BioWatch and Public Health Surveillance

BioWatch and Public Health Surveillance PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2011-01-25

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 030918763X

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Following the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the anthrax letters, the ability to detect biological threats as quickly as possible became a top priority. In 2003 the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced the BioWatch program-a federal monitoring system intended to speed detection of specific biological agents that could be released in aerosolized form during a biological attack. The present volume evaluates the costs and merits of both the current BioWatch program and the plans for a new generation of BioWatch devices. BioWatch and Public Health Surveillance also examines infectious disease surveillance through hospitals and public health agencies in the United States, and considers whether BioWatch and traditional infectious disease surveillance are redundant or complementary.

Handbook of Bioterrorism and Disaster Medicine

Handbook of Bioterrorism and Disaster Medicine PDF

Author: Robert Antosia

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2006-12-22

Total Pages: 456

ISBN-13: 0387328041

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This is an essential portable handbook on bioterrorism and disaster medicine. Its practical and comprehensive text features chapters pertinent to bioterrorism, infectious disease, microbiology, virology, public health, epidemiology, and disaster medicine. It will serve as a practical guide for situation-specific disasters; recognize what injuries or illnesses to expect; provide proactive guidelines to define specific diseases; and give a guide of appropriate personnel protective equipment during these large-scale emergencies. It is an essential companion to those either interested or currently working in any of the aforementioned fields.

Bioterrorism and Public Health

Bioterrorism and Public Health PDF

Author: Vitali B. Mellehovitch

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 9781590339411

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Bioterrorism poses a unique challenge to the medical care and public health systems. Unlike an explosion or chemical attack, which results in immediate and visible casualties, the public health impact of a biological attack can unfold gradually over time. Until a sufficient number of people arrive at the emergency rooms and doctors' offices complaining of similar illnesses, there may be no sign that an attack has taken place. The speed and accuracy with which the doctors and laboratories reach the correct diagnoses and report their findings to public health authorities has a direct impact on the number of people who become ill, and the number that die. The nation's ability to respond to a bioterrorist attack, therefore, depends crucially on the state of preparedness of its medical care systems and public health infrastructure. Public health experts have for years complained about the deterioration of the public health system through neglect and lack of funding. They warn that the nation is ill equipped and insufficiently prepared to respond to a bioterrorist attack. For example, they point out that there are too few medical personnel trained to spot biological attacks, a shortage of sophisticated laboratories to identify the agents, and inadequate supplies of drugs and vaccines to counteract the threat. They also contend that inadequate plans exist for setting up quarantines and emergency facilities to handle the sick and infectious victims. Improving public health preparedness and response capacity offers protection not only from bioterrorist attacks, but also from naturally occurring public health emergencies. Public health officials are increasingly concerned about our exposure and susceptibility to infectious disease and food-borne illness because of global travel, ubiquitous food imports, and the evolution of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. This book reviews critical issues in the US public system and its vulnerability or lack thereof to bioterrorism.

Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?

Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? PDF

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2003-04-29

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0309185602

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Bioterrorism, drug-resistant disease, transmission of disease by global travel . . . there's no shortage of challenges facing America's public health officials. Men and women preparing to enter the field require state-of-the-art training to meet these increasing threats to the public health. But are the programs they rely on provide the high caliber professional training they require? Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? provides an overview of the past, present, and future of public health education, assessing its readiness to provide the training and education needed to prepare men and women to face 21st century challenges. Advocating an ecological approach to public health, the Institute of Medicine examines the role of public health schools and degree-granting programs, medical schools, nursing schools, and government agencies, as well as other institutions that foster public health education and leadership. Specific recommendations address the content of public health education, qualifications for faculty, availability of supervised practice, opportunities for cross-disciplinary research and education, cooperation with government agencies, and government funding for education. Eight areas of critical importance to public health education in the 21st century are examined in depth: informatics, genomics, communication, cultural competence, community-based participatory research, global health, policy and law, and public health ethics. The book also includes a discussion of the policy implications of its ecological framework.

Surveillance and Detection

Surveillance and Detection PDF

Author: Barbara F. Bullock

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 46

ISBN-13:

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Perhaps the most frightening apparition of our times is the possibility that a biological agent (bacterim, virus, or toxin) will be used to attack our unprotected civilian population and inflict mass casualties. Until the Fall of 2001, anthrax attacks delivered through the mail to various U.S. senators, to the Governor of New York, and to various media offices, the previously expected use of a weapon of mass destruction against the United States has been a nuclear device that explodes or a chemical cloud that is set adrift. However, today, of all the weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, and biological), the biological weapons are the most feared by many defense experts but these are the ones that our country is least prepared to deal with Like the concept of a "nuclear winter," the potential destructiveness of a biological attack can come in many forms and is presently very hard to detect and control, and its results could be catastrophic. The unleashing of biological agents against an unprotected civilian population also, in some cases, constitutes the ultimate medical disaster with the capability to completely overwhelm the present health care system. Patients might go to health facilities in unprecedented numbers and demands for intensive care could well exceed available medical resources. Discerning the threat of bioweapons and appropriate responses to them are critical if we are to prevent the devastating effects of bioterrorism.

Bioterrorism

Bioterrorism PDF

Author: Donald Ainslie Henderson

Publisher: American Medical Association Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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"This book is intended to guide medical and public health management following a biological weapons attack on civilian populations...The chapters are papers previously published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that have been subsequently reviewed and updated for this book"--p.1.

Bioterrorism Preparedness

Bioterrorism Preparedness PDF

Author: Nancy Khardori

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2006-08-21

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 3527607730

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Meeting the acute need for a book determining the crucial elements of bioterrorism preparedness, this is a global perspective of the history and current concepts for bioterrorism, integrating the legal, medical, scientific and public health strategies. It furthermore discusses the role of WHO and international health regulations for bioterrorism preparedness. For microbiologists, epidemiologists, biotechnologists, public health agencies, and pharmaceutists.

Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response

Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2020-11-28

Total Pages: 501

ISBN-13: 0309670381

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When communities face complex public health emergencies, state local, tribal, and territorial public health agencies must make difficult decisions regarding how to effectively respond. The public health emergency preparedness and response (PHEPR) system, with its multifaceted mission to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from public health emergencies, is inherently complex and encompasses policies, organizations, and programs. Since the events of September 11, 2001, the United States has invested billions of dollars and immeasurable amounts of human capital to develop and enhance public health emergency preparedness and infrastructure to respond to a wide range of public health threats, including infectious diseases, natural disasters, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear events. Despite the investments in research and the growing body of empirical literature on a range of preparedness and response capabilities and functions, there has been no national-level, comprehensive review and grading of evidence for public health emergency preparedness and response practices comparable to those utilized in medicine and other public health fields. Evidence-Based Practice for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response reviews the state of the evidence on PHEPR practices and the improvements necessary to move the field forward and to strengthen the PHEPR system. This publication evaluates PHEPR evidence to understand the balance of benefits and harms of PHEPR practices, with a focus on four main areas of PHEPR: engagement with and training of community-based partners to improve the outcomes of at-risk populations after public health emergencies; activation of a public health emergency operations center; communication of public health alerts and guidance to technical audiences during a public health emergency; and implementation of quarantine to reduce the spread of contagious illness.