Zeitschrift für Infektionskrankheiten und Präventivmedizin
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Abstrakt

Key Strategies to Address Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases: A Systematic Analysis

Hala Jassim Al Mossawi, Neeraj Kak*, Colleen Longacre, Sharanya Joshi

Background: Given their unpredictable nature, their direct impact on human health, as well as their broader environmental, economic, and societal impacts, emerging and reemerging infectious diseases (EIDs) require ongoing and sustained attention, funding, and response from the global community. The purpose of this paper is to understand the institutional capacities necessary to effectively respond to EIDs and highlight key strategies and potential points of intervention.

Methods: We undertook a systematic analysis of the existing literature to understand what an effective preparedness and response framework for EIDs would look like. Using the Lancet Infectious Disease Journal and PubMed, we selected all relevant results that described possible epidemic preparedness interventions or EID prevention and control strategies. We included any results published in English and within the last ten years. The different interventions and/or prevention and control strategies were grouped into larger categories to develop an effective preparedness and response framework for EIDs.

Results: An ideal emerging disease preparedness and response environment should center on collaboration between all impacted sectors and a fiscal and social commitment to strengthen the capacity on all levels of the country to respond to threats as they emerge. The potentially affected sectors are numerous, but many that have been traditionally excluded from disease preparedness activities.

Conclusion: When considering how best to participate in emerging disease response activities, it is important to identify these critical points and how interventions might work to strengthen the system in entirety. While these breakdown points are common across many settings, it is imperative that the preparedness and response activities be contextualized to specifics of the disease and setting.