{"title":"Infection and communicable disease control in Wales.","authors":"A J Howard","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"270-1"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454658","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":"Health protection in Scotland--where next?","authors":"T Brett, M Donaghy","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"272-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454659","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":"Has licensing improved hygiene in butchers' shops?","authors":"L Cree, R House, J M Cowden","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"275-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454660","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":"The continuing quest for a pre-mortem test for TSEs.","authors":"J P Clewley","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"352-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454543","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}
O W Morgan, M Meltzer, D Muir, H Hogan, C Seng, J Hill, J Beckford
{"title":"Specialist vaccination advice and pockets of resistance to MMR vaccination: lessons from an outbreak of measles.","authors":"O W Morgan, M Meltzer, D Muir, H Hogan, C Seng, J Hill, J Beckford","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>An outbreak of measles was associated with a private nursery school in north west London. Sixteen cases were identified of whom 13 were laboratory confirmed. The majority of cases were aged three years or younger. Older cases were siblings of younger cases. None of the cases had been vaccinated against measles. In the nursery school 33% of the children had not received MMR vaccination. Based on specialist advice from the Health Protection Agency the outbreak control team recommended that children with no history of MMR vaccination should have a first MMR dose as soon as possible and that children with one MMR dose should receive the second dose as soon as possible (minimum of one month between doses). Some parents had strong negative views about MMR and represented 'pockets of resistance' to vaccination advice. The specialist vaccination advice, which was different to national immunisation guidelines, also caused some confusion amongst other health professionals. With a decrease in MMR vaccination uptake and resulting increased potential for future measles outbreaks, clinicians should be aware of and understand specialist vaccination advice intended to deal with outbreaks.</p>","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"330-3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454541","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":"Chest physicians' and microbiologists' awareness and demand for drug monitoring in the treatment of TB.","authors":"S Pooransingh, E G Smith, J A Innes","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is a role for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to achieve the optimum therapeutic concentration of anti-tuberculous drugs. This work aimed to determine the current awareness of TDM in TB control among chest physicians and to estimate the demand for this service. Responses from a sample of chest physicians in the West Midlands revealed that 60% were aware of TDM and 33% had used it. Responses were received from half of a UK group of microbiologists who reported a median of nine requests in the past year. It appeared that more was known about services for rifampicin and streptomycin than other first-line drugs. There appears to be a need for both increased awareness among potential service users and for coordination of assay services.</p>","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"317-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454538","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}
J V Parry, P P Mortimer, K R Perry, D Pillay, M Zuckerman
{"title":"Towards error-free HIV diagnosis: guidelines on laboratory practice.","authors":"J V Parry, P P Mortimer, K R Perry, D Pillay, M Zuckerman","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Error can have multiple causes. These guidelines set out the most common reasons for inaccuracies in HIV testing and indicate how they can be avoided. Emphasis is placed on laboratory procedures as during over 15 years experience they, rather than the kits and reagents, have proved to be the most frequent source of error.</p>","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"334-50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454542","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":"Secular trends in the occurrence of tuberculosis in an urban community in north west England, 1918-2001: implications for a local tuberculosis control programme.","authors":"C M Regan, E Coffey, K Tocque, M Ashton, Q Syed","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In recent years enhanced surveillance of tuberculosis has been undertaken for England and Wales to monitor national epidemiological trends. The Chief Medical Officer's strategy for communicable diseases has identified the development of a national strategy for the control of tuberculosis as a priority. Regional and sub-regional variations in the occurrence of tuberculosis require further exploration to inform local implementation of the national strategy. Secular epidemiological trends in tuberculosis for the period 1918-2001 are described for a deprived urban area in the north west of England, and implications for local enhanced surveillance and control measures are discussed. A substantial decline in mortality and morbidity from tuberculosis is shown due to interruption of transmission following improvements to the housing stock and the introduction of chemotherapy and BCG vaccination. The proportion of incident cases of tuberculosis in non-white groups has markedly increased over the period observed. The local tuberculosis control programme now specifically targets recent non-white immigrants. Other urban areas may need to adopt similar measures to improve local control of tuberculosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"311-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454537","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":"Use of external contractors.","authors":"Paul Tearle","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many organisations, including a number of NHS Trusts, have over the last decade reduced both support and operational staff as a means of cost cutting. Along with these changes the use of external contractors to perform tasks that were once established 'in-house' procedures has increased. In this changing environment it is essential to maintain an effective safety culture and appropriate liaison with the external contractor in order to ensure that those persons coming on to a site not only understand what is required of them, but also know how to perform the required tasks in a safe and efficient manner which takes account of any special local precautions that may be necessary. This article looks at the selection and use of external contractors and the need for adequate safety management systems in order to maintain an accident free environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"358-60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454545","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":"Molecular diversity of noroviruses associated with outbreaks on cruise ships: comparison with strains circulating within the UK.","authors":"C I Gallimore, A F Richards, J J Gray","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The molecular diversity of norovirus (NV) strains associated with 26 outbreaks of NV gastroenteritis has been determined. The outbreaks occurred on 14 cruise ships from seven cruise lines, during the period from 1998 to 2002. The ships cruised in seas worldwide, including the Mediterranean, the Baltic and the Caribbean. Genogroup I NVs were more common in the cruise ship setting than in hospitals, with 38% of the cruise ship outbreaks associated with genotype I NVs, as compared to < 10% in hospital and other semi-closed institutions in the UK. Outbreaks on cruise ships were more common in the period April to September, than in the winter. Two mixed genogroup I and II outbreaks were detected, which suggested contaminated food or water as the source of the infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":72640,"journal":{"name":"Communicable disease and public health","volume":"6 4","pages":"285-93"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2003-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24454663","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}