Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics最新文献

{"title":"A Genomic Snapshot of Antibiotic-Resistant<i>Enterococcus faecalis</i> within Public Hospital Environments in South Africa.","authors":"Christiana O Shobo, Daniel G Amoako, Mushal Allam, Arshad Ismail, Sabiha Y Essack, Linda A Bester","doi":"10.1155/2023/6639983","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2023/6639983","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Enterococci are among the most common opportunistic hospital pathogens. This study used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and bioinformatics to determine the antibiotic resistome, mobile genetic elements, clone and phylogenetic relationship of <i>Enterococcus faecalis</i> isolated from hospital environments in South Africa. This study was carried out from September to November 2017. Isolates were recovered from 11 frequently touched sites by patients and healthcare workers in different wards at 4 levels of healthcare (A, B, C, and D) in Durban, South Africa. Out of the 245 identified <i>E. faecalis</i> isolates, 38 isolates underwent whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on the Illumina MiSeq platform, following microbial identification and antibiotic susceptibility tests. The <i>tet(M)</i> (31/38, 82%) and <i>erm(C)</i> (16/38, 42%) genes were the most common antibiotic-resistant genes found in isolates originating from different hospital environments which corroborated with their antibiotic resistance phenotypes. The isolates harboured mobile genetic elements consisting of plasmids (<i>n</i> = 11) and prophages (<i>n</i> = 14) that were mostly clone-specific. Of note, a large number of insertion sequence (IS) families were found on the IS3 (55%), IS5 (42%), IS1595 (40%), and Tn3 transposons the most predominant. Microbial typing using WGS data revealed 15 clones with 6 major sequence types (ST) belonging to ST16 (<i>n</i> = 7), ST40 (<i>n</i> = 6), ST21 (<i>n</i> = 5), ST126 (<i>n</i> = 3), ST23 (<i>n</i> = 3), and ST386 (<i>n</i> = 3). Phylogenomic analysis showed that the major clones were mostly conserved within specific hospital environments. However, further metadata insights revealed the complex intraclonal spread of these <i>E. faecalis</i> major clones between the sampling sites within each specific hospital setting. The results of these genomic analyses will offer insights into antibiotic-resistant<i>E. faecalis</i> in hospital environments relevant to the design of optimal infection prevention strategies in hospital settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2023 ","pages":"6639983"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10279497/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10067609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predicting Mortality in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients in Zambia: An Application of Machine Learning.","authors":"Clyde Mulenga, Patrick Kaonga, Raymond Hamoonga, Mazyanga Lucy Mazaba, Freeman Chabala, Patrick Musonda","doi":"10.1155/2023/8921220","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2023/8921220","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has wreaked havoc globally, resulting in millions of cases and deaths. The objective of this study was to predict mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Zambia using machine learning (ML) methods based on factors that have been shown to be predictive of mortality and thereby improve pandemic preparedness. This research employed seven powerful ML models that included decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), support vector machines (SVM), logistic regression (LR), Naïve Bayes (NB), gradient boosting (GB), and XGBoost (XGB). These classifiers were trained on 1,433 hospitalized COVID-19 patients from various health facilities in Zambia. The performances achieved by these models were checked using accuracy, recall, <i>F</i>1-Score, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC_AUC), area under the precision-recall curve (PRC_AUC), and other metrics. The best-performing model was the XGB which had an accuracy of 92.3%, recall of 94.2%, <i>F</i>1-Score of 92.4%, and ROC_AUC of 97.5%. The pairwise Mann-Whitney U-test analysis showed that the second-best model (GB) and the third-best model (RF) did not perform significantly worse than the best model (XGB) and had the following: GB had an accuracy of 91.7%, recall of 94.2%, <i>F</i>1-Score of 91.9%, and ROC_AUC of 97.1%. RF had an accuracy of 90.8%, recall of 93.6%, <i>F</i>1-Score of 91.0%, and ROC_AUC of 96.8%. Other models showed similar results for the same metrics checked. The study successfully derived and validated the selected ML models and predicted mortality effectively with reasonably high performance in the stated metrics. The feature importance analysis found that knowledge of underlying health conditions about patients' hospital length of stay (LOS), white blood cell count, age, and other factors can help healthcare providers offer lifesaving services on time, improve pandemic preparedness, and decongest health facilities in Zambia and other countries with similar settings.