Event management systems (EMS) are key tools for epidemic intelligence, integrating surveillance signals and incident response, although international standards to inform development are lacking. We describe the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) SITAware, a software capable of operating with low internet bandwidth to generate notifications, reports, and spatiotemporal dashboards and provide event-level data for real-time accountability and postevent learning. SITAware was enabled by local institutional ownership, co-created at low cost, and integrated into existing workflows.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The burden and influence of health-care associated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections is unknown. We aimed to examine the use of rapid SARS-CoV-2 sequencing combined with detailed epidemiological analysis to investigate health-care associated SARS-CoV-2 infections and inform infection control measures.
Methods: In this prospective surveillance study, we set up rapid SARS-CoV-2 nanopore sequencing from PCR-positive diagnostic samples collected from our hospital (Cambridge, UK) and a random selection from hospitals in the East of England, enabling sample-to-sequence in less than 24 h.
Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are significant causes of both upper and lower respiratory tract infections with type 3 (HPIV3) causing the most severe disease in the immunocompromised cohorts. The objective of this study was to analyse the epidemiological nature of a cluster of cases of HPIV3 in a pediatric oncology unit of a major teaching hospital. In order to determine whether the activity observed represented a deviation from the norm, seasonal trends of HPIV3 in the surrounding geographical area as well as on the ward in question were analysed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn early 2017, a United Kingdom (UK)-born person in their 20s presented with a skin ulcer on the foot 3 weeks after returning from Ghana. The patient had last received a diphtheria-containing vaccine in 2013, completing the recommended course. MALDI-TOF of a cutaneous swab identified .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigated a large outbreak of O157 in the United Kingdom (UK) with 165 cases between 31 May and 29 July 2016. No linked cases were reported in other countries. Cases were predominately female (n = 128) and adult (n = 150), 66 attended hospital and nine had features of haemorrhagic uraemic syndrome.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethods: We compared time from hospital admission to death in a probability sample of 100 Clostridium difficile infected cases and a probability sample of 98 non-cases admitted to an English teaching hospital between 2005 and 2007 with follow up in the UK national death register using survival analysis.
Results: Clostridium difficile infection was associated with a 50% increased risk of death (Hazard Ratio 1.51 (95% CI: 1.
Background: Increasing numbers of individuals with cystic fibrosis are becoming infected with the multidrug-resistant non-tuberculous mycobacterium (NTM) Mycobacterium abscessus, which causes progressive lung damage and is extremely challenging to treat. How this organism is acquired is not currently known, but there is growing concern that person-to-person transmission could occur. We aimed to define the mechanisms of acquisition of M abscessus in individuals with cystic fibrosis.
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