Matthew P Stevens, Sarah E Tan, Leonie Horvath, Christopher K Fairley, Suzanne M Garland, Sepehr N Tabrizi
{"title":"Absence of a Chlamydia trachomatis variant, harbouring a deletion in the cryptic plasmid, in clients of a sexually transmissible infection clinic and antenatal patients in Melbourne.","authors":"Matthew P Stevens, Sarah E Tan, Leonie Horvath, Christopher K Fairley, Suzanne M Garland, Sepehr N Tabrizi","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.10","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.10","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) variant, harbouring a 377 bp deletion in the cryptic plasmid, recently identified in Europe, has caused false-negative reporting of CT infections by various assays. This report is aimed at identifying whether this variant is present among clients of a sexual health clinic, or antenatal screening patients in Melbourne. Two hundred CT-positive specimens (by BDProbeTec ET assay) from Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (August 2005-November 2006) were tested by COBAS TaqMan 48 PCR assay. Discrepancies were tested by an in-house real-time (Re-Ti) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, amplifying a 274-bp region of the omp1 gene. Additionally, 1,071 consecutive specimens from antenatal screening patients at the Royal Women's Hospital (December 2006-April 2007) were tested by COBAS TaqMan 48 and omp1 Re-Ti PCR. The CT variant was not detected among the 200 CT-positive specimens (95% confidence interval 0-2.3%). Three tested CT-negative by COBAS TaqMan 48, omp1 Re-Ti PCR and CT mutant-specific PCR, suggesting sample degradation or differential assay sensitivity. Of the 1,071 antenatal screening specimens, 56 tested CT-positive and 1,015 CT-negative by COBAS TaqMan 48. All of the CT-negatives tested negative by omp1 Re-Ti PCR (95% confidence interval 0-0.5%), with 51 of 56 CT-positives testing positive. These findings show there were no CT variants among attendees of a Melbourne sexual health clinic, nor among antenatal screening patients. It is likely that the variant strain has not yet entered circulation in these populations. However, given the current upsurge in urogenital CT-infections, continued surveillance is necessary to ensure timely detection of this variant, should it be introduced into the population.</p>","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"77-81"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27477823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma R Miller, James E Fielding, Kristina A Grant, Ian G Barr, Georgina Papadakis, Heath A Kelly
{"title":"Higher than expected seasonal influenza activity in Victoria, 2007.","authors":"Emma R Miller, James E Fielding, Kristina A Grant, Ian G Barr, Georgina Papadakis, Heath A Kelly","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.8","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In 2007, the Victorian influenza season exceeded normal seasonal activity thresholds. The average rate of influenza-like illness (ILI) reported by general practitioners (GPs) participating in sentinel surveillance was 9.0 cases per 1,000 consultations, peaking at 22 cases per 1,000 consultations in mid-August. The average ILI rate reported by the Melbourne Medical Locum Service (MMLS) was 11.5 per 1,000 consultations over the season. The MMLS ILI rate peaked at 30 per 1,000 consultations at the same time as peak rates were reported by GPs, with a secondary peak observed three weeks later (22 cases per 1,000 consultations). Influenza cases notified to the Victorian Department of Human Services peaked in mid-August with a secondary peak of influenza A in early September. Of the influenza positive swabs collected by GPs and among those collected throughout the state, 92% were type A and 8% were type B. The most common strains identified in Victoria in the 2007 influenza season were A/ Brisbane/10/2007-like followed by A/Solomon Islands/3/2006-like. While neither virus strain was specifically included in the 2007 Australian influenza vaccine, reasonable cross protection was afforded by the strains in the vaccine.</p>","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"63-70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27477821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kate A Ward, Peter B McIntyre, Carl D Kirkwood, Paul W Roche, Mark J Ferson, Paul G Van Buynder, April R Roberts-Witteveen, Alison M Kesson, Vicki L Krause, Jeremy M McAnulty
{"title":"Rotavirus surveillance in Australia.","authors":"Kate A Ward, Peter B McIntyre, Carl D Kirkwood, Paul W Roche, Mark J Ferson, Paul G Van Buynder, April R Roberts-Witteveen, Alison M Kesson, Vicki L Krause, Jeremy M McAnulty","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.11","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.11","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"82-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27477824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kirsty Hope, Tony Merritt, Keith Eastwood, Kelly Main, David N Durrheim, David Muscatello, Kerry Todd, Wei Zheng
