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O’Neill GK, Taylor J, Kok J, Dwyer DE, Dilcher M, Hua H, Levy A, Smith D, Minney-Smith CA, Wood T, Jelley L, Huang QS, Trenholme A, McAuliffe G, Barr I, Sullivan SG. Circulation of influenza and other respiratory viruses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand, 2020-2021. Western Pac Surveill Response J 2023; 14:1-9. [PMID: 37946717 PMCID: PMC10630701 DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2023,14.3.948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective Circulation patterns of influenza and other respiratory viruses have been globally disrupted since the emergence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the introduction of public health and social measures (PHSMs) aimed at reducing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. Methods We reviewed respiratory virus laboratory data, Google mobility data and PHSMs in five geographically diverse regions in Australia and New Zealand. We also described respiratory virus activity from January 2017 to August 2021. Results We observed a change in the prevalence of circulating respiratory viruses following the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in early 2020. Influenza activity levels were very low in all regions, lower than those recorded in 2017-2019, with less than 1% of laboratory samples testing positive for influenza virus. In contrast, rates of human rhinovirus infection were increased. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity was delayed; however, once it returned, most regions experienced activity levels well above those seen in 2017-2019. The timing of the resurgence in the circulation of both rhinovirus and RSV differed within and between the two countries. Discussion The findings of this study suggest that as domestic and international borders are opened up and other COVID-19 PHSMs are lifted, clinicians and public health professionals should be prepared for resurgences in influenza and other respiratory viruses. Recent patterns in RSV activity suggest that these resurgences in non-COVID-19 viruses have the potential to occur out of season and with increased impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genevieve K O’Neill
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Janette Taylor
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, New South Wales Health Pathology-Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jen Kok
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, New South Wales Health Pathology-Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Dominic E Dwyer
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services, New South Wales Health Pathology-Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Meik Dilcher
- Canterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Harry Hua
- Canterbury Health Laboratories, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Avram Levy
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
- Infection and Immunity, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - David Smith
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
| | | | - Timothy Wood
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Lauren Jelley
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Q Sue Huang
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Wellington, New Zealand
| | | | - Gary McAuliffe
- Virology and Immunology Department, LabPLUS, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ian Barr
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sheena G Sullivan
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Build Healthier: Post-COVID-19 Urban Requirements for Healthy and Sustainable Living. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14159274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a renewed interest in urban environment and healthy living and the changes in urban environments which can make for a healthier living. Today, more than 50% of the global population lives in urban areas, and in Europe the number is 75%. We present a narrative review to explore considerations and necessary requirements to achieve health and well-being within strategies for healthy design and urban planning whilst rethinking urban spaces for a post-COVID-19 and carbon-neutral future. The achievement of health and well-being demands healthy design strategies, namely, (1) moving from the concept of infrastructure for processes to the infrastructure for healthy living—requirements for healthy places, cycling, walking, disintegrating the role of polluting traffic from the urban environments, social vulnerability and equality; (2) physical space that will achieve standards of ‘liveable communities’—open, green space requirements and standards for any built environment; (3) mainstreaming ‘in-the-walking distance’ cities and neighbourhoods for healthy physical activities for daily living; (4) exploring any of the new concepts that connect the nexus of urban spaces and public health and improving of the population’s well-being. Public health needs to be prioritised systematically in planning of built environments, energy generations, sustainable food production, and nutrition.
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Google Mobility Data as a Predictor for Tourism in Romania during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Structural Equation Modeling Approach for Big Data. ELECTRONICS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/electronics11152317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Our exploratory research focuses on the possible relations between tourism and the mobility of people, using short longitudinal data for mobility dimensions during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these is real-time, exhaustive type data, published by Google, about the mobility of people in six different dimensions, (retail, parks, residential, workplace, grocery, and transit). The aim is to analyze the directional, intensity, causal, and complex interplay between the statistical data of tourism and mobility data for Romanian counties. The main objective is to determine if real-world big data can be linked with tourism arrivals in the first 14 months of the pandemic. We have found, using correlations, factorial analysis (PCA), regression models, and SEM, that there are strong and/or medium relationships between retail and parks and overnights, and weak or no relations between other mobility dimensions (workplace, transit). By applying factorial analysis (PCA), we have regrouped the six Google Mobility dimensions into two new factors that are good predictors for Romanian tourism at the county location. These findings can help provide a better understanding of the relationship between the real movement of people in different urban areas and the tourism phenomenon: the GM parks dimension best predicts tourism indicators (overnights), the GM residential dimension correlates inversely with the tourism indicator, and the rest of the GM indices are generally weak predictors for tourism. A more complex analysis could signal the potential and the character of tourism in different destinations, by territorially and chronologically determining the GM indices that are better linked with the tourism statistical indicators. Further research is required to establish forecasting models using Google Mobility data.
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Lai S, Sorichetta A, Steele J, Ruktanonchai CW, Cunningham AD, Rogers G, Koper P, Woods D, Bondarenko M, Ruktanonchai NW, Shi W, Tatem AJ. Global holiday datasets for understanding seasonal human mobility and population dynamics. Sci Data 2022; 9:17. [PMID: 35058466 PMCID: PMC8776767 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01120-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Public and school holidays have important impacts on population mobility and dynamics across multiple spatial and temporal scales, subsequently affecting the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases and many socioeconomic activities. However, worldwide data on public and school holidays for understanding their changes across regions and years have not been assembled into a single, open-source and multitemporal dataset. To address this gap, an open access archive of data on public and school holidays in 2010-2019 across the globe at daily, weekly, and monthly timescales was constructed. Airline passenger volumes across 90 countries from 2010 to 2018 were also assembled to illustrate the usage of the holiday data for understanding the changing spatiotemporal patterns of population movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengjie Lai
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.
| | - Alessandro Sorichetta
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Jessica Steele
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Corrine W Ruktanonchai
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
- Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Alexander D Cunningham
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Grant Rogers
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Patrycja Koper
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Dorothea Woods
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Maksym Bondarenko
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
| | - Nick W Ruktanonchai
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
- Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA
| | - Weifeng Shi
- School of Public Health, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Taian, 271000, China
| | - Andrew J Tatem
- WorldPop, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK
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