Book Review: Health Measures in Emergency Conditions: Prevention and Control of Acute Respiratory Infection Outbreaks, with an Emphasis on COVID-19 (A Practical Guide for Schools)

The book before you, as an educational package and a practical guide for the prevention and control of outbreaks of acute respiratory infections, with an emphasis on COVID-19 (the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus in 2019) in schools, has been prepared by a number of professors using the latest available scientific sources and evidence. School administrators, teachers, school health educators, parents, and other service providers in schools are the main audience of this educational package. In addition to periodic influenza epidemics, the spread of various acute contagious respiratory infectious diseases in recent years has created numerous problems and great concerns around the world. The breadth of the various types of damage and the health, social, economic, and even political consequences at the international level has turned the necessity of preparing and organizing society for coordinated action based on the collective collaboration of the people and social organizations into an essential necessity. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, known as SARS, a disease shared between humans and animals and caused by a type of coronavirus, first appeared in 2002 in China. In 2003, with its global spread, it reached 29 countries. The death rate from it was reported to be about 10 percent. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, known as MERS, was the second infectious disease caused by coronaviruses that created a major crisis for global health. This disease was first identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Its global epidemic occurred in 2014, and during the years 2014 to 2016, 27 countries from the Middle East to Europe and Asia were afflicted by this epidemic. The fatality rate of MERS was nearly 33 percent. Extraordinary spread is a prominent feature of this disease's transmission. So much so that the 80/20 rule was put forward for it; that is, roughly 20 percent of infected individuals are responsible for transmission to 80 percent of people. In late December 2019, a new type of respiratory infection caused by a new type of coronavirus, with the abbreviation COVID-19, was reported in the city of Wuhan, China. Due to the speed of spread and high pathogenicity of this virus, according to the report of the global coronavirus tracking site, as of Wednesday, December 2, 2020, a total of 25,906,739 confirmed cases of infection with the COVID-19 virus and 861,289 deaths from this disease had occurred worldwide. All the countries of the world have been afflicted by this disease so far. In Iran, the first cases of infection with this disease were reported on Bahman 30, 1398. According to the statistics reported on the aforementioned site on that same date, the total number of COVID-19 patients in the country reached 376,894, and the total number of deaths from this disease reached 21,672. The worldwide spread of COVID-19 has caused illnesses, disabilities, and numerous problems for the people of all countries. It has taken many lives; it deprived schoolchildren and university students, who are the builders of the future of every country, of educational environments and resources; it caused unemployment and financial harm for many members of society; it slowed down the activities of industries; it largely halted the communications and social, cultural, and recreational activities of the people; and, in short, it placed the progress and welfare of society in serious jeopardy. The present book is organized and compiled in three parts: General topics and guidelines. The first part comprises chapters one through eight. You can also obtain the book in two editions: full color and black-and-white. https://irannashr.com/main/product/%d8%a7%d9%82%d8%af%d8%a7%d9%85%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a8%d9%87%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%b4%d8%aa%db%8c-%d8%af%d8%b1-%d8%b4%d8%b1%d8%a7%db%8c%d8%b7-%d8%a7%d8%b6%d8%b7%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%b1%db%8c-%d9%be%db%8c%d8%b4%da%af/