scholarly journals The importance of an early alert from the Microbiology Laboratory and multidisciplinary collaboration during a suspected salmonellosis outbreak

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriano Anesi ◽  
Maria Lucia Panceri ◽  
Sara Asticcioli ◽  
Dominga Baroni ◽  
Vanina Rognoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Local Health Service ◽  
Sporadic Cases

<em>Background and aims.</em> Salmonellosis is one of the most common and widely distributed food-borne diseases. The increasing complexity and globalization of the food industry are causing an increase of some of these large-scale food-borne illnesses, thus there is a need for improvements in public health signal detection and communication streams between laboratories and regulatory agencies. The aim of this study is to show how the early reporting of salmonellosis cases directly from the Laboratory of Microbiology to the Local Health Service Infectious Diseases Office along with the prompt response of the ASL, and the rapid involvement of the Local Veterinary Prevention Department resulted in an improved individuation and investigation of a suspected food-borne outbreak with anomalous manifestation. <br /><em>Materials and methods.</em> From August to November 2014 the early warning from the Laboratory of Microbiology regarding <em>Salmonella</em> spp. isolates with the identical serogroup and antibiotic resistance phenotype, allowed for prompt identification of a food-borne infection. <br /><em>Results and conclusions.</em> The genotyping analysis suggested that over the period considered there was more than a single monophasic <em>Salmonella</em> <em>typhimurium</em> isolate: one responsible for the sporadic cases that occurred in September and October, and another in November.

Toolkit for Epidemiologic Response to an Acute Chemical Release

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Anne Duncan ◽  
Maureen F. Orr
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Chemical Release ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Many

AbstractWhen a large chemical incident occurs and people are injured, public health agencies need to be able to provide guidance and respond to questions from the public, the media, and public officials. Because of this urgent need for information to support appropriate public health action, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of the US Department of Health and Human Services has developed the Assessment of Chemical Exposures (ACE) Toolkit. The ACE Toolkit, available on the ATSDR website, offers materials including surveys, consent forms, databases, and training materials that state and local health personnel can use to rapidly conduct an epidemiologic investigation after a large-scale acute chemical release. All materials are readily adaptable to the many different chemical incident scenarios that may occur and the data needs of the responding agency. An expert ACE team is available to provide technical assistance on site or remotely. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:631–632)

scholarly journals Distribution of serotypes of Listeria monocytogenes in chicken meats in Turkey

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 1859
Author(s):  
S. SAHIN ◽  
R. KALIN ◽  
MN MOGULKOC
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Listeria Monocytogenes ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Meat Products ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Chicken Meat ◽  
Serotype Distribution ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Serotype 1 ◽  
Food Borne Infections

Listeria monocytogenes is one of the important causes of food-borne infections. This study was conducted to determine the presence of L. monocytogenes and its serotype distribution in a total of 400 packaged chicken meat products (drumstick, breast, wing, and whole chicken) from different national companies. L. monocytogenes contamination was detected in 26.5% (106 in 400) of all samples when the products considered, drumsticks, breasts, wings, and whole chickens showed 47%, 15%, 35, and 9% positivity respectively. Four important serotypes of L. monocytogenes in human listeriosis (1/2a, 1/2b, 1/2c and 4b) were identified, and serotype 1/2a (94.3%) was determined as predominant in packaged chicken meats. The present study revealed that L. monocytogenes 1/2a serotype is prevalent in chicken meats and this may cause public health problems in Turkey. Further studies in poultry meats should be conducted on a large scale such as regional or national big markets to determine the presence of the pathogen and its dominant serotypes.

scholarly journals Prevalence of Staphylococcus Aureus Isolated from Hamburger Samples in Tehran and their Antibiotic Susceptibility

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Negin Momtaz Bokharaei ◽  
Zahra Rajabi ◽  
MohammadMehdi Soltan Dallal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Inhibitory Concentration ◽  
Food Poisoning ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Diffusion Method ◽  
Public Health Concern ◽  
Disk Diffusion Method ◽  
Food Borne

