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Query: UMLS:C0277787 (stigma)
 13,352 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

As of October 2001, the potential for use of infectious agents, such as anthrax, as weapons has been firmly established. It has been suggested that attacks on a nations' agriculture might be a preferred form of terrorism or economic disruption that would not have the attendant stigma of infecting and causing disease in humans. Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is on every top ten list available for potential agricultural bioweapon agents, generally following foot and mouth disease virus and Newcastle disease virus at or near the top of the list. Rapid detection techniques for bioweapon agents are a critical need for the first-responder community, on a par with vaccine and antiviral development in preventing spread of disease. There are several current approaches for rapid, early responder detection of biological agents including influenza A viruses. There are also several proposed novel approaches in development. The most promising existing approach is real-time fluorescent PCR analysis in a portable format using exquisitely sensitive and specific primers and probes. The potential for reliable and rapid early-responder detection approaches are described, as well as the most promising platforms for using real-time PCR for avian influenza, as well as other potential bioweapon agents.
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PMID:Molecular diagnostics in an insecure world. 1457 12

The Harvard University Asian Flus and Avian Influenza Workshop, held in December 2006, introduced a biosocial approach to the preparation for and control of pandemics. A biosocial approach brings together the biological and social sciences to develop an integrative, collaborative response to the threat of pandemic influenza. The articles in this supplement provide a representative sampling of some of the ways in which the workshop worked toward this biosocial vision. These articles address the historical "siting" of epidemics, political and structural pandemic preparedness in China, lessons to be taken from the 1976 "swine flu affair," possibilities for genetic engineering as an alternative to poultry vaccination, issues to be considered in the control of infectious disease in swine and avian species, the ecology of influenza in migratory birds, and issues of stigma and trust during the control of epidemics. The need to build public trust and public health infrastructure is one of the primary messages of this collection.
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PMID:Avian and pandemic influenza: a biosocial approach. Introduction. 1826 21

This article examines the role of stigma in social and institutional responses to infectious disease emergencies, to better understand and minimize these dynamics in the event of a pandemic of virulent influenza. In addition to their impact on human suffering, fear and stigma can seriously delay detection and treatment efforts, cooperation with contact tracing and isolation measures, and the effective distribution of resources for the prevention and control of infectious diseases. These dynamics are illustrated by the Indian plague epidemic of 1994, which occurred in a region where H5N1 influenza has been detected recently. Public fear and stigma also played a significant role in the social and institutional responses to the 1918 influenza pandemic. These historical models provide important lessons for pandemic preparedness and global health policy.
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PMID:Stigma in the time of influenza: social and institutional responses to pandemic emergencies. 1826 26

In 2009, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) provided guidelines about which groups should be given first access to the H1N1 influenza vaccine. These guidelines recommended that people under 65 with chronic health conditions should be among the first groups to receive the H1N1 influenza vaccine. Severe obesity was among the relevant chronic health conditions identified by PHAC. Since health care is under the jurisdiction of the ten Canadian provinces, the provinces were not required to follow these recommendations in their respective mass vaccination campaigns. Only one province (Manitoba) followed the PHAC recommendations with respect to severe obesity. Four provinces did not offer early vaccination to this group. Other provinces listed severe obesity as a sequencing category late in the vaccination campaign or placed narrow age restrictions on those who were given early access. This commentary argues that the Canadian provinces demonstrated an ambiguous commitment to the early vaccination of people who were severely obese, and that there is evidence that the stigma of obesity influenced H1N1 influenza vaccine sequencing decisions in many Canadian provinces.
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PMID:The influence of the stigma of obesity on H1N1 influenza vaccine sequencing in Canada in 2009. 2204 4

The emergence of influenza viruses has raised awareness worldwide about influenza pandemic risks. Pandemic preparedness emphasizes development of risk communication and surveillance systems. The objective was to explore community classification of Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) and health-seeking behaviors. Twenty in-depth interviews and 18 focus group discussions were conducted with caretakers in Egypt. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the thematic analysis. ARI terminology contained few terms, usage of them was complex, and microorganism not part of illness explanation. Severe ARI was associated with social stigma. Homecare included extensive use of medications. In mild and severe ARI, health-seeking determinants varied. Classification of ARI parallels World Health Organization case definitions for ARI, facilitating risk communication. Homecare practices are social norms that can be expanded to include messages on ARI. Risk communication strategies and surveillance systems need to consider socio-cultural understanding of ARI.
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PMID:Acute respiratory illness and health-seeking behavior in Egyptian villages: enhancing pandemic preparedness by understanding local realities. 2254 94

