Critical Needs And Gaps In Understanding Prevention Amelioration And Resolution Of Lyme And Other Tick Borne Diseases

A single tick bite can have debilitating consequences. Lyme disease is the most common disease carried by ticks in the United States, and the number of those afflicted is growing steadily. If left untreated, the diseases carried by ticks-known as tick-borne diseases-can cause severe pain, fatigue, neurological problems, and other serious health problems. The Institute of Medicine held a workshop October 11-12, 2010, to examine the state of the science in Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

A single tick bite can have debilitating consequences. Lyme disease is the most common disease carried by ticks in the United States, and the number of those afflicted is growing steadily. If left untreated, the diseases carried by ticks-known as tick-borne diseases-can cause severe pain, fatigue, neurological problems, and other serious health problems. The Institute of Medicine held a workshop October 11-12, 2010, to examine the state of the science in Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

Pathogens transmitted among humans, animals, or plants by insects and arthropod vectors have been responsible for significant morbidity and mortality throughout recorded history. Such vector-borne diseases â€" including malaria, dengue, yellow fever, and plague â€" together accounted for more human disease and death in the 17th through early 20th centuries than all other causes combined. Over the past three decades, previously controlled vector-borne diseases have resurged or reemerged in new geographic locations, and several newly identified pathogens and vectors have triggered disease outbreaks in plants and animals, including humans. Domestic and international capabilities to detect, identify, and effectively respond to vector-borne diseases are limited. Few vaccines have been developed against vector-borne pathogens. At the same time, drug resistance has developed in vector-borne pathogens while their vectors are increasingly resistant to insecticide controls. Furthermore, the ranks of scientists trained to conduct research in key fields including medical entomology, vector ecology, and tropical medicine have dwindled, threatening prospects for addressing vector-borne diseases now and in the future. In June 2007, as these circumstances became alarmingly apparent, the Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a workshop to explore the dynamic relationships among host, pathogen(s), vector(s), and ecosystems that characterize vector-borne diseases. Revisiting this topic in September 2014, the Forum organized a workshop to examine trends and patterns in the incidence and prevalence of vector-borne diseases in an increasingly interconnected and ecologically disturbed world, as well as recent developments to meet these dynamic threats. Participants examined the emergence and global movement of vector-borne diseases, research priorities for understanding their biology and ecology, and global preparedness for and progress toward their prevention, control, and mitigation. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Amid ongoing shifts world economic and political systems, the promise for future public health is more tenuous than ever. Will the today's economic systems sustain tomorrow's health? Will future generations inherit fair access to health and health care? The best hope for the health of future generations is the establishment of a well-grounded, global public health system for today. To that end, Global Public Health: Ecological Foundations addresses both the challenges and cooperative solutions of contemporary public health, all within a framework of social justice, environmental sustainability, and global cooperation. With an emphasis upon ecological foundations, this text approaches public health principles-history, foundations, topics, and applications-with a community-first perspective. By achieving global reach through cooperative, local interventions, this text illustrates that through the practice of public health we can also maintain the health of our world. Blending established wisdom with new perspectives, Global Public Health will stimulate better understanding of how the different streams of public health can work more synergistically to promote global health equity. It is a foundation on which future public health measures can be built and succeed.

Meningitis and Encephalitis are associated with high rates of mortality and neurological sequelae. The differential diagnosis includes a wide spectrum of infectious and non-infectious etiologies, some requiring urgent therapy for survival. The current management challenges in patients with meningitis and encephalitis include a low sensitivity of meningeal signs, overutilization of unnecessary screening cranial imaging, delays in diagnosis of urgent treatable causes, a large proportion of unknown etiologies, low sensitivity of current microbiological techniques especially in the setting of previous antibiotic therapy, underutilization of available molecular diagnostic tests, and empiric antibiotic therapy and hospitalization for viral meningitis cases. Even though there are published guidelines, compliance with them is not optimal and physicians do not follow standardized algorithms in their empirical approach. As meningitis and encephalitis is associated with high rates of adverse clinical outcomes, prevention, when feasible is of upmost importance. Adherence to protocols to prevent health-care associated meningitis and ventriculitis are effective but compliance with them is not uniformly performed. This book seeks to improve outcomes for meningitis and encephalitis cases handled by physicians who may or may not be thoroughly trained for these challenges. The text introduces the current guidelines but also discusses the gaps that leave clinicians struggling to implement the most appropriate approaches for these particular neurological infections. Each chapter delivers the tools necessary to identify and adhere to the most appropriate diagnostic technique, management protocols, and prevention approach for each situation. All chapters conclude with discourse on future directions in research and quality improvement. Written by experts in infectious diseases, the book covers topics that are the most devastating, including healthcare-acquired infections, autoimmune encephalitis, and infections as they present in HIV patients. Meningitis and Encephalitis is a well-rounded resource for all medical professionals encountering these neurological syndromes, including infectious disease specialists, neurologists, primary care physicians, and immunologists.

- Not only is Health Psychology, a field that focuses on the promotion and maintenance of both physical and mental health, a rapidly growing area of interest, but it is also a field that draws on and contributes to the other varied fields of psychology, medicine, nursing, sociology, anthropology, among others. - Provides a relatively comprehensive and accesible overview of the central concepts, issues, conditions and terms that comprise the broad discipline of health psychology - Covers more than 200 contributions by more than 150 of the leading researchers, educators, and practitioners in the field

Current texts in rheumatology are very detailed and designed specifically for rheumatologists. This clear and concise guide is targeted at the busy clinician who comes into contact with both common and uncommon rheumatologic disorders. Many chapters presents a common clinical scenario and include a definition of the disease while outlining incidence and prevalence, common manifestations, treatment and pitfalls. A range of topics are included in the fifteen chapters including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, metabolic bone disease, gout and scleroderma, among others. Written by experts in the field, Rheumatology for Primary Care Providers is a definitive guide to rheumatology for the primary care physician and non-specialist.

This publication contains a number of papers which consider the public health role of vaccines in improving the health of the world's populations, and looks at the challenges of using immunisation to combat emerging and re-emerging diseases. Issues discussed include the innovative use of vaccines against diseases such as meningococcal infection in Africa, Haemophilus influenza type b, varicella, and hepatitis, efforts to develop a new generation of vaccines against cholera and typhoid, shigella and Helicobacter pylori, as well as developments in the quest for vaccines against tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, dengue, malaria, and hookworm. It also deals with the use of vaccines to fight bioterrorism attacks; regulatory and safety issues; financing issues, impact of health sector reform and the sustainability of immunisation programmes.