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Human, animal, and environmental health are increasingly threatened by the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. Inappropriate use of antibiotic treatments commonly contributes to this threat, but it is also becoming apparent that multiple, interconnected environmental factors can play a significant role. Thus, a One Health approach is required for a comprehensive understanding of the environmental dimensions of antibiotic resistance and inform science-based decisions and actions. The broad and multidisciplinary nature of the problem poses several open questions drawing upon a wide heterogeneous range of studies.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an infection caused by the Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEv) and it is common in Europe. The virus is predominantly transmitted by ticks, but other non-vectorial modes of transmission are possible. This systematic review synthesises the epidemiological impact of non-vectorial modes of TBEv transmission in Europe. 41 studies were included comprising of 1308 TBE cases. Alimentary (36 studies), handling infected material (3 studies), blood-borne (1 study), solid organ transplant (1 study) were identified as potential routes of TBEv transmission; however, no evidence of vertical transmission from mother to offspring was reported (2 studies). Consumption of unpasteurised milk/milk products was the most common vehicle of transmission and significantly increased the risk of TBE by three-fold (pooled RR 3.05, 95% CI 1.53 to 6.11; 4 studies). This review also confirms handling infected material, blood-borne and solid organ transplant as potential routes of TBEv transmission. It is important to tracing back to find the vehicle of the viral infection and to promote vaccination as it remains a mainstay for the prevention of TBE.

This describes the protocol for a systematic review of the scientific literature concerning factors associated with the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the environment. This protocol adheres to the PRISMA-P statement: an established procedure for planning systematic review work. A key outcome of this systematic review is to gather data items for future analysis work; potentially, this has application in identifying the main environmental risk factors associated with the presence and transmission of antibiotic resistance. This has important implications concerning risk mitigation for public and animal health.

Additional file 1. Quality Assessment of studies performed using the NIH tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies.

This was developed within the FED-AMR project and is associated with WP6-T1 “Factors influencing the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the environment”. It describes the protocol for a systematic evidence map of the scientificliterature concerning factors associated with the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in the environment. This protocol adheres to thePRISMA-P statement: an established procedure for planning systematic evidence work. A key outcome of this systematic evidence map is to gather data items for future analysis work; potentially, this has application inidentifying the main environmental risk factors associated with the presence and transmission of antibiotic resistance. This has important implications concerning risk mitigation for public and animal health.

Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to summarize the association of the built environment with physical activity in children and adolescents in Africa.Introduction: Physical activity offers immense benefits to children and adolescents. Some built environment constructs such as the availability of parks and street connectivity have been identified to facilitate physical activity in children and adolescents, these evidence have however come from developed countries. This review will present evidence from Africa on the built environment constructs that facilitate physical activity in children and adolescents.Inclusion criteria: This review shall include quantitative studies that have built environment constructs as one of their exposure variables and physical activity as one of their outcomes done in children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years residing in Africa.Methods: A systematic search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and other databases will be conducted to locate both published and unpublished studies. There will be no date or language restrictions. Titles abstracts and full text of articles retrieved from the search will be screened and read by two reviewers independently for eligibility; Included articles will be critically appraised independently by two reviewers. Data extraction will be done in two phases, first for data specific information regarding the study characteristics and secondly specific study findings will be extracted. Meta-analysis will be used to synthesize the findings from the studies; however, where this is not possible a narrative synthesis will be performed.Systematic Review registration number: CRD42019133324

Background Vector and malaria parasite’s rising resistance against pyrethroid-impregnated bed nets and antimalarial drugs highlight the need for additional control measures. Larviciding against malaria vectors is experiencing a renaissance with the availability of environmentally friendly and target species-specific larvicides. In this study, we analyse the perception and acceptability of spraying surface water collections with the biological larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis in a single health district in Burkina Faso. Methods A total of 12 focus group discussions and 12 key informant interviews were performed in 10 rural villages provided with coverage of various larvicide treatments (all breeding sites treated, the most productive breeding sites treated, and untreated control). Results Respondents’ knowledge about the major risk factors for malaria transmission was generally good. Most interviewees stated they performed personal protective measures against vector mosquitoes including the use of bed nets and sometimes mosquito coils and traditional repellents. The acceptance of larviciding in and around the villages was high and the majority of respondents reported a relief in mosquito nuisance and malarial episodes. There was high interest in the project and demand for future continuation. Conclusion This study showed that larviciding interventions received positive resonance from the population. People showed a willingness to be involved and financially support the program. The positive environment with high acceptance for larviciding programs would facilitate routine implementation. An essential factor for the future success of such programs would be inclusion in regional or national malaria control guidelines. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-5299-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

