Pub Date : 2022-07-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.926
Abdur Rahman Rubel, Panduru Venkata Kishore, May Thu Hla Aye, Nor Azian Hafneh, Vui Heng Chong
Mycobacterium africanum is endemic to West Africa and is rare outside this region. Most of the people infected with M. africanum outside Africa are migrants from affected parts of Africa. We report a rare case of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) secondary to M. africanum in a man in Brunei Darussalam who had lived and worked in Guinea, West Africa for 6 years more than 20 years ago. He had been well until December 2020, when he presented with a chronic cough and was diagnosed with coinfections of Klebsiella pneumoniae and M. africanum, and newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. This case highlights an interesting manifestation of pulmonary TB secondary to M. africanum in a patient whose last exposure was 20 years ago, contributed to by development of diabetes mellitus.
{"title":"A rare presentation of <i>Mycobacterium africanum</i> after two decades: a case report from Brunei Darussalam.","authors":"Abdur Rahman Rubel, Panduru Venkata Kishore, May Thu Hla Aye, Nor Azian Hafneh, Vui Heng Chong","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.926","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.926","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Mycobacterium africanum</i> is endemic to West Africa and is rare outside this region. Most of the people infected with \u2028<i>M. africanum</i> outside Africa are migrants from affected parts of Africa. We report a rare case of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) secondary to <i>M. africanum</i> in a man in Brunei Darussalam who had lived and worked in Guinea, West Africa for 6 years more than 20 years ago. He had been well until December 2020, when he presented with a chronic cough and was diagnosed with coinfections of <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> and <i>M. africanum</i>, and newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. This case highlights an interesting manifestation of pulmonary TB secondary to <i>M. africanum</i> in a patient whose last exposure was 20 years ago, contributed to by development of diabetes mellitus.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831599/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10598811","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}
Objective: Monitoring the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants is important due to concerns regarding infectivity, transmissibility, immune evasion and disease severity. We evaluated the temporal and regional replacement of previous SARS-CoV-2 variants by the emergent strains, Alpha and Delta.
Methods: We obtained the results of polymerase chain reaction screening tests for variants conducted in multiple commercial laboratories. Assuming that all previous strains would be replaced by one variant, the new variant detection rate was estimated by fitting a logistic growth model. We estimated the transmission advantage of each new variant over the pre-existing virus strains.
Results: The variant with the N501Y mutation was first identified in the Kinki region in early February 2021, and by early May, it had replaced more than 90% of the previous strains. The variant with the L452R mutation was first detected in the Kanto-Koshin region in mid-May, and by early August, it comprised more than 90% of the circulating strains. Compared with pre-existing strains, the variant with the N501Y mutation showed transmission advantages of 48.2% and 40.3% in the Kanto-Koshin and Kinki regions, respectively, while the variant with the L452R mutation showed transmission advantages of 60.1% and 71.9%, respectively.
Discussion: In Japan, Alpha and Delta variants displayed regional differences in the replacement timing and their relative transmission advantages. Our method is efficient in monitoring and estimating changes in the proportion of variant strains in a timely manner in each region.
