Disinfect Reusable Supplies and Equipment
SIAPS Technical Report. This report summarizes key accomplishments and lessons learned in implementing SIAPS’ approach to improving IPC practices in four countries: South Africa, Namibia, Jordan, and Ethiopia. All activities address SIAPS’s overall objective to build or enhance national and faci...lity capacity to develop, implement, and monitor IPC programs by focusing on the principles of health systems strengthening.
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This document provides interim guidance for effective risk communication around Zika virus transmission and potential complications. A causal relationship between Zika virus infection and these potential complications has not yet been proven. In this uncertainty, effective communication strategies s...hould be implemented to enable people to take the best informed decisions about protecting themselves, their families and communities. This interim guidance is intended to be used by risk and health communication managers, staff and volunteers at global, regional or country level; communications professionals; anthropologists; sociologists; healthcare providers;hospital administrators; community leaders; programme managers;
and policymakers.
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This is a pocket-sized manual for use by doctors, senior nurses and other senior health workers who are responsible for the care of young children at the first referral level in developing countries. It presents up-to-date clinical guidelines which are based on a review of the available published ev...idence by subject experts, for both inpatient and outpatient care in small hospitals where basic laboratory facilities and essential drugs and inexpensive medicines are available. It focuses on the inpatient management of the major causes of childhood mortality, such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, severe malnutrition, malaria, meningitis, measles, HIV infection and related conditions. It covers neonatal problems and surgical conditions of children which can be managed in small hospitals. This pocket book is part of a series of documents and tools that support the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).
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The immediate objective of the country visit to Cameroon was to ensure that the country is as operationally ready as possible to effectively and safely detect, investigate and report potential Ebola virus disease cases and to mount an effective response that will prevent a larger outbreak. After te...chnical working group meetings, field visits, a “table-top” exercise and a hospital-based simulation exercises were undertaken.
Key strengths and weaknesses were identified, and the following areas for improvement were proposed to the Ministry of Health: coordination, surveillance, contact tracing, infection prevention and control, rapid response teams, case management, social mobilization, laboratory, points of entry, budget, logistics.
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Poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels.
Today, inaccurate diagnosis, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices, or providers who lack adequate training an...d expertise prevail in all countries.
The situation is worst in low and middle-income countries where 10 percent of hospitalized patients can expect to acquire an infection during their stay, as compared to seven percent in high income countries. This is despite hospital acquired infections being easily avoided through better hygiene, improved infection control practices and appropriate use of antimicrobials.. At the same time, one in ten patients is harmed during medical treatment in high income countries.
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Nosocomial infections, or hospital-acquired infec-tions (HAI), are among the most significant causesof morbidity and mortality in healthcare settingsthroughout the world.Prevention of HAIs iscentral to providing high quality and safe health-care, even in settings with limited resources.Transmi...ssion of infectious agents between patientsby health workers and irrational use of antibioticsare two important preventable factors involved inmany HAIs.
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COVID-19, a disease caused by a novel corona virus (SARS CoV-2), is currently a pandemic, which produces high morbidity in the elderly and in patients with associated comorbidities. Chronic kidney disease stage-5 (CKD-5) patients on dialysis [maintenance hemodialysis (MHD)or continuous ambulatory pe...ritoneal dialysis (CAPD)] are also vulnerable group because of their existing comorbidities, repeated unavoidable exposure to hospital environment and immunosuppressed state due to CKD-5. These patients are therefore not only more prone to acquire infection but also develop severe diseases as compared to general population.
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Because of the limited access to more powerful diagnostic tools, there is a paucity of data regarding the burden of fungal infections in Burkina Faso. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and prevalence of serious fungal infections in this sub-Saharan country. We primarily used the na...tional demographic data and performed a PubMed search to retrieve all published papers on fungal infections from Burkina Faso and its surrounding West African countries. Considering the prevalence of HIV infection (0.8% of the population) and a 3.4% incidence of cryptococcosis in hospitals, it is estimated that 459 patients per year develop cryptococcosis. For pneumocystosis, it is suggested that 1013 new cases occur every year. Taking into account the local TB frequency (population prevalence at 0.052%), we estimate the prevalence of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis at 1120 cases. Severe forms of asthma with fungal sensitization and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis are estimated to affect 7429 and 5628 cases, respectively. Vulvovaginal candidiasis may affect 179,000 women, and almost 1,000,000 children may suffer from tinea capitis. Globally, we estimate that roughly 1.4 million people in Burkina Faso (7.51% of the population) suffer from a serious fungal infection. These data should be used to drive future epidemiological studies, diagnostic approaches, and therapeutic strategies.
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This collection of posters are intended for health care workers, biomedical engineers and staff of health facilities in charge of caring, cleaning, decontaminating and sterilizing respiratory medical equipment in hospitals and health facilities. They include checklists to ensure the optimal infectio...n prevention and control during their use and between patients.
