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15. Euro Surveill. 2017;22(47):pii=17-00103
The third edition, released in 2018, has grown to include a total of 18 chapters, contributed by 20 experts and authors from many countries. The goal remains the same: to educate primary care providers on the best practices in TB diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. All articles are richly illustrate ... more
This concept note describes the methods used to assess the prevalence of any HIVDR and HIVDR by PMTCT exposure among children less than 18 months of age using remnant dried blood spot specimens from early infant diagnosis over a 12-month period
Overview: Risk communication and community engagement are essential for any disease outbreak response. This is particularly critical during outbreaks of Ebola which may create fear in the public and frontline responders alike due to severe presentation of symptoms, misunderstanding of the causes of ... more
Technical report
This manual aims to provide information about the methods for investigating outbreaks of hepatitis E, and measures for their prevention and control. In addition, the manual gives information about the causative agent – known as the hepatitis E virus (HEV) – its epidemiology ... more
This job aid provides information for laboratorians about how to receive, process, and store dried blood spot specimens collected for early infant diagnosis, viral load, or drug resistance testing.
The overall goal of the Kenya Health Sector Referral Strategy is to improve client access to referral. The objectives of the strategy are to realise improved capacity of health providers to identify clients who require referral, develop protocols that will lead to referral system efficiency and effe ... more

Introduction to Ebola disease: Managing infectious hazards

Formenty, Pierre World Health Organization (WHO) (2018) C_WHO

WHO Expert Consultation on Rabies. 3rd report

Abela-Ridder, B. World Health Organisation (WHO) (2018) C_WHO
WHO TRS N°1012. Key updates include: (i) surveillance strategies, including cross-sectoral linking of systems and suitable diagnostics; (ii) the latest recommendations on human and animal immunization; (iii) palliative care in lowresource settings; (iv) risk assessment to guide management of bite ... more
Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance and Research Network | This document contains detail procedures on sample collection, transport, isolation, identification of fungi for the diagnosis of invasive fungal infections and antifungal susceptibility testing of yeast
Guidelines for Good Clinical Laboratory Practices (GCLP) outlines the principles and procedures to be followed by medical laboratories involved in clinical research and/or patient care so as to provide quality data which can be used for health research and patient treatment. As the use of laboratory ... more
This document contains: The systematic reviews and GRADE assessments used at the Index-TB Guideline Panel in July 2015; The Evidence to Decision tables that record the Panel’s assessment and recommendations from this meeting
The update of the ESTC was conducted as a joint endeavour with ERS, consulting experts from international societies and organisations, national TB programmes, civil society and affected communities. The second edition of the ESTC includes 21 standards in the areas of diagnosis, treatment, HIV and co ... more
European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care 2017 Update (Romanian Version)
These forms are intended only for clinicians and nurses taking care of patients with Ebola virus disease. They provide standardized information that needs to be collected by the clinicians at admission time, every day and at time of discharge.
(Published with Decision No. 3003/Qð­BYT dated 19/8/2009 of the Minister of Health)
Accessed: 29.09.2019
Toolkit HIV Treatment and Care
HIV drug resistance , Users Manual December 2017
The aim of the operational framework is to ensure 1) accurate collection, handling, shipment and storage of specimens collected in countries implementing HIV drug resistance surveillance; and 2) the availability of quality-assured HIV genotyping laboratory services producing comparable and reliable ... more
WHO recommends that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) be offered as an additional prevention choice for HIV-negative individuals at substantial risk of HIV infection as part of combination prevention approaches. HIV drug resistance has been rarely reported among PrEP users who tested HIV positive i ... more
PQDx 0144-043-00 WHO PQDx Public Report November/2016, version 4.0
PQDx 0197-045-00 WHO PQDx PR March /2016, version 2.0
PQDx 0033-013-00 WHO PQ Public Report July/2016, version 5.0
PQDx 0005-005-00 WHO PQDx PR May/2016, version 3.0
PQDx 0159-055-00 WHO PQ Public Report February/2017, version 5.0
8th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis 19-22 July 2015 Vancouver Anita Sands Prequalification Team – Diagnostics Essential Medicines and Health Product
Accessed Febr. 6, 2020
30 April 2020 | COVID-19: Essential health services
The following protocol has been designed to investigate the First Few X cases (FFX) and their close contacts. It is envisioned that the FFX 2019-nCoV investigation will be conducted across several countries or sites with geographical and demographical diversity. Using a standardized protocol such a ... more
This document is intended for use by state and local health departments and healthcare facilities and serves as general guidance for the initial response for the containment of novel or targeted multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) or resistance mechanisms. It is not intended to describe all the ac ... more
It is intended for clinicians who are working in intensive care units (ICUs) in low and middle-income countries and managing adult and pediatric patients with severe forms of acute respiratory infection (SARI), including severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and septic ... more
Molecular methods for antimicrobial resistance (AMR)diagnostics to enhance the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System
On the 31st December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China country office reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China now known to be caused by a novel virus. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been confirmed as the causative v ... more
1. What is COVID-19? 2. Who is at most risk for COVID-19? 3. What is the risk of COVID-19 infection in humans in South Africa? 4. How is COVID-19 transmitted? 5. What are the signs and symptoms of COVID-19 infection in humans? 6. How is COVID-19 diagnosed? 7. How is COVID-19 infection ... more
Accessed: 24.03.2020

