposure to toxic contaminants that contribute to their higher risk of COVID-19. Environmental contaminants including heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants found contaminating their nearby environments can alter the immune response, …

Food Insecurity Measurement And Prevalence Estimates During The Covid-19 Pandemic In A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey In Mexico, Pablo Gaitán-Rossi, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Graciela Teruel, Rafael Pérez-Escamilla

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Objective: To validate the telephone modality of the Latin American and Caribbean Food Security Scale (ELCSA) included in three waves of a phone survey to estimate the monthly household food insecurity prevalence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico. Design: We examined the reliability and internal validity of the ELCSA scale in three repeated waves of cross-sectional surveys with Rasch models. We estimated the monthly prevalence of food insecurity in the general population and in households with and without children and compared them with a national 2018 survey. We tested concurrent validity by testing associations of food insecurity with socio-economic status …

Pre-Covid-19 Social Determinants Of Health Among Mexican Migrants In Los Angeles And New York City And Their Increased Vulnerability To Unfavorable Health Outcomes During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Pablo Gaitán‐Rossi, Lucía Félix‐Beltrán, Arturo V. Bustamante

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

COVID-19 has disproportionally affected underrepresented minorities (URM) and low-income immigrants in the United States. The aim of the study is to examine the underlying vulnerabilities of Mexican immigrants in New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles (LA), its correspondence with area-level COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, and to document the role of trusted and culturally sensitive services offered during the pandemic through the Ventanillas de Salud (i.e. VDS, Health Windows) program. The study uses a mixed-methods approach including a cross-sectional survey of Mexican immigrants in LA and NYC collected in the Mexican Consulates at the onset of the pandemic, complemented with …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Ohio's National Parks Visitation, Ryan Grzeschik

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way in which society operates in order to get the novel disease under control. Businesses throughout the United States have had to close or reduce provided services, stay at home orders have secluded many people, and social distancing limits contact between others so many are turning to the parks system to cope with these changes. This study aims to find how the visitation of national parks in Ohio have been affected through the first six months of the pandemic. Visitation statistics were compared from March to August of 2020 to those same months …