Integrating General Practice Into the Australian COVID-19 Response: A Description of the General Practitioner Respiratory Clinic Program in Australia.

Integrating primary care with the health response is key to managing pandemics and other health emergencies. In recognition of this, the Australian Government established a network of respiratory clinics led by general practitioners in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as part of broader measures aimed at supporting primary care. General practitioner (GP) respiratory clinics provide holistic face-to-face assessment and treatment to those with respiratory symptoms in an environment with strict protocols for infection prevention and control.

Protecting Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care Facilities From COVID-19: A Rapid Review of International Evidence.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the extreme vulnerability of older people and other individuals who reside in long-term care, creating an urgent need for evidence-based policy that can adequately protect these community members. This study aimed to provide synthesized evidence to support policy decision making.

Design: Rapid narrative review investigating strategies that have prevented or mitigated SARS-CoV-2 transmission in long-term care.

"A decade's worth of work in a matter of days": The journey to telehealth for the whole population in Australia.

Introduction: Internationally the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a dramatic and unprecedented shift in telehealth uptake as a means of protecting healthcare consumers and providers through remote consultation modes. Early in the pandemic, Australia implemented a comprehensive and responsive set of policy measures to support telehealth. Initially targeted at protecting vulnerable individuals, including health professionals, this rapidly expanded to a "whole population" approach as the pandemic evolved.

Transmission of influenza on international flights, may 2009.

Understanding the dynamics of influenza transmission on international flights is necessary for prioritizing public health response to pandemic incursions. A retrospective cohort study to ascertain in-flight transmission of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 and influenza-like illness (ILI) was undertaken for 2 long-haul flights entering Australia during May 2009. Combined results, including survey responses from 319 (43%) of 738 passengers, showed that 13 (2%) had an ILI in flight and an ILI developed in 32 (5%) passengers during the first week post arrival.

The Australian response: pandemic influenza preparedness.

Australia's preparedness for a potential influenza pandemic involves many players, from individual health carers to interdepartmental government committees. It embraces a wide number of strategies from the management of the disease to facilitating business continuity. The key strategy underlying Australia's planned response is an intensive effort to reduce transmission of the virus.

Border screening for SARS in Australia: what has been learnt?

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the Australian border entry screening program to detect arriving travellers with symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Design And Setting: Descriptive study of outcomes of screening at Australian airports and seaports between 5 April 2003 and 16 June 2003. To determine the number of international travellers who were symptomatic on arrival in Australia but missed by screening, data were obtained on the number of arrivals screened and the number with symptoms (from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service [AQIS]), as well as the number of people investigated for SARS (from the Australian SARS Case Register).

Influenza vaccination of staff in aged care facilities in the ACT: how can we improve the uptake of influenza vaccine?

Objective: To examine the self-reported uptake of influenza vaccine by staff in residential aged care facilities in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and the factors influencing vaccine uptake by staff.

Methods: Two confidential cross-sectional surveys were conducted in all (n = 19) residential aged care facilities in the ACT in June 2000. An interview with directors of each facility collected information on the institutional policy and practices for influenza vaccination.

Effect of beta lactam antibiotic use in children on pneumococcal resistance to penicillin: prospective cohort study.

Objective: To examine the relation between use of antibiotics in a cohort of preschool children and nasal carriage of resistant strains of pneumococcus.

Design And Participants: Prospective cohort study over two years of 461 children aged under 4 years living in Canberra, Australia.

Main Outcome Measures: Use of drugs, respiratory symptoms, and visits to doctors were documented in a daily diary by parents of the children during 25 months of observation.