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Vlacha V, Perivolaropoulou P. Changes in dietary, lifestyle habits and mood in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey distributed across Greek universities. JOURNAL OF AMERICAN COLLEGE HEALTH : J OF ACH 2024:1-8. [PMID: 38350002 DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2023.2299428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic had implications on students' life. This study aims to identify positive and negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on students' life habits with the final goal to promote their general wellbeing.Methods: An online questionnaire was administered to Greek undergraduate and graduate college students during the COVID-19 quarantine. The impact of the pandemic on the dietary and lifestyle habits were evaluated in 246 participants.Results: The study revealed that 57.7% of students boosted their fruit and vegetable intake, 43.1% consumed more meals, and 57.7% increased snacking. Breakfast eaters went from 57.7% to 66.6%, and those preparing homemade meals rose to 58.9%. Conversely, 61.4% reported increased sedentary time, 61.8% noted weight gain, and only 71% claimed a medium level of life satisfaction post-pandemic.Conclusion: Students developed some healthier dietary habits during the pandemic. However, many of them gained weight because of inactivity, adverse dietary behaviors and decreased level of life satisfaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vasiliki Vlacha
- Department of Early Years Learning and Care, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
- Olympion Therapeutirion Patras, Patras, Greece
- Paediatric Department, Karamandanio Children's Hospital of Patras, Patras, Greece
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Tucker J, Lorig F. Agent-based social simulations for health crises response: utilising the everyday digital health perspective. Front Public Health 2024; 11:1337151. [PMID: 38298258 PMCID: PMC10829493 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1337151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
There is increasing recognition of the role that artificial intelligence (AI) systems can play in managing health crises. One such approach, which allows for analysing the potential consequences of different policy interventions is agent-based social simulations (ABSS). Here, the actions and interactions of autonomous agents are modelled to generate virtual societies that can serve as a "testbed" for investigating and comparing different interventions and scenarios. This piece focuses on two key challenges of ABSS in collaborative policy interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic. These were defining valuable scenarios to simulate and the availability of appropriate data. This paper posits that drawing on the research on the "everyday" digital health perspective in designing ABSS before or during health crises, can overcome aspects of these challenges. The focus on digital health interventions reflects a rapid shift in the adoption of such technologies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the new challenges this poses for policy makers. It is argued that by accounting for the everyday digital health in modelling, ABSS would be a more powerful tool in future health crisis management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Tucker
- Department of Global Political Studies, Faculty of Culture and Society, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
| | - Fabian Lorig
- Department of Computer Science and Media Technology, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
- Internet of Things and People Research Center, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
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3
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Sun Z, Bai R, Bai Z. The application of simulation methods during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review. J Biomed Inform 2023; 148:104543. [PMID: 37956729 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbi.2023.104543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
With the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, simulation modelling approaches have become effective tools to simulate the potential effects of different intervention measures and predict the dynamic COVID-19 trends. In this scoping review, Studies published between February 2020 and May 2022 that investigated the spread of COVID-19 using four common simulation modeling methods were systematically reported and summarized. Publication trend, characteristics, software, and code availability of included articles were analyzed. Among the included 340 studies, most articles used agent-based model (ABM; n = 258; 75.9 %), followed by the models of system dynamics (n = 42; 12.4 %), discrete event simulation (n = 25; 7.4 %), and hybrid simulation (n = 15; 4.4 %). Furthermore, our review emphasized the purposes and sample time period of included articles. We classified the purpose of the 340 included studies into five categories, most studies mainly analyzed the spread of COVID-19 under policy interventions. For the sample time period analysis, most included studies analyzed the COVID-19 spread in the second wave. Our findings play a crucial role for policymakers to make evidence-based decisions in preventing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic and help in providing scientific decision-makings resilient to similar events and infectious diseases in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuanlan Sun
- High-Quality Development Evaluation Institute, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210003, China
| | - Ruhai Bai
- Evidence-Based Research Center of Social Science and Health, School of Public Affairs, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
| | - Zhenggang Bai
- Evidence-Based Research Center of Social Science and Health, School of Public Affairs, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China.
