Infectious Disease

The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa was unprecedented in spread and its attendant response. There were over 15 000 confirmed cases and over 9 000 suspected cases. The response to the outbreak was massive within Africa and beyond. The outbreak in Nigeria affected 19 people and led to 7 deaths (CFR 37%).There were more than 891 contacts of these cases under surveillance as at 23rd September 2014. Nigeria was declared EVD free by the World Health Organization in October 2014. Nationwide there was targeted preparedness to prevent and control EVD. In Zaria, this led to the formation of a joint committee of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) to prevent and control EVD in Zaria and the sub region as a whole.

Objective:

To assess the formation and function of a joint committee of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) to prevent and control EVD in Zaria and the North West sub region of Nigeria.

Since 2004, the French syndromic surveillance system SurSaUD® coordinated by the French Public Health Agency (Sante publique France) daily collects morbidity data from two data sources: the emergency departments (ED) network Oscour® and the emergency general practitioners associations SOS Medecins. Almost 92% of the French ED attendances are recorded by the system. SOS Medecins network is a group of 62 associations of general practitioners, dispatched all over the territory. Sante publique France received data from 61 out of 62 associations. Both data sources collect medical diagnosis, using ICD10 codes in the ED network and specific medical thesaurus in SOS Medecins associations. These data are routinely analyzed to detect and follow-up various expected or unusual public health events all over the territory. The system is also used for reassurance of decision makers. In that framework, in March 2017, the French Ministry of Health requested Sante publique France to validate a potential scarlet fever outbreak in France.

Objective:

Describe a case study of validation of a scarlet fever outbreak using syndromic surveillance data sources.

As a part of the Zika Birth Defects Surveillance, a national effort coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NYC is conducting enhanced surveillance of all births with defects included in the congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) phenotype among infants born in NYC beginning in 2016. The intent of the project is to provide background on the prevalence of these conditions, regardless of cause. The surveillance project builds on the New York State (NYS) Congenital Malformations Registry, a passive, mandatory reporting system that relies on reporting from hospitals and providers. For the Surveillance project, potential cases of Zika-related birth defects (ZBD) are identified by hospital and administrative data of birth records with one or more of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) diagnostic codes associated with CZS.1 The list of included diagnostic codes was specified by the NYS registry following guidance established by CDC. Full medical record chart abstraction of the birth hospital visit of potential cases is then conducted applying further inclusion guidelines to identify ZBD cases. Recent reports of late presentation of birth defects consistent with CZS suggest that some cases are being missed due to identification and diagnosis of the condition after birth.2 As one component of a broader strategy to obtain a more accurate surveillance count, we seek to identify potential ZBD cases first diagnosed in the 6-month postpartum period using Medicaid claims data.

Objective:

To assess the use of Medicaid claims data to conduct surveillance for cases of Zika-related birth defects identified after birth among infants born in New York City (NYC).

Varicella (chickenpox) is a highly transmissible childhood disease. Between 2010 and 2015,it displayed two epidemic waves annually among school populations in Shenzhen, China. However, their transmission dynamics remain unclear and there is no school-based vaccination programme in Shenzhen to-date. In this study, we developed a mathematical model to compare a school-based vaccination intervention scenario with a baseline (i.e. no intervention)scenario.

Objective:

To modell the transmission dynamics of varicella among school children in Shenzhen,to determine the effect of the school-based vaccination intervention.

Public health agencies worldwide all enjoy the same mission—providing healthcare warnings, guidance, and support to the public and healthcare professionals they represent. A critical element in achieving this mission is accessing timely and comprehensive surveillance information about disease in their regions of responsibility. Advances in diagnostic technologies for infectious disease and in the wireless conveyance of information hold great promise for advancing the quality of surveillance information and in facilitating the delivery of timely, accurate, and impactful public health information. Quidel Corporation has developed a cloud–based, wireless communications system that is fully integrated with its Sofia fluorescence immunoassay (FIA) platform for rapid, point-of-care diagnosis of infectious disease. The system, called the Virena Global Wireless Surveillance System (hereinafter, Virena) provides test results to public health organizations and other appropriate entities in near-real time. Currently, more than 4,000 Sofia instruments are transmitting results automatically by Virena. This presentation describes the use of Virena in surveilling influenza in the U.S. in the 2016-2017 influenza season, when over 700,000 influenza-like-illness (ILI) patient results were transmitted. The methods employed, results, and the promise of this innovative system will be discussed.