{"title":"Replacement of SARS-CoV-2 strains with variants carrying N501Y and L452R mutations in Japan: an epidemiological surveillance assessment.","authors":"Yusuke Kobayashi, Takeshi Arashiro, Miyako Otsuka, Yuuki Tsuchihashi, Takuri Takahashi, Yuzo Arima, Yura K Ko, Kanako Otani, Masato Yamauchi, Taro Kamigaki, Tomoko Morita-Ishihara, Hiromizu Takahashi, Sana Uchikoba, Michitsugu Shimatani, Nozomi Takeshita, Motoi Suzuki, Makoto Ohnishi","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.943","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.943","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Monitoring the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants is important due to concerns regarding infectivity, transmissibility, immune evasion and disease severity. We evaluated the temporal and regional replacement of previous SARS-CoV-2 variants by the emergent strains, Alpha and Delta.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We obtained the results of polymerase chain reaction screening tests for variants conducted in multiple commercial laboratories. Assuming that all previous strains would be replaced by one variant, the new variant detection rate was estimated by fitting a logistic growth model. We estimated the transmission advantage of each new variant over the pre-existing virus strains.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The variant with the N501Y mutation was first identified in the Kinki region in early February 2021, and by early May, it had replaced more than 90% of the previous strains. The variant with the L452R mutation was first detected in the Kanto-Koshin region in mid-May, and by early August, it comprised more than 90% of the circulating strains. Compared with pre-existing strains, the variant with the N501Y mutation showed transmission advantages of 48.2% and 40.3% in the Kanto-Koshin and Kinki regions, respectively, while the variant with the L452R mutation showed transmission advantages of 60.1% and 71.9%, respectively.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>In Japan, Alpha and Delta variants displayed regional differences in the replacement timing and their relative transmission advantages. Our method is efficient in monitoring and estimating changes in the proportion of variant strains in a timely manner in each region.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831602/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10604975","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}
The establishment of enhanced surveillance systems for mass gatherings to detect infectious diseases that may be imported during an event is recommended. The World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific contributed to enhanced event-based surveillance for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games) by using Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) to detect potential imported diseases and report them to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Japan. Daily screening of media articles on global infectious diseases was conducted using EIOS, which were systematically assessed to determine the likelihood of disease importation, spread and significant impact to Japan during the Games. Over 81 days of surveillance, 103 830 articles were screened by EIOS, of which 5441 (5.2%) met the selection criteria for initial assessment, with 587 (0.6%) assessed as signals and reported to NIID. None of the signals were considered to pose a significant risk to the Games based on three risk assessment criteria. While EIOS successfully captured media articles on infectious diseases with a likelihood of importation to and spread in Japan, a significant manual effort was required to assess the articles for duplicates and against the risk assessment criteria. Continued improvement of artificial intelligence is recommended to reduce this effort.
{"title":"Use of Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources for global event-based surveillance of infectious diseases for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.","authors":"Manami Yanagawa, John Carlo Lorenzo, Munehisa Fukusumi, Tomoe Shimada, Ayu Kasamatsu, Masayuki Ota, Manami Nakashita, Miho Kobayashi, Takuya Yamagishi, Anita Samuel, Tomohiko Ukai, Katsuki Kurosawa, Miho Urakawa, Kensuke Takahashi, Keiko Tsukada, Akane Futami, Hideya Inoue, Shun Omori, Hiroko Komiya, Takahisa Shimada, Sakiko Tabata, Yuichiro Yahata, Hajime Kamiya, Tomimasa Sunagawa, Tomoya Saito, Viema Biaukula, Tatiana Metcalf, Dina Saulo, Tamano Matsui, Babatunde Olowokure","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.959","url":null,"abstract":"The establishment of enhanced surveillance systems for mass gatherings to detect infectious diseases that may be imported during an event is recommended. The World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific contributed to enhanced event-based surveillance for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games) by using Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) to detect potential imported diseases and report them to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Japan. Daily screening of media articles on global infectious diseases was conducted using EIOS, which were systematically assessed to determine the likelihood of disease importation, spread and significant impact to Japan during the Games. Over 81 days of surveillance, 103 830 articles were screened by EIOS, of which 5441 (5.2%) met the selection criteria for initial assessment, with 587 (0.6%) assessed as signals and reported to NIID. None of the signals were considered to pose a significant risk to the Games based on three risk assessment criteria. While EIOS successfully captured media articles on infectious diseases with a likelihood of importation to and spread in Japan, a significant manual effort was required to assess the articles for duplicates and against the risk assessment criteria. Continued improvement of artificial intelligence is recommended to reduce this effort.","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831600/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10828177","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}
Pub Date : 2022-07-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.925
Muhammad Umer Malik, Muhammad Syafiq Abdullah, Pui Lin Chong, Rosmonaliza Asli, Babu Ivan Mani, Nooraffizan Rahman, Natalie Riamiza Momin, Chin Ann Lim, Justin Wong, Chee Fui Chong, Vui Heng Chong
Objective: Differences in clinical manifestations between strains of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been reported. This retrospective descriptive study compares the clinical and demographic characteristics of all confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases admitted to the National Isolation Centre (NIC) in the first wave and at the beginning of the second wave of the pandemic in Brunei Darussalam.
Methods: All COVID-19 cases admitted to the NIC between 9 March and 6 May 2020 (first wave) and 7-17 August 2021 (second wave) were included. Data were obtained from NIC databases and case characteristics compared using Student's t-tests and χ2 tests, as appropriate.
