Term of Award

Spring 2022

Degree Name

Doctor of Public Health in Epidemiology (Dr.P.H.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health Sciences

Committee Chair

Isaac Chun-Hai Fung

Committee Member 1

Jessica Schwind

Committee Member 2

Kelly Sullivan

Committee Member 3

Benjamin Cowling

Non-Voting Committee Member

Gerardo Chowell

Abstract

Pharmaceutical interventions (PI) and non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) are relevant for controlling and mitigating the transmission of respiratory tract infectious diseases such as influenza and COVID-19. The impact of these strategies on children, workers, and low-middle-income countries was explored (chapter 2-6). Chapter 2 used a scoping review to describe the application of digital technology in improving hand hygiene among children in educational settings. Three main types were identified, including computer games (n=2), videos (n=8), and video cameras (n=2) which were found to be effective when used over a short time. Chapter 3 was a systematic review to assess the evidence of economic evaluations against influenza among workers or the workplace setting. Out of the twenty-four articles included, 21 were cost-benefit analyses, and 23 used PIs (primarily vaccination). All but two studies reported that interventions at the workplace were cost-saving and cost-effective. Chapter 4 characterized the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in Ghana by estimating the time-varying reproduction number (Rt) at the national and regional levels using publicly available data from March 2020 to December 2021. The association between Rt and implemented interventions was also explored. Ghana experienced four pandemic waves with epidemic peaks in July 2020 and January, August, and December 2021. The epidemic peak was the highest nationwide in December 2021, with Rt ≥2. Rt decreased from above 1 when schools reopened in January 2021 to below 1 after vaccination rollout in March 2021. Chapter 5 utilized a homogenous-mixing compartmental model to simulate the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 and assessed the impact of increasing vaccination rate to achieve 50% coverage. The findings suggest

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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