BackgroundExposure to indoor air pollution increases the risk of pneumonia in children, accounting for about a million deaths globally. This study investigates the individual effect of solid fuel, carbon monoxide(CO), black carbon (BC) and PM2.5 on pneumonia in children under five in low and middle-income countries.MethodsA systematic review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed and grey full-text documents without restrictions to study design, language or year of publication using nine databases, (EMBASE, PUBMED, EBSCO/CINAHL, SCOPUS , Web of Knowledge, WHO Library Database (WHOLIS), Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), The World Meteorological Organization (WMO-WHO) andIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)).ResultsExposure to solid fuel use showed a significant association to childhood pneumonia. Exposure to CO showed no association to childhood pneumonia. PM2.5 did not show any association when physically measured, while eight studies that used solid fuel as a proxy for PM2.5 all reported significant associations.ConclusionThis review highlights the need to standardise measurement of exposure and outcome variables when investigating the effect of air pollution on pneumonia in children under 5. Future studies should account for BC, PM1 and the interaction between indoor and outdoor pollution and its cumulative impact on childhood pneumonia.

Background: Vector and malaria parasite’s rising resistance against pyrethroid-impregnated bed nets and antimalarial drugs highlight the need for additional control measures. Larviciding against malaria vectors is experiencing a renaissance with the availability of environmentally friendly and target species-specific larvicides. In this study,we analyse the perception and acceptability of spraying surface water collections with the biological larvicide Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis in a single health district in Burkina Faso. Methods: A total of 12focus group discussions and 12key informant interviews were performed in 10 rural villages provided with coverage of various larvicide treatments (all breeding sites treated, the most productive breeding sites treated, and untreated control).Results: Respondents’ knowledge about the major risk factors for malaria transmission was generally good. Most interviewees stated they performed personal protective measures against vector mosquitoes including the use of bed nets and sometimes mosquito coils and traditional repellents. The acceptance of larviciding in and around the villages was high and the majority of respondents reported a relief in mosquito nuisance and malarial episodes. There was high interest in the project and demand for future continuation. Conclusion: This study showed that larviciding interventions received positive resonance from the population. People showed a willingness to be involved and financially support the program. The positive environment with high acceptance for larviciding programs would facilitate routine implementation. An essential factor for the future success of such programs would be inclusion in regional or national malaria control guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Participation of private practitioners in routine disease surveillance in India is minimal despite the fact that they account for over 70% of the primary healthcare provision. We aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of private practitioners in the city of Pune toward disease surveillance. Our goal was to identify what barriers and facilitators determine their participation in current and future surveillance efforts. DESIGN: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 258 practitioners (response rate 86%). Data were processed using SPSS™ Inc., Chicago, IL, USA, version 17.0.1. RESULTS: Knowledge regarding surveillance, although limited, was better among allopathy practitioners. Surveillance practices did not differ significantly between allopathy and alternate medicine practitioners. Multivariable logistic regression suggested practicing allopathy [odds ratio (OR) 3.125, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.234–7.915, p=0.016] and availability of a computer (OR 3.670, 95% CI 1.237–10.889, p=0.019) as significant determinants and the presence of a laboratory (OR 3.792, 95% CI 0.998–14.557, p=0.052) as a marginal determinant of the practitioner's willingness to participate in routine disease surveillance systems. Lack of time (137, 55%) was identified as the main barrier at the individual level alongside inadequately trained subordinate staff (14, 6%). Main extrinsic barriers included lack of cooperation between government and the private sector (27, 11%) and legal issues involved in reporting data (15, 6%). There was a general agreement among respondents (239, 94%) that current surveillance efforts need strengthening. Over a third suggested that availability of detailed information and training about surveillance processes (70, 33%) would facilitate reporting. CONCLUSIONS: The high response rate and the practitioners’ willingness to participate in a proposed pilot non-communicable disease surveillance system indicate that there is a general interest from the private sector in cooperating. Keeping reporting systems simple, preferably in electronic formats that minimize infrastructure and time requirements on behalf of the private practitioners, will go a long way in consolidating disease surveillance efforts in the state. Organizing training sessions, providing timely feedback, and awarding continuing medical education points for routine data reporting seem feasible options and should be piloted.

