Communicable diseases intelligence (2018)最新文献

Abstract: People with disability are at higher risk of severe outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Due to complex client needs and available staffing, disability support providers (DSP) were limited in their ability to mitigate the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into disability support settings. This report describes the characteristics of a Delta variant outbreak associated with a single DSP in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), in August 2021. We calculated attack rates for workplace exposure sites and households, using the number of people present at workplaces and households as the denominator. Thirty confirmed cases were identified, comprised of 13 support workers, six clients, and 11 household and other contacts. The median age of cases was 30.5 years (range 1 to 80 years) and 5 cases (17%) were hospitalised. No cases were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) or died. Twenty-two percent of people in close contact with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 cases in this cluster (23/103) subsequently tested positive to SARS-CoV-2. Investigations identified multiple primary cases, with one primary case the likely infection source for at least 17 other cases. Despite the majority being eligible for vaccination, only two cases were fully vaccinated (two doses > 14 days before exposure). The mean secondary attack rate at workplace sites (15% or 12/80 close contacts infected) was lower than the tertiary attack rate (47.8% or 11/23 close contacts infected). The overall risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in DSP-related work sites was lower than for household settings (relative risk: 0.42; 95% confidence interval: 0.21-0.82). These findings demonstrate the importance of ongoing collaboration between governments and the disability support sector. Development and delivery of targeted health messaging to people with disability and to disability support workers, regarding infection control in the home setting, and identification of enablers for vaccination, should be the highest priorities from this collaboration.

Abstract: Q fever is a notifiable disease in Australia due to its public health significance. Recent data in the Wide Bay region (Queensland, Australia) suggests a rising number and changing geographical distribution of Q fever cases. This study aims to evaluate these changes through analysis of data from Queensland Health's Notifiable Conditions System (NoCS) over a ten-year period. A comparison was made between the recent five-year period (2018-2022) and the preceding five-year period (2013-2017) with reference to incidence rates, location of cases and likely exposures. Incidence rates of Q fever showed an upward trend over time, particularly in urban areas. This highlights the need for increased clinical suspicion, improved awareness among the community and healthcare providers, and potentially broadening of vaccination recommendations in the future.

Abstract: Australia monitors its polio-free status by conducting surveillance for cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in children less than 15 years of age, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Cases of AFP in children are notified to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit or the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance System, and faecal specimens are referred for virological investigation to the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory. In 2022, no cases of poliomyelitis were reported from clinical surveillance and Australia reported 1.69 non-polio AFP cases per 100,000 children, thereby meeting the WHO's performance criterion for a sensitive surveillance system. The non-polio enteroviruses coxsackievirus A2, coxsackievirus A6, coxsackievirus A10, echovirus 18, enterovirus A71 and enterovirus C96 were identified from clinical specimens collected from AFP cases. Australia also performs enterovirus and environmental surveillance to complement the clinical system focussed on children. In 2022, thirty cases of wild poliovirus were reported from three countries (Afghanistan, Mozambique and Pakistan); 24 countries also reported cases of poliomyelitis due to circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.

Creutzfeldt-jakob disease surveillance in australia: update to 31 december 2022: Nationwide surveillance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and other human prion diseases is performed by the Australian National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Registry (ANCJDR). National surveillance encompasses the period since 1 January 1970, with prospective surveillance occurring from 1 October 1993. Over this prospective surveillance period, considerable developments have occurred in pre-mortem diagnostics; in the delineation of new disease subtypes; and in a heightened awareness of prion diseases in healthcare settings. Surveillance practices of the ANCJDR have evolved and adapted accordingly. This report summarises the activities of the ANCJDR during 2022. Since the ANCJDR began offering diagnostic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 14-3-3 protein testing in Australia in September 1997, the annual number of referrals has steadily increased. In 2022, a total of 599 domestic CSF specimens were referred for diagnostic testing and 79 persons with suspected human prion disease were formally added to the national register. As of 31 December 2022, just under half of the 79 suspect case notifications (36/79) remain classified as 'incomplete'; 15 cases were classified as 'definite' and 23 as 'probable' prion disease; five cases were excluded through neuropathological examination. For 2022, fifty-five percent of all suspected human-prion-disease-related deaths in Australia underwent neuropathological examination. No cases of variant or iatrogenic CJD were identified. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic did not affect prion disease surveillance outcomes in Australia during 2022.

This article summarises our review of 41 Corynebacterium diphtheriae wound swab isolates from the tropical Northern Territory of Australia. On polymerase chain reaction and whole genome sequencing, no isolates were toxigenic strains.