European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET):A Two-Year Training Experience
Date Issued
2015
Date
2015
Author(s)
Jian, Shu-Wan
Abstract
The European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) hosted at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Sweden, provides training and practical experience in intervention epidemiology at the national centres for surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the European Union. In 2007, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (TCDC) and Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) agreed the Memorandum of Understanding that set down the mechanisms and scope of cooperation, which enabled a Taiwanese trainee to join EPIET. It''s a great honour for me to be elected as the representative of TCDC and AGES to participate in the programme during September 2011and November 2013. The ten-week EPIET modules and practising in the training site provide knowledge and skills that lead the trainees to acquire the ECDC core competencies for field epidemiologist. During the training, I have accomplished the following learning objectives: 1. Investigation of a foodborne outbreak due to norovirus in a school in 2011, which indicated sour cream sauce (Relative risk: 16.1; 95% CI: 3.9–67.5) and turkey-strip salad (RR: 5.2; 95% CI: 2.3–11.8) prepared by the school kitchen as the most likely sources of the outbreak. The lack of a hazard analysis critical control point soncept (HACCP) in the school kitchen might have caused the failure of food safety procedures. 2. Analysis of influenza surveillance data during flu seasons (Week 40- Week 15), 2011-2013. 3. Evaluation of the surveillance system for listeriosis in Austria before and after implementation of the national electronic web-based reporting system (EMS) in terms of simplicity and timeliness. The implementation of the EMS eliminated two steps from the data reporting process and reduced the time needed between case identification and case reporting. 4. A knowledge, attitude and practice survey for pertussis among general practitioners, paediatricians and pulmonologists in Austria. We found that in the provinces of high notification rate of pertussis, paediatricians and pulmonologists who have high level of knowledge on laboratory diagnostics for pertussis and practice in a university hospital were independently associated with the behaviour of reporting a laboratory confirmed case of pertussis (adjusted PR: 1.4, 95%CI: 1.0-1.8 and adjusted PR: 1.6, 95%CI: 1.1-2.2 respectively). The observations may partly explain the differences of pertussis notification rates between Austrian provinces. 5. Oral and poster presentations in four Austrian or international conferences. 6. Obtaining teaching experience through organizing a workshop about introduction of foodborne outbreak investigations. After EPIET training, I assisted TCDC to assess the risk associated with emergence of avian influenza A (H7N9) and A (H10N8) virus and formulated appropriate prevention and control strategies. The result showed that risk of diseases widely spreading in Taiwan via humans in the near future is considered low, while a higher likelihood at the moment is imported case-patients who have acquired the infection in mainland China. Health monitoring and serological surveys of poultry workers were recommended to evaluate the risk of poultry-to-human transmission of the viruses. It is essential to continuously monitor the variations of H7N9, H10N8 and other influenza viruses and update the assessment of estimated risks.
Subjects
Austria
Norovirus
Listeriosis
Pertussis
SDGs
Type
thesis
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