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2023 ","pages":"8921220"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10228226/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9665736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Health and Nutrition Analysis in Older Adults in San José de Minas Rural Parish in Quito, Ecuador.","authors":"Roberto Ordoñez-Araque, Carla Caicedo-Jaramillo, Meybol Gessa-Gálvez, José Proaño-Zavala","doi":"10.1155/2023/1839084","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2023/1839084","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Knowing the health and nutritional status of older adults is crucial to helping them live healthier lives and limiting the need for pharmaceuticals and complicated medical procedures. The objective of this research was to analyze the eating habits (EH), physical activity (PA), and sleep quality (SQ) of older adults in the rural parish of San José de Minas in Quito, Ecuador. Three validated questionnaires were used: the Pittsburgh PSQI for SQ, IPAQ for PA, and frequency of consumption for EH. The results revealed high consumption of refined flours and sugar (70% at least once a day), low intake of whole grains, fish, and olive oil, and considerable consumption of fruits and water. Fifty percent of respondents engage in moderate physical activity and 24% in low physical activity, while 90% of older adults have poor sleep quality. These results indicate a problem in the integral health of the population that does not allow older adults to have a good old age. Health campaigns should be developed to increase physical activity, encourage a better diet, and thus, improve the quality of sleep.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2023 ","pages":"1839084"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9940982/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9371340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"COVID-19 Information on YouTube: Analysis of Quality and Reliability of Videos in Eleven Widely Spoken Languages across Africa.","authors":"Kapil Narain, Kingsley Appiah Bimpong, O'Neil Kosasia Wamukota, Oloruntoba Ogunfolaji, Udeme-Abasi U Nelson, Anirban Dutta, Ayodeji Ogunleye, Eileen van der Westhuizen, Emmanuel Eni, Almthani Hamza Abdalrheem, Samuel Mesfin, Aimée Bernice Munezero, Nazo Nxumalo, Okuhle Xozwa","doi":"10.1155/2023/1406035","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2023/1406035","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Whilst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination rollout is well underway, there is a concern in Africa where less than 2% of global vaccinations have occurred. In the absence of herd immunity, health promotion remains essential. YouTube has been widely utilised as a source of medical information in previous outbreaks and pandemics. There are limited data on COVID-19 information on YouTube videos, especially in languages widely spoken in Africa. This study investigated the quality and reliability of such videos.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Medical information related to COVID-19 was analysed in 11 languages (English, isiZulu, isiXhosa, Afrikaans, Nigerian Pidgin, Hausa, Twi, Arabic, Amharic, French, and Swahili). Cohen's Kappa was used to measure inter-rater reliability. A total of 562 videos were analysed. Viewer interaction metrics and video characteristics, source, and content type were collected. Quality was evaluated using the Medical Information Content Index (MICI) scale and reliability was evaluated by the modified DISCERN tool.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Kappa coefficient of agreement for all languages was <i>p</i> < 0.01. Informative videos (471/562, 83.8%) accounted for the majority, whilst misleading videos (12/562, 2.13%) were minimal. Independent users (246/562, 43.8%) were the predominant source type. Transmission of information (477/562 videos, 84.9%) was most prevalent, whilst content covering screening or testing was reported in less than a third of all videos. The mean total MICI score was 5.75/5 (SD 4.25) and the mean total DISCERN score was 3.01/5 (SD 1.11).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>YouTube is an invaluable, easily accessible resource for information dissemination during health emergencies. Misleading videos are often a concern; however, our study found a negligible proportion. Whilst most videos were fairly reliable, the quality of videos was poor, especially noting a dearth of information covering screening or testing. Governments, academic institutions, and healthcare workers must harness the capability of digital platforms, such as YouTube to contain the spread of misinformation.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2023 ","pages":"1406035"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9876664/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10704506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of Educational Intervention on Knowledge and Level of Adherence among Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.","authors":"Brayal Dsouza,&nbsp;Ravindra Prabhu,&nbsp;B Unnikrishnan,&nbsp;Sudarshan Ballal,&nbsp;Suneel C Mundkur,&nbsp;Varalakshmi Chandra Sekaran,&nbsp;Avinash Shetty,&nbsp;Paulo Moreira","doi":"10.1155/2023/4295613","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/4295613","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of an educational intervention on the level of knowledge and adherence to the treatment regimen among hemodialysis (HD) patients as well as to describe the association between these variables.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this randomized controlled trial, 160 HD patients at an HD centre of a 2030-bed tertiary teaching hospital in Southern India were randomly assigned into intervention (<i>N</i> = 80, received education and a booklet) and control (<i>N</i> = 80, received standard care) groups. Knowledge and adherence were measured preintervention and postintervention using a validated questionnaire for knowledge and the ESRD-AQ (End-Stage Renal Disease Questionnaire) for the level of adherence. The statistical analysis of the data was performed with the help of the Statistical Program SPSS version 19.0. The statistical significance level was set at 0.05.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The increase in knowledge on disease management, fluid adherence, and dietary adherence in the intervention group was significantly higher compared to the control group. There was no significant correlation between knowledge and adherence. Adherence improved for all the domains, i.e., dialysis attendance, episodes of shortening, adherence to medication, fluid restriction, and dietary restriction. Adherence to fluid and dietary restriction was statistically significant. This trail is registered with https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/CTRI/2018/05/014166.