78 research outputs found
Effectiveness of seasonal influenza vaccine in Australia, 2015: an epidemiological, antigenic and phylogenetic assessment
No full textAbstract not availableJames E. Fielding, Avram Levy, Monique B. Chilver, Yi-Mo Deng, Annette K. Regan, Kristina A. Grant, Nigel P. Stocks, Sheena G. Sulliva
Epidemiology of viral respiratory infections in Australian working-age adults (20-64 years): 2010-2013
No full textAcute respiratory infections cause significant morbidity and mortality accounting for 5.8 million deaths worldwide. In Australia, influenza-like illness (ILI), defined as cough, fever and fatigue is a common presentation in general practice and results in reduced productivity and lost working days. Little is known about the epidemiology of ILI in working-age adults. Using data from the ASPREN influenza surveillance network in Australia (2010-2013) we found that working-age adults made up 45.2% of all ILI notifications with 55% of samples positive for at least one respiratory virus. Viruses most commonly detected in our study included influenza A (20.6%), rhinovirus (18.6%), influenza B (6.2%), human meta-pneumovirus (3.4%), respiratory syncytial virus (3.1%), para-influenza virus (2.6%) and adenovirus (1.3%). We also demonstrated that influenza A is the predominant virus that increases ILI (by 1.2% per month for every positive influenza A case) in working-age adults during autumn-winter months while other viruses are active throughout the year. Understanding the epidemiology of viral respiratory infections through a year will help clinicians make informed decisions about testing, antibiotic and antiviral prescribing and when the beginning of the 'flu season' can be more confidently predicted.B.M. Varghese, E. Dent, M. Chilver, S. Cameron and N.P. Stock
Influenza vaccine effectiveness in Australia: results from the Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network
No full textOBJECTIVE: To estimate influenza vaccine coverage and effectiveness against medically attended laboratory-confirmed influenza for the 2012 season. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Test-negative design involving patients recruited as part of the Australian Sentinel Practices Research Network, a network of sentinel general practitioners throughout Australia. Throughout 2012, at the discretion of the GP at one of 102 participating practices, patients presenting with influenza-like illness were swabbed and included in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimated as (1-OR)*100% by logistic regression. RESULTS: 1775 patients were swabbed. The epidemic period was identified as Weeks 10 to 43 of 2012. After exclusions, there were 1414 patients for the VE analysis, including 593 (42%) who tested influenza-positive and 821 who tested negative. 27% of test-negative patients were vaccinated, of whom most were aged 50 years and over. The overall VE, adjusted for age group, month of presentation and state or territory, was 23% (95% CI, -4% to 43%) against all influenza types, 15% (95% CI, -17% to 38%) against influenza A, 13% (95% CI, -20% to 36%) against influenza A(not H1) and 53% (95% CI, 5% to 77%) against influenza B. CONCLUSION: Vaccination against influenza was modestly protective, reducing the risk of medical presentation with influenza by around 23%.Sheena G Sullivan, Monique B-N Chilver, Geoff Higgins, Allen C Cheng, Nigel P Stock
Technology education in secondary schools
No full textThe author outlines his background and refers to current relevant attitudes. He considers changes which have influenced the curriculum for manufacturing in resilient materials in schools. The word technology is currently in common use. Having examined a range of sources for common themes, the author synthesises a definition and examines some implications. He uses the example of the development of the electronic computer to illustrate the difference between science and technology before arguing that 'new technology', in schools, properly belongs within the framework of 'Craft Design & Technology' (CDT). Using references from industry, education and elsewhere, he describes the process of designing and upholds its predominance as a skill to be fostered. Arising from its cyclic nature are implications for the assessment of performance. As labour saving devices, windmills and robots are widely separated by time but both require control and the author seeks to explore this link. The components of control are also identifiable in the work of pupils over many years. He contrasts industrial