Introduction:Staphylococcal food poisoning is one of the most common food-borne diseases. The antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus has been reported globally. Today, strains of Staphylococcus aureus in food have become a problem in clinical infections and are considerde as a serious public health concern. Methods: A total of 100 samples were tested in the laboratory; including 75 handmade and 25 industrial hamburger samples. The Staphylococcus aureus samples were isolated and identified according to the National Iranian Standard No. 6806-3. Antibiotic resistance was determined by disk diffusion method and minimum inhibitory concentration was performed. In this study, the antibiotics penicillin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, clindamycin, chloramphenicol, cefoxitin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, tetracycline, gentamicin, vancomycin, and oxacillin were used. Results: Of 100 analyzed hamburger samples, 39 samples were infected with Staphylococcus aureus (23 industrial and 16 ­ handmade samples). All isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (100%) were susceptible to gentamicin and vancomycin antibiotics. Conclusions: Due to the importance of Staphylococcus aureus, as the supergene antigen and its role in causing food poisoning, contamination of foodstuffs with Staphylococcus aureus can threaten the consumers' health.

Successful Strategies for Recruitment of Emergency Medical Volunteers

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-271
Author(s):  
Anne Rinchiuso Hasselmann
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New York ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Professional Organization ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Volunteer Program ◽  
Medical Reserve Corps ◽  
Recruitment Activities ◽  
Health Commissioner

AbstractObjectivesA robust medical volunteer program is critical to ensuring a successful response to public health and medical emergencies. The New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene created the NYC Medical Reserve Corps in 2003 to build a multidisciplinary team of health professionals who wish to assist NYC with response during large-scale health emergencies. This article reports on the search to determine which recruitment activities have been most successful to date, with the goal of modeling future activities upon those that worked best.MethodsA retrospective review of effectiveness of recruitment strategies to identify and register new NYC Medical Reserve Corps volunteers was undertaken.ResultsA broad range of recruitment activities have been implemented since the program's inception, with varying degrees of success. Various recruitment modalities were tried, including direct invitations to licensed professionals by the NYC Health Commissioner and announcements through professional organization partners. The direct invitation by the NYC Health Commissioner to health professionals licensed in 1 of the 5 boroughs of NYC has proved to be the most successful recruitment tool to date.ConclusionsThe local health commissioner or other trusted community figure is an excellent messenger for recruiting emergency volunteers. It is also critical that recruitment messages reach as many potential volunteers as possible to ensure that the requisite number of volunteers and mix of professional disciplines are identified. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;7:266-271)

scholarly journals Inspecting inspection reports, does the type of restaurant change the risk?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Cseke ◽  
BCIT School of Health Sciences, Environmental Health ◽  
Helen Heacock ◽  
Bobby Sidhu ◽  
Lorraine McIntyre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Metro Vancouver ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Food Borne Illness ◽  
Critical Violations ◽  
Hazard Rating

  Background An estimated of 4 million Canadians (one in eight people) become ill every year from a food-borne illness (Thomas et al., 2013). The economic and social burdens of these illnesses are vast. As restaurants are a big sector of the food industry, improving their food safety would reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses. Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are on the front line, educating restaurant operators in order to improve food safety. In Metro Vancouver there are many different types of ethnicities and types of restaurants; this provides a challenge for EHOs to know where to allocate their time and resources. Methods The author analyzed 150 Fraser Health inspection reports in the Burnaby, New Westminster and Surrey municipalities. The restaurants fell into three different categories: i) Independently owned ethnic, ii) Independently owned, non-ethnic and iii) chain non-ethnic restaurants. Hazard ratings, number of critical and number of non-critical violations from their latest inspection report were compared. Each violation code was also recorded to identify any infraction trends that exist. Results Analysis of the number of critical violations identified ethnic, chain non-ethnic, and independent non-ethnic restaurants as not being significantly different (p=0.09). The number of non-critical violations was different (0.033), with ethnic restaurants having the most. The number of critical violations, when treating each ethnicity as its own category, is however significantly different (p=0.044) between restaurant types. There was a significant association between hazard rating and restaurant type, with independent ethnic restaurants having the worst hazard rating (p=0.017). Conclusion The type of ownership (independent vs chain) and the restaurant type were not a factor when looking at number of critical violations that a restaurant commits. Independent ethnic restaurants had a slightly higher mean number of critical violations. Japanese restaurants had the highest number of critical violations out of the three ethnicities studied. These findings suggest a slight disparity in risk to public health between ethnic and non-ethnic restaurants.  