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2023 ","pages":"4295613"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10081894/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9336676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison of Rabies Cases Received by the Shomal Pasteur Institute in Northern Iran: A 2-Year Study.","authors":"Saeid Kavoosian,&nbsp;Ramezan Behzadi,&nbsp;Mohsen Asouri,&nbsp;Ali Asghar Ahmadi,&nbsp;Mehrab Nasirikenari,&nbsp;Alireza Salehi","doi":"10.1155/2023/3492601","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/3492601","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rabies virus, which belongs to the genus <i>Lyssavirus</i>, the family <i>Rhabdoviridae</i>, is the causative agent of rabies, a contagious, deadly, and progressive neurological infection. This illness is commonly distributed worldwide and affects all warm-blooded animals. Regarding the zoonotic aspects of rabies, the prevalence of rabies was investigated in this study. Over 2 years, 188 samples were examined via the direct fluorescent antibody test (DFAT) and mouse inoculation test (MIT) techniques by using brain tissue samples. Our findings showed that 73.94% of samples were rabies positive. The highest number of samples belonged to cows and dogs, respectively. The positivity rate in cows was 71.88%, followed by dogs with a 57.78% infection rate. These findings suggested that despite the heavy monitoring protocols in Iran, rabies is still a prevalent disease, and it is advised that vaccinations and screening programs should be carried out more frequently with heavier observation.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2023 ","pages":"3492601"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9985497/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9115380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global Trend on Machine Learning in <i>Helicobacter</i> within One Decade: A Scientometric Study.","authors":"Omid Eslami,&nbsp;Mohsen Nakhaie,&nbsp;Mohammad Rezaei Zadeh Rukerd,&nbsp;Maryam Azimi,&nbsp;Ellahe Shahabi,&nbsp;Amin Honarmand,&nbsp;Mahdiyeh Khazaneha","doi":"10.1155/2023/8856736","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/8856736","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study aims to create a science map, provide structural analysis, investigate evolution, and identify new trends in <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> (<i>H. pylori</i>) research articles.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>All <i>Helicobacter</i> publications were gathered from the Web of Science (WoS) database from August 2010 to 2021. The data were required for bibliometric analysis. The bibliometric analysis was performed with Bibliometrix R Tool. Bibliometric data were analyzed using the Bibliometrix Biblioshiny R-package software.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 17,413 articles were reviewed and analyzed, with descriptive characteristics of the <i>H. pylori</i> literature included. In journals, 21,102 keywords plus and 20,490 author keywords were reported. These articles were also written by 56,106 different authors, with 262 being single-author articles. Most authors' abstracts, titles, and keywords included \"Helicobacter-pylori.\" Since 2010, the total number of <i>H. pylori</i>-related publications has been decreasing. Gut, PLOS ONE, and Gastroenterology are the most influential <i>H. pylori</i> journals, according to source impact. China, the United States, and Japan are the countries with most affiliations and subjects. In addition, Seoul National University has published the most articles about <i>H. pylori</i>. According to the cloud word plot, the authors' most frequently used keywords are gastric cancer (GC), <i>H. pylori</i>, gastritis, eradication, and inflammation. \"<i>Helicobacter pylori</i>\" and \"infection\" have the steepest slopes in terms of the upward trend of words used in articles from 2010 to 2021. Subjects such as GC, intestinal metaplasia, epidemiology, peptic ulcer, eradication, and clarithromycin are included in the diagram's motor theme section, according to strategic diagrams. According to the thematic evolution map, topics such as <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> infection, B-cell lymphoma, CagA, <i>Helicobacter pylori</i>, and infection were largely discussed between 2010 and 2015. From 2016 to 2021, the top topics covered included <i>Helicobacter pylori</i>, <i>H. pylori</i> infection, and infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2023 ","pages":"8856736"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10439832/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10458119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association of Diabetes with Meningitis Infection Risks: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.","authors":"Moses Asori, Ali Musah, Razak M Gyasi","doi":"10.1155/2022/3996711","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2022/3996711","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The Global Burden of Disease Study in 2016 estimated that the global incident cases of meningitis have increased by 320,000 between 1990 and 2016. Current evidence suggests that diabetes may be a prime risk factor for meningitis among individuals, including older adults. However, findings of prior studies on this topic remain inconsistent, making a general conclusion relatively difficult. This study aimed to quantitatively synthesize the literature on the risk of meningitis associated with diabetes and compare the risk across different global regions.