Results: Cases from the first wave were significantly older than those from the second wave (mean 37.2 vs 29.7 years, P < 0.001), and a higher proportion reported comorbidities (30.5% vs 20.3%, P = 0.019). Cases from the second wave were more likely to be symptomatic at admission (77.7% vs 63.1%, P < 0.001), with a higher proportion reporting cough, anosmia, sore throat and ageusia/dysgeusia; however, myalgia and nausea/vomiting were more common among symptomatic first wave cases (all P < 0.05). There was no difference in the mean number of reported symptoms (2.6 vs 2.4, P = 0.890).
Discussion: Our study showed clear differences in the profile of COVID-19 cases in Brunei Darussalam between the first and second waves, reflecting a shift in the predominating SARS-CoV-2 strain. Awareness of changes in COVID-19 disease manifestation can help guide adjustments to management policies such as duration of isolation, testing strategies, and criteria for admission and treatment.
目的:报道严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2 (SARS-CoV-2)毒株临床表现的差异。本回顾性描述性研究比较了文莱达鲁萨兰国大流行第一波和第二波开始时国家隔离中心收治的所有冠状病毒病(COVID-19)确诊病例的临床和人口统计学特征。方法:纳入2020年3月9日至5月6日(第一波)和2021年8月7日至17日(第二波)期间入院的所有COVID-19病例。数据来自NIC数据库,并酌情使用学生t检验和χ2检验对病例特征进行比较。结果:第一波患者的年龄明显大于第二波患者(平均37.2岁vs 29.7岁,P P = 0.019)。第二波患者入院时更有可能出现症状(77.7% vs 63.1%, P P P = 0.890)。讨论:我们的研究显示,文莱达鲁萨兰国在第一波和第二波之间的COVID-19病例特征存在明显差异,反映了占主导地位的SARS-CoV-2菌株的转变。了解COVID-19疾病表现的变化有助于指导调整隔离时间、检测策略以及入院和治疗标准等管理政策。
{"title":"Clinical and demographic characteristics of COVID-19 cases in Brunei Darussalam: comparison between the first and second waves, 2020 and 2021.","authors":"Muhammad Umer Malik, Muhammad Syafiq Abdullah, Pui Lin Chong, Rosmonaliza Asli, Babu Ivan Mani, Nooraffizan Rahman, Natalie Riamiza Momin, Chin Ann Lim, Justin Wong, Chee Fui Chong, Vui Heng Chong","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.925","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.925","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Differences in clinical manifestations between strains of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been reported. This retrospective descriptive study compares the clinical and demographic characteristics of all confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases admitted to the National Isolation Centre (NIC) in the first wave and at the beginning of the second wave of the pandemic in Brunei Darussalam.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>All COVID-19 cases admitted to the NIC between 9 March and 6 May 2020 (first wave) and 7-17 August 2021 (second wave) were included. Data were obtained from NIC databases and case characteristics compared using Student's <i>t</i>-tests and χ<sup>2</sup> tests, as appropriate.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Cases from the first wave were significantly older than those from the second wave (mean 37.2 vs 29.7 years, <i>P</i> < 0.001), and a higher proportion reported comorbidities (30.5% vs 20.3%, <i>P</i> = 0.019). Cases from the second wave were more likely to be symptomatic at admission (77.7% vs 63.1%, <i>P</i> < 0.001), with a higher proportion reporting cough, anosmia, sore throat and ageusia/dysgeusia; however, myalgia and nausea/vomiting were more common among symptomatic first wave cases (all <i>P</i> < 0.05). There was no difference in the mean number of reported symptoms (2.6 vs 2.4, <i>P</i> = 0.890).</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Our study showed clear differences in the profile of COVID-19 cases in Brunei Darussalam between the first and second waves, reflecting a shift in the predominating SARS-CoV-2 strain. Awareness of changes in COVID-19 disease manifestation can help guide adjustments to management policies such as duration of isolation, testing strategies, and criteria for admission and treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831597/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10598814","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}
Pub Date : 2022-07-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.955
Trang Thi Hong Ung, Phuong Vu Mai Hoang, Son Vu Nguyen, Hang Le Khanh Nguyen, Phuong Thi Kim Nguyen, Dan Tan Phan, Thanh Thi Le, Anh Phuong Nguyen, Futoshi Hasebe, Mai Thi Quynh Le
The Omicron variant caused a surge of infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Viet Nam in early 2022, signalling community transmission. We report on active whole-genome sequencing surveillance of positive SARS-CoV-2 samples collected at that time in northern Viet Nam from international arrivals and community clusters. We used an amplicon protocol developed with 14 polymerase chain reaction products and the Illumina iSeq 100 platform. Overall, 213 nasopharyngeal or throat swabs were analysed, of which 172 samples were identified with the Omicron variant. Of these, 80 samples were collected from community cases in February 2022, among which 59 samples were sublineage BA.2 and one sample was the recombinant XE variant. Our results indicated that Omicron had replaced Delta as the dominant variant in a very short period of time and that continuously conducting active whole-genome sequencing surveillance is necessary in monitoring the evolution and genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in Viet Nam.