robots with those of their prophets. The need far a review of the education service was established in 1976. The consequent chain of political initiatives in Britain is described highlighting the nature of politics. He considers a case history when those who 'do' become championed by those who would have it done’. Durham Local Education Authority's progress in CDT in-service training is described and the world of 'lower school' technology is explored by considering both pupil and updated teacher. The author describes industrial reality and intimates a curriculum possibility - the design, by lower school pupils, of automatic systems. He sees the computer in the CDT curriculum both as design tool and as part of solutions to human needs
Zintgraff's Explorations in Bamenda, Adamawa and the Benue Lands 1889-1892
No full textThe following pages, initially prepared for limited circulation in 1961, contain brief extracts and summaries of those parts of Eugen ZintgraffÍs book Nord-Kamerun (1895), of most interest concerning the colonial Bamenda and Wum Division. ZintgraffÍs book, the first by a European about the Grassfields, has not been translated and is hard to get second-hand. In using these notes the following points should be borne in mind: ZintgraffÍs knowdie;ledge of Bali (Mungaka) and Hausa was very slight, and his discussions of character, motives and political institutions are consequently superficial and open to criticisms. He had no means of checking what he was told, or thought he was told. He had no previous knowledge of any similar culture and no training in ethnographical method. He was, however, a good observer, and his descriptions of tools, dress, weapons and the like, can be regarded as fairly reliable. Finally, it must be remembered that Zintgraff wrote the book to justify his own actions and to support that small but influential section of public opinion in Germany which favoured rapid imperial expansion. A full account of the actions and motives of ZintgraffÍs opponents in the Kamerun Governdie;ment and in the Colonial Bureau of the German Foreign Office has not been written: we only have one side of the story. But there are some suggestive points made in RudinÍs Germans in the Cameroons and others referred to in these notes. What is perhaps most striking about ZintgraffÍs account is the fact that the people of the Western Grassfields were not so isolated from one another or their neighbours as might be thought. A network of trade-friendships covered the country and big men exchanged gifts over long distances. These links must be set beside the insedie;curity due to raids and slave-catching, and are well worth investigation
Pooled influenza vaccine effectiveness estimates for Australia, 2012-2014
No full textData were pooled from three Australian sentinel general practice influenza surveillance networks to estimate Australia-wide influenza vaccine coverage and effectiveness against community presentations for laboratory-confirmed influenza for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons. Patients presenting with influenza-like illness at participating GP practices were swabbed and tested for influenza. The vaccination odds of patients testing positive were compared with patients testing negative to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) by logistic regression, adjusting for age group, week of presentation and network. Pooling of data across Australia increased the sample size for estimation from a minimum of 684 to 3,683 in 2012, from 314 to 2,042 in 2013 and from 497 to 3,074 in 2014. Overall VE was 38% [95% confidence interval (CI) 24-49] in 2012, 60% (95% CI 45-70) in 2013 and 44% (95% CI 31-55) in 2014. For A(H1N1)pdm09 VE was 54% (95% CI-28 to 83) in 2012, 59% (95% CI 33-74) in 2013 and 55% (95% CI 39-67) in 2014. For A(H3N2), VE was 30% (95% CI 14-44) in 2012, 67% (95% CI 39-82) in 2013 and 26% (95% CI 1-45) in 2014. For influenza B, VE was stable across years at 56% (95% CI 37-70) in 2012, 57% (95% CI 30-73) in 2013 and 54% (95% CI 21-73) in 2014. Overall VE against influenza was low in 2012 and 2014 when A(H3N2) was the dominant strain and the vaccine was poorly matched. In contrast, overall VE was higher in 2013 when A(H1N1)pdm09 dominated and the vaccine was a better match. Pooling data can increase the sample available and enable more precise subtype- and age group-specific estimates, but limitations remain.S.G. Sullivan, K.S. Carville, M. Chilver, J.E. Fielding, K.A. Grant, H. Kelly, A. Levy, N.P. Stocks, S.S. Tempone and A.K. Rega
- …
