Travel medicine and infectious disease
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Travel Med Infect Dis · Sep 2016
ReviewTrends of the microcephaly and Zika virus outbreak in Brazil, January-July 2016.
In the last two months, there have been indications that the Zika virus epidemic is on the decline in Brazil. We reviewed the surveillance data published by the Brazilian Ministry of Health to assess trends of microcephaly and neurological abnormalities suggestive of congenital infection, as well as Zika virus disease in Brazil as a whole and its various regions. From November 2015 to July 2016, 8301 cases of microcephaly were reported in Brazil, mainly in the Northeast region. ⋯ The state of Rio de Janeiro (Southeast) experienced the third highest incidence, lagging behind only the states of Bahia (Northeast) and Mato Grosso (Midwest). In early June, the number of new Zika virus cases showed a marked decline in all of the regions, except the North. Although the Zika epidemic seems to be diminishing, continued monitoring and surveillance of reported microcephaly and neurological abnormality cases is essential, and investigation efforts need to be vastly improved, as some states still reported high incidences of Zika disease in the first half of 2016.
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Travel Med Infect Dis · Sep 2016
Cost effectiveness of interferon-gamma release assay for tuberculosis screening using three months of rifapentine and isoniazid among long-term expatriates from low to high incidence countries.
Long-term expatriates from low to high tuberculosis (TB) incidence countries get high rates of active TB and latent TB infection (LTBI). TB screening for expatriates is important for occupational health. Interferon-gamma release assays are more accurate than tuberculin skin test (TST). Rifapentine plus isoniazid for 3 months (3HP) is as effective as 9 months of isoniazid (9H) with a higher treatment-completion rate. ⋯ Entry LTBI screening using QFT treated with 3HP is recommended on the basis of cost effectiveness among long-term expatriates from low to high incidence countries.
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Travel Med Infect Dis · Sep 2016
A one-year effective reproduction number of the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreaks in the widespread West African countries and quantitative evaluation of air travel restriction measure.
The 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa is the largest and longest Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in the history, and the virus has escaped across countries and continents via air travel in this outbreak. ⋯ Our results suggest that restriction of air travels is effective in reducing the risk of EVD importation but controlling of the virus at the original affected countries is vitally more important for preventing inter-terrestrial dissemination of EVD.