{"title":"Occurrence of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in northern Viet Nam in early 2022.","authors":"Trang Thi Hong Ung, Phuong Vu Mai Hoang, Son Vu Nguyen, Hang Le Khanh Nguyen, Phuong Thi Kim Nguyen, Dan Tan Phan, Thanh Thi Le, Anh Phuong Nguyen, Futoshi Hasebe, Mai Thi Quynh Le","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.955","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.955","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Omicron variant caused a surge of infections with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Viet Nam in early 2022, signalling community transmission. We report on active whole-genome sequencing surveillance of positive SARS-CoV-2 samples collected at that time in northern Viet Nam from international arrivals and community clusters. We used an amplicon protocol developed with 14 polymerase chain reaction products and the Illumina iSeq 100 platform. Overall, 213 nasopharyngeal or throat swabs were analysed, of which 172 samples were identified with the Omicron variant. Of these, 80 samples were collected from community cases in February 2022, among which 59 samples were sublineage BA.2 and one sample was the recombinant XE variant. Our results indicated that Omicron had replaced Delta as the dominant variant in a very short period of time and that continuously conducting active whole-genome sequencing surveillance is necessary in monitoring the evolution and genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in Viet Nam.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831598/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10598813","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}
Pub Date : 2022-07-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.913
Noor Affizan Rahman, Muhammad Syafiq Abdullah, Rosmonaliza Asli, Pui Lin Chong, Babu Ivan Mani, Vui Heng Chong
Problem: Soon after the start of the second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brunei Darussalam, which was confirmed to be due to the more infectious Delta strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it became apparent that the National Isolation Centre (NIC) was not coping.
Context: The NIC was the only isolation and treatment centre for COVID-19 in Brunei Darussalam. During the first wave and the first 11 days of the second wave, all confirmed cases were admitted to the NIC for isolation and treatment in line with the management strategy to isolate all confirmed cases to control the outbreak.
Action: The Ministry of Health opened five community isolation centres and two quarantine centres to divert asymptomatic and mild cases from the NIC. The community isolation centres also functioned as triage centres for the NIC, and the quarantine centres accommodated recovered patients who did not have their own quarantine facilities.
Outcome: The community isolation and quarantine centres diverted cases from the NIC and enabled recovered cases to be transferred to these step-down facilities. This reduced the NIC's occupancy to a safe level and enabled the reorganization of the NIC to function as a treatment centre and a national COVID-19 hospital.
Discussion: During any disease outbreak, health facilities must be prepared to adapt to changing situations. Strong leadership, stakeholder commitments, teamwork and constant communication are important in this process.
{"title":"Challenges during the second wave of COVID-19 in Brunei Darussalam: National Isolation Centre to National COVID-19 Hospital.","authors":"Noor Affizan Rahman, Muhammad Syafiq Abdullah, Rosmonaliza Asli, Pui Lin Chong, Babu Ivan Mani, Vui Heng Chong","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.913","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.913","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Problem: </strong>Soon after the start of the second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brunei Darussalam, which was confirmed to be due to the more infectious Delta strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it became apparent that the National Isolation Centre (NIC) was not coping.</p><p><strong>Context: </strong>The NIC was the only isolation and treatment centre for COVID-19 in Brunei Darussalam. During the first wave and the first 11 days of the second wave, all confirmed cases were admitted to the NIC for isolation and treatment in line with the management strategy to isolate all confirmed cases to control the outbreak.</p><p><strong>Action: </strong>The Ministry of Health opened five community isolation centres and two quarantine centres to divert asymptomatic and mild cases from the NIC. The community isolation centres also functioned as triage centres for the NIC, and the quarantine centres accommodated recovered patients who did not have their own quarantine facilities.</p><p><strong>Outcome: </strong>The community isolation and quarantine centres diverted cases from the NIC and enabled recovered cases to be transferred to these step-down facilities. This reduced the NIC's occupancy to a safe level and enabled the reorganization of the NIC to function as a treatment centre and a national COVID-19 hospital.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>During any disease outbreak, health facilities must be prepared to adapt to changing situations. Strong leadership, stakeholder commitments, teamwork and constant communication are important in this process.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831601/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10598812","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}
Pub Date : 2022-07-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.917
Karis Boehme, Sonia B Sia, Ferissa Ablola, June Gayeta, Ma Cecilia Alea
Problem: Operation of the Philippine Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program (ARSP) has been affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, during which time difficulties in maintaining laboratory functions, staffing levels and participation were reported.
Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased pressure on most health systems and programmes in the Philippines, including ARSP. As ARSP is the source of national data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends, there are concerns that the negative effects of the pandemic may have impacted the quality of data produced.
Action: We describe disruptions to laboratory operations, personnel availability and participation in ARSP surveillance, and their impact on reported data for 2020.
Outcome: Surveillance operations were challenged by reallocation of human, infrastructure and financial resources for pandemic response among both the sentinel sites and the coordinating laboratory, the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Reference Laboratory. There was a decrease in the amount of data submitted to the surveillance system, as well as in the number of isolates sent to the reference laboratory for confirmation of bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Nevertheless, overall performance scores of the sentinel sites for most parameters were comparable to 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Discussion: The impact of operational changes to ARSP due to the pandemic needs to be considered when analysing AMR surveillance data from 2020. Automation of data submission, good working relationships between the coordinating laboratory and sentinel sites, and supply chain system strengthening were identified as key to maintaining AMR surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
{"title":"Operational challenges of the Philippine Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.","authors":"Karis Boehme, Sonia B Sia, Ferissa Ablola, June Gayeta, Ma Cecilia Alea","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.917","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.3.917","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Problem: </strong>Operation of the Philippine Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Program (ARSP) has been affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, during which time difficulties in maintaining laboratory functions, staffing levels and participation were reported.</p><p><strong>Context: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic has increased pressure on most health systems and programmes in the Philippines, including ARSP. As ARSP is the source of national data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends, there are concerns that the negative effects of the pandemic may have impacted the quality of data produced.</p><p><strong>Action: </strong>We describe disruptions to laboratory operations, personnel availability and participation in ARSP surveillance, and their impact on reported data for 2020.</p><p><strong>Outcome: </strong>Surveillance operations were challenged by reallocation of human, infrastructure and financial resources for pandemic response among both the sentinel sites and the coordinating laboratory, the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Reference Laboratory. There was a decrease in the amount of data submitted to the surveillance system, as well as in the number of isolates sent to the reference laboratory for confirmation of bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Nevertheless, overall performance scores of the sentinel sites for most parameters were comparable to 2019, the year before the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The impact of operational changes to ARSP due to the pandemic needs to be considered when analysing AMR surveillance data from 2020. Automation of data submission, good working relationships between the coordinating laboratory and sentinel sites, and supply chain system strengthening were identified as key to maintaining AMR surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9831596/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10598410","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}
Pub Date : 2022-06-30eCollection Date: 2022-04-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.918
Caroline van Gemert, Wendy Williams, Joanne Mariasua, Debbie Fred, Matthew Cornish, Len Tarivonda, Posikai Samuel Tapo, Vincent Atua, Obed Manwo, Philippe Guyant, Lola Iavro, Geoff Clark
Objective: To prevent importation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to Vanuatu, since March 2020, all travellers to the country have been required to complete a 14-day quarantine in a government-designated facility. A short message service (SMS, or "text message") system was developed to collect information on symptoms of COVID-19 among travellers in quarantine. A trial within a cohort study was conducted among travellers arriving to Vanuatu by air from 27 October to 7 December 2020 to assess SMS acceptability, efficiency and utility and whether SMS-based health monitoring was as effective as in-person monitoring in identifying people with COVID-19 symptoms.
Methods: Control group participants received standard monitoring (daily in-person visits) and participants in the intervention group received a daily SMS text requesting a response coded for symptom development. Differences between the two groups were determined using χ2 tests.
Results: Of the 495 eligible travellers, 423 participated; 170 were allocated to the control group and 253 to the intervention group. At least one return SMS text was received from 50% (107/212) of participants who were confirmed to have received an SMS text. Less than 2% (4/253) of the intervention group and 0% of the control group reported symptoms.