IntroductionThe global spread and the increased frequency and magnitude of epidemic dengue in the last 50 years underscore the urgent need for effective tools for surveillance, prevention, and control. This review aims at providing a systematic overview of what predictors are critical and which spatial and spatio-temporal modeling approaches are useful in generating risk maps for dengue.MethodsA systematic search was undertaken, using the PubMed, Web of Science, WHOLIS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and OvidSP databases for published citations, without language or time restrictions. A manual search of the titles and abstracts was carried out using predefined criteria, notably the inclusion of dengue cases. Data were extracted for pre-identified variables, including the type of predictors and the type of modeling approach used for risk mapping.ResultsA wide variety of both predictors and modeling approaches was used to create dengue risk maps. No specific patterns could be identified in the combination of predictors or models across studies. The most important and commonly used predictors for the category of demographic and socio-economic variables were age, gender, education, housing conditions and level of income. Among environmental variables, precipitation and air temperature were often significant predictors. Remote sensing provided a source of varied land cover data that could act as a proxy for other predictor categories. Descriptive maps showing dengue case hotspots were useful for identifying high-risk areas. Predictive maps based on more complex methodology facilitated advanced data analysis and visualization, but their applicability in public health contexts remains to be established.ConclusionsThe majority of available dengue risk maps was descriptive and based on retrospective data. Availability of resources, feasibility of acquisition, quality of data, alongside available technical expertise, determines the accuracy of dengue risk maps and their applicability to the field of public health. A large number of unknowns, including effective entomological predictors, genetic diversity of circulating viruses, population serological profile, and human mobility, continue to pose challenges and to limit the ability to produce accurate and effective risk maps, and fail to support the development of early warning systems.

The World Health Organization and the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change propose undernutrition as the most significant impact of climate change on child health. The question then arises: Where does the empirical evidence to back this claim come from? Current evidence for the impacts of climate on childhood undernutrition draws on a limited number of heterogeneous studies with methodological limitations and is based predominantly on secondary data. Establishing and validating causal pathways among complex confounding factors remain the main challenge in quantifying the climate-attributable fraction of undernutrition. Systematically generating evidence from long-term, high-quality primary data on a range of factors (agricultural, environmental, socioeconomic, and health) at the household level is critical for designing adaptation strategies, particularly for subsistence farmers.

Background Childhood malnutrition is a serious challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and a major underlying cause of death. It is the result of a dynamic and complex interaction between political, social, economic, environmental and other factors. As spatially oriented research has been established in health sciences in recent years, developments in Geographic Information Science (GIScience) provide beneficial tools to get an improved understanding of malnutrition. Methods In order to assess the current state of knowledge regarding the use of geoinformation analyses for exploring malnutrition in SSA, a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed literature is conducted using Scopus, ISI Web of Science and PubMed. As a supplement to the review, we carry on to investigate the establishment of web-based geoportals for providing freely accessible malnutrition geodata to a broad community. Based on these findings, we identify current limitations and discuss how new developments in GIScience might help to overcome impending barriers. Results 563 articles are identified from the searches, from which a total of nine articles and eight geoportals meet inclusion criteria. The review suggests that the spatial dimension of malnutrition is analyzed most often at the regional and national level using geostatistical analysis methods. Therefore, heterogeneous geographic information at different spatial scales and from multiple sources is combined by applying geoinformation analysis methods such as spatial interpolation, aggregation and downscaling techniques. Geocoded malnutrition data from the Demographic and Health Survey Program are the most common information source to quantify the prevalence of malnutrition on a local scale and are frequently combined with regional data on climate, population, agriculture and/or infrastructure. Only aggregated geoinformation about malnutrition prevalence is freely accessible, mostly displayed via web map visualizations or downloadable map images. The lack of detailed geographic data at household and local level is a major limitation for an in-depth assessment of malnutrition and links to potential impact factors. Conclusions We propose that the combination of malnutrition-related studies with most recent GIScience developments such as crowd-sourced geodata collection, (web-based) interoperable spatial health data infrastructures as well as (dynamic) information fusion approaches are beneficial to deepen the understanding of this complex phenomenon.