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Koichubekov B, Takuadina A, Korshukov I, Sorokina M, Turmukhambetova A. The Epidemiological and Economic Impact of COVID-19 in Kazakhstan: An Agent-Based Modeling. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:2968. [PMID: 37998460 PMCID: PMC10671669 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11222968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Revised: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Our study aimed to assess how effective the preventative measures taken by the state authorities during the pandemic were in terms of public health protection and the rational use of material and human resources. MATERIALS AND METHODS We utilized a stochastic agent-based model for COVID-19's spread combined with the WHO-recommended COVID-ESFT version 2.0 tool for material and labor cost estimation. RESULTS Our long-term forecasts (up to 50 days) showed satisfactory results with a steady trend in the total cases. However, the short-term forecasts (up to 10 days) were more accurate during periods of relative stability interrupted by sudden outbreaks. The simulations indicated that the infection's spread was highest within families, with most COVID-19 cases occurring in the 26-59 age group. Government interventions resulted in 3.2 times fewer cases in Karaganda than predicted under a "no intervention" scenario, yielding an estimated economic benefit of 40%. CONCLUSION The combined tool we propose can accurately forecast the progression of the infection, enabling health organizations to allocate specialists and material resources in a timely manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Berik Koichubekov
- Department of Informatics and Biostatistics, Karaganda Medical University, Gogol St. 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan; (A.T.); (I.K.); (M.S.)
| | - Aliya Takuadina
- Department of Informatics and Biostatistics, Karaganda Medical University, Gogol St. 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan; (A.T.); (I.K.); (M.S.)
| | - Ilya Korshukov
- Department of Informatics and Biostatistics, Karaganda Medical University, Gogol St. 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan; (A.T.); (I.K.); (M.S.)
| | - Marina Sorokina
- Department of Informatics and Biostatistics, Karaganda Medical University, Gogol St. 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan; (A.T.); (I.K.); (M.S.)
| | - Anar Turmukhambetova
- Institute of Life Sciences, Karaganda Medical University, Gogol St. 40, Karaganda 100008, Kazakhstan;
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Asher M, Lomax N, Morrissey K, Spooner F, Malleson N. Dynamic calibration with approximate Bayesian computation for a microsimulation of disease spread. Sci Rep 2023; 13:8637. [PMID: 37244962 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35580-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The global COVID-19 pandemic brought considerable public and policy attention to the field of infectious disease modelling. A major hurdle that modellers must overcome, particularly when models are used to develop policy, is quantifying the uncertainty in a model's predictions. By including the most recent available data in a model, the quality of its predictions can be improved and uncertainties reduced. This paper adapts an existing, large-scale, individual-based COVID-19 model to explore the benefits of updating the model in pseudo-real time. We use Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) to dynamically recalibrate the model's parameter values as new data emerge. ABC offers advantages over alternative calibration methods by providing information about the uncertainty associated with particular parameter values and the resulting COVID-19 predictions through posterior distributions. Analysing such distributions is crucial in fully understanding a model and its outputs. We find that forecasts of future disease infection rates are improved substantially by incorporating up-to-date observations and that the uncertainty in forecasts drops considerably in later simulation windows (as the model is provided with additional data). This is an important outcome because the uncertainty in model predictions is often overlooked when models are used in policy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly Asher
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Nik Lomax
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
- British Library, Alan Turing Institute, London, NW1 2DB, UK
| | - Karyn Morrissey
- Department of Management, DTU Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Fiona Spooner
- Our World in Data, Global Change Data Lab, Oxford, UK
| | - Nick Malleson
- School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
- British Library, Alan Turing Institute, London, NW1 2DB, UK.
