About

Joao Ricardo Nickenig Vissoci is an Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine, an Assistant Professor in Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, an Associate Professor in Neurosurgery, and an Associate Research Professor of Global Health at Duke University. His professional roles are based at 310 Trent Dr, Durham, NC 27710. His research focuses on biostatistics, bioinformatics, and global health, contributing to the fields through his academic appointments and research activities. He is involved in the Duke Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, engaging in scholarly activities related to biostatistics, computational biology, and bioinformatics.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Sociology
• Medical emergency
• Pathology
• Geography
• Traditional medicine
• Economics
• Socioeconomics
• Pediatrics
• Ecology
• Family medicine
• Economic growth
• Biology

Selected publications

• A painful journey to antivenom: The therapeutic itinerary of snakebite patients in the Brazilian Amazon (The QUALISnake Study)

  PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021 · 62 citations

  • Sociology
  • Medicine
  • Environmental health

  Access to antivenoms is not guarranteed for vulnerable populations that inhabit remote areas in the Amazon. The study of therapeutic itineraries (TI) for treatment of snakebites would support strategies to provide timely access to users. A TI is the set of processes by which individuals adhere to certain forms of treatment, and includes the path traveled in the search for healthcare, and practices to solve their health problems. This study aims to describe TIs of snakebite patients in the Brazilian Amazon. This study was carried out at the Fundação de Medicina Tropical Doutor Heitor Vieira Dourado, in Manaus, state of Amazonas, Brazil. The itinerary from the moment of the bite to the patient's admission to the reference unit was analyzed. Sample size was defined by saturation. After an exploratory survey to collect epidemiological variables, in-depth interviews were conducted following a semi-structured guide. Patients originated from rural areas of 11 different municipalities, including ones located >500 kilometers from Manaus. A great fragmentation was observed in the itineraries, marked by several changes of means of transport along the route. Four themes emerged from the analysis: exposure to snakebite during day-to-day activities, use of traditional therapeutic practices, and personal perception of the severity, as well as the route taken and its contingencies. Access to healthcare requires considerable effort on the part of snakebite patients. Major barriers were identified, such as the low number of hospitals that offer antivenom treatment, poor access to healthcare due to long distances and geographic barriers, low acceptability of healthcare offered in countryside, lack of use of personal protective equipment, common use of ineffective or deleterious self-care practices, late recognition of serious clinical signs and resistance to seeking medical assistance. Health education, promotion of immediate transport to health centers and decentralization of antivenom from reference hospitals to community healthcare centers in the Brazilian Amazon are more effective strategies that would to maximize access to antivenom treatment.

  DOI

• Prevention of childhood unintentional injuries in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

  PLoS ONE · 2020 · 88 citations

  • Medicine
  • Environmental health
  • Pediatrics

  Injuries are a leading cause of death and disability among children. Numerous injury prevention strategies have been successful in high-income countries, but the majority of unintentional injuries happen to children living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This project aims to delineate the childhood injury prevention initiatives in LMICs. For inclusion, peer-reviewed articles needed to address unintentional injury, include children <18, assess a prevention-related intervention, contain a control group, and be published after 1988. Two pairs of reviewers evaluated articles independently to determine study eligibility. 74 articles were included. 30 studies addressed road traffic injuries, 11 drowning, 8 burns, 3 falls, 8 poisonings, and 21 an unspecified injury type. The findings show positive effects on injury outcome measures following educational interventions, the need for longer follow-up periods after the intervention, the need for effectiveness trials for behavior change, and the need for an increase in injury prevention services in LMICs. This is the first systematic review to summarize the prevention initiatives for all types of childhood unintentional injuries in LMICs. Increased attention and funding are required to go beyond educational initiatives with self-reported measures and little follow-up time to robust interventions that will reduce the global burden of unintentional injuries among children.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• Catherine A. Staton

  Duke Institute for Health Innovation

  832 shared

• Michael M. Haglund

  294 shared

• Blandina T. Mmbaga

  Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre

  196 shared

• Thiago Augusto Hernandes Rocha

  Duke Institute for Health Innovation

  176 shared

• Luciano de Andrade

  149 shared

• Henry E. Rice

  Duke University

  125 shared

• Siddhesh Zadey

  Columbia University

  122 shared

• Charles J. Gerardo

  119 shared

Similar researchers at Duke University

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• Avshalom Caspih-242
• Darell Doty Bignerh-190
• Christopher Bang Newgardh-175
• Kun Shan Carolyn Leeh-168