Exposure to cold weather during a mass gathering in the Philippines.

Problem: The visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines in January 2015 coincided with a tropical storm. For security reasons, the only road in and out of the area was closed 14.5 hours before the Pope's arrival.

Hospital preparedness for Ebola virus disease: a training course in the Philippines.

Objective: To develop, teach and evaluate a training workshop that could rapidly prepare large numbers of health professionals working in hospitals in the Philippines to detect and safely manage Ebola virus disease (EVD). The strategy was to train teams (each usually with five members) of key health professionals from public, private and local government hospitals across the Philippines who could then guide Ebola preparedness in their hospitals.

Methods: The workshop was developed collaboratively by the Philippine Department of Health and the country office of the World Health Organization.

Three years of paediatric morbidity and mortality at the National Hospital in Dili, East Timor.

Aim: The aim of this study was to undertake a retrospective review of admissions and discharges to the paediatric wards at the National Hospital Guido Valadares, Dili, as the epidemiology of hospitalised children in East Timor cannot be easily understood from the hospital health management information system.

Method: Data were sourced from unit registers for 3 years, 2008-2010 inclusive. Demographic characteristics and principal diagnoses were related to the risk of dying using stepwise multivariate logistic regression.

Three years of neonatal morbidity and mortality at the national hospital in Dili, East Timor.

Aim: The aim of this study was to undertake a retrospective review of admissions and discharges to the neonatal unit at the National Hospital Guido Valadares, Dili, in order to gain insight into the epidemiology of hospitalised neonates in East Timor, as the information cannot be obtained from the hospital health management information system.

Method: Data were sourced from unit registers for 3 years, 2008-2010 inclusive. Demographic characteristics and diagnoses were related to the risk of dying using stepwise multivariate logistic regression and adjusting for potential confounders of age, sex and weight.

An outbreak of severe infections with community-acquired MRSA carrying the Panton-Valentine leukocidin following vaccination.

Background: Infections with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are emerging worldwide. We investigated an outbreak of severe CA-MRSA infections in children following out-patient vaccination.

Methods And Findings: We carried out a field investigation after adverse events following immunization (AEFI) were reported.

What parents in Australia know and do about head lice.

Introduction: Although parents in developed market economies regard head lice infections (pediculosis) as a significant problem, health departments generally rate pediculosis as a low priority health issue, encouraging parents to manage and control it. But how well equipped and willing are parents to manage the infections? There do not appear to be any studies in the literature addressing these issues. This article presents the results of a survey conducted in Australia that aimed to answer these questions.

Invasive pneumococcal disease in Victoria: a better measurement of the true incidence.

Invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) notifications are used to monitor IPD vaccination programmes. We conducted sequential deterministic data-linkage between IPD notifications and hospitalization data in Victoria, Australia, in order to determine whether all diagnosed cases were being reported. The proportion of each relevant hospital admission ICD-10-AM code that could be linked to notified cases was calculated.

Multiple sites of exposure in an outbreak of ornithosis in workers at a poultry abattoir and farm.

Cases of ornithosis amongst workers on a rural duck abattoir and farm were notified from late 2003 to health authorities in Victoria, Australia. In May 2004 we conducted a serological survey to identify the extent of exposure to Chlamydophila psittaci amongst workers and a case control study to identify high-risk work areas for ornithosis-related pneumonia. Some workers in all occupational groups showed serological evidence of exposure, while those with pneumonia were more likely to have worked in the slaughtering area of the abattoir (adjusted odds ratio 16.

Evaluating the utility of surveillance data to decision makers in Victoria, Australia.

Objective: Evaluating the utility of surveillance data to decision makers in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: A survey of all sexually transmitted infection program directors in Victoria, Australia, was undertaken to examine readership and use of annual and quarterly reports.

Results: One hundred and sixteen programs in 86 organisations were identified as undertaking sexually transmitted infection control activities in Victoria.

Invasive pneumococcal disease in Australia, 2003.

There were 2,174 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) notified to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) in Australia in 2003; a rate of 10.9 per 100,000 population. The notification rate varied between states and territories and by geographical region with the highest rates in the north of the country.

Effectiveness of a publicly funded pneumococcal vaccination program against invasive pneumococcal disease among the elderly in Victoria, Australia.

Within Australia, Victoria is the only jurisdiction where the 23-valent polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine (23vPPV) has been publicly funded for the elderly (aged > or = 65 years). We compared age-specific rates of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) for periods before and after implementation of the program, and data from a comparable Australian population that does not have a funded program. Vaccine effectiveness (VE) was estimated using the screening and indirect cohort methods.

Invasive pneumococcal disease in Australia, 2002.

There were 2,271 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) notified to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System in Australia in 2002; a rate of 11.5 cases per 100,000 population. The notification rate varied between states and territories and by geographical region with the highest rates in the north of the country.

Head lice prevalence in primary schools in Victoria, Australia.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of and assess risk factors associated with head lice infections (pediculosis) in children from government primary schools in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: Between May and October 2001, children were selected by clustered random sampling of schools and classes, then examined for head lice using hair conditioner and a fine-toothed head lice comb. There were 1838 children screened from 16 primary schools.

The pattern of notification and testing for genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in Victoria, 1998-2000: an ecological analysis.

Objective: This ecological study analyses routinely collected chlamydia notification and testing data to investigate any patterns.

Methods: Age and sex-specific chlamydia notification and testing rates for Victoria were calculated for the period 1998 to 2000.

Results: Chlamydia notification and testing rates rose between 1998 and 2000.