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6
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Public Awareness and Sentiment Analysis of COVID-Related Discussions Using BERT-Based Infoveillance. AI 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/ai4010016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding different aspects of public concerns and sentiments during large health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is essential for public health agencies to develop effective communication strategies, deliver up-to-date and accurate health information, and mitigate potential impacts of emerging misinformation. Current infoveillance systems generally focus on discussion intensity (i.e., number of relevant posts) as an approximation of public awareness, while largely ignoring the rich and diverse information in texts with granular information of varying public concerns and sentiments. In this study, we address this grand challenge by developing a novel natural language processing (NLP) infoveillance workflow based on bidirectional encoder representation from transformers (BERT). We first used a smaller COVID-19 tweet sample to develop a content classification and sentiment analysis model using COVID-Twitter-BERT. The classification accuracy was between 0.77 and 0.88 across the five identified topics. In the sentiment analysis with a three-class classification task (positive/negative/neutral), BERT achieved decent accuracy, 0.7. We then applied the content topic and sentiment classifiers to a much larger dataset with more than 4 million tweets in a 15-month period. We specifically analyzed non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) and social issue content topics. There were significant differences in terms of public awareness and sentiment towards the overall COVID-19, NPI, and social issue content topics across time and space. In addition, key events were also identified to associate with abrupt sentiment changes towards NPIs and social issues. This novel NLP-based AI workflow can be readily adopted for real-time granular content topic and sentiment infoveillance beyond the health context.
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Huang X, Zhang X, Zhang H. The Impact of Mixed Emotions on Consumer Improvisation Behavior in the Environment of COVID-19: The Moderating Effect of Tightness-Looseness Culture. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:17076. [PMID: 36554955 PMCID: PMC9778767 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192417076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Organizations and individuals are unprepared for an unexpected outbreak of COVID-19. While most of the literature focuses on improvised reactions at the organizational level, this paper focuses on understanding improvised reactions at the individual level. This paper draws on previous research applying improvisation to the field of consumer behavior and introduces consumer knowledge acquisition as a mediating variable and tightness-looseness culture as a moderating variable from the perspective of mixed emotions of awe and anxiety to explain the mechanism of consumers with mixed emotions of awe and anxiety on improvisation behavior based on the environment of a COVID-19 outbreak. Data from 330 participants in Study 1 examined the effect of mixed emotions of awe and anxiety on improvisation behavior through knowledge acquisition, and data from 434 participants in Study 2 examined the moderating effect of relaxed culture. The findings suggest that consumers with mixed emotions report a higher willingness to acquire knowledge and report higher levels of improvisational behavior. Consumers behaved differently in different environments. Consumers with mixed emotions responded more strongly to improvisation in the loose-culture environment than in the tight-culture environment, and the mixed emotions of awe and anxiety had a positive effect on individual consumers' improvisational behavior through the mediating role of knowledge acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaozhi Huang
- School of Business, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Xiaojie Zhang
- School of Business, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
| | - Heng Zhang
- School of Management, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
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8
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Goldenbogen B, Adler SO, Bodeit O, Wodke JAH, Escalera‐Fanjul X, Korman A, Krantz M, Bonn L, Morán‐Torres R, Haffner JEL, Karnetzki M, Maintz I, Mallis L, Prawitz H, Segelitz PS, Seeger M, Linding R, Klipp E. Control of COVID-19 Outbreaks under Stochastic Community Dynamics, Bimodality, or Limited Vaccination. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2022; 9:e2200088. [PMID: 35607290 PMCID: PMC9348421 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202200088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Revised: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Reaching population immunity against COVID-19 is proving difficult even in countries with high vaccination levels. Thus, it is critical to identify limits of control and effective measures against future outbreaks. The effects of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and vaccination strategies are analyzed with a detailed community-specific agent-based model (ABM). The authors demonstrate that the threshold for population immunity is not a unique number, but depends on the vaccination strategy. Prioritizing highly interactive people diminishes the risk for an infection wave, while prioritizing the elderly minimizes fatalities when vaccinations are low. Control over COVID-19 outbreaks requires adaptive combination of NPIs and targeted vaccination, exemplified for Germany for January-September 2021. Bimodality emerges from the heterogeneity and stochasticity of community-specific human-human interactions and infection networks, which can render the effects of limited NPIs uncertain. The authors' simulation platform can process and analyze dynamic COVID-19 epidemiological situations in diverse communities worldwide to predict pathways to population immunity even with limited vaccination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Björn Goldenbogen
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Stephan O. Adler
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Oliver Bodeit
