Prevention of Emerging Infections in Children

Emerging Infectious Diseases Are Virulent Viruses-Are We Prepared? An Overview

The recent pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 affected the global population, resulting in a significant loss of lives and global economic deterioration. COVID-19 highlighted the importance of public awareness and science-based decision making, and exposed global vulnerabilities in preparedness and response systems. Emerging and re-emerging viral outbreaks are becoming more frequent due to increased international travel and global warming. These viral outbreaks impose serious public health threats and have transformed national strategies for pandemic preparedness with global economic consequences. At the molecular level, viral mutations and variations are constantly thwarting vaccine efficacy, as well as diagnostic, therapeutic, and prevention strategies. Here, we discuss viral infectious diseases that were epidemic and pandemic, currently available treatments, and surveillance measures, along with their limitations.

Review of Importance of Weather and Environmental Variables in Agent-Based Arbovirus Models

The study sought to review the works of literature on agent-based modeling and the influence of climatic and environmental factors on disease outbreak, transmission, and surveillance. Thus, drawing the influence of environmental variables such as vegetation index, households, mosquito habitats, breeding sites, and climatic variables including precipitation or rainfall, temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity on dengue disease modeling using the agent-based model in an African context and globally was the aim of the study. A search strategy was developed and used to search for relevant articles from four databases, namely, PubMed, Scopus, Research4Life, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were developed, and 20 articles met the criteria and have been included in the review. From the reviewed works of literature, the study observed that climatic and environmental factors may influence the arbovirus disease outbreak, transmission, and surveillance. Thus, there is a call for further research on the area. To benefit from arbovirus modeling, it is crucial to consider the influence of climatic and environmental factors, especially in Africa, where there are limited studies exploring this phenomenon.