Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Surveillance Activities (surveillance + activity)
Selected AbstractsAustralian surveillance for avian influenza viruses in wild birds between July 2005 and June 2007AUSTRALIAN VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 7 2009L Haynes Objective To identify and gain an understanding of the influenza viruses circulating in wild birds in Australia. Design A total of 16,303 swabs and 3782 blood samples were collected and analysed for avian influenza (AI) viruses from 16,420 wild birds in Australia between July 2005 and June 2007. Anseriformes and Charadriiformes were primarily targeted. Procedures Cloacal, oropharyngeal and faecal (environmental) swabs were tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the AI type A matrix gene. Positive samples underwent virus culture and subtyping. Serum samples were analysed using a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for influenza A virus nucleoprotein. Results No highly pathogenic AI viruses were identified. However, 164 PCR tests were positive for the AI type A matrix gene, 46 of which were identified to subtype. A total of five viruses were isolated, three of which had a corresponding positive PCR and subtype identification (H3N8, H4N6, H7N6). Low pathogenic AI H5 and/or H7 was present in wild birds in New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. Antibodies to influenza A were also detected in 15.0% of the birds sampled. Conclusions Although low pathogenic AI virus subtypes are currently circulating in Australia, their prevalence is low (1.0% positive PCR). Surveillance activities for AI in wild birds should be continued to provide further epidemiological information about circulating viruses and to identify any changes in subtype prevalence. [source] Screening for fetal alcohol syndrome: is it feasible and necessary?ADDICTION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2000Larry Burd The potential to utilize screening strategies to improve the identification and outcome of persons with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is reviewed. FAS is a condition where screening and surveillance activities would be appropriate. Development of FAS screening and surveillance programs is encouraged because the disorder is expensive. People with FAS have poor outcomes as adults with less than 10% living independently. Several useful tools and models are available. Screening would improve ascertainment and prevalence estimates. Early identification could improve access to services and long term outcome, secondary disabilities and, by extension, excess disability in affected children could be decreased. Lastly, mothers who are at the highest risk to have additional children with FAS could be identified and offered treatment. While both screening and surveillance activities are discussed, the principle focus of this article is a review of the screening process. Two screening tools and several screening methodologies for FAS are available. Since no test will be appropriate in all settings, screening tests need to be selected depending on the setting and population of interest. Screening for FAS should be conducted in a variety of settings and in populations of both high and moderate risk. The results would also provide important data to influence public policy development and resource allocation. Appropriate evaluation of the efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness of FAS screening tools and methodologies would be important before utilization in screening programs. [source] Patients' perceptions of nursing care in the hospital settingJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 4 2003Lee A. Schmidt PhD RN Background., Patient satisfaction and patient satisfaction with nursing care data are routinely collected as an indicator of the quality of services delivered. Despite the widespread collection and reporting of these data, the theoretical basis of patient satisfaction and patient satisfaction with nursing care remains unclear. Without a clear theoretical base, interpretation of patient satisfaction findings is hampered and the entire line of patient satisfaction research is of questionable validity. It has been suggested that, to understand patient satisfaction, patient perceptions of their care must first be understood. Aim., The aim of this study was to discover patients' perceptions of the nursing care they receive in the hospital setting. Method., Grounded theory method was used in this study of eight medical,surgical patients recently discharged from an academic medical centre in the south-eastern United States of America (USA). Participants were interviewed and the verbatim transcripts analysed using the constant comparative method. Findings., Four categories of patient perceptions of their nursing care emerged from the data. ,Seeing the individual patient' captures the unique nature of the nursing care experience for each patient. ,Explaining' represents the informal explanations given by nursing staff as they provide care. ,Responding' refers to both the character and timeliness of nursing staff's responses to patient requests or symptoms. ,Watching over' represents the surveillance activities of nursing staff. Conclusions., The categories identified in this study may be used in efforts to further develop a formal theory of patient satisfaction with nursing care. These categories should also be tested with patients possessing a wider range of characteristics, to assess the transferability of the findings. [source] Infection control nurse: a national surveyJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 5 2004R. Quattrin MD Aim, To study presence and activity of Infection Control Nurses (ICN) in Italian National Health System (NHS) hospitals. Background, Infection Control Nurses play an essential and evidence-based role for optimal infrastructure and essential activities of infection control and epidemiology programmes in hospitals. Methods, A survey of all Italian NHS hospitals (N = 529). Hospital health directors were asked to complete a questionnaire with a specific section on ICN presence, activities and roles played. Response rate was 87.5% (463 of 