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
- Institute of BiochemistryCharité – Universitätsmedizin BerlinVirchowweg 6Berlin10117Germany
- Institute of Quantitative and Theoretical BiologyHeinrich‐Heine‐UniversitätUniversitätsstraße 1Düsseldorf40225Germany
| | - Judith A. H. Wodke
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | | | - Aviv Korman
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Maria Krantz
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Lasse Bonn
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Rafael Morán‐Torres
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Johanna E. L. Haffner
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Maxim Karnetzki
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Ivo Maintz
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Lisa Mallis
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Hannah Prawitz
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Patrick S. Segelitz
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Martin Seeger
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
- Rewire TxHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Rune Linding
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
- Rewire TxHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
| | - Edda Klipp
- Theoretical BiophysicsHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
- Rewire TxHumboldt‐Universität zu BerlinInvalidenstr. 42Berlin10115Germany
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Mellacher P. Endogenous viral mutations, evolutionary selection, and containment policy design. JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC INTERACTION AND COORDINATION 2022; 17:801-825. [PMID: 35018194 PMCID: PMC8739737 DOI: 10.1007/s11403-021-00344-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
How will the novel coronavirus evolve? I study a simple epidemiological model, in which mutations may change the properties of the virus and its associated disease stochastically and antigenic drifts allow new variants to partially evade immunity. I show analytically that variants with higher infectiousness, longer disease duration, and shorter latent period prove to be fitter. "Smart" containment policies targeting symptomatic individuals may redirect the evolution of the virus, as they give an edge to variants with a longer incubation period and a higher share of asymptomatic infections. Reduced mortality, on the other hand, does not per se prove to be an evolutionary advantage. I then implement this model as an agent-based simulation model in order to explore its aggregate dynamics. Monte Carlo simulations show that a) containment policy design has an impact on both speed and direction of viral evolution, b) the virus may circulate in the population indefinitely, provided that containment efforts are too relaxed and the propensity of the virus to escape immunity is high enough, and crucially c) that it may not be possible to distinguish between a slowly and a rapidly evolving virus by looking only at short-term epidemiological outcomes. Thus, what looks like a successful mitigation strategy in the short run, may prove to have devastating long-run effects. These results suggest that optimal containment policy must take the propensity of the virus to mutate and escape immunity into account, strengthening the case for genetic and antigenic surveillance even in the early stages of an epidemic.
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Latkowski R, Dunin-Kȩplicz B. An Agent-Based Covid-19 Simulator: Extending Covasim to the Polish Context. PROCEDIA COMPUTER SCIENCE 2021; 192:3607-3616. [PMID: 34630753 PMCID: PMC8486257 DOI: 10.1016/j.procs.2021.09.134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Governments all over the world make their best to fight with Covid-19 pandemic as effectively as possible. Therefore, we observed a growing need of trustworthy data-intensive systems supporting administration in validating their policy decisions. ProMES, the Covasim-based multiagent pandemic simulator, may serve as such a system, adjusted to the specificity of living, working and social conditions in Poland. The main role of ProMES is to evaluate and compare strategies for reducing Covid-19 transmissions. The strategies include time- and region-dependent combinations of nonpharmaceutical coronavirus-related individual and state interventions, tests and vaccinations. Ultimately, ProMES is meant to serve as a part of data/knowledge intensive decision support system, enhancing administrative reactivity as well as pro-activity in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. This paper reports a work in progress.
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Kaim A, Gering T, Moshaiov A, Adini B. Deciphering the COVID-19 Health Economic Dilemma (HED): A Scoping Review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:9555. [PMID: 34574479 PMCID: PMC8470276 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18189555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 09/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Lessons learnt from the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak indicate the need for a more coordinated economic and public health response. While social distancing has been shown to be effective as a non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) measure to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the economic costs have been substantial. Insights combining epidemiological and economic data provide new theoretical predictions that can be used to better understand the health economy tradeoffs. This literature review aims to elucidate perspectives to assist policy implementation related to the management of the ongoing and impending outbreaks regarding the Health Economic Dilemma (HED). This review unveiled the need for information-based decision-support systems which will combine pandemic spread modelling and control, with economic models. It is expected that the current review will not only support policy makers but will also provide researchers on the development of related decision-support-systems with comprehensive information on the various aspects of the HED.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arielle Kaim
- Department of Emergency and Disaster Management, Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel; (A.K.); (T.G.)