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Literature search and study design protocol followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, African Journal Online, and Google Scholar using relevant MESH terms. A random effect model was used to pull effect sizes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Initial search yielded 772 papers but 756 studies were excluded due to duplicity and not meeting inclusion criteria. In all, 16 papers involving 16847 cases were used. The pulled effect size (ES) of the association between diabetes and meningitis was 2.240 (OR = 2.240, 95% CI = 1.716-2.924). Regional-base analysis showed that diabetes increased the risk of developing meningitis in Europe (OR = 1.737, 95% CI = 1.299-2.323), Asia (OR = 2.192, 95% CI = 1.233-3.898), and North America (OR = 2.819, 95% CI = 1.159-6.855). These associations remained significant in the study design and etiological classe-based subgroup analyses. However, we surprisingly found no studies in Africa or South America.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Diabetes is a risk factor for developing meningitis. Given that no research on this topic came from Africa and South America, our findings should be contextually interpreted. We, however, encourage studies on diabetes-meningitis linkages from all parts of the world, particularly in Africa and South America, to confirm the findings of the present study.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2022 ","pages":"3996711"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9757945/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10480924","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"SARS-CoV-2 Genome-Based Severity Predictions Correspond to Lower qPCR Values and Higher Viral Load.","authors":"Martin Skarzynski, Erin M McAuley, Ezekiel J Maier, Anthony C Fries, Jameson D Voss, Richard R Chapleau","doi":"10.1155/2022/6499217","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2022/6499217","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has demonstrated the importance of predicting, identifying, and tracking mutations throughout a pandemic event. As the COVID-19 global pandemic surpassed one year, several variants had emerged resulting in increased severity and transmissibility. Here, we used PCR as a surrogate for viral load and consequent severity to evaluate the real-world capabilities of a genome-based clinical severity predictive algorithm. Using a previously published algorithm, we compared the viral genome-based severity predictions to clinically derived PCR-based viral load of 716 viral genomes. For those samples predicted to be \"severe\" (probability of severe illness >0.5), we observed an average cycle threshold (Ct) of 18.3, whereas those in in the \"mild\" category (severity probability <0.5) had an average Ct of 20.4 (<i>P</i>=0.0017). We also found a nontrivial correlation between predicted severity probability and cycle threshold (<i>r</i> = -0.199). Finally, when divided into severity probability quartiles, the group most likely to experience severe illness (≥75% probability) had a Ct of 16.6 (<i>n</i> = 10), whereas the group least likely to experience severe illness (<25% probability) had a Ct of 21.4 (<i>n</i> = 350) (<i>P</i>=0.0045). Taken together, our results suggest that the severity predicted by a genome-based algorithm can be related to clinical diagnostic tests and that relative severity may be inferred from diagnostic values.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2022 1","pages":"6499217"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9173902/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42462486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolutionary Traits and Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in South America.","authors":"Pablo A Ortiz-Pineda,&nbsp;Carlos H Sierra-Torres","doi":"10.1155/2022/8551576","DOIUrl":"10.1155/2022/8551576","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Since the zoonotic event from which SARS-CoV-2 started infecting humans late in 2019, the virus has caused more than 5 million deaths and has infected over 500 million people around the world. The pandemic has had a severe impact on social and economic activities, with greater repercussions in low-income countries. South America, with almost 5% of the world's population, has reckoned with almost a fifth of the total people infected and more than 26% (>1/4) of the deceased. Fortunately, the full genome structure and sequence of SARS-CoV-2 have been rapidly obtained and studied thanks to all the scientific efforts and data sharing around the world. Such molecular analysis of SARS-CoV-2 dynamics showed that rates of mutation, similar to other members of the <i>Coronaviridae</i> family, along with natural selection forces, could result in the emergence of new variants; few of them might be of high consequence. However, this is a serious threat to controlling the pandemic and, of course, enduring the process of returning to normalization with the implicit monetary cost of such a contingency. The lack of updated knowledge in South America justifies the need to develop a structured genomic surveillance program of current and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. The modeling of the molecular events and microevolution of the virus will contribute to making better decisions on public health management of the pandemic and developing accurate treatments and more efficient vaccines.</p>","PeriodicalId":44052,"journal":{"name":"Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics","volume":"2022 1","pages":"8551576"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2022-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9132712/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42016547","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}