Western Pacific Surveillance and Response最新文献

{"title":"Maintaining health-system functionality in response to the surge of COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, Japan.","authors":"Yuki Moriyama, Saho Takaya, Takeshi Nishijima, Howard L Sobel, Norio Ohmagari","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.5.1048","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.5.1048","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Problem: </strong>The Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 caused the largest surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Japan starting in the summer of 2022. We describe the mechanisms introduced to provide appropriate health care to all Omicron cases, provide appropriate health care to all non-COVID-19 patients, and protect health-care workers (HCWs) while providing necessary health services. Optimization of care for elderly patients was particularly important.</p><p><strong>Context: </strong>Japan is home to 125 million people, of whom 28.6% are 65 years or older. Between January and June 2022, the country experienced 4.3 times more COVID-19 cases than in the previous 2 years (7.3 million vs 1.7 million).</p><p><strong>Action: </strong>To adjust care pathways, inpatient treatment capacity was increased, a home-based care system was established, and an on-site treatment scheme at long-term care facilities was started. Among essential health services, disruption of emergency care became most noticeable. Administrative and financial support was provided to hospitals with emergency departments to maintain emergency medical services. To protect HCWs while maintaining hospital services, flexible exemptions were introduced to enable those who became close contacts to return to work, and broadly targeted contact tracing and testing in case of nosocomial outbreaks were all helpful.</p><p><strong>Outcome: </strong>As a result of the adjustments made to inpatient capacity and patient flow, bed occupancy for COVID-19 patients decreased, mostly because many patients were cared for at home or in temporary-care facilities.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>From this study, we extracted two essential lessons to aid in current and future health emergencies: how to balance the provision of acute medical care for elderly patients and maintain their well-being; and how to maintain essential health services.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10912826/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140050420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network deployments during the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO Western Pacific Region.","authors":"Sharon Salmon, Simon Brinkwirth, Gianluca Loi, Jocelyne M Basseal","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.5.1060","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.5.1060","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Problem: </strong>The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) has responded to more than 100 outbreaks during the past 23 years. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic presented unprecedented operational constraints that challenged GOARN's core mission to rapidly deploy technical experts from its partners to support national in-country responses to public health emergencies. This paper describes the type and duration of GOARN deployments to and within the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Western Pacific Region during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><strong>Context: </strong>Despite strict border closures and ever-changing vaccination and quarantine requirements, GOARN continued to deploy international technical assistance to strengthen COVID-19 response operations within the Region, as requested.</p><p><strong>Action: </strong>Data were analysed from the GOARN Knowledge Platform about deployments to and within the Region for responses to the COVID-19 pandemic between 1 January 2020 and 5 May 2023. Data were available about deployment duration, technical role requested, country or area, partner organization and deployed expert's demographics. Feedback from postdeployment briefings with the experts was collected and thematically analysed to determine ongoing needs and gaps to help improve deployment operations.</p><p><strong>Outcome: </strong>There were 72 experts deployed on 89 missions through GOARN to 12 countries and areas in the Region, for a total of 4558 field days, to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The volume of requests for assistance from countries and areas in the Region to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered a deficit in human resources available for domestic response to outbreaks and the reliance on international assistance. Strengthening the in-country capacity of ready-to-respond public health emergency staff is critical to meet the needs for outbreak response. The ongoing demand for technical experts to support national responses means that these lessons may have immediate implications.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10948340/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140176777","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) focal point engagement meeting with partners in Japan.","authors":"Haruka Iwasaki, Sharon Salmon, Yukimasa Matsuzawa, Sangnim Lee, Kanae Takagi, Hidetoshi Nomoto, Masahiro Ishikane, Mugen Ujiie, Norio Ohmagari","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.5.1100","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.5.1100","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10958120/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140207739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Looking back, looking forward: lessons from COVID-19 communication measurement, evaluation and learning (MEL).","authors":"Oxana Onilov, Dexin Gong, Kimberly Chriscaden, Jargalan Tsogt, Maria Socorro Melic, Rosemarie Urquico, Anna Biernat, Anna Postovoitova, Lieke Visser, Nancy Wong, Rosemarie North, Olivia Lawe-Davies","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.1.1056","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.1.1056","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Problem: </strong>Communication is an integral component of an emergency response, including to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Designing effective communication requires systematic measurement, evaluation and learning.</p><p><strong>Context: </strong>In the Western Pacific Region, the World Health Organization (WHO) responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by using the Communication for Health (C4H) approach. This included the development and application of a robust measurement, evaluation and learning (MEL) framework to assess the effectiveness of COVID-19 communication, and to share and apply lessons in real time to continuously strengthen the pandemic response.</p><p><strong>Action: </strong>MEL was applied during the planning, implementation and summative evaluation phases of COVID-19 communication, with evidence-based insights and recommendations continuously integrated in succeeding phases of the COVID-19 response.</p><p><strong>Lessons learned: </strong>This article captures good practices that helped WHO to implement MEL during the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on lessons from the evaluation process, including the importance of planning, data integration, collaboration, partnerships, piggybacking, using existing data and leveraging digital media.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Despite some limitations, the systematic application of MEL to COVID-19 communication shows its value in the planning and implementation of effective, evidence-based communication to address public health challenges. It enables the evaluation of outcomes and reflection on lessons identified to strengthen the response to the current pandemic and future emergencies.