Discussion: The SMS intervention had a high level of acceptability. SMS is a useful tool to monitor symptom development among people in quarantine and for broader public health programmes that require follow up.
{"title":"Comparison of strategies for daily surveillance of international travellers quarantined in Vanuatu, October-December 2020.","authors":"Caroline van Gemert, Wendy Williams, Joanne Mariasua, Debbie Fred, Matthew Cornish, Len Tarivonda, Posikai Samuel Tapo, Vincent Atua, Obed Manwo, Philippe Guyant, Lola Iavro, Geoff Clark","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.918","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.918","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To prevent importation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to Vanuatu, since March 2020, all travellers to the country have been required to complete a 14-day quarantine in a government-designated facility. A short message service (SMS, or \"text message\") system was developed to collect information on symptoms of COVID-19 among travellers in quarantine. A trial within a cohort study was conducted among travellers arriving to Vanuatu by air from 27 October to 7 December 2020 to assess SMS acceptability, efficiency and utility and whether SMS-based health monitoring was as effective as in-person monitoring in identifying people with COVID-19 symptoms.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Control group participants received standard monitoring (daily in-person visits) and participants in the intervention group received a daily SMS text requesting a response coded for symptom development. Differences between the two groups were determined using χ<sup>2</sup> tests.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 495 eligible travellers, 423 participated; 170 were allocated to the control group and 253 to the intervention group. At least one return SMS text was received from 50% (107/212) of participants who were confirmed to have received an SMS text. Less than 2% (4/253) of the intervention group and 0% of the control group reported symptoms.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The SMS intervention had a high level of acceptability. SMS is a useful tool to monitor symptom development among people in quarantine and for broader public health programmes that require follow up.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9583297/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40566761","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}
Pub Date : 2022-06-30eCollection Date: 2022-04-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.902
Nur Hamizah Nasaruddin, Shubash Shander Ganapathy, S Maria Awaluddin, Mohamad Fuad Mohamad Anuar, Nazirah Binti Alias, Chan Yee Mang, Khaw Wan-Fei
Objective: Verbal autopsy (VA) through face-to-face interviews with caregivers is a way to determine cause of death without medical certification. In Malaysia, the use of VA has improved mortality statistics. However, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, face-to-face interviews were delayed, reducing VA data collection and affecting data for mortality surveillance. This study aims to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of conducting VA interviews via telephone calls, and the quality of the data gathered.
Methods: The study was conducted in Malaysia from September to October 2020 using a cross-sectional design. Participants were health-care workers from established VA teams across the country. They conducted VA interviews via telephone and provided feedback through a customized online form. Data collected from the form were used to assess the feasibility, acceptability and quality of the telephone interviews using IBM SPSS version 23.
Results: Responses were received from 113 participants. There were 74 (65.5%) successful interviews, representing 91% of the 81 cases who were able to be contacted. More than two thirds of health-care workers provided positive feedback on the telephone interview method for themselves and the interviewees. Only 10.8% of causes of death were unusable.
Discussion: This study provides preliminary evidence that VA via telephone interview is feasible, acceptable and can be used as an alternative to face-to-face interviews without affecting data quality. During times when face-to-face interviews are not advisable, VA telephone interviews can be used for data collection for mortality surveillance.