- Israel National Center for Trauma & Emergency Medicine Research, The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan 5266202, Israel
| | - Tuvia Gering
- Department of Emergency and Disaster Management, Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel; (A.K.); (T.G.)
| | - Amiram Moshaiov
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel;
| | - Bruria Adini
- Department of Emergency and Disaster Management, Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health, Sackler Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel; (A.K.); (T.G.)
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Hâncean MG, Lerner J, Perc M, Ghiţă MC, Bunaciu DA, Stoica AA, Mihăilă BE. The role of age in the spreading of COVID-19 across a social network in Bucharest. JOURNAL OF COMPLEX NETWORKS 2021; 9:cnab026. [PMID: 34642603 PMCID: PMC8499891 DOI: 10.1093/comnet/cnab026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
We analyse officially procured data detailing the COVID-19 transmission in Romania's capital Bucharest between 1st August and 31st October 2020. We apply relational hyperevent models on 19,713 individuals with 13,377 infection ties to determine to what degree the disease spread is affected by age whilst controlling for other covariate and human-to-human transmission network effects. We find that positive cases are more likely to nominate alters of similar age as their sources of infection, thus providing evidence for age homophily. We also show that the relative infection risk is negatively associated with the age of peers, such that the risk of infection increases as the average age of contacts decreases. Additionally, we find that adults between the ages 35 and 44 are pivotal in the transmission of the disease to other age groups. Our results may contribute to better controlling future COVID-19 waves, and they also point to the key age groups which may be essential for vaccination given their prominent role in the transmission of the virus.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jürgen Lerner
- Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Konstanz, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Matjaž Perc
- Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia, Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung 404332, Taiwan, Alma Mater Europaea, Slovenska ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia and Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Josefstädterstraße 39, 1080 Vienna, Austria
| | - Maria Cristina Ghiţă
- Department of Sociology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Panduri 90-92, 050663, Romania
| | - David-Andrei Bunaciu
- Department of Sociology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Panduri 90-92, 050663, Romania
| | | | - Bianca-Elena Mihăilă
- Department of Sociology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Panduri 90-92, 050663, Romania
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The Impact of COVID-19-Related Lockdown on Diet and Serum Markers in Healthy Adults. Nutrients 2021; 13:nu13041082. [PMID: 33810256 PMCID: PMC8066004 DOI: 10.3390/nu13041082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 03/20/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Due to limited data about the impact of lockdown on health status, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19-related lockdown on changes in dietary habits, physical activity and serum markers in healthy adults. A total of 38 asymptomatic adults aged from 23 to 59 with a normal BMI (22.5 kg/m2) participated in baseline and post-lockdown measurements that included dietary and physical activity assessment, anthropometric measurements and blood samples; and the lockdown survey which included dietary assessment and questionnaires about changes in lifestyle and physical activity. A decreased diet quality during lockdown was observed (Healthy Eating Index reduced from 64.59 to 61.08), which returned to near baseline post-lockdown. Energy intake decreased during lockdown (p = 0.002) and returned to baseline post-lockdown. Despite lower physical activity levels during lockdown (p = 0.035), we observed no significant changes in body composition. However, we observed a significant increase in serum glucose (p = 0.005), total cholesterol (p = 0.003), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (p = 0.049) post-lockdown. Increase in serum glucose levels was pronounced in subjects with higher increase in energy intake (p = 0.039), increased omega-6 fatty acids intake (p = 0.016), those who were exposed to several risky contacts (p = 0.018, compared to those with less risky contacts) and those who were not active in nature (p = 0.008, compared to those active in nature). Increased serum LDL was correlated to decreased monounsaturated fatty acids intake (p = 0.028). Within the limits of this preliminary report, changes in serum markers observed among healthy subjects point to a possible impact of COVID-19-related lockdown on adults’ health to be confirmed in larger groups.
