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In recent years, dengue viral infection has become one of the most widely-spread mosquito-borne diseases in the world, with an estimated 50-100 million cases annually, resulting in 500,000 hospitalizations. Due to the nature of the immune response to each of the four serotypes of dengue virus, secondary infections of dengue put patients at higher risk for more severe infection as opposed to primary infections. The current hypothesis for this phenomenon is antibody-dependent enhancement, where strain-specific antibodies from the primary infection enhance infection by a heterologous serotype. To determine the mechanisms responsible for the increase in disease severity, we develop mathematical models of within-host virus-cell interaction, epidemiological models of virus transmission, and a combination of the within-host and between-host models. The main results of this thesis focus on the within-host model. We model the effects of antibody responses against primary and secondary virus strains. We find that secondary infections lead to a reduction of virus removal. This is slightly different than the current antibody-dependent enhancement hypothesis, which suggests that the rate of virus infectivity is higher during secondary infections due to antibody failure to neutralize the virus. We use the results from the within-host model in an epidemiological multi-scale model. We start by constructing a two-strain SIR model and vary the parameters to account for the effect of antibody-dependent enhancement. / Master of Science

The factors governing the reaction between chloroform and hemoglobin by which the hemoglobin of the blood may be precipitated were studied, and a process, based upon this reaction, for the separation of a clear sterile serum from old defibrinated blood antitoxin was devised. It is shown that the yield of clear serum separated by this process approximates 70% of the original volume and that the product of the process is free from bacterial contamination. While it is shown by analysis that the globulin content of the serum suffers a slight loss, when the serum is treated by this process, potency tests indicate that the loss in antibodies that occurs during clarification may be disregarded. / Master of Science

Before the consolidation of the germ theory of human diseases at the end of the nineteenth century, medical explanations about disease causation were dominated by the environmental notions of medical geography. This dissertation explores how nineteenth-century Colombian physicians transformed the medical geographical approach using the early concepts and technologies of the emerging Pasteurian germ theory. I follow this transformation in the cases of periodic fevers (yellow fever and malaria), continuous fevers (typhoid fever and typhus) and leprosy. The analysis reveals that by mid century physicians had incorporated neo-Hippocratic versions of disease causation and French medical geographical ideas in order to make sense of disease of the warm, temperate and cold lands. Their conceptual network revolved around the specific, predisposing and occasional causes in which climate and geography played a determinant role. Evidence indicates that this was the case of periodic fevers of the warm lands (yellow fever and malaria). I argue that the “parasitic” hypothesis of yellow fever was accepted during the controversy around the prophylactic inoculations inspired by Pasteurism that were applied in Colombia in 1887. However, doctors struggled to reconcile the medical geographical and the bacteriological perspective of both yellow fever and malaria. Continuous fevers, on the other hand, were also framed within the medical geography scheme of disease causation. I show how during the debates about typhoid fever and typhus happening in the Colombian highlands during the 70s, 80s and 90s, doctors used medical geographical notions and developed anti-pasteurian arguments, while the international scientific community had identified the specific bacilli for typhoid fever. Finally, I argue that the strong interest of Colombian doctors on leprosy –also understood in neo-Hippocratic terms- that foster the search for local treatments based on Pasteurism (antiseptics in the 1880s and serotherapy in the 1890s) also prompted the extension of the bacteriological model and techniques to other diseases in those decades.

The goal of this thesis is to develop an algorithm to process infrared images and achieve automatic identification of moving subjects with fever. The identification is based on two main features: the distinction between the geometry of a human face and other objects in the field of view of the camera, and the temperature of the radiating object. Infrared thermography is a remote sensing technique used to measure temperatures based on emitted infrared radiation. Applications include fever screening in major public places such as airports and hospitals. Current accepted practice of screening requires people to stay in a line and temperature measurements are carried out for one person at a time. However in the case of mass screening of moving people the accuracy of the measurements is still under investigation. An algorithm constituting of image processing to threshold objects based on the temperature, template matching and hypothesis testing is proposed to achieve automatic identification of fever subjects. The algorithm was first tested on training data to obtain a threshold value (used to discriminate between face and non face shapes) corresponding to a false detection rate of 5%, which in turn corresponds to 85% probability of detection using Neyman-Pearson criterion. By testing the algorithm on several simulated and experimental images (which reflect relevant scenarios characterizing crowded places) it is observed that it can be beneficially implemented to introduce automation in the process of detecting moving subjects with fever.

The goal of this thesis is to develop an algorithm to process infrared images and achieve automatic identification of moving subjects with fever. The identification is based on two main features: the distinction between the geometry of a human face and other objects in the field of view of the camera, and the temperature of the radiating object. Infrared thermography is a remote sensing technique used to measure temperatures based on emitted infrared radiation. Applications include fever screening in major public places such as airports and hospitals. Current accepted practice of screening requires people to stay in a line and temperature measurements are carried out for one person at a time. However in the case of mass screening of moving people the accuracy of the measurements is still under investigation. An algorithm constituting of image processing to threshold objects based on the temperature, template matching and hypothesis testing is proposed to achieve automatic identification of fever subjects. The algorithm was first tested on training data to obtain a threshold value (used to discriminate between face and non face shapes) corresponding to a false detection rate of 5%, which in turn corresponds to 85% probability of detection using Neyman-Pearson criterion. By testing the algorithm on several simulated and experimental images (which reflect relevant scenarios characterizing crowded places) it is observed that it can be beneficially implemented to introduce automation in the process of detecting moving subjects with fever.