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10796270/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139512980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tuberculosis in elderly Australians: a 10-year retrospective review.","authors":"Yasmin Lisson, Aparna Lal, Ben J Marais, Anna Glynn-Robinson","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.1.1040","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2024.15.1.1040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This report describes the epidemiology of active tuberculosis (TB) in elderly Australians (≥ 65 years) with analysis of the factors associated with TB disease and successful treatment outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective study of TB cases reported to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System over a 10-year period from 2011 to 2020 was conducted. Cases were stratified by sex, age, risk factors, drug resistance, treatment type and outcome. Notification rates and incidence rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated and factors associated with treatment success analysed using multivariable logistic regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 2231 TB cases among elderly people were reported over the study period, with a 10-year mean incidence rate of 6.2 per 100 000 population. The median age of cases was 75 years (range 65-100 years); most were male (65%) and born overseas (85%). Multivariable analysis found that successful treatment outcome was strongly associated with younger age, while unsuccessful treatment outcome was associated with being diagnosed within the first 2 years of arrival in Australia, ever having resided in an aged-care facility and resistance to fluoroquinolones.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Compared to other low-incidence settings in the Western Pacific Region, TB incidence in elderly people is low and stable in Australia, with most cases occurring among recent migrants from TB-endemic settings. Continued efforts to reduce TB importation and address migrant health, especially among elderly people, are important.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10796269/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139512998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"WPSAR after 14 volumes: achievements and future directions.","authors":"Ashley Arashiro, Michelle McPherson, Roxanne Andaya, Don Rivada, Babatunde Olowokure","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.4.1136","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.4.1136","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10789723/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139479148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Use of a catch-up programme to improve routine immunization in 13 provinces of Papua New Guinea, 2020-2022.","authors":"Dessie Ayalew Mekonnen, Mathias Bauri, Martha Pogo, Mei Shang, Deborah Bettels, Shaikh Humayun Kabir, Waramin Edward, Bieb Sibauk, Milena Dalton, Geoff Miller, Ananda Amarasinghe, Yoshihiro Takashima, Dapeng Luo, Sevil Huseynova","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.4.1055","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.4.1055","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Routine immunization coverage in Papua New Guinea has decreased in the past 5 years. This persistently low routine immunization coverage has resulted in low population immunity and frequent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease across the country. We describe the use of a catch-up programme to improve routine immunization during the coronavirus disease pandemic in Papua New Guinea during 2020-2022.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In June 2020, 13 provinces of Papua New Guinea were selected to undergo a vaccination catch-up programme, with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund. Twelve provinces received financial and logistic support through the Accelerated Immunization and Health Systems Strengthening programme, and one received support from WHO. All stakeholders were involved in planning and implementing the catch-up programme.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Between July 2020 and June 2022, about 340 health facilities conducted catch-up activities. The highest number of children aged under 1 year were vaccinated in 2022 (<i>n</i> = 33 652 for third dose of pentavalent vaccine). The national coverage of routine immunization (including the catch-up vaccinations) increased between 2019 and 2020 - by 5% for the third dose of pentavalent vaccine, 11% for the measles-rubella vaccine and 16% for the inactivated poliovirus vaccine. The coverage declined slightly in 2021 before increasing again in 2022.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The catch-up programme was an instrumental tool to improve routine immunization coverage between 2020 and 2022 and during the pandemic in Papua New Guinea. With appropriate technical and logistic support, including financial and human resources, catch-up programmes can strengthen routine immunization coverage across the country.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10789724/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139478995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developing and maintaining health emergency response capacity: Palau's national emergency medical team.","authors":"May Morag Ferguson, Sean T Casey, Wally Omengkar, Gaafar J Uherbelau, Terepkul Ngiraingas, Belinda Eungel","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.6.1039","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.6.1039","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10824631/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139651821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pathogens detected from patients with acute respiratory infections negative for SARS-CoV-2, Saitama, Japan, 2020.","authors":"Kodai Miyashita, Hayato Ehara, Kyoko Tomioka, Kazue Uchida, Hirokazu Fukushima, Tsuyoshi Kishimoto, Asao Honda","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.4.1057","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.4.1057","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>During the coronavirus disease pandemic in Japan, all patients with respiratory symptoms were initially tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This study describes the respiratory pathogens detected from patients who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 at the Saitama Institute of Public Health from January to December 2020.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed pathogen retrieval using multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction on samples from patients with acute respiratory diseases who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 in Saitama in 2020 and analysed the results by age and symptoms.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>There were 1530 patients aged 0-104 years (1727 samples), with 14 pathogens detected from 213 patients (245 samples). Most pathogens were human metapneumovirus (25.4%, 54 cases), rhinovirus (16.4%, 35 cases) and <i>Mycoplasma pneumoniae</i> (13.1%, 23 cases). Human metapneumovirus, human coronavirus (but not NL63) and <i>M. pneumoniae</i> were detected in almost all age groups without any significant bias. Seasonal human coronaviruses, human metapneumovirus, <i>M. pneumoniae</i> and several other pathogens were detected until April 2020.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Multiple respiratory pathogens were circulating during 2020 in Saitama, including SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses. We suggest introducing a system that can comprehensively monitor the regional prevalence of all viruses that cause acute respiratory infections.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10789720/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139478975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tailoring a national emergency medical team training package for Pacific island countries and areas.","authors":"Erin Elizabeth Noste, Anthony T Cook, Jan-Erik Larsen, Simon Cowie, Sean T Casey","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.6.1033","DOIUrl":"10.5365/wpsar.2023.14.6.1033","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10824629/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139651823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}