AFP surveillance and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative
The critical role of acute flaccid paralysis surveillance in the Global
Polio Eradication Initiative
Tangermann RH, et al. Int Health 2017; 9: 156–163
Tangermann Global polio eradication program International Health 2017
This is a review that describes each of the components of the Global Program Eradication Initiative.
- What proportion of polio infections in susceptible people result in paralysis, what is the main differential diagnosis of acute flaccid paralysis, and in AFP surveillance how are they distinguished?
- What are the components of polio surveillance?
- What is the difference between passive reporting, zero reporting and active surveillance?
- What is the role of environmental surveillance for polio?
- What are the criteria for certification of polio eradication?
- What can be learned by genomic sequencing of isolated polioviruses?
Post-discharge mortality
Post-discharge Mortality Prediction in Sub-Saharan Africa
Madrid L, et al. Pediatrics 2019; 143; (1) January 2019:e20180606
Madrid L Post-discharge mortality in children in Africa Pediatrics 2019
This is an important “hot topic”, the recognition that in some countries deaths in children in the first month after hospital discharge may be as common as case fatality rates in hospitals. This study, one of the largest is an example of the research in this field, there are many others, including from countries in Asia.
- How common was post-discharge mortality and how common was in-hospital mortality in Southern Mozambique?
- What were the main risk factors the authors found for post-discharge deaths?
- What are some of the differences between inpatient mortality trends in the Mozambique hospitals studied, and those in PNG?
- What could reduce post-discharge mortality in PNG and Pacific countries?