目的:通过与护理人员面对面访谈进行死因推断(VA)是一种在没有医学证明的情况下确定死因的方法。在马来西亚,志愿服务的使用改善了死亡率统计数据。然而,在2019年冠状病毒病(COVID-19)大流行期间,面对面访谈被推迟,减少了VA数据收集并影响了死亡率监测数据。本研究旨在探讨电话访谈的可行性和可接受性,以及所收集数据的质量。方法:该研究于2020年9月至10月在马来西亚采用横断面设计进行。参与者是来自全国各地已建立的退伍军人事务部团队的保健工作者。他们通过电话对退伍军人管理局进行采访,并通过定制的在线表格提供反馈。从表格中收集的数据使用IBM SPSS version 23来评估电话访谈的可行性,可接受性和质量。结果:共收到113名参与者的反馈。成功访谈74人(65.5%),占81宗个案的91%。超过三分之二的保健工作者对自己和受访者的电话访谈方法提供了积极反馈。只有10.8%的死亡原因是无法利用的。讨论:本研究提供了初步证据,通过电话访谈的VA是可行的,可接受的,可以作为面对面访谈的替代方案,而不会影响数据质量。当面对面访谈不可取时,退伍军人事务部的电话访谈可用于死亡率监测的数据收集。
{"title":"Conducting verbal autopsy by telephone interview during the pandemic to support mortality surveillance: a feasibility study in Malaysia.","authors":"Nur Hamizah Nasaruddin, Shubash Shander Ganapathy, S Maria Awaluddin, Mohamad Fuad Mohamad Anuar, Nazirah Binti Alias, Chan Yee Mang, Khaw Wan-Fei","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.902","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.902","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Verbal autopsy (VA) through face-to-face interviews with caregivers is a way to determine cause of death without medical certification. In Malaysia, the use of VA has improved mortality statistics. However, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, face-to-face interviews were delayed, reducing VA data collection and affecting data for mortality surveillance. This study aims to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of conducting VA interviews via telephone calls, and the quality of the data gathered.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study was conducted in Malaysia from September to October 2020 using a cross-sectional design. Participants were health-care workers from established VA teams across the country. They conducted VA interviews via telephone and provided feedback through a customized online form. Data collected from the form were used to assess the feasibility, acceptability and quality of the telephone interviews using IBM SPSS version 23.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Responses were received from 113 participants. There were 74 (65.5%) successful interviews, representing 91% of the 81 cases who were able to be contacted. More than two thirds of health-care workers provided positive feedback on the telephone interview method for themselves and the interviewees. Only 10.8% of causes of death were unusable.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This study provides preliminary evidence that VA via telephone interview is feasible, acceptable and can be used as an alternative to face-to-face interviews without affecting data quality. During times when face-to-face interviews are not advisable, VA telephone interviews can be used for data collection for mortality surveillance.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9578342/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40581947","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}
Pub Date : 2022-06-24eCollection Date: 2022-04-01DOI: 10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.914
Sunita J Rebecca Healey, Nafiseh Ghafournia, Katarzyna Bolsewicz, Karinne Andrich, Peter D Massey
Objective: Community leadership enhances collective action in times of uncertainty, such as during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study explores the role of leadership related to the COVID-19 response and information sharing among a newly emerging Congolese community in the Hunter New England region of Australia.
Methods: Semi-structured qualitative inquiry was used to interview four participants who were identified as being influential leaders of the local Congolese community. The findings of this study were part of a larger exploration of COVID-19 messaging among emerging culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Two interviewers independently analysed the transcribed data before pairing their findings. Narrative analysis was employed.
Results: Two major themes were identified: leadership as an assigned and trusted role, and leadership as a continuous responsibility. Several categories were identified within these themes, such as mutual connection, education level, multilingual ability and networking.
Discussion: The Congolese community leaders reported feeling responsible and confident in their ability to proactively contribute to the local COVID-19 response by enhancing communication within the community. By partnering with and learning from respected leaders in CALD communities, government health services have the opportunity to improve how current public health messaging is developed.
{"title":"The role of leadership among a Congolese community in Australia in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative study.","authors":"Sunita J Rebecca Healey, Nafiseh Ghafournia, Katarzyna Bolsewicz, Karinne Andrich, Peter D Massey","doi":"10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.914","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5365/wpsar.2022.13.2.914","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Community leadership enhances collective action in times of uncertainty, such as during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study explores the role of leadership related to the COVID-19 response and information sharing among a newly emerging Congolese community in the Hunter New England region of Australia.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Semi-structured qualitative inquiry was used to interview four participants who were identified as being influential leaders of the local Congolese community. The findings of this study were part of a larger exploration of COVID-19 messaging among emerging culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Two interviewers independently analysed the transcribed data before pairing their findings. Narrative analysis was employed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Two major themes were identified: leadership as an assigned and trusted role, and leadership as a continuous responsibility. Several categories were identified within these themes, such as mutual connection, education level, multilingual ability and networking.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The Congolese community leaders reported feeling responsible and confident in their ability to proactively contribute to the local COVID-19 response by enhancing communication within the community. By partnering with and learning from respected leaders in CALD communities, government health services have the opportunity to improve how current public health messaging is developed.</p>","PeriodicalId":31512,"journal":{"name":"Western Pacific Surveillance and Response","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2022-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9580333/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40581945","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}