529). Results, More than 50% of hospitals (250 of 463) have an ICN: 25% (116 of 463) have at least one part-time employed ICN and 23.3% (108 of 250) have at least one ICN employed full-time. Infection Control Nurses are more common in hospitals with >250 beds (P < 0.01). Infection Control Nurses working in hospitals with >250 beds are highly active in surveillance activities, personnel education and management of study groups (P < 0.01). Conclusions, In Italian NHS hospitals ICNs have yet to become pillar figures in hospital infection control. [source] A public health collaboration for the surveillance of autism spectrum disordersPAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 2 2007Catherine E. Rice Summary Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) represent a range of behavioural phenotypes defined by impaired development in social interaction, communication, imagination, and range of interests or behaviours. The aetiology and epidemiology of these serious developmental disabilities (DDs) are poorly understood. Estimates of the population prevalence of ASDs have varied widely within the US and abroad, with increasing estimates in most of the recent studies. In an effort to improve our understanding of the prevalence, population characteristics and public health impact of these conditions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has funded a multi-site surveillance network for ASDs and other DDs that consists of programmes known as the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) network which conducts surveillance activities and the Centers for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research and Epidemiology (CADDRE) which also conducts surveillance in addition to special research studies related to the ASDs. This collaboration will be referred to hereafter as the ADDM Network. The ADDM Network is implementing a multiple-source surveillance programme to determine population prevalence and characteristics of ASDs and other DDs. This paper describes the collaborative efforts and explains the methods in developing this coordinated public health surveillance network to provide an ongoing source of high-quality data on ASDs. [source] Using surveillance data to promote occupational health and safety policies and practice at the state level: A case study,,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010Geoffrey M. Calvert MD Abstract Background Following the investigation of a birth defects cluster involving migrant farmworkers employed in North Carolina and Florida, it became clear that greater efforts were needed to protect agricultural workers from pesticide exposure. Methods Documentation is drawn from peer-reviewed published articles, government reports and news accounts. Results The birth defects cluster was identified and investigated by state and federal pesticide poisoning surveillance system staff. Following the investigation, efforts were initiated to highlight pesticides as an important public health issue needing more attention. A series of subsequent events led to the creation and passage of important legislation recently enacted in North Carolina. The legislation resulted in funding to promote various activities to prevent harm from pesticides including strengthening surveillance, improving the quality of pesticide compliance inspections, and increasing and improving pesticide safety training. The legislation also broadened the coverage of anti-retaliation rules to include agricultural workers, and increased recordkeeping requirements pertaining to pesticide applications. Conclusion The important and positive impacts that can occur through surveillance activities are highlighted. As such, it is important to continue to support and improve occupational illness and injury surveillance programs. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:188,193 2010. Published 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Health, medication use, and agricultural injury: A reviewAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 11 2009Donald C. Voaklander PhD Abstract Background Agricultural work in the United States and Canada continues to be one of the most dangerous vocations. Surveillance evidence suggests that older farmers (>60 years of age) are at greater risk of serious injury than their younger counterparts. The purpose of this article was to outline illnesses and medications that may contribute to older farmers' increased risk of agricultural injury and to determine a minimum set of health-related covariates that could be used in farm injury studies. Methods A review of English language literature in Medline, CINAHL, and NIOSH databases was conducted examining disease and medication factors related to farm injury. Results Health- and disease-related factors most commonly reported as significantly contributing to agricultural injury included previous injury, hearing problems, depression, arthritis, and sleep deprivation. The use of "any medication" was identified as a significant risk factor for injury in a number of studies. The use of sleep medication was significantly related to injury in two studies. Conclusions Based on the findings, it is recommended that at a minimum, researchers collect information on the prevalence of previous injury, hearing problems, depression, arthritis/muscular-skeletal problems and sleep disturbance as these have been identified as significant risk factors in a number of studies. In addition, where subjects that identify any of these afflictions, further information should be sought on any medications used in their treatment which can add data on disease severity. More research and surveillance activities need to be focused on the older farm worker. This population is critical to the maintenance of the agricultural base in North America and health and safety research initiatives need to address this. By integrating research from the fields of gerontology, occupational health and safety, and injury prevention, innovative interventions could be constructed to assist the aging farmer in the continuation of safe farming. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:876,889, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||