Influenza outbreaks in aged care facilities in New South Wales in 2017: impact and lessons for surveillance.

Introduction: A record number of influenza outbreaks in aged care facilities (ACFs) in New South Wales (NSW) during 2017 provided an opportunity to measure the health impact of those outbreaks and assess the quality of routinely available surveillance data.

Methods: Data for all ACF influenza outbreaks in NSW in 2017 were extracted from the Notifiable Conditions Information Management System. The numbers of outbreaks, residents with influenza-like illness (ILI), hospital admissions and deaths were assessed.

An outbreak of norovirus genogroup II associated with New South Wales oysters.

Introduction: Currently available antigen tests for norovirus (NoV) have excellent specificity but negative results do not always rule out infection. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is a useful method for detecting and genotyping NoV in humans and oysters. An outbreak of NoV associated with oyster consumption in northern New South Wales confirmed the value of real-time RT-PCR where immunochromatography (ICT) tests were negative.

Timeliness of Salmonella Typhimurium notifications after the introduction of routine MLVA typing in NSW.

Salmonella Typhimurium is the most common bacterial cause of gastrointestinal disease in NSW. Regular review of surveillance procedures ensures system objectives are met and informs improvements in system utility and efficiency. This paper assesses the timeliness and data completeness of NSW Salmonella Typhimurium surveillance after the routine introduction of multilocus variable repeat analysis (MLVA), a rapid sub-typing technique.

The health of Hunter Valley communities in proximity to coal mining and power generation, general practice data, 1998-2010.

Aim: An analysis of general practice data for rural communities in close proximity to coal mining and coal-fired power generation in the Hunter Valley region of NSW was conducted to identify unusual patterns of illness.

Methods: Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health general practice consultation data from the Hunter Valley region for 1998-2010 were compared with data from all other rural NSW residents.

Results: There were no significantly higher rates of problems managed or medications prescribed for Hunter Valley region residents compared with the rest of rural NSW.

Measles with a possible 23 day incubation period.

Measles virus (MV) eradication is biologically, technically and operationally feasible. An essential feature in understanding the chain of MV transmission is its incubation period, that is, the time from infection to the onset of symptoms. This period is important for determining the likely source of infection and directing public health measures to interrupt ongoing transmission.

Evaluating the utility of emergency department syndromic surveillance for a regional public health service.

Communicable disease monitoring and response activities must be based upon local public health surveillance systems, even during infectious disease emergence, natural disasters, and during bioterrorism events. The NSW Department of Health has developed an emergency department surveillance system intended to monitor important public health conditions during mass gatherings and to identify outbreaks of importance. An evaluation of this system conducted in the Hunter New England region of New South Wales emphasised its usefulness when it was focused on a limited number of syndromes of public health importance and during mass gatherings and public health disaster responses.

Estimate of the number of Campylobacter infections in the Hunter region, NSW, 2004-2007.

Objectives: Campylobacteriosis is not notifiable in NSW and the number of cases of Campylobacter disease is thus not well described.

Methods: De-identified campylobacteriosis records for 2004-2007 were requested from laboratories in the Hunter region of NSW. Based on notifying laboratory, a Salmonella notification weighting was applied to laboratory-confirmed campylobacteriosis cases to provide an overall estimate of Campylobacter disease in the area.

A structured framework for improving outbreak investigation audits.

Background: Outbreak investigation is a core function of public health agencies. Suboptimal outbreak investigation endangers both public health and agency reputations. While audits of clinical medical and nursing practice are conducted as part of continuous quality improvement, public health agencies rarely make systematic use of structured audits to ensure best practice for outbreak responses, and there is limited guidance or policy to guide outbreak audit.

Egg-associated Salmonella outbreak in an aged care facility, New South Wales, 2008.

Salmonellosis is a bacterial disease that causes acute gastroenteritis, with sudden onset of headache, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea and sometimes vomiting. Infection is often associated with the consumption of foods prepared using raw eggs. During July to August 2008 an outbreak at an aged care facility (ACF) in New South Wales was confirmed as Salmonella Typhimurium phage type 44 (Stm 44) in eight of 45 residents.

A norovirus outbreak associated with consumption of NSW oysters: implications for quality assurance systems.

Norovirus is a common cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks associated with raw shellfish consumption. In Australia there have been several reports of norovirus outbreaks associated with oysters despite the application of regulatory measures recommended by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. This study describes an outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis following the consumption of New South Wales oysters.

General practice intervention to increase opportunistic screening for chlamydia.

We describe an 18-month intervention that was designed to improve opportunistic screening for chlamydia in General Practice. Key strategies included engaging and informing general practitioners, adopting a simplified screening protocol, providing feedback on practice testing performance and developing resources for use with patients. This uncontrolled before and after study found that the overall impact on testing was modest and largely transient, and was insufficient to impact on the current chlamydia epidemic.

Mitigating the health impacts of a natural disaster--the June 2007 long-weekend storm in the Hunter region of New South Wales.

A severe storm that began on Thursday, 7 June 2007 brought heavy rains and gale-force winds to Newcastle, Gosford, Wyong, Sydney, and the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. The storm caused widespread flooding and damage to houses, businesses, schools and health care facilities, and damaged critical infrastructure. Ten people died as a result of the storm, and approximately 6000 residents were evacuated.

An outbreak of pulmonary tuberculosis in young Australians.

Objective: To characterise a pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) cluster in the Hunter Area of New South Wales using a combination of traditional epidemiological methods and molecular typing.

Design, Setting And Participants: Review of all notifications of TB in the Hunter Area between January 1994 and June 2005, with a detailed analysis of cases among people born in Australia or New Zealand.

Main Outcome Measures: Comparison of genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates; extent of TB cluster.