Alcohol Accessibility and Family Violence-related Ambulance Attendances.

There is substantial evidence supporting the association between alcohol license density and violent crime. However, the impact of different types of alcohol licenses on intimate partner and family violence is sparse. We explored the associations between access to alcohol outlets, and family and intimate partner violence using paramedic clinical records, given this service is often the first to respond to acute crises.

The National Ambulance Surveillance System: A novel method for monitoring acute alcohol, illicit and pharmaceutical drug related-harms using coded Australian ambulance clinical records.

Although harmful consumption of alcohol and other drugs (both illicit and pharmaceutical) significantly contribute to global burden of disease, not all harms are captured within existing morbidity data sources. Indeed, harms occurring in the community may be missed or under-reported. This paper describes the National Ambulance Surveillance System, a unique Australian system for monitoring and mapping acute harms related to alcohol and other drug consumption.

Aggression and violence at ambulance attendances where alcohol, illicit and/or pharmaceutical drugs were recorded: A 5-year study of ambulance records in Victoria, Australia.

Background: This study describes the frequency and characteristics of aggression and/or violence in ambulance attendances involving alcohol, illicit and/or pharmaceutical drug use in Victoria, Australia between January 2012 and January 2017.

Methods: Patient characteristics, context, and substance use involvement in ambulance attendances were examined to determine associations with attendances where aggression and/or violence was recorded.

Results: There were 205,178 ambulance attendances where use of alcohol, pharmaceutical drugs or illicit substances contributed to the reason for the attendance.

Pharmaceutical opioid overdose deaths and the presence of witnesses.

Background: In the past two decades, rates of pharmaceutical opioid use and harms resulting from their use (including death) have risen. The present study identified a series of fatal opioid overdoses where there was evidence that witnesses had noted symptoms consistent with overdose, and examined associated contextual factors.

Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken utilising the Coroners Court of Victoria's Overdose Deaths Register for pharmaceutical opioid overdose deaths between 2011 and 2013.

Absence of detectable influenza RNA transmitted via aerosol during various human respiratory activities--experiments from Singapore and Hong Kong.

Two independent studies by two separate research teams (from Hong Kong and Singapore) failed to detect any influenza RNA landing on, or inhaled by, a life-like, human manikin target, after exposure to naturally influenza-infected volunteers. For the Hong Kong experiments, 9 influenza-infected volunteers were recruited to breathe, talk/count and cough, from 0.1 m and 0.

Timeliness of Salmonella Typhimurium notifications after the introduction of routine MLVA typing in NSW.

Salmonella Typhimurium is the most common bacterial cause of gastrointestinal disease in NSW. Regular review of surveillance procedures ensures system objectives are met and informs improvements in system utility and efficiency. This paper assesses the timeliness and data completeness of NSW Salmonella Typhimurium surveillance after the routine introduction of multilocus variable repeat analysis (MLVA), a rapid sub-typing technique.

Trends in quetiapine use and non-fatal quetiapine-related ambulance attendances.

Introduction And Aims: Concern about the non-medical use of quetiapine and related acute harms is growing. Case series cite quetiapine as a potential drug of misuse, while recent research questions its relative safety in comparison with other atypical antipsychotic preparations. This paper explores population-level patterns of quetiapine-related ambulance attendances over time, identifying associated risk factors and potential subpopulations at-risk of acute harms.