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 ...treated?
8. How can COVID-19 infection in humans be prevented?
9. What measures have been put in place in South Africa to minimise the risk of transmission should cases be imported?
10. Should I travel now?
11. Who can I contact for more information?
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(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...mentation of any aspect of these guidelines remains the responsibility of the implementing agency in so far as public health liability resides, or the responsibility of the individual clinician in the case of diagnosis or treatment.
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Overview
• How are diseases transmitted from person to person?
• What are the principles of infection prevention and control
• What IPC measures are other countries / organisations recommending for the transport industry/workers?
• How can we apply this knowledge to protect us while w...e protect our country?
• Administrative controls = screening and awareness, people flow, health promotion
• Environmental controls = ventilation, airflow
• Personal protective equipment = use of masks, gloves, hand hygiene
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BMJ 2020;368:m800 doi: 10.1136/bmj.m800 (Published 5 March 2020)
Produced by Training and Research Support Centre for the Regional Network for Equity in Health in east and southern Africa (EQUINET), March 20, 2020.
This brief summarises and provides links to official, scientific and other resources to support an understanding of and individual to regional level... responses to the epidemic of ‘novel coronavirus’, also known as COVID-19.
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Facebook posts shared thousands of times claim that holding your breath for more than 10 seconds is an effective test for the novel coronavirus, and that drinking water regularly can prevent the disease. The claims are false; the World Health Organization and other experts said there was no evide...nce to support these claims.
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Nosocomial infections and antimicrobial resistance are two special health issues listed in Annex 1 of Commission Decision 2000/96/EC of 22 December 1999 on the communicable diseases to be progressively covered by the Community network under Decision No 2119/98/EC of the European Parliament and of th...e Council.
Nosocomial infections correspond to infections acquired in hospitals. The term “Healthcare-associated infections” is now preferred because it includes not only infections acquired in hospitals, but also in other settings where healthcare is provided, e.g. long-term care facilities, nursing homes, home care, etc.
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This interim guidance is for LTCF managers and corresponding infection prevention and control (IPC) focal persons in LTCF and updates the guidance published in March 2020. The objective of this document is to provide guidance on IPC in LTCFs in the context of COVID-19 to 1) prevent COVID-19-virus fr...om entering the facility and spreading within the facility, and 2) to support safe conditions for visiting through the rigorous application of IPC procedures for the residents’ well-being. WHO will update these recommendations as new information becomes available.
Availabel in English, French, Russian and Spanish
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Временные рекомендации
4 марта 2020 г.
Данный инструмент предназначен для лечебных учреждений, в которых осуществлялся уход за пациентами с COVID-19 или в которые пос...упали такие пациенты. Данный бланк надлежит заполнить всем медицинским работникам, контактировавшим с пациентом с подтвержденным диагнозом COVID-19 в лечебном учреждении. Он призван служить оперативным инструментом для лечебных учреждений после выявления в учреждении пациента с COVID-19. Этот инструмент позволит определить риск инфицирования вирусом COVID-19 для всех медицинских работников (МР), контактировавших с пациентом с COVID-19, и дать рекомендации по ведению этих МР с учетом риска их заражения.
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Historically, the discovery of the sulfa drugs in the 1930s and the subsequent development of penicillin during World War II ushered in a new era in the treatment of infectious diseases. Infections that were common causes of death and disease in the pre-...antibiotic era - rheumatic fever, syphilis, cellulitis and bacterial pneumonia - became treatable, and over the next 20 years most of the classes of antibiotics that find clinical use today were discovered and changed medicine in a profound way. The availability of antibiotics enabled revolutionary medical interventions such as cancer chemotherapy, organ transplants and essentially all major invasive surgeries from joint replacements to coronary bypass. Antibiotics, though, are unique among drugs in that their use precipitates their obsolescence. Paradoxically, these cures select for organisms that can evade them, fueling an arms race between microbes, clinicians and drug discoverers.
Wright BMC Biology 2010, 8:123 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7007/8/12
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Antibiotic resistance is no longer a concern for the distant future but is a pressing issue, both globally and in Nepal. As part of global effort to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics, the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP)-Nepal was established to doc...ument the current state of antibiotic access, use and resistance in the country, and to identify policies and actions that could set a course for antibiotic sustainability.
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Haematologica has published European guidelines for empirical and targeted antibacterial therapy forfebrile neutropenic patients in the era of emerging resistance (ECIL-4). Indeed, collateral damage by broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy includes selection of multidrugresistant pathogens, and incr...eased predisposition to infec-tion by fungi and Clostridium difficile. Antibiotic resistance has become a major public health concern, with fears expressed that we will soon run out of antibiotics.
Haematologica December 2013 98: 1821-1825; doi:10.3324/haematol.2013.091769
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March 2020
This document provides a high-level mapping of outbreak stages with guidance on how to time the minimum uptake of different interventions that have been recommended by Africa CDC, driven by evidence and science.
This document provides guidance to EU/EEA Member States on environmental cleaning in healthcare and non-healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This document aims to support public health preparedness planning and response activities on the safe handling of bodies of deceased persons with suspected or confirmed COVID-19: at the site of death, during transport, storage and preparation before burial/cremation, and during burial/cremation.
Deployment of Residents in Various Facilities Designated for Screening and Management of Patients with COVID-19 and the non covid area of the hospital (in this SOP, the term “resident” includes DNB and CPS students)