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Chang SL, Harding N, Zachreson C, Cliff OM, Prokopenko M. Modelling transmission and control of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5710. [PMID: 33177507 PMCID: PMC7659014 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19393-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 229] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
There is a continuing debate on relative benefits of various mitigation and suppression strategies aimed to control the spread of COVID-19. Here we report the results of agent-based modelling using a fine-grained computational simulation of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. This model is calibrated to match key characteristics of COVID-19 transmission. An important calibration outcome is the age-dependent fraction of symptomatic cases, with this fraction for children found to be one-fifth of such fraction for adults. We apply the model to compare several intervention strategies, including restrictions on international air travel, case isolation, home quarantine, social distancing with varying levels of compliance, and school closures. School closures are not found to bring decisive benefits unless coupled with high level of social distancing compliance. We report several trade-offs, and an important transition across the levels of social distancing compliance, in the range between 70% and 80% levels, with compliance at the 90% level found to control the disease within 13-14 weeks, when coupled with effective case isolation and international travel restrictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheryl L Chang
- Centre for Complex Systems, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Nathan Harding
- Centre for Complex Systems, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Cameron Zachreson
- Centre for Complex Systems, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Oliver M Cliff
- Centre for Complex Systems, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Mikhail Prokopenko
- Centre for Complex Systems, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
- Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia.
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15
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Zenk L, Steiner G, Pina e Cunha M, Laubichler MD, Bertau M, Kainz MJ, Jäger C, Schernhammer ES. Fast Response to Superspreading: Uncertainty and Complexity in the Context of COVID-19. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:E7884. [PMID: 33121161 PMCID: PMC7663466 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17217884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Although the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) wave has peaked with the second wave underway, the world is still struggling to manage potential systemic risks and unpredictability of the pandemic. A particular challenge is the "superspreading" of the virus, which starts abruptly, is difficult to predict, and can quickly escalate into medical and socio-economic emergencies that contribute to long-lasting crises challenging our current ways of life. In these uncertain times, organizations and societies worldwide are faced with the need to develop appropriate strategies and intervention portfolios that require fast understanding of the complex interdependencies in our world and rapid, flexible action to contain the spread of the virus as quickly as possible, thus preventing further disastrous consequences of the pandemic. We integrate perspectives from systems sciences, epidemiology, biology, social networks, and organizational research in the context of the superspreading phenomenon to understand the complex system of COVID-19 pandemic and develop suggestions for interventions aimed at rapid responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas Zenk
- Department of Knowledge and Communication Management, Faculty of Business and Globalization, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria;
| | - Gerald Steiner
- Department of Knowledge and Communication Management, Faculty of Business and Globalization, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems an der Donau, Austria;
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (M.D.L.); (C.J.)
| | - Miguel Pina e Cunha
- Nova School of Business and Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2775-405 Carcavelos, Portugal;
| | - Manfred D. Laubichler
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (M.D.L.); (C.J.)
- School of Complex Adaptive Systems Tempe, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2701, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
- Global Climate Forum, 10178 Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Bertau
- Institute of Chemical Technology, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, 09599 Freiberg, Germany;
| | - Martin J. Kainz
- WasserCluster Lunz-Inter-University Center for Aquatic Ecosystem Research, 3293 Lunz am See, Austria;
| | - Carlo Jäger
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (M.D.L.); (C.J.)
- School of Complex Adaptive Systems Tempe, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2701, USA
- Global Climate Forum, 10178 Berlin, Germany
- Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Eva S. Schernhammer
- Complexity Science Hub Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (M.D.L.); (C.J.)