Bakgrund: Feber drabbar barn någon eller några gånger om året, framförallt under småbarnstiden. En vanlig missuppfattning är att feber är ett potentiellt farligt tillstånd som kräver behandling. I motsats till detta har feber gynnsamma effekter när det kommer till kroppens bekämpande av infektioner. Kunskapsläget bland distriktssköterskor som ska tillhandahålla föräldrar rådgivning kring feber och febernedsättande läkemedel varierar, varför föräldrar riskerar att erhålla motstridiga och direkt felaktiga råd. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva föräldrars kunskap rörande feber hos barn samt att belysa vårdpersonals attityder kring feberhantering. Metod: Arbetet har utförts i form av en integrativ litteraturstudie som inkluderade totalt 15 artiklar, såväl kvalitativa som kvantitativa. Integrativ studiedesign tillåter kvantitativa data att kvalificeras och kvalitativa data att kvantifieras så att de kan kombineras och sammanfogas till en gemensam helhet. Resultat: Det finns brister i kunskapen om feber hos barn hos vårdpersonal och föräldrar. Feberfobi är en samlande term för den okunskap och oro som riskerar leda till övernitisk behandling med antipyretika, både genom föräldrars eget initiativ och efter rekommendation från vårdpersonal. Feberkramper kan inte förhindras med febernedsättande läkemedel, trots det erhåller barn läkemedel i detta syfte och utsätts därmed för onödig biverkningsrisk. Diskussion: Ett behov av djupare kunskap hos både vårdpersonal och föräldrar finns för att inte evidensbaserad behandlingsregim ska riskera att gå förlorad till förmån för inadekvata och hemsnickrade varianter med onödig administration av antipyretika och vidare spridning av feberfobi. Nyckelord: Antipyretika, Barn, Feber, Feberfobi, Kunskap, Litteraturstudie / Introduction: Fever is something children, especially during infant years, experience one or a few times each year. A common misconception is that fever is a dangerous condition that requires treatment; however contrary to these misconceptions, fevers have positive effects when it comes to body’s ability to fight infections. The level of knowledge on this subject of district nurses, whose task it is to guide parents with advice concerning fevers and antipyretics, varies. This results in parents getting contradictory and erroneous advice. Aim: The aim of this literature study was to describe parents’ knowledge concerning fever in children, and to illuminate attitudes concerning fever treatment among health care professionals. Method: A literature review of 15 scientific articles where examined in accordance with an integrative study design. The integrative design allows qualitative and quantitative data to be combined and merged into a common whole. Results: There is a lack of knowledge about fevers in children among health care professionals and parents. Fever phobia is a collective term for the lack of knowledge and worrying that can lead to overzealous treatment with antipyretics; based on parents’ own initiative and recommendations from health care professionals. Antipyretics do not prevent febrile seizures, but many children are still medicated for this purpose. This, in turn, leads to increased risk for side effects. Discussion: There’s a need for a deeper knowledge, in both health care professionals and parents, to ascertain that an evidence-based treatment regimen is not replaced by inadequate and home-grown techniques, leading to unnecessary administration of antipyretics and further propagation of fever phobia. Keywords: Antipyretics, Children, Fever, Fever phobia, Knowledge, Literature study / <p>2012-11-09</p> / Utbildningsstöd har erhållits från FoU - Forskning och Utbildning i Landstinget Västernorrland.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 47-06, page: 3501. Adviser: Kristy O. Murray. Includes bibliographical references.

The goal of this thesis is to develop an algorithm to process infrared images and achieve automatic identification of moving subjects with fever. The identification is based on two main features: the distinction between the geometry of a human face and other objects in the field of view of the camera, and the temperature of the radiating object. Infrared thermography is a remote sensing technique used to measure temperatures based on emitted infrared radiation. Applications include fever screening in major public places such as airports and hospitals. Current accepted practice of screening requires people to stay in a line and temperature measurements are carried out for one person at a time. However in the case of mass screening of moving people the accuracy of the measurements is still under investigation. An algorithm constituting of image processing to threshold objects based on the temperature, template matching and hypothesis testing is proposed to achieve automatic identification of fever subjects. The algorithm was first tested on training data to obtain a threshold value (used to discriminate between face and non face shapes) corresponding to a false detection rate of 5%, which in turn corresponds to 85% probability of detection using Neyman-Pearson criterion. By testing the algorithm on several simulated and experimental images (which reflect relevant scenarios characterizing crowded places) it is observed that it can be beneficially implemented to introduce automation in the process of detecting moving subjects with fever.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.