Chinese Guideline of Diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19

B. Cao China-Japan Friendship Hospital; World Health Organization (WHO); CAP-China; et al. (2020) C2
(7th Version) 20, March 2020
The information contained in this document, be it guidelines, recommendations, diagnostic algorithms or treatment regimens, are offered in this document in the public interest. To the best of the knowledge of the guideline writing team, the information contained in these guidelines is correct. Imple ... more
Временное руководство 19 марта 2020 г. Данный документ предоставляет временное руководство лабораториям и заинтересованным сторонам, участвующим в лабораторном ... more
Intensive Care Med (2009) 35:9–29DOI 10.1007/s00134-008-1336-9 Although thousands of papers have been devoted tohospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), many controversiesremain, and management of HAP is probably often sub-optimal. Several reviews or guidelines have been pub-lished rec ... more
The international community sits at the tipping pointof a post-­‐antibiotic era, where common bacterial infections are no longer treatable with the antibiotic armamentarium that exists. In South Africa, t ... more

PACK On-site Training Resources COVID-19

Western Cape Government (health); Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK); University of Cape Town; Knowledge Translation Unit (University of Cape Tow Lung Institute) Western Cape Government (health); Practical Approach to Care Kit (PACK); University of Cape Town; Knowledge Translation Unit (University of Cape Tow Lung Institute) (2020) C2
Primary Care Guide for the Adult· 2020 Western Cape Edition 20 March 2020
Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) organisms are increasing globally, threatening to render existing treatments ineffective against many infectious diseases. In Africa, AMR has already been documented to be a problem for HIV and the pathogens that cause malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, cholera, meningitis ... more
India reported its 1st case of COVID-19 on 30th January, 2020. It was a travel related case from Wuhan, China. Since then (as on 29th March, 2020), 979 confirmed cases and 25 deaths have been reported from 27 States/UTs. Although there is no evidence to widespread community transmission, 20 existing ... more
A new respiratory infectious disease, COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, emerged in early December 2019. Since then, the virus has spread to India and 106 other countries in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, and Oceania. On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) decl ... more

