Infectious disease vulnerability assessment of points of entry

van Til, J. A. (Examiner)

Activity: Examination

Description

Master thesis Ilse Fransen

Period	1 Feb 2020 → Sept 2020
Examinee	Ilse Fransen
Examination held at	Health Sciences
Degree of Recognition	International

Documents & Links

Increased global activity enables diseases to spread across the globe in a short period of time. Points of Entry (PoE) - entrances locations of a country - have an important role in the international spread of infectious diseases. Vulnerable PoE and emerging diseases are of concern for diminishing the international spread. Vulnerabilities in this study are split into introduction and transmission characteristics.We define introduction of infectious disease as an infectious disease being introduced in a new area. We define transmission of infectious disease as the transmission of infectious diseases between people, animals or goods during travel. With additional information on the vulnerabilities of a PoE, countries can target the PoE accordingly and subsequently minimize the international spread of infectious diseases. Therefore, this study focusses on identifying and weighting PoE characteristics that influence the international spread of infectious diseases. This study consisted of three phases: literature study, expert elicitation and evaluation. In phase 1 scientific studies regarding PoE charactersitics were reviewed. Resulting in a set of seven PoE characteristics which were discussed in phase 2 with a panel of experts to determine the final PoE characteristics. The final PoE characteristics were evaluated by experts in an online questionnaire. The outcome of the questionnaires were analaysed in phase 3. Overall travelers from risk arease was ranked as most important for the international spread of infectious diseaes. Airports scored travelers from risk areas as most important, ports scored type of conveyance as most important and ground crossings scored type of imported cargo as most important. For airports the combined characteristics for introduction and transmission was assessed. The introduction combination was valued by experts as most influencing the vulnerability regarding the international spread of infectious diseases.