Objective:

Demonstrate performance of the Virena Global Wireless Surveillance System, an automated platform utilized in conjunction with the Sofia FIA Analyzer, for near real-time transmission of infectious disease test results to public health and other healthcare organizations.

Transmission and amplification of influenza within schools has been purported as a driving mechanism for subsequent outbreaks in surrounding communities. However, the number of studies assessing the utility of monitoring school absenteeism as an indicator of influenza in the community is limited. ORCHARDS was initiated to evaluate the relationships between all-cause (a-Tot), illness-related (a-I), and influenza-like illness (ILI)-related absenteeism (a-ILI) within a school district and medically attended influenza A or B visits within the same community.

Objective:

The Oregon Child Absenteeism due to Respiratory Disease Study (ORCHARDS) was implemented to assess the relationships between cause-specific absenteeism within a school district and medically attended influenza visits within the same community.

In the early morning of Friday January 20, 2017, Toronto Public Health (TPH) was notified of several reports of acute vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain/cramps among students living in residence at a post-secondary institution in Toronto, Canada. A public health investigation was initiated and it was quickly determined that a large number of students and visitors to the campus were affected. Following considerable media coverage, TPH began receiving an overwhelmingly high volume of reports from ill individuals who lived, visited, or worked at the college campus and had experienced gastrointestinal illness.

Objective:

To describe the use of an online survey tool to rapidly collect data from a large community outbreak of enteric illness in Toronto, Canada.

Infectious diseases are still the cause of a large number of deaths in Ukraine. Analysis of infectious mortality allows the study of the dynamics of diseases that pose the greatest danger. In particular, those that are vaccine-preventable and suggest more effective methods for organizing an epidemic surveillance system.

Objective:

The aim of this work was to determine the impact of vaccination on the dynamics of mortality and the contribution of vaccine preventable infections to the structure of total infectious mortality of the population of Ukraine over the past 50 years to develop a more effective system of surveillance for this group of infections.

Influenza is one of the significant causes of morbidity and mortality globally. Previous studies have demonstrated the benefit of laboratory surveillance and its capability to accurately detect influenza outbreaks earlier than syndromic surveillance.1-3 Current laboratory surveillance has an approximately 4-week lag due to laboratory test turn-around time, data collection and data analysis. As part of strengthening influenza virus surveillance in response to the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the real-time laboratory-based influenza surveillance system, the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Surveillance System (BDMS-SS), was developed in 2010 by the Bangkok Health Research Center (BHRC). The primary objective of the BDMS-SS is to alert relevant stakeholders on the incidence trends of the influenza virus. Type-specific results along with patient demographic and geographic information were available to physicians and uploaded for public health awareness within 24 hours after patient nasopharyngeal swab was collected. This system advances early warning and supports better decision making during infectious disease events.2 The BDMS-SS operates all year round collecting results of all routinely tested respiratory clinical samples from participating hospitals from the largest group of private hospitals in Thailand.

Objective:

We describe the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Surveillance System (BDMS-SS) and use of surveillance efforts for influenza as an example of surveillance capability in near real-time among a network of 20 hospitals in the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services group (BDMS).

Respiratory pathogens continue to present an ever increasing threat to public health. Influenza, Respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus and other respiratory viruses are major etiological agents for influenza like illnesses (ILI). Establishment of viral causes of ILI is critical for prevention and mitigation strategies to disease threats. Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) together with the Ugandan Ministry of Health and partners undertook surveillance to determine viral causes of influenza-like illness in Uganda.

Objective:

To determine viral causes of influenza-like illness in Uganda.