Initial public health responses to control the pandemic focused on promoting protective behaviors among the general population, including frequent hand washing, physical distancing and the use of face masks in public spaces However, many saw these only as interim measures to reduce the spread of the... virus and hopes for a return to a sense of ‘ rested on the development of a safe and effective vaccine.
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In case of resistance to rifampicin, fluoroquinolones become the preferred category of second-line drugs. Unfortunately, quinolone-resistant strains of Mycobacterium leprae have also been reported in several countries, probably due to the extensive use of quinolones for treating several types of inf...ections. Clofazimine resistance is still rare but this antimicrobial cannot be given alone
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This document aims to help EU/EEA public health authorities in the tracing and management of persons, including healthcare workers, who had contact with COVID-19 cases. It outlines the key steps of contact tracing, including contact identification, listing and follow-up, in the context of the COVID-...19 response.
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In 2011, ICTC developed a Trachoma Action Plan (TAP) planning guide to support national health officials in endemic countries. This resource was developed to complement the 2020 INSight roadmap by helping countries create specific national plans detailing how they will reach elimination targets in t...heir own particular contexts.
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This joint ECDC-European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) document aims to support Member States in determining a coordinated approach to reduce the risks related to the movement of people by air within and between the EU/EEA countries and the UK in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting th...at the impact of quarantine and testing is likely to vary according to levels of ongoing community transmission, and in the context of ECDC’s current advice that non-essential travel should be avoided during the end-of year festive period
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MMWR: Recommendations and Reports / Vol. 62 / No. 9
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
October 25, 2013
Recommendations of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee and the HICPAC/SHEA/APIC/IDSA Hand Hygiene Task Force
This document provides guidance on the application of non-pharmaceutical countermeasures to minimise the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the population. Some of the measures proposed refer specifically to certain phases of the epidemic (containment or mitigation phases), and can ...be adapted depending on the assessed severity/impact of the infection. Other measures are valid for all phases of an epidemic.
The guidance is based on the current knowledge of the 2019-nCoV and evidence available on other viral respiratory pathogens, mainly the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and seasonal or pandemic influenza viruses.
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March 2020
The number of African Union Member States reporting COVID-
19 cases is increasing and there is a likelihood of community transmission. The WHO recently modified the COVID-19 suspect case definition to include severe acute respiratory infection and advises testing of all severe acute res...piratory illness (SARI) cases.1 However, many Member States have not yet started implementing these changes, they are still focussing surveillance efforts on individuals with travel history to an area with local COVID-19 transmission. This means patients with similar symptoms, but no apparent contact, may not
be investigated.
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Communicable Disease Control Branch
Communicable Disease Management Protocol – Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), February 2010
This document updates the 2014 Core Elements for Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs and incorporates new evidence and lessons learned from experience with the Core Elements. The Core Elements are applicable in all hospitals, regardless of size. There are suggestions specific to small and criti...cal access hospitals in Implementation of Antibiotic Stewardship Core Elements at Small and Critical Access Hospitals (12).There is no single template for a program to optimize antibiotic prescribing in hospitals. Implementation of antibiotic stewardship programs requires flexibility due to the complexity of medical decision-making surrounding antibiotic use and the variability in the size and types of care among U.S. hospitals. In some sections, CDC has identified priorities for implementation, based on the experiences of successful stewardship programs and published data. The Core Elements are intended to be an adaptable framework that hospitals can use to guide efforts to improve antibiotic prescribing. The assessment tool that accompanies this document can help hospitals identify gaps to address.
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This technical guidance aims to provide guidelines to laboratories and relevant stakeholders in the European Union (EU), European Economic Area (EEA) and other countries in the WHO European region in making decisions on establishing sequencing capacities and capabilities, in making decisions on whic...h technologies to use and/or in deciding on the role of sequencing for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics, research, outbreak investigations and surveillance. It addresses the most used sequencing technologies and their applications and proposes a central standardisation process to analyse and report the findings of SARS-CoV-2 genetic characterisations.
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Countries, partners, and donors are committed to the global elimination of blinding trachoma by 2020.
Achieving this public health milestone requires more than funding; it requires health personnel with the
right mix of skills, and well supported and managed health systems. Mass drug administratio...n (MDA)
with Zithromax®, the Pfizer, Inc. donated antibiotic, is a key component of the SAFE strategy, endorsed
by the World Health Organization. There is growing
recognition that improving all aspects of MDA, from
planning to training, recording to reporting, and
receipt of drug to distribution (the supply chain), will
be necessary if MDA programmes are going to reduce
the community burden of Chlamydia trachomatis, and
eliminate trachoma as a cause of blindness by 2020.
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