They describe the procedures to follow (Checklists) to clean, decontaminate and sterilize different respiratory devices:
Oxygen concentrators,
Non-invasive mechanical ventilation equipment: High flow nasal cannula, BiPAP/CPAP,
Mechanical ventilators,
Pulse oximeters and monitors.
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This collection of posters are intended for health care workers, biomedical engineers and staff of health facilities in charge of caring, cleaning, decontaminating and sterilizing respiratory medical equipment in hospitals and health facilities. They include checklists to ensure the optimal infectio...n prevention and control during their use and between patients.
more
This collection of posters are intended for health care workers, biomedical engineers and staff of health facilities in charge of caring, cleaning, decontaminating and sterilizing respiratory medical equipment in hospitals and health facilities. They include checklists to ensure the optimal infectio...n prevention and control during their use and between patients.
They describe the procedures to follow (Checklists) to clean, decontaminate and sterilize different respiratory devices:
Oxygen concentrators,
Non-invasive mechanical ventilation equipment: High flow nasal cannula, BiPAP/CPAP,
Mechanical ventilators,
Pulse oximeters and monitors.
more
Hendra virus (HeV) continues to pose a serious public health concern as spillover events occur sporadically. Terminally ill horses can exhibit a range of clinical signs including frothy nasal discharge, ataxia or forebrain signs. Early signs, if detected, can include depression, inappetence, colic o...r mild respiratory signs. All unvaccinated ill horses in areas where flying foxes exist, may potentially be infected with HeV, posing a significant risk to the veterinary community. Equivac® HeV vaccine has been fully registered in Australia since 2015 (and under an Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority special permit since 2012) for immunization of horses against HeV and is the most effective and direct solution to prevent disease transmission to horses and protect humans. No HeV vaccinated horse has tested positive for HeV infection. There is no registered vaccine to prevent, or therapeutics to treat, HeV infection in humans. Previous equine HeV outbreaks tended to cluster in winter overlapping with the foaling season (August to December), when veterinarians and horse owners have frequent close contact with horses and their bodily fluids, increasing the chance of zoonotic disease transmission. The most southerly case was detected in 2019 in the Upper Hunter region in New South Wales, which is Australia's Thoroughbred horse breeding capital. Future spillover events are predicted to move further south and inland in Queensland and New South Wales, aligning with the moving distribution of the main reservoir hosts. Here we (1) review HeV epidemiology and climate change predicted infection dynamics, (2) present a biosecurity protocol for veterinary clinics and hospitals to adopt, and (3) describe diagnostic tests currently available and those under development. Major knowledge and research gaps have been identified, including evaluation of vaccine efficacy in foals to assess current vaccination protocol recommendations.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to global health and development and it contributes to millions of deaths worldwide each year. Inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics are driving an increase in AMR and have a detrimental impact on the effectiveness of these critical medicines. Throug...h the Global Action Plan on AMR, WHO is working to improve the surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and reduce inappropriate antibiotic consumption.
There is a recognized need for high-quality resources to improve antibiotic prescribing globally. To address this need, a pragmatic approach was taken by WHO to develop actionable guidance for empiric antibiotic use.
The WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) antibiotic book provides concise, evidence-based guidance on the choice of antibiotic, dose, route of administration, and duration of treatment for more than 30 of the most common clinical infections in children and adults in both primary health care and hospital settings. The information included in the book supports the recommendations for antibiotics listed on the WHO Model Lists of Essential Medicines and Essential Medicines Children and the WHO AWaRe classification of antibiotics.
The WHO AWaRe antibiotic book is accompanied by summary infographics for each infection for both adults and children that provide a quick-reference guide for health care workers at the point of care.
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During the 17 years since Surgical approaches to the urogenital manifestations of lymphatic filariasis was first published, there has been heightened awareness of the physical, economic and emotional burden of the genitourinary manifestations of filariasis. With the impetus to provide better guidanc...e for care of those suffering from LF, this update was both warranted and timely.
At the outset, the Committee noted that barriers continue to exist in care of patients affected by LF-associated morbidity. These barriers include lack of information for patients as well as for many healthcare providers, including general surgeons and others within health systems
This update offers a new consensus of the Committee regarding the staging of hydroceles caused by LF, also known as “filariceles”. It recommends integrating LF surgery with other efforts to strengthen surgical care by assessing health facilities for their surgical readiness using the WHO surgical assessment tool or “SAT”. It also recommends integratinghernia surgery with hydrocele surgery and integrating standards for prevention of surgical site infection (SSI).
The update revises recommendations for standard procedures and processes, offers an algorithm for diagnosis (including the use of ultrasound) and discusses postoperative care. It recommends collecting data using the staging and grading system described by Capuano and Capuano along with other metrics for public health management of LF.
A multifaceted approach has therefore been recommended to coordinate public health outreach with national surgical planning and local health systems to include supporting partners such as nongovernmental organizations. Surgical camps with mobile teams, as well as training of personnel at DCP3 “first level” or WHO Level II hospitals (depending on region and resources), have important roles for reducing LF morbidity.
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