BACKGROUND Current approaches for estimating social mixing patterns and infectious disease transmission at mass gatherings have been limited by various constraints, including low participation rates for volunteer-based research projects and challenges in quantifying spatially and temporally accurate person-to-person interactions. We developed a proof-of-concept project to assess the use of auto...

Implementing public health surveillance at mass gatherings might help detect outbreaks or possible acts of biologic terrorism and enable prompt public health intervention. In July 2005, a daily syndromic sentinel surveillance system was implemented to monitor disease and injury among approximately 43,000 youths and adults attending a 10-day camping event held every 4 years by a national youth o...

INTRODUCTION Paramedics provide a substantial proportion of care at mass gatherings but do not typically release patients without physician assessment. OBJECTIVE To evaluate treat-and-release medical directives implemented at a large single-day summer rock concert. METHODS Medical directives allowed paramedics to administer acetaminophen, dimenhydrinate, diphenhydramine, or polymyxin B oint...

Outbreaks of infectious diseases at mass gatherings can strain the health system of the host region and pose a threat to local and global health. In addition to strengthening existing surveillance systems, most host nations also use novel technologies to assess disease risk and augment traditional surveillance approaches. We review novel approaches to disease surveillance using the Internet, mo...

During 2000, the estimated quantity of solid waste generated in Delhi, India was more than 9000 tones per day. This is one of the biggest sources of environmental degradation in capital city of India. Since 1950's over 12 large landfill have been packed with all kinds of nonbiodegradable and toxic waste of Delhi. The area covered is at least 1% (14.83 square kilometer) of total Delhi's area. Al...