Resources Repository
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ReviewPublication 2022Significance of Advanced COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing in Pandemic Control Measures
Over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has mounted significant …
Over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has mounted significant efforts to combat the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 virus. Despite substantial progress in vaccines and treatments, leading to lower hospitalization and death rates, the virus has continued to evolve, primarily through mutations. From the onset, diagnostic tests have been crucial in identifying and controlling the virus spread. The scientific world has pioneered various diagnostic techniques, including nucleic acid, antigen, and antibody-based…
Test Performance | North America | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
EditorialPublication 2020Waiting for Certainty on COVID-19 Antibody Tests — At What Cost?
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation …
This perspective anticipates the availability of serologic antibody testing and considers its potential usefulness in mitigation policy to reduce COVID-19 transmission. For example: Could we screen for serologic antibodies as a proxy for possible immunity and identify people who could return to the workplace with less severe mitigation measures? The authors acknowledge the uncertainties raised by many policy actors, including the WHO, such as, "Do antibodies confer immunity and, if so, for how long? How accurate is…
Test Performance | North America | Policy/Regulation | Health Systems | Probability/Bayes | Technology Assessment | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2016Cost-Effectiveness of Routine Vaccination With a Live-Attenuated Dengue Vaccine: Model Comparison
Large Phase III trials across Asia and Latin America have demonstrated the efficacy of a recombinant, …
Large Phase III trials across Asia and Latin America have demonstrated the efficacy of a recombinant, live-attenuated dengue vaccine (Dengvaxia) over the first 25 months following vaccination. Subsequent data collected in the longer-term follow-up phase, however, have raised concerns about a potential increase in hospitalization risk of subsequent dengue infections, in particular among young, dengue-naïve vaccinees. This paper reports predictions from eight independent modelling groups on the long-term safety, public health impact, and cost-effectiveness of routine…
Dynamic Transmission | Asia & Pacific | Global Governance | Health Systems | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Child/Nutrition | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Latin America & Caribbean -
ReviewPublication 2016Using Economic Evidence to Set Healthcare Priorities in LMIC
Policy makers in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) are increasingly looking to develop ‘evidence-based’ frameworks …
Policy makers in low-income and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) are increasingly looking to develop ‘evidence-based’ frameworks for identifying priority health interventions. This paper synthesizes and appraises the literature on methodological frameworks – which incorporate economic evaluation evidence – for the purpose of setting healthcare priorities in LMICs. A systematic search of Embase, MEDLINE, Econlit and PubMed identified 3968 articles with a further 21 articles identified through manual searching. A total of 36 papers were eligible for inclusion.…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Asia & Pacific | Policy/Regulation | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Technology Assessment | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa | Middle East & North Africa | Latin America & Caribbean -
ArticlePublication 2015A Conceptual Model for Breast, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer Screening
General frameworks of the cancer screening process are available, but none directly compare the process …
General frameworks of the cancer screening process are available, but none directly compare the process in detail across different organ sites. This limits the ability of medical and public health professionals to develop and evaluate coordinated screening programs that apply resources and population management strategies available for one cancer site to other sites. This paper presents a conceptual model that incorporates a single screening episode for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers into a unified framework based…
Test Performance | North America | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Microsimulation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2008Health and Economic Implications of HPV Vaccination in the U.S.
This article reports on a study using models of HPV-16 and HPV-18 transmission and cervical …
This article reports on a study using models of HPV-16 and HPV-18 transmission and cervical carcinogenesis to compare the health and economic outcomes of vaccinating preadolescent girls in the US (at 12 years of age), and vaccinating older girls and women in catch-up programs (to 18, 21, or 26 years of age). The study also examined the health benefits of averting other HPV-16-related and HPV-18-related cancers, the prevention of HPV-6-related and HPV-11-related genital warts and…
Dynamic Transmission | North America | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Microsimulation | Calibration/Validation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2023Performance of Rapid Antigen Tests to Detect Symptomatic and Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection
The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of rapid antigen tests (Ag-RDTs) …
The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of rapid antigen tests (Ag-RDTs) for detection of SARS-CoV-2 among symptomatic and asymptomatic participants. The general findings were that the performance of Ag-RDTs was optimized when asymptomatic participants tested 3 times at 48-hour intervals and when symptomatic participants tested 2 times separated by 48 hours. Participants completed Ag-RDTs and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for SARS-CoV-2 every 48 hours for 15 days. They…
Test Performance | North America | Clinical Care | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2020Variation in False-Negative Rate of Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction-Based SARS-CoV-2 Tests by Time Since Exposure
This study aimed to determine the false-negative rate of RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection based …
This study aimed to determine the false-negative rate of RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection based on the timeline of exposure and symptom onset. Drawing from data in seven studies involving 1,330 upper respiratory tract samples, a Bayesian model was used to estimate these rates. Findings showed that in the initial four days prior to typical symptom onset, the false-negative rate decreased from 100% on day 1 to 67% on day 4. By the day of…
Test Performance | North America | Clinical Care | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ReviewPublication 2021Considerations for Diagnostic COVID-19 Tests
During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rush by numerous diagnostic …
During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rush by numerous diagnostic test manufacturers to create, validate, and implement testing methods. This review discusses the pivotal role of diagnostic tests during the pandemic's first global wave, highlighting the challenges in technology and implementation experienced early on. The study also offers insights for enhancing the use of diagnostics, especially syndromic ones, should there be future spikes or regional outbreaks of COVID-19. The overarching…
Test Performance | North America | Clinical Care | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology