Apollo's Arrow


Book Description

A piercing and scientifically grounded look at the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and how it will change the way we live—"excellent and timely." (The New Yorker) Apollo's Arrow offers a riveting account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as it swept through American society in 2020, and of how the recovery will unfold in the coming years. Drawing on momentous (yet dimly remembered) historical epidemics, contemporary analyses, and cutting-edge research from a range of scientific disciplines, bestselling author, physician, sociologist, and public health expert Nicholas A. Christakis explores what it means to live in a time of plague—an experience that is paradoxically uncommon to the vast majority of humans who are alive, yet deeply fundamental to our species. Unleashing new divisions in our society as well as opportunities for cooperation, this 21st-century pandemic has upended our lives in ways that will test, but not vanquish, our already frayed collective culture. Featuring new, provocative arguments and vivid examples ranging across medicine, history, sociology, epidemiology, data science, and genetics, Apollo's Arrow envisions what happens when the great force of a deadly germ meets the enduring reality of our evolved social nature.




Rapid Expert Consultations on the COVID-19 Pandemic


Book Description

In response to a request from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a standing committee of experts to help inform the federal government on critical science and policy issues related to emerging infectious diseases and other 21st century health threats. This set of Rapid Expert Consultations are the first of their kind and represent the best evidence available to the Committee at the time each publication was released. The science on these issues is continually evolving, and the scientific consensus the Committee reaches on these topics will likely evolve with it. The standing committee includes members with expertise in emerging infectious diseases, public health, public health preparedness and response, biological sciences, clinical care and crisis standards of care, risk communication, and regulatory issues.




Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic


Book Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to the nation's K-12 education system. The rush to slow the spread of the virus led to closures of schools across the country, with little time to ensure continuity of instruction or to create a framework for deciding when and how to reopen schools. States, districts, and schools are now grappling with the complex and high-stakes questions of whether to reopen school buildings and how to operate them safely if they do reopen. These decisions need to be informed by the most up-to-date evidence about the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19; about the impacts of school closures on students and families; and about the complexities of operating school buildings as the pandemic persists. Reopening K-12 Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prioritizing Health, Equity, and Communities provides guidance on the reopening and operation of elementary and secondary schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The recommendations of this report are designed to help districts and schools successfully navigate the complex decisions around reopening school buildings, keeping them open, and operating them safely.




Microbial Threats to Health


Book Description

Infectious diseases are a global hazard that puts every nation and every person at risk. The recent SARS outbreak is a prime example. Knowing neither geographic nor political borders, often arriving silently and lethally, microbial pathogens constitute a grave threat to the health of humans. Indeed, a majority of countries recently identified the spread of infectious disease as the greatest global problem they confront. Throughout history, humans have struggled to control both the causes and consequences of infectious diseases and we will continue to do so into the foreseeable future. Following up on a high-profile 1992 report from the Institute of Medicine, Microbial Threats to Health examines the current state of knowledge and policy pertaining to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases from around the globe. It examines the spectrum of microbial threats, factors in disease emergence, and the ultimate capacity of the United States to meet the challenges posed by microbial threats to human health. From the impact of war or technology on disease emergence to the development of enhanced disease surveillance and vaccine strategies, Microbial Threats to Health contains valuable information for researchers, students, health care providers, policymakers, public health officials. and the interested public.




Learning from SARS


Book Description

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.




COVID and Emerging Infectious Diseases


Book Description

Over the last two years with the strain of coronavirus having a devastating effect on the world’s healthcare system and triggering a global "lockdown", one question that has emerged; What, or which infectious disease is going to hit us next? Many infectious diseases prevalent in humans and animals are caused by pathogens that once emerged from other animal hosts. In addition to these established or re-emerging infections, new infectious diseases periodically emerge. In extreme cases they may lead to pandemics as we currently are seeing. The increased urbanization and globalization of the world order with faster connectivity and traveling has further in-creased the risk factors for emerging infections. Despite this, enormous progress has been made in the field of infectious disease in the last few decades. The number of deaths and severe infections because of diseases like Malaria, HIV, Ebola, Dengue, Yellow fever virus (YFV), Zika etc. have been significantly reduced and diseases like Polio are on the brink of eradication. In particular, the emergence of the devastating SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has revolutionized the field in an unprecedented way. A myriad of vaccine platforms and highly potent therapeutic approaches have been developed by government, industry, academic, and non-governmental organizations. However, the rapid and unparalleled spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, and the amount of toll that it has caused to the public health and global economy also underscores the urgent need to develop broadly cross-reactive, rapidly deployable, and scalable therapeutic platforms. Development of these novel therapeutic modalities also requires a strong emphasis on the functional and mechanistic understanding of how molecular components in a biological process related to emerging infectious diseases work together. Onset of the out-breaks of recent decades including but not limited to SARS-CoV-1, MERS, Ebola virus, Zika virus, Nipah virus, Yellow fever virus, Lassa virus and the ongoing ever devastating SARS-CoV-2 pandemic also highlight the urgent need to devise a future proof pandemic preparedness strategy and the demand for a fast and early response.




