The document titled "Early Warning Signs of COPD" from the American Lung Association outlines what COPD is, its risk factors, and the importance of recognizing early symptoms such as persistent coug...h, breathlessness, and frequent chest infections. It emphasizes the need for early consultation with a healthcare provider and diagnostic testing like spirometry to confirm COPD. Early diagnosis and treatment can help slow disease progression and improve quality of life.
more
UNICEF provides a detailed update and list of Ebola virus disease personal protective equipment technical specifications for use in high- and low-risk settings. It includes barriers for full body pr...otection, as well as the head, nose, mouth, eyes, hands and feet. In selecting the right PPE specifications for frontline workers, the degree of contact with infectious material, and the potential for infected fluid penetration should be considered.
more
The Facilitator's Guide provides instruction and suggestions for teaching the training modules for the Technical Guidelines for Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response in the Africa Region, 2nd edition. This training is intended for district le...vel health officers who conduct IDSR activities. The course is laid out in 7 modules that walk participants through the Technical Guidelines (TGs) chapter by chapter. By the end of the course, participants will be familiar with the TGs and capable of utilizing them appropriately in their position
more
This publication gives a broad vision of what a comprehensive approach to cervical cancer prevention and control means. In particular, it outlines the complementary strategies for comprehensive cerv...ical cancer prevention and control, and highlights the neners. This new guide updates the 2006 edition and includes the recent promising deve
ed for collaboration across programmes, organizations and partl-
opments in technologies and strategies that can address the gaps between the needs for and availability of services for cervical cancer prevention and control.
more
Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult Illness (IMAI)
July 2008
A Situational Assessment and Five-YearAction Plan for the Africa CDC Strengthening Regional Public Health Institutions and Capacity for Surveillance and Response Program
Interim practical manual supporting implementation of the WHO guidelines on core components of infection prevention and control programmes
Rabies is a devastating and societally important zoonotic disease, which is transmitted principally to humans through the bite of infected dogs. This acute, progressive viral encephalitis has the hi...ghest case fatality of any infectious disease and kills tens of thousands of people annually, with children and impoverished communities being affected disproportionately.
more
In February 2014, there was an outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Guinea, which has spread to Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone causing untold hardship and hundreds ...ass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">of deaths in these countries. As of 6 March 2015, a total of 24,282 cases, and 9,976 deaths, which were attributed to the EVD, had been recorded across the most affected countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an outbreak of the EVD was also reported, but is considered of a different origin than that which has affected West Africa.
more
The spread of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms poses anincreasing threat to affordable modern health care. In the Netherlands, efforts to control the dispersal ...ght medbox">of known and novel antimicrobial-resistant organisms have been mostly implemented at the hospital level. However, recent studies have recommended shifting the focus of control strategies fromsingle hospitals toward larger healthcare networks. These networks consist of clusters of hospitals that are connected viashared patients. Several studies have shown that patients transferred from one hospital to another can spread antimicrobial-resistant pathogens across the healthcare network
infection control & hospital epidemiology july 2016, vol. 37, no. 7
more
J Antimicrob Chemother https://doi.org/10.1093/jac/dkab423
Antibiotic stewardship is absolutely crucial in the fight to control antimicrobial resistance. Everyone has a part to
play. Grassroots action is essential; it is no good sitting back and w...aiting for world leaders to solve this problem.
In this article I outline some of the challenges and the steps that everyone can take to do their part in tackling
the slow-moving crisis of AMR.
more
User GuideThe toolkit is composed of three sections: Hospital and Health System Resources - includes a readiness assessment tool, the starting point in developing or enhancing a successful Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP). The tool, a check...list developed by the CDC, should be shared with senior management, a senior leader for quality, purchasing directors, clinic managers, nurse managers, key physician leaders, risk managers, pharmacy leaders, infection preventionists and hospital epidemiologists, laboratory staff and information technology staff. For ease of use, it is divided into two sections, one for those just beginning a program, the other for those who wish to enhance an existing program. Clinician Resources - includes webinars, clinical evidence supporting appropriate use of antibiotics, implementation guides and related articles.Patient Resources - includes frequently asked questions, pamphlets and handouts on how patients can best engage in their care and resources on appropriate use of antibiotics.
more
Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases 8(11): e3229 (20 November 2014)
Training for staff working at DR-TB management centres.
Training modules
The global burden of disease due to mental disorders continues to rise, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). In addition to causing a large proportion ...hlight medbox">of morbidity, mental disorders – especially severe mental disorders (SMD) – are linked with poorer health outcomes and increased mortality. SMD are defined as a group of conditions that include moderate to severe depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. People with SMD have a two to three times higher average mortality compared to the general population, which translates to a 10-20 year reduction in life expectancy. While people with SMD do have higher rates of death due to unnatural causes (accidents, homicide, or suicide) than the general population, the
majority of deaths amongst people with SMD are attributable to physical health conditions, both
non-communicable and communicable.
more
Specific measures are being taken within the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) to address the MDR TB problem through appropriate management of patients and strategies to prevent the prop...agation and dissemination of MDR TB.
The term "Programmatic Management of Drug Resistant TB" (PMDT) refers to programme based MDR TB diagnosis, management and treatment. This guideline promotes full integration of basic TB control and PMDT activities under the NTP, so that patients with TB are evaluated for drug resistance and are placed on the appropriate treatment regimen and properly managed from the outset of treatment, or as early as possible. The guidelines also integrate the identification and treatment of more severe forms of drug resistance, such as extensively drug resistant TB (XDR TB).
At the end, the guideline introduces new standards for registering, monitoring and reporting outcomes of multidrug resistant TB cases.
more
Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) is caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, and transmitted to humans by infected triatomine bugs, and less commonly by transfusion, organ transplant, from mother to infant, and in rare instances,... by ingestion of contaminated food or drink.1-4 The hematophagous triatomine vectors defecate during or immediately after feeding on a person. The parasite is present in large numbers in the feces of infected bugs, and enters the human body through the bite wound, or through the intact conjunctiva or other mucous membrane.
more
The objectives of pertussis surveillance are to:hmonitor disease burden and the impact of the pertussis vaccination programme, with a special focus... on understanding the morbidity and mortality in children < 5 years of agehgenerate data to inform vaccine schedule and delivery strategy decisions to optimize the impact of vaccinationhdetect and guide public health response to outbreaks of pertussis
more
Following the declaration of the 9th Ebola Disease Outbreak (EVD) on 8 May 2018 by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Ministry ...ribute-to-highlight medbox">of Health, the WHO has raised the alert for neighbouring countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which share extensive borders, hosting DRC refugees and are used as corridors for DRC population movement. On 1 August 2018, just one week after the declaration of the end of the Ebola outbreak in Equator province, the 10th Ebola epidemic of the DRC was declared in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, which are among the most populated provinces in the DRC that also share borders with Uganda and Rwanda.
more
Prepared as an outcome of ICMR Expert Group on Immunophenotyping of Hematolymphoid Neoplasms | Coordinated by Division of Non Communicable ...ass="attribute-to-highlight medbox">Diseases | This document addresses on various issue related to good quality practices in laboratory work up of flow cytometric immunophenotyping and will be of use to pathologists, cytometrists, hematologists, technologists and scientists working in this field.
more