Gaps, Impediments, and Facilitators of Effective Laboratory Responses During a Pandemic Público

Abstract

Introduction

Laboratories play a critical role in controlling infectious disease threats. In recent years, multiple epidemics and pandemics have highlighted significant gaps in laboratory systems around the world. It is important to understand these gaps to facilitate efficient and effective laboratory responses. This literature review will determine the most common barriers laboratories face in an outbreak response, and describe mechanisms to achieve and maintain sustainable, efficient, and effective laboratory systems.

 

Methods

A scoping literature review was performed using the PRISMA method. PubMed was used to search for relevant articles related to the global laboratory capacity to respond to pandemics. All articles that were approved for full text review were stratified by region and infectious disease focus. Main themes were compiled and compared. From these themes, barriers and facilitators to an efficient, effective laboratory response to a pandemic were identified.

 

Results

The PubMed search yielded 898 articles for review. After screening using inclusion and exclusion criteria, 44 articles remained for data extraction. The selected articles represented a wide array of countries and infectious diseases. There were 9 major themes identified across the 44 articles. These themes included: biosafety; collaboration with other laboratories; use of laboratory networks; physical capabilities to perform laboratory tasks; political and financial support; use of quality assurance programs; sufficient laboratory staffing; reliable supply chains; and efficient workflow design. The literature also offered solutions to improve laboratory preparedness and response if any one of these components were lacking.

 

Conclusion

Laboratories are important for the control and surveillance of infectious diseases. They are particularly important during outbreaks, and improved laboratory capacity can lead to a more efficient and effective response to a pandemic. Improving upon the gaps present in biosafety, laboratory collaboration, physical capabilities, political and financial support, quality assurance programs, staffing, supply chains, and workflow design can lead to better laboratory responses.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………..……………………….8

 

2. Methods……………………………………………………………..………………………...10

 

           Protocol and Registration……………..............................................................................10

           

           Eligibility Criteria………………………………………………..…………………...…10

           

           Information Sources and Search…………………………………..……………….……10

           

           Selection of Sources of Evidence…………………………………..……………...….…10

 

           Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria…………………………………..…………….…..…..11

 

           Synthesis of Results and Data Extraction………………………..………………...….....11

 

3. Results…………………………………………………………………..………………..…....12

 

4. Discussion……………………………………………………………………..…………….…16

 

           Laboratory Networks………………………………………………………..……………16

 

           Physical Capabilities………………………………………………………..………...…..18

 

           Collaboration………………………………………………………………..………...…..21

 

           Staffing……………………………………………………………………….………...…22

 

           Quality Assurance and Accreditation…………………………………..………..………..25

 

           Biosafety………………………………………………………………..…….………..….27

 

           Supply Chain…………………………………………………………..….……………….29

 

           Workflow………………………………………………………….…….…………...……30

 

           Political/Financial Support………………………………………………….…….....……32

 

5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….………..……33

 

           Study Limitations…………………………………………………………………………33

 

           Public Health Implications……………………………………………….……….………34

 

6. References……………………………………………………………………………..……….36

About this Master's Thesis

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School	Rollins School of Public Health
Department	Hubert Department of Global Health
Degree	M.P.H.
Submission	Master's Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Health Sciences, Public Health
Palavra-chave	Pandemic Laboratory Public Health Surveillance Infectious Disease
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Scott JN McNabb, Emory University

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