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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Laboratory Biossafety Manual
For 100 cases among which 60 cases of children ≥ 5 years old and 40 cases of children < 5 years old and adults.
The new Pneumonia kit 2020 is specially designed to provide sufficient child-size antibiotics to treat pneumonia, targeting children under 5 years of age. It aims to provide life-savi...ng treatment based on the WHO protocols WHO treatment guidance Pneumonia should be treated with antibiotics.
The antibiotic of choice is amoxicillin dispersible tablets. Most cases of pneumonia require oral antibiotics, which are often prescribed at a health centre.
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J Glob Health 2021;11:03082.
The war in Ukraine will have direct and indirect health consequences on conflict affected people, including internally displaced people and refugees. Governments in countries receiving refugees are providing them with access to healthcare. This document aims to provide information to guide individua...l health assessment carried out by frontline health providers at border areas, reception centres, transit centres and individual clinics as well as national public health agencies/authorities in countries receiving refugees and third country nationals.
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The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Volume 106: Issue 1 p.12-14.he piece highlights a body of research that suggests tiny plastic particles could disrupt immune and endocrine systems, damage organs, and cause other health problems. “Without a fundamental reimagining of global... industrial practices, we will continue to see dire impacts on the climate, the planet and our health
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Injection Safety and Safe Disposal of Medical Waste National Communication Strategy and Health Care Waste Management Standard
Operating Procedures (SOPs).
The overall objective of the consultancy was to review and align the three national technical and communication guiding documents on HCWM to th...e WHO Blue Book and other global standards and recommendations. The specific objectives of the assignment were ; to establish how well aligned the Kenya Healthcare Waste Management Guidelines, 2011, are to the WHO Blue Book on healthcare waste management, global recommendations and other global conventions on environmental protection; to establish the extent to which the Kenya Injection Safety and Safe Disposal of Medical Waste National Communication Strategy is aligned to the National Health Communication Guidelines, 2013; to determine the extent to which the current Standard Operating Procedures are aligned to the best available technologies (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) and international practices; and to assess current health care waste management practices at the health facilities supported by the GEF project.
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Environmental pollution, protection, quality and sustainability
Combined questionnaire Core
Service Availability and Readiness Assessment Tool
In the light of the transmissibility of coronaviruses, and the global experience with MERS-CoV (ongoing) and SARS in 2003 which were also caused by coronaviruses, South African authorities have compiled this guideline document to support surveillance, case finding, diagnosis, management and public h...ealth responses to cases under investigation.
*Please note*
The interim guidelines are based on what is currently known about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The National Department of Health (NDOH) and National Institute for Communicable Diseases will update these interim guidelines as needed and as additional information becomes available.
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Any individual that meets the suspected case definition of monkeypox should be offered testing in appropriately equipped laboratories by staff trained in the relevant technical and safety procedures. Confirmation of monkeypox virus infection is based on nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT), usi...ng real-time or conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), for detection of unique sequences of viral DNA. PCR can be used alone, or in combination with sequencing. The recommended specimen type for laboratory confirmation of monkeypox is skin lesion material, including swabs of lesion surface and/or exudate, roofs from more than one lesion, or lesion crusts.
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Monkeypox is an emerging viral zoonosis with symptoms similar to those observed in smallpox patients, although less severe. Since the global eradication of smallpox in 1980, monkeypox has emerged as the most important orthopoxvirus in humans. The Advisory Committee on Variola Virus Research (ACVVR) ...which meets annually to oversee smallpox research has highlighted the importance of diagnostics that could distinguish between variola and other strains of orthopoxviruses, including monkeypox virus. The ACVVR encourages the positive effects of current smallpox research on all orthopoxviruses, specifically monkeypox, such as the development of diagnostic tools.
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR TEST SELECTION ESSENTIAL IN VITRO DIAGNOSTIC TESTS FOR SARS-COV-2
This document aims to encourage countries to develop and implement policies to maintain and strengthen IPC programmes and measures in health care facilities in the context of the current ongoing transmission of the SARS-CoV-2, with recognition that epidemiological trends may vary and the risk of tra...nsmission of other pathogens.
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Transmission-based precautions (TBP) are used in addition to standard precautions for patients with known
or suspected infection or colonization1 with transmissible and/or epidemiologically significant pathogens.
The type of transmission-based precautions assigned to a patient depends on the trans...mission route of the
microorganism: contact, droplet, or airborne
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