EMERGING INFECTIOUS COVID-19 (Causes and Therapeutic Approaches)


Book Description

Preface: There are very little books, text books, hand books and reference books available on Coronavirus Diseases, COVID-19 in terms of dedicated monographs on particular topics. The present conceptualized edited book dedicated to under graduate medical students, post graduate bioscience students and research scholars for the applicability during their dissertation or pre-doctoral programs. Therefore, the book focused on the integrated aspects of ongoing infectious Pandemic COVID-19 of different origins in global perspectives and more especially in the Indian scenario impelled me to produce this work in the form a book. This book is written with the objectives to deliver the fundamental knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 caused current COVID-19 Pandemic, its emergence, spread, causes, Government initiatives as precautionary measures through social distancing and lockdown, herbal, ayurvedic, allopathic and associated multifaceted therapeutic efforts during hospitalization and strategic vaccination to combat COVID-19. The effect of current pandemic on school and higher education teaching learning system which was a major challenge and how it was overcome by adopting and innovative and applicable E-based teaching-learning as an opportunity during COVID-19 also included in the current book. As the book entitled “Emerging Infectious Covid-19: Causes and Therapeutic Approaches”, therefore authors covered all the dimension related to COVID-19 in the present book and compiled the information, scientific findings, reported clinical observations in terms of sources of infection, disease symptoms, causes, epidemiology, precautionary and control measures along with the recent advances in therapeutic approaches meticulously. Thus the book compiled here, itself holding a diverse but integrated scientific data and knowledge of hazardous viruses, and also providing practical understanding of these hazards as utmost necessity to protecting the health of humans, society, country and ecosystems for the holistic and sustainable development. The book has been prepared in accordance with the new concept of research dealing an introduction to complete aspects of the major causes and cure of infectious COVID-19. This book represents an update and expansion on a previous pedagogic pattern and the adaptation of new E-based teaching learning system in reference to merits and demerits in current situation for the development of academic knowledge and skill in class going youths. The editor/author is extremely appreciative to scholarly readers and appeal to send their precious suggestions for additional perfection of the book into possible future edition.




Drug Repurposing for Emerging Infectious Diseases and Cancer


Book Description

​This book presents drug repurposing strategies to combat infectious diseases and cancer. It discusses key experimental and in silico approaches for modern drug repositioning, including signature matching, molecular docking, genome-wide associated studies, and network-based approaches aided by artificial intelligence. Further, the book presents various computational and experimental strategies for better understanding disease mechanisms and identify repurposed drug candidates for personalized pharmacotherapy. It also explores the databases for drug repositioning, summarizes the approaches taken for drug repositioning, and highlights and compares their characteristics and challenges. Towards the end, the book discusses challenges and limitations encountered in computational drug repositioning.




Biosensors for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases


Book Description

Biosensors for Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases provides a review of how cornerstone optical, electronic, nanomaterial and data processing technologies can address detection issues occurring in a pandemic event. This book gives insights into the fundamental physical, chemical and biological mechanisms needed for such a type of detection. The content covers potential biomarkers which can be used for the infectious disease diagnostic, helping readers find the appropriate approach for the diagnosis of infectious diseases. It presents a novel approach to transferring the sensing platform from lab to application in clinics and to point of care detection. The book then moves on to discuss the function and efficiency of the biosensing platform in early diagnosis of infectious diseases compared to the standard methods. The required time, the technician skills and the steps which must be performed are other key factors of the biosensing platform which are well explained. - Covers applications of biosensors in diagnostics and detection of infection, and in the application of new materials in biosensor development - Presents nano-biosensor based point-of-care technologies - Introduces readers to the fundamentals of biosensors for infectious diseases




Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases, An Issue of Physician Assistant Clinics, E-Book


Book Description

In this issue, guest editors bring their considerable expertise to this important topic. - Contains 13 practice-oriented topics including antimicrobial drug resistance and antimicrobial resistant threats; parasitic infections and infestations; spirochetal diseases; prenatal transmitted Infections; emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism; intersection of emerging infectious diseases and substance abuse disorder; and more. - Provides in-depth clinical reviews on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, offering actionable insights for clinical practice. - Presents the latest information on this timely, focused topic under the leadership of experienced editors in the field. Authors synthesize and distill the latest research and practice guidelines to create clinically significant, topic-based reviews.




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