Advice on the use of point-of-care immunodiagnostic tests for COVID-19

OCHA; Reliefweb; World Health Organization (WHO) OCHA; Reliefweb; World Health Organization (WHO); Health Cluster (2020) C2
Scientific brief 8 April 2020
The following protocol has been designed to investigate the extent of infection, as determined by seropositivity in the general population, in any country in which COVID-19 virus infection has been reported. Each country may need to tailor some aspects of this protocol to align with public health, l ... more
Временные рекомендации23апреля 2020г.
First published in 2020, this toolkit is intended for clinicians working in acute care, managing adult and paediatric patients with acute respiratory infection, including severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis and septic shock. The main objective is to provide key tools for us ... more
Effective response to an outbreak of COVID-19 requires detection in the very earliest stages of the outbreak when the number of cases is small, and the geographical extent of spread is limited. In order to achieve this, a sensitive surveillance system capable of detecting small scale, unusual events ... more
The following is a breakdown of key considerations to guide planning and resource allocation for COVID-19 preparedness and response to support UNHCR regional and country operations in Public Health, WASH, Shelter and Settlements programmes. While some of the activities are more relevant in camps or ... more
Nested case-control study of health workers exposed to confirmed COVID-19 patients. Similar objectives to the cohort study but case-control studies may be cheaper and provide robust evidence to characterize and assess the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection in health workers exposed to COVID-19 p ... more
8 July 2020
Available in Englisch, French and Portuguese
This document outlines minimum requirements of laboratory testing for COVID-19 and link laboratory testing with surveillance and contact tracing to guide the outbreak response by national health authorities using a reduced number of tests performed. The strategies are organized according to stages o ... more
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance on the use of pooled sample testing strategy in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing laboratories of the African Union Member States for scaling up SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing capacity with the available resources. The current document descr ... more
Available in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Arabic https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/337832
The 12th Meeting of the Regional Certification Commission (RCC) for the Polio Endgame in the Region of the Americas was conducted virtually due to the pandemic of COVID-19. The meeting was composed of 5 steps: Step 1: An introductory meeting between RCC members and Secretariat Step 2: Assessment ... more
Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19, 28 September 2022
2nd edition. Children with TB comprise about 10-12% of the total TB cases diagnosed in the country. This burden is likely to be higher given the challenges in diagnosing TB in children. The symptoms of TB in children mimic those of other childhood diseases. Children do not readily expectorate and th ... more
These guidelines provide new and updated recommendations on the use of point-of-care testing in children under 18 months of age and point-of-care tests to monitor treatment in people living with HIV; the treatment monitoring algorithm; and timing of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living w ... more
Interim Guidance October 2022. This addendum addresses some of the methodological aspects of VE evaluations that have been learned during the past year, as well as those that have become relevant in the current epidemiological setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. For some of the COVID-19 vaccine method ... more
Many critical questions remain about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in real-world settings. These questions can only be answered in post-introduction vaccine effectiveness studies.This guidance document outlines an approach to leverage existing surveillance systems for Severe Acute Respirato ... more
9 June 2021 Since its launch, GLASS has expanded in scope and coverage and as of May 2021, 109 countries and territories worldwide have enrolled in GLASS. A key new component in GLASS is the inclusion of antimicrobial consumption (AMC) surveillance at the national level highlighted in this fourth G ... more
Epidemic meningitis is a major public health challenge in the African 'meningitis belt', an area that extends from Senegal to Ethiopia with an estimated total population of 500 million. Since 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with its collaborating centres for meningitis, h ... more
3rd edition. In 2001, Uganda adapted the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) developed by World Health Organization (WHO) for member states in African region. The Ministry of Health has been implementing the IDSR strategy since then with success across the country. This strategy prov ... more
Quick reference guide
TEchnical Note
This guidance addresses rationale, risk-based scenarios, practical considerations prior to adoption of the self-testing products, quality assurance, safety and ethical considerations, and data management considerations for COVID-19 self-testing. The Africa CDC recommends the use of rapid antigen sel ... more
Tuberculosis (TB) is the deadliest infectious disease in most low- and middle-income countries, claiming more than 4,000 lives each day. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted people with pre-existing health conditions. People with TB are usually more vulnerable to other infectio ... more
In 2007, WHO warned that infectious diseases are emerging and re-emerging at a rate that has not been seen before. The potential for infectious diseases to spread rapidly results in high morbidity and mortality, causing a potential global public health treat of major concern. Several factors are ... more
Laboratory Biossafety Manual
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 ... more
19 August 2022. A monkeypox case investigation form (CIF) has been designed as a tool for Member States and researchers to conduct in-depth epidemiological investigation of suspected, probable and confirmed cases of monkeypox. This form allows to collect data prospectively or retrospectively for bot ... more
Here you can find the latest reports
The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of Buruli ulcer (Mycobacterium ulcerans infection) for the medical and scientific communities and the general public alike.
Testing Guidance and Interpretation of Results for Healthcare Providers Zika Virus Testing Guidance: Asymptomatic Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Exposure
Recency assays use one or more biomarkers to identify whether HIV infection in a person is recent (usually within a year or less) or longstanding. Recency assays have been used to estimate incidence in representative cross-sectional surveys and in epidemiological studies to better understand the pat ... more
Revised and expanded version of the Guidelines
Countries are making progress toward the global goal of 95% of people living with HIV knowing their status by 2025. However, considerable gaps remain in achieving these goals globally. Men in high HIV burden settings and men from key populations in all settings are consistently less likely to know t ... more
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with epidemic potential, especially after a heavy rainfall, caused by a bacterium called Leptospira. Leptospira interrogans is pathogenic to humans and animals, with more than 200 serologic variants or serovars. Humans usually acquire leptospirosis through dire ... more