Vaccination

Since November 2014, the Houston Health Department has been receiving antimicrobial resistance information for Streptococcus pneumoniae from a safety net hospital via electronic laboratory reporting (ELR). Antimicrobial characteristics and vaccination rates of pneumococcal disease are of public health interest due to potential implications in treatment and prevention. Ten states participate in the CDC’s Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs) program. Texas, which represents a different and diverse demographic compared to other states, is not an ABCs participating state. No studies have compared local antimicrobial susceptibility percentages to those of the ABCs. The aim of this study is to 1) report the antimicrobial susceptibility of S. pneumoniae in a local cohort, 2) characterize the demographics of the cohort including the use of pneumococcal vaccine, and 3) compare antimicrobial susceptibility percentages of the local cohort to the 2013 ABCs program.

Objective

Our objective is to report the antimicrobial susceptibilities of Streptococcus pneumoniae received from a local safety net hospital via electronic laboratory reporting (ELR), and compare susceptibility percentages with those of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs) program.

The success of public health campaigns in decreasing or eliminating the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases can be undermined by media content influencing vaccine hesitancy in the population. A tool for tracking and describing the ever-growing platforms for such media content can help decide how and where to invest in campaigns to increase public confidence in vaccines. The Vaccine Sentimeter, developed from the Healthmap project, aims to assist public health practitioners in maintaining or improving vaccine coverage through a real-time, online visualization tool of global media content on vaccines.

Objective The current analysis describes the scope and trends in United States content from the Vaccine Sentimeter’s results, while seeking to examine any possible links between media content, vaccine coverage, and reported vaccine adverse events in the country.

Clinical quality measures (CQMs) are tools that help measure and track the quality of health care services. Measuring and reporting CQMs helps to ensure that our health care system is delivering effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered, equitable, and timely care. The CQM for influenza immunization measures the percentage of patients aged 6 months and older seen for a visit between October 1 and March 31 who received (or reports previous receipt of) an influenza immunization. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older receive an influenza immunization every season, which can reduce influenzarelated morbidity and mortality and hospitalizations.

Objective

To explain the utility of using an automated syndromic surveillance program with advanced natural language processing (NLP) to improve clinical quality measures reporting for influenza immunization.

The test-negative design is a variation of the case-control study, in which patients are enrolled in outpatient clinics (and/or hospitals) based on a clinical case definition such as influenza-like illness (ILI). Patients are then tested for influenza virus, and VE is estimated from the odds ratio comparing the odds of vaccination among patients testing positive for influenza versus those testing negative, adjusting for potential confounding factors. The design leverages existing disease surveillance networks and as a result, studies using it are increasingly being reported.

Objective

We aimed to describe the theoretical basis and the potential applications of the test-negative design for estimating influenza vaccination effectiveness in sentinel influenza surveillance.

Rabies is an infectious disease which was and remains to be one of the most serious diseases of all species of hematothermal animals and humans, in many regions of the world. The epizootic situation on rabies in the Republic of Azerbaijan has been unfavorable for many years, which is confirmed by scientific data and the veterinary cases reporting in the EIDSS system. This system was introduced in the country in 2009 and is the electronic System of disease control. The program allows to provide monitoring and prevention of diseases within the concept “One World - One Health System” by integration of systems of observation of animal diseases, human diseases, and disease carriers.

Objective

to show the instability of an epizootic situation on rabies cases of animals in the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the example of the cases analysis in Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) electronic reporting system

Mitigating the spread of infectious disease is of great importance for policy makers. Taking the recent outbreak of Ebola as an example, it was difficult for policy makers to identify the best course of action based on the cost-effectiveness of what was available. In effort to address the needs of policy makers to mitigate the spread of infectious disease before an outbreak becomes uncontrollable, we have devised a cost-benefit disease control model to simulate the effect of various control methods on disease incidence and the cost associated with each of the scenarios. Here, we present a case study of Ebola used to quantify the cost effectiveness of vaccination and isolation methods to minimize the spread of the disease.

Objective

We evaluate the impact of changing strategy levels on the incidence of the disease and address the benefits of choosing one strategy over the other with regards to cost of vaccine and isolation.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease of high public health importance. There have been documented reports of rabies in vaccinated dogs. Rabies is enzootic in domestic dogs in Nigeria. Hence, annual vaccination campaigns of dogs are advocated with the aim of rabies elimination. Vaccination status, type of vaccination and the immunogenicity of the various rabies vaccines used in Abuja Nigeria has not been studied. To date, no effective medical therapy has been established for rabies. Most human rabies deaths occur in the developing countries and though effective and economical control measures are available their application in developing countries is hampered by a range of economic, social and political factors. It is widely recognized that the number of deaths officially reported in most developing countries greatly underestimates the true incidence of disease, with several factors contributing to widespread underreporting. Preventive vaccination against rabies virus is a highly effective method for preventing rabies in humans and animals but do people vaccinate and how long does the immunity conferred by the vaccine remain protective in the dogs in Abuja. Rabies has high financial expenditure burden on any country where it is endemic mainly associated with costs incurred on post-exposure prophylaxis (determined by the type of vaccine, vaccine regimen and route of administration as well as the type of immunoglobulin used).

Objective

To determine the vaccination status of owned dogs, assess the rabies antibody titre of vaccinated dogs and risk factors associated with vaccination of dogs in Abuja, Nigeria.

Rabies is endemic in Tanzania and has circulated on Pemba Island since the late 1990s. In 2010, an elimination programme was initiated in Southern Tanzania to demonstrate that human rabies deaths can be eliminated through mass dog vaccinations. We used active surveillance approaches to investigate the dynamics of rabies across the area where this programme was implemented.

Objective

Using active surveillance approaches to investigate the transmission dynamics of rabies on Pemba Island and across Southern Tanzania, whilst a large-scale dog vaccination program was underway, to gain a greater understanding of the dynamics of infection as the disease is driven towards elimination.