- Department of Epidemiology, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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16
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Silva PCL, Batista PVC, Lima HS, Alves MA, Guimarães FG, Silva RCP. COVID-ABS: An agent-based model of COVID-19 epidemic to simulate health and economic effects of social distancing interventions. CHAOS, SOLITONS, AND FRACTALS 2020; 139:110088. [PMID: 32834624 PMCID: PMC7340090 DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2020.110088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has directly impacted the public health and economy worldwide. To overcome this problem, countries have adopted different policies and non-pharmaceutical interventions for controlling the spread of the virus. This paper proposes the COVID-ABS, a new SEIR (Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered) agent-based model that aims to simulate the pandemic dynamics using a society of agents emulating people, business and government. Seven different scenarios of social distancing interventions were analyzed, with varying epidemiological and economic effects: (1) do nothing, (2) lockdown, (3) conditional lockdown, (4) vertical isolation, (5) partial isolation, (6) use of face masks, and (7) use of face masks together with 50% of adhesion to social isolation. In the impossibility of implementing scenarios with lockdown, which present the lowest number of deaths and highest impact on the economy, scenarios combining the use of face masks and partial isolation can be the more realistic for implementation in terms of social cooperation. The COVID-ABS model was implemented in Python programming language, with source code publicly available. The model can be easily extended to other societies by changing the input parameters, as well as allowing the creation of a multitude of other scenarios. Therefore, it is a useful tool to assist politicians and health authorities to plan their actions against the COVID-19 epidemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petrônio C L Silva
- Grupo de Pesquisa em Ciência de Dados e Inteligência Computacional - {ci∂ic}, Brazil
- Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais (IFNMG), Brazil
- Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MINDS) Laboratory, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Paulo V C Batista
- Grupo de Pesquisa em Ciência de Dados e Inteligência Computacional - {ci∂ic}, Brazil
- Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais (IFNMG), Brazil
| | - Hélder S Lima
- Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais (IFNMG), Brazil
| | - Marcos A Alves
- Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MINDS) Laboratory, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, 31270-901, MG, Brazil
| | - Frederico G Guimarães
- Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MINDS) Laboratory, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil
| | - Rodrigo C P Silva
- Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MINDS) Laboratory, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Department of Computer Science, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP), Brazil
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17
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Maziarz M, Zach M. Agent-based modelling for SARS-CoV-2 epidemic prediction and intervention assessment: A methodological appraisal. J Eval Clin Pract 2020; 26:1352-1360. [PMID: 32820573 PMCID: PMC7461315 DOI: 10.1111/jep.13459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/19/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Our purpose is to assess epidemiological agent-based models-or ABMs-of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic methodologically. The rapid spread of the outbreak requires fast-paced decision-making regarding mitigation measures. However, the evidence for the efficacy of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as imposed social distancing and school or workplace closures is scarce: few observational studies use quasi-experimental research designs, and conducting randomized controlled trials seems infeasible. Additionally, evidence from the previous coronavirus outbreaks of SARS and MERS lacks external validity, given the significant differences in contagiousness of those pathogens relative to SARS-CoV-2. To address the pressing policy questions that have emerged as a result of COVID-19, epidemiologists have produced numerous models that range from simple compartmental models to highly advanced agent-based models. These models have been criticized for involving simplifications and lacking empirical support for their assumptions. METHODS To address these voices and methodologically appraise epidemiological ABMs, we consider AceMod (the model of the COVID-19 epidemic in Australia) as a case study of the modelling practice. RESULTS Our example shows that, although epidemiological ABMs involve simplifications of various sorts, the key characteristics of social interactions and the spread of SARS-CoV-2 are represented sufficiently accurately. This is the case because these modellers treat empirical results as inputs for constructing modelling assumptions and rules that the agents follow; and they use calibration to assert the adequacy to benchmark variables. CONCLUSIONS Given this, we claim that the best epidemiological ABMs are models of actual mechanisms and deliver both mechanistic and difference-making evidence. Consequently, they may also adequately describe the effects of possible interventions. Finally, we discuss the limitations of ABMs and put forward policy recommendations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariusz Maziarz
- Interdisciplinary Centre for EthicsJagiellonian UniversityKrakówPoland
- Institute of PhilosophyJagiellonian UniversityKrakówPoland
| | - Martin Zach
- Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty of ArtsCharles University in PraguePragueCzech Republic
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