Infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics are increasing in frequency, scale and impact. Health care facilities can amplify the transmission of emerging infectious diseases or multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) within their settings and communities. Therefore, evidence-based infection prevention ...and control (IPC) measures in health care facilities are critical for preventing and containing outbreaks, while still delivering safe, effective and quality health care. This toolkit is intended to support IPC improvements for outbreak management in all such facilities, both public and private throughout the health system. Specifically, this document systematically describes a framework of overarching principles to approach the preparedness, readiness and response outbreak management phases. The document also provides a toolkit of resource links to guide specific actions for each infectious disease and/or MDRO outbreak management phase at any health facility. This document is specifically tailored to an audience of stakeholders who establish and monitor health care facility-level IPC programs including: IPC focal points, epidemiologists, public health experts, outbreak response incident managers, facility-level IPC committee(s), safety and quality leads and managers, and other facility level IPC stakeholders.
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Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant
tuberculosis (XDR-TB) increasingly occur in resource-constrained settings.
In the context of a national response to MDR- and XDR-TB, health workers in
TB clinics (in district hospitals and some accredited health centres) wil...l need
to diagnose MDR-TB, initiate second-line anti-TB drugs, and monitor MDRTB
treatment.
Management of MDR-TB: a field guide was created to help health workers
carry out these tasks. It is a job aid that medical officers and TB nurses
are meant use frequently during the day for quick reference. This module
is closely related to other clinical guideline modules in the Integrated
Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness (IMAI) series. In particular, the
approach to chronic disease management is taken from General principles
of good chronic care in the IMAI series.
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The aim of the Annual Inspection Report is to present findings of public sector health establishments inspected by the OHSC to monitor compliance with the National Core Standards (NCS) during the 2016/2017 financial year in South Africa.
The NCS define fundamentals for quality of care based on six ...dimensions of quality: Acceptability,Safety, Reliability, Equity, Accessibility, and Efficiency.
The NCS structured assessment tools were used to collect data during inspections across the seven domains namely: Patient Rights; Patient Safety, Clinical Governance and Clinical Care; Clinical Support Services; Public Health; Leadership and Governance; Operational Management and Facilities and Infrastructure. A total of 851 routine inspections were conducted with 201 of these facilities re-inspected. Inspection data was captured on District Health Information System (DHIS) data entry forms and exported for analysis to Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) version 9.4.
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Cases of human monkeypox are rarely seen outside of west and central Africa. There are few data regarding viral kinetics or the duration of viral shedding and no licensed treatments. Two oral drugs, brincidofovir and tecovirimat, have been approved for treatment of smallpox and have demonstrated eff...icacy against monkeypox in animals. Our aim was to describe the longitudinal clinical course of monkeypox in a high-income setting, coupled with viral dynamics, and any adverse events related to novel antiviral therapies.
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The Interim Guidance for Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) outlines recommendations, considerations and methods to raise awareness, manage risk perception, maintain trust and proactively support people at risk to make informed decisions to protect themselves and others from monkeypo...x. The guidance includes recommendations on identifying and communicating with affected populations and key audiences and avoiding stigma in communications outreach. It also includes key messages about symptoms of monkeypox, transmission, prevention measures, and communicating about uncertainty. This document also provides RCCE guidance for managers and planners of gatherings and events, where close physical contact may create an environment conducive for the transmission of monkeypox. Additionally, this document includes a compendium of recommendations for RCCE methods and resources to support the monkeypox response.
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This guidance document addresses how physical distancing (referred to in previous guidance documents as ‘social distancing’) can help slow down transmission.
Ce document d'orientation explique comment la distance physique (désignée dans les documents d'orientation précédents sous le nom de «distance sociale») peut aider à ralentir la transmission.
A module from the suite of health service capacity assessments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Interim guidance 20 October 2020. This assessment tool covers the following aspects:
area distribution;
surface availability versus foreseen occupancy rate;
patient and staff flow...s;
ventilation requirement per specific areas;
visitors’ area and visitor flow; and
surge capacity.
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21 августа 2020 г.
В этом документе представлены рекомендации для лиц, принимающих решения, работников общественного
здравоохранения и специалистов в области педиа...рии, касающиеся использования детских масок в условиях пандемии
COVID-19.
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This document offers public health guidance for the prevention and control of COVID-19 in reception centres, and other temporary accommodation facilities, in the context of the mass influx of Ukrainian people into the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Republic of Moldova.
CEPI is seeking to raise $3.5 billion to implement CEPI’s next 5-year plan. To mitigate the immediate threat of COVID-19 variants, it is activating key elements of this plan now—and seeking to mobilise a portion of this $3.5 billion in 2021. We have already launched R&D programmes to initiate de...velopment of next-generation vaccines against COVID-19 variants and we are planning studies to answer critical scientific questions related to the durability of immunity, effectiveness of mixed-vaccine regimens, and vaccine effectiveness in vulnerable populations such as pregnant women. We are also bringing forward our plans to develop vaccines that could protect against multiple COVID-19 variants and other coronavirus specie
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The document outlines the 2017 cholera outbreak in Zambia, mainly in Lusaka, due to poor sanitation and unsafe water. By December, 493 cases were reported, with risks increasing due to the rainy season. The Zambia Red Cross Society (ZRCS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, WHO, and UNICE...F, responded by setting up treatment centers, supplying clean water and chlorine, and conducting hygiene education. 1,500 volunteers were mobilized to support 70,000 people directly. The IFRC allocated CHF 222,351 to control the outbreak, but challenges like limited funding and poor infrastructure remained.
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n light of the potential risk posed by SARS-CoV-2 variants, in January 2021 WHO organized an ad hoc consultation to discuss the development of an R&D agenda in response to existing and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
The key objectives were to identify the critical research questions related to var...iants and agree on a research approach to address them. Six breakout groups covered a range of specific issues related to COVID-19 variants: Epidemiology and mathematical modelling; evolutionary biology; animal models; assays and diagnostics; clinical management and therapeutics; and vaccines.
This report is a summary of presentations and panel discussions.
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13 May 2021
To avoid a reversal of progress from the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, new knowledge and lessons from successful programmatic innovations are urgently needed to improve TB prevention and care. Experience can provide evidence for innovative approaches and strategies to mainta...in and scale up high-quality TB services. WHO therefore called for case studies on programmatic innovations that address emerging challenges in TB prevention and care during the pandemic in order to collect and disseminate the findings to the TB community. Between November 2020 and February 2021, a total of 23 case studies relevant to the call were accepted from 19 countries in the six regions of WHO. The lessons learnt from these country activities to ensure the continuity of essential services like TB care in the face of the crippling crisis may also inform strategies for minimizing the impact of future emerging pathogens on health services.
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The standards for the care of small and sick newborns in health facilities define, standardize and mainstream inpatient care of small and sick newborns, building on essential newborn care and ensuring consistency with the WHO quality of care framework. The standards will guide countries in caring fo...r this vulnerable population and support the quality of care of newborns in the context of universal health coverage. They will provide a resource for policy-makers, health care professionals, health service planners, programme managers, regulators, professional bodies and technical partners involved in care
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2nd edition. WHO's recommendation has not changed: the standard WHO susceptibility tests should remain a primary method by which resistance is detected. However, it was considered necessary to update the existing resistance-monitoring procedures to also highlight the need for operationally meaningfu...l data.
Two new assays were included in this expanded version: an intensity assay and a synergist assay.
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