Isolation and quarantine during pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in NSW: the operational experience of public health units

Philippa L. Binns; Vicky Sheppeard; Michael P. Staff

doi:10.1071/NB09036

RESEARCH ARTICLE

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Isolation and quarantine during pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in NSW: the operational experience of public health units

Philippa L. Binns ^A ^D , Vicky Sheppeard ^B and Michael P. Staff ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Public Health Unit, South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service

^B Public Health Unit, Sydney West Area Health Service

^C Public Health Unit, Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service

^D Corresponding author. Email: Philippa.Binns@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au

NSW Public Health Bulletin 21(2) 10-15 https://doi.org/10.1071/NB09036
Published: 8 April 2010

Abstract

During the DELAY and CONTAIN phases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza in NSW, public health units needed to rapidly surge operations to manage the 3070 potential cases and 1894 contacts notified to them. The Incident Control System, NetEpi (the web-based multi-user access database), training to up-skill surge staff, and electronic communication were all integral to the outbreak response. Ongoing identification and training of surge staff would assist a timely and effective response to future large scale outbreaks. Investing and incorporating information technology tools into routine public health unit business to assist with communication, outbreak management and reporting will improve familiarity and capability within the network to respond to public health emergencies.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge all area health service staff who contributed to the control of the pandemic. We would like to thank Victoria Bowden, Patrick Maywood and Caroline Turnour of the Public Health Unit, Sydney South West Area Health Service for contributing their experience of an outbreak in the Pacific Islander community. We would also like to acknowledge the Department of Health team for their leadership during the pandemic.

References

[1] Office of Health Protection, Department of Health and Ageing, Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Health Management Plan for Pandemic Influenza. 2008. Available from: http://www.flupandemic.gov.au/internet/panflu/publishing.nsf/Content/ahmppi (Cited 1 October 2009.)

[2] Influenza Pandemic Taskforce NSW. NSW Human Influenza Pandemic Plan. Available from: http://www.emergency.nsw.gov.au/content.php/583.html (Cited 1 October 2009.)

[3] Communicable Diseases Network Australia. H1N1 influenza 09 (Human Swine Influenza) Infection ‘Contain Phase’ Interim Guidelines for Australian Public Health Units. 2009.

[4] NetEpi Case Manager. Available from: http://netepi.sourceforge.net

[5] StataCorp. Stata Statistical Software: Release 11. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP 2009.

[6] NSW Department of Health. Communicable Diseases Report, NSW, May and June 2009. N S W Pub Health Bull 2009; 20(7–8): 133–5.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | (Cited 19 October 2009.)

[8] Hannover Fairs. Wiki for Government. 2009. Available from: http://www.gov2.com.au/wiki-for-government (Cited 9 November 2009.)

[9] NSW Department of Health. NSW Health Interim Influenza Pandemic Action Plan. 2005. Available from: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/pubs/2005/pdf/pandemic_ap.pdf (Cited 20 October 2009.)