Situated in neo-democratic globalizing Northeast Brazil, this anthropological study probes the role of ecological context in framing, experiencing, and expressing human distress. Ethnographic interviews, narratives, and "contextualized semantic analysis" reveal the lived experience of childhood respiratory diseases among 22 urban mangrove dwellers. Informants speak an "eco-idiom of respiratory distress" based on a popular "eco-logic", reflecting the harsh reality of "living in dampness". "Higher-up" residents legitimize their feelings of superiority by stigmatizing "lowlanders" as taboo, diseased (with porcine cysticercosis, swine flu) "filthy pigs, stuck in the muck" (atolados na lama). Animalizing inhabitants' identities demotes them to nonpersons. Besides infections, children suffer social stigma, ostracism, and barriers for accessing care. Promoting a "favorable environment" requires reducing ecological risk, challenging class-based prejudice, and restoring human dignity.
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PMID:"Stuck in the muck": an eco-idiom of distress from childhood respiratory diseases in an urban mangrove in Northeast Brazil. 2345 16

HIV prevalence and incidence in South Africa remain high, making HIV a part of everyday life. Community narratives on HIV treatment and prevention are important and influence official and unofficial health messaging and community perceptions and understandings of HIV. We explore how contributors and the columnist of an agony aunt column position HIV relative to choices made about love, partnership, and sex over three years. We analysed all columns of an agony aunt series (Antie Mona) published between December 2012 and November 2015. The column is published in a South African, Afrikaans-language newspaper "Son", prioritising sensationalist news items. Trends were identified through narrative analysis. Data were managed in ATLAS.ti and inductive, iterative coding conducted. It was found that letters to the agony aunt rarely refer to HIV directly (less than 7%). Euphemisms such as diseases of the flesh and the great flu were more commonly used instead of HIV or AIDS. Letters addressed HIV in three ways: direct references to experiences living with HIV; direct questions about HIV prevention; and scenarios where HIV could (from a public health perspective) have been the main concern, but everyday issues took precedence. The majority of letters fell into this latter category where the writers focused on the immediate concerns of good sexual relations, problems related to love and romantic relationships, good moral behaviour of others, and issues of oppressive life conditions rather than on HIV directly. The findings illustrate that informal, public contributions to health information, such as agony aunts, are important narratives that inform popular perspectives on HIV and health. A better appreciation of this context would allow health implementers to ensure that these role players receive updated health messaging to avoid the risk of HIV-related stigma where HIV is used as a moral rod to punish perceived moral transgressions.
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PMID:A narrative analysis positioning HIV relative to personal (sexual) relationship challenges in an agony aunt column in the Western Cape, South Africa - Aunty Mona's "love advice". 2742 Oct 55

Despite not originating in Spain, the 1918 influenza pandemic is commonly known as the "Spanish flu"-a name that reflects a tendency in public health history to associate new infectious diseases with foreign nationals and foreign countries. Intentional or not, an effect of this naming convention is to communicate a causal relationship between foreign populations and the spread of infectious disease, potentially promoting irrational fear and stigma. I address two relevant issues to help contextualize these naming practices. First is whether, in an age of global hyperinterconnectedness, fear of the other is truly irrational or has a rational basis. The empirical literature assessing whether restricting global airline travel can mitigate the global spread of modern epidemics suggests that the role of travel may be overemphasized. Second is the persistence of xenophobic responses to infectious disease in the face of contrary evidence. To help explain this, I turn to the health communication literature. Scholars argue that promoting an association between foreigners and a particular epidemic can be a rhetorical strategy for either promoting fear or, alternatively, imparting a sense of safety to the public.
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PMID:"Spanish Flu": When Infectious Disease Names Blur Origins and Stigmatize Those Infected. 3025 13

Outbreaks of emerging infectious disease are a constant threat. In the last 10 years, there have been outbreaks of 2009 influenza A (H1N1), Ebola virus disease, and Zika virus. Stigma associated with infectious disease can be a barrier to adopting healthy behaviors, leading to more severe health problems, ongoing disease transmission, and difficulty controlling infectious disease outbreaks. Much has been learned about infectious disease and stigma in the context of nearly 4 decades of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome pandemic. In this paper, we define stigma, discuss its relevance to infectious disease outbreaks, including how individuals and communities can be affected. Adapting lessons learned from the rich literature on HIV-related stigma, we propose a strategy for reducing stigma during infectious disease outbreaks such as Ebola virus disease and Zika virus. The implementation of brief, practical strategies such as the ones proposed here might help reduce stigma and facilitate more effective control of emerging infectious diseases.
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PMID:Addressing Disease-Related Stigma During Infectious Disease Outbreaks. 3115 79