{"title":"The public health value of emergency department syndromic surveillance following a natural disaster.","authors":"Kirsty Hope, Tony Merritt, Keith Eastwood, Kelly Main, David N Durrheim, David Muscatello, Kerry Todd, Wei Zheng","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.13","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.13","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>During a recent natural disaster public health staff required timely and comprehensive surveillance of priority health conditions, including injury, mental health disorders and selected infectious diseases, to inform response and recovery activities. Although traditional surveillance is of value in such settings it is constrained by a focus on notifiable conditions and delays in reporting. The application of an electronic emergency department syndromic surveillance system proved valuable and timely in informing public health activities following a natural disaster in New South Wales.</p>","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"92-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27477826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yvonne A Zurynski, David Lester-Smith, Marino S Festa, Alison M Kesson, Robert Booy, Elizabeth J Elliott
{"title":"Enhanced surveillance for serious complications of influenza in children: role of the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit.","authors":"Yvonne A Zurynski, David Lester-Smith, Marino S Festa, Alison M Kesson, Robert Booy, Elizabeth J Elliott","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.9","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2008.32.9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Influenza contributes significantly to disease burden among children aged less than five years. Existing influenza surveillance systems do not provide detailed data on clinical presentation, management, vaccination status, risk factors and complications in hospitalised children, or link such data with laboratory results. Following a number of child deaths due to influenza in 2007, the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing approached the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) to examine the feasibility of enhancing APSU surveillance to identify children hospitalised with severe complications of influenza. Active, national, weekly surveillance was conducted during September 2007 with reporting by 1,256 Australian paediatricians working in hospitals and outpatient settings. The weekly report card return rate was 93%; detailed clinical data were provided on 88% of all notified cases and 15 children met the case criteria for severe complications of influenza. Admission to hospital occurred within 48 hours of onset of symptoms in over half of the children, of whom 13 had influenza A and two had influenza B, confirmed mostly by polymerase chain reaction on nasopharyngeal aspirate. Serious complications included pneumonia, presumed viral (67%), secondary bacterial infection, shock, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis and hypoglycaemia. No child aged six months or older had been vaccinated against influenza, including three children with underlying chronic conditions. No eligible child received an antiviral agent for influenza. Length of hospital stay ranged from 2 to 34 days; four children were admitted to a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit and one was ventilated. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using the established APSU mechanism for enhanced emergency surveillance during disease outbreaks, emergence or importation.</p>","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"71-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2008-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27477822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Glenda L Lawrence, Padmasiri E Aratchige, Richard Hill
{"title":"Supplementary report: surveillance of adverse events following immunisation among children aged less than 7 years in Australia, 1 January to 30 June 2007.","authors":"Glenda L Lawrence, Padmasiri E Aratchige, Richard Hill","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2007.31.40","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2007.31.40","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"379-82"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27259769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Position statement on interferon-gamma release immunoassays in the detection of latent tuberculosis infection, October 2007.","authors":"","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2007.31.44","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2007.31.44","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"404-5"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27260248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Re: Exercise paton: a simulation exercise to test New South Wales emergency departments' response to pandemic influenza.","authors":"Michelle Cretikos, Keith Eastwood, David Durrheim","doi":"10.33321/cdi.2007.31.48","DOIUrl":"10.33321/cdi.2007.31.48","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":350023,"journal":{"name":"Communicable diseases intelligence quarterly report","volume":" ","pages":"419"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"27260252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}