scholarly journals Factors influencing delivery of intersectoral actions to address infant stunting in Bogotá, Colombia – a mixed methods case study.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Botero-Tovar ◽  
Gina Paola Arocha Zuluaga ◽  
Andrea Ramírez Varela
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Intersectoral Collaboration ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Local Health Service ◽  
Qualitative Component

Abstract Background Intersectoral actions (ISA) are a recognized relationship between the health sector and other sectors to improve health outcomes. Although a frequent topic in public health, evidence for systematic evaluation of implementation of ISA is scarce. An intersectoral health intervention for infants under one-year-old with, and at risk of, stunting (low height-for-age) was developed by a public-private partnership in Bogotá, Colombia, during 2018 and 2019. Here we report a case study conducted in parallel to the intervention designed to assess factors that influenced implementation of the ISA. Methods The case study was developed using a concurrent mixed-methods design, with the qualitative component giving context to the quantitative results. The qualitative component was obtained from four workshops, three focal groups, and 17 semi-structured interviews with actors involved in the intersectoral intervention. The quantitative component was obtained with two questionnaires that evaluated perceptions on improvement and partnership functioning of the ISA. Results This study collected information from 122 participants. The intervention demanded intersectoral collaboration. Political will, motivated human resources, and recognition that health results from collaboration facilitated intersectoral actions. Intersectoral actions were limited by difficulties in engaging the health sector, communication challenges related to local health service decentralization, and administrative barriers. Conclusions Intersectoral actions have been recently discussed in the literature due to challenges on implementation, idealization, inconsistent demands, and doubts about economic outcomes. The implementation of intersectoral public health interventions can be jeopardized by a lack of coordination and management skills.

The Bundaberg emergency response team

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 384
Author(s):  
Michael P. Daly ◽  
Michael I. Cleary ◽  
Linda J. McCormack
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Response ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Appropriate Care ◽  
Local Health Service ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Service Engagement ◽  
Response Team ◽  
The Face

A major crisis affected Bundaberg Hospital in 2005 following the exposure of the concerns about Dr Jayant Patel and the subsequent sudden exit of the Hospital Executive. The Bundaberg Emergency Response Team (BERT) was created as an emergency intervention whose brief was, over a 6-week period, to maintain the function of the hospital in the face of the community’s loss of confidence in the service; to find out what had happened to Dr Patel’s patients and to organise appropriate care and treatment for them. The authors acted as the senior members of BERT. Serious events such as these are rare and there was no framework to guide the team. BERT quickly established processes to assess the extent of harm to patients and to mobilise large scale clinical and counselling assistance for patients and staff. The team also managed the local health service, engagement with the community and assistance with the various investigations being conducted into Dr Patel. BERT was considered by the community and the former patients of Dr Patel to be an appropriate and professional response to the situation. The experience provides a framework for responses to these types of situations and herein we discuss key points for successful implementation. What is known about the topic? There is little in the literature that describes a framework used to successfully manage a hospital in crisis after serious public allegations are made. What does this paper add? The paper adds the findings of the management of a rare but very significant event: a hospital going into crisis after serious public allegations are made. It also provides the learnings of the management team in this event, and a framework for the future management of similar crises. What are the implications for practitioners? The framework provided in this paper is unique. Given the need for a rapid response in such events and the rarity of these events, practitioners now have a readily available tool to help them rapidly provide the appropriate response.

scholarly journals Febrile Illness Outbreak Investigation in Sundarharicha-5 Foklan Tapu, Morang District

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-152
Author(s):  
Ashok Pandey ◽  
Arun Kumar Sah ◽  
Pradeep Belbase ◽  
Anil Kumar Sah ◽  
Anjani Kumar Jha
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Medical Officer ◽  
Febrile Illness ◽  
Outbreak Investigation ◽  
Community Leader ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Microbiological Analysis ◽  
Local Health Service

Background: On the date of 24 July 2017, the major national daily newspaper reported that there were two death cases from an unknown disease in the Morang district, Sundarharicha Municipality 5, Foklan Tapu. A team of researcher and experts were mobilized in the affected area to investigate and identify the etiological and epidemiological causes.Methods: Both qualitative and quantitative methods was used to conduct the outbreak investigation. 83 blood samples were taken from the patients and microbiological analysis was done at National Public Health Laboratory, Kathmandu. Similarly, 2 verbal autopsies and 5 Key in-depth interviews were taken from a local community leader, local health service providers, medical officer of Koshi Zonal Hospital, district public health officer and medical director of WHO.Results: Out of 83 participants, 49% and 25% of the participants were positive to IgM and IgG antibodies of Leptospira species respectively. 87% of the participants were exposed to animal living in his/her home (including pets). Conclusions: An outbreak which was existing during this investigation turned out to be leptospirosis outbreak, whose exposure was consumption of unhealthy meat during social gathering.Keywords: Epidemiological; etiological; febrile illness; outbreak investigation.

scholarly journals Factors influencing delivery of intersectoral actions to address infant stunting in Bogotá, Colombia – a mixed methods case study.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Botero-Tovar ◽  
Gina Paola Arocha Zuluaga ◽  
Andrea Ramírez Varela
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Systematic Evaluation ◽  
Intersectoral Collaboration ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Local Health Service ◽  
Qualitative Component

Abstract Background Intersectoral actions (ISA) are a recognized relationship between the health sector and other sectors to improve health outcomes. Although a frequent topic in public health, evidence for systematic evaluation of implementation of ISA is scarce. An intersectoral health intervention for infants under one-year-old with, and at risk of, stunting (low height-for-age) was developed by a public-private partnership in Bogotá, Colombia, during 2018 and 2019. Here we report a case study conducted in parallel to the intervention designed to assess factors that influenced implementation of the ISA. Methods The case study was developed using a concurrent mixed-methods design, with the qualitative component giving context to the quantitative results. The qualitative component was obtained from four workshops, three focal groups, and 17 semi-structured interviews with actors involved in the intersectoral intervention. The quantitative component was obtained with two questionnaires that evaluated perceptions on improvement and partnership functioning of the ISA. Results This study collected information from 122 participants. The intervention demanded intersectoral collaboration. Political will, motivated human resources, and recognition that health results from collaboration facilitated intersectoral actions. Intersectoral actions were limited by difficulties in engaging the health sector, communication challenges related to local health service decentralization, and administrative barriers. Conclusions Intersectoral actions have been recently discussed in the literature due to challenges on implementation, idealization, inconsistent demands, and doubts about economic outcomes. The implementation of intersectoral public health interventions can be jeopardized by a lack of coordination and management skills.

scholarly journals Faecal contamination and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in street-vended chili sauces in Mexico and its public health relevance

2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (1) ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. ESTRADA-GARCIA ◽  
J. F. CERNA ◽  
M. R. THOMPSON ◽  
C. LOPEZ-SAUCEDO
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia Coli ◽  
Faecal Contamination ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Health Relevance ◽  
Hygienic Conditions

The street-vended food industry provides employment and cheap ready-to-eat meals to a large proportion of the population in developing countries like Mexico, yet little is known about its role in the transmission of food borne diseases (FBD). Because of its wide consumption, street-vended chili sauces in Mexico are potential vehicles of FBD. An observational study was performed in Mexico City collecting 43 street-vended chili sauces. These sauces were prepared under poor hygienic conditions of handling and selling. Consumers add 4–8 ml of chili sauce per taco, ingest 2–5 tacos per meal and on average, 50 consumers frequent a stall per day. Seventeen (40%) samples were faecally contaminated and 2(5%) sauces harboured sufficient enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli to cause disease. We estimate that the consumption of only one of these chili sauces could result in ETEC disease in at least 21000 consumers per year, making them important potential vehicles of FBD.

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