Genetic characterization of wild-type measles viruses in Cambodia

International audienceCambodian authorities in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) are implementing a measles control plan in this measles endemic country. Genetic characterization of Cambodian wild-type measles viruses was performed to determine the genotypes involved in outbreaks, and to measure the level of virus circulation in a geographic area just beginning to implement the measles control program. Seventy-two sequences of the C terminus of the nucleoprotein gene of measles virus were obtained from 88 patients. Samples were taken from 35 among 519 outbreaks reported to the Cambodian National Immunization Program between March 2001 and June 2002. The sequences were grouped into 10 lineages which all belonged to genotype D5. The maximum nucleotide divergence was 1.3%

Environmental Justice and Park Quality in an Intermountain West Gateway Community: Assessing the Spatial Autocorrelation

Context Research on environmental justice issues, particularly unequal park distribution and quality, has found that communities\u27 minority density and socioeconomic status (SES) are often correlated with disparate park qualities. However, most studies of spatial relationships between park quality and socioeconomic factors employ simple statistical analyses, which do not account for potential spatial autocorrelations and their effects on validity. Objectives This study determines whether the distribution of park quality is spatially autocorrelated and assess the associations among multiple indicators of environmental justice and both separate park features and overall park quality. Methods This study evaluates spatial relationships between park quality and multiple environmental justice indicators in Cache County, Utah following the spatial regression process conducted in R programming language. Both overall park quality and separate feature qualities were audited by the PARK (Parks, Activity, and Recreation among Kids) tool. Environmental justice indicators included minority density, poverty, unemployment, low-education, renter rate, and yard size. Rate Resuts illustrate a spatial autocorrelation existing in park quality distribution, detecting the dependence of the variable for quantitative research. They also show significant correlations between park quality and environmental justice indicators. Conclusions The study\u27s spatial regression model is a model for analyzing the spatial data and avoids the autocorrelation which is overlooked by the normal statistical approaches. Also, variances of park quality can be accounted for by different environmental justice indicators, such as minority density, poverty, and yard size. This disclosure of disparate public resource quality treatment among different groups of individuals could inspire policy makers and city planners to correct these disparities

Integrating the Internship into Ophthalmology Residency Programs: Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology American Academy of Ophthalmology White Paper

Future ophthalmologists will need to have broad skills to thrive in complex health care organizations. However, training for ophthalmologists does not take advantage of all of the postgraduate years (PGYs). Although the traditional residency years seem to have little excess capacity, enhancing the internship year does offer an opportunity to expand the time for ophthalmology training in the same 4 PGYs. Integrating the internship year into residency would allow control of all of the PGYs, allowing our profession to optimize training for ophthalmology. In this white paper, we propose that we could capture an additional 6 months of training time by integrating basic ophthalmology training into the intern year. This would allow 6 additional months to expand training in areas such as quality improvement or time for "mini-fellowships" to allow graduates to develop a deeper set of skills

The Lao Experience in Deploying Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Vaccine: Lessons Made Relevant in Preparing for Present Day Pandemic Threats.

The Lao PDR, as did most countries of the Mekong Region, embarked on a pandemic vaccine initiative to counter the threat posed by influenza A(H1N1)pdm09. Overall, estimated vaccine coverage of the Lao population was 14%, with uptake in targeted health care workers and pregnant women 99% and 41%, respectively. Adverse Events Following Immunization accounted for only 6% of survey driven, reported vaccination experiences, with no severe consequences or deaths. Public acceptability of the vaccine campaign was high (98%). Challenges to vaccine deployment included: 1) no previous experience in fielding a seasonal influenza vaccine, 2) safety and efficacy concerns, and 3) late arrival of vaccine 10 months into the pandemic. The Lao success in surmounting these hurdles was in large measure attributed to the oversight assigned the National Immunization Program, and national sensitivities in responding to the avian influenza A(H5N1) crisis in the years leading up to the pandemic. The Lao "lessons learned" from pandemic vaccine deployment are made even more relevant four years on, given the many avian influenza strains circulating in the region, all with pandemic potential

Reported AEFIs by Targeted Populations Surveyed.

<p>Lao PDR National Immunization Program (NIP), Anonh Xeuatvongsa, Director of National Immunization Program, Ministry of Health, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, email address: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>.</p

The Mekong Region: Lao PDR Sharing Border with Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

<p>Source: <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/cia-maps-publications/Laos.html" target="_blank">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/cia-maps-publications/Laos.html</a>.</p

Number of distributed influenza A(H1N1) pandemic vaccine doses by target population, 2009–2010 Lao PDR.

<p>Source: Lao PDR National Immunization Program (NIP), Annual Report on NIP 2010. Date: 20 January 2011, Anonh Xeuatvongsa, Director of National Immunization Program, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, email address: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>; Data submitted to through WHO: <a href="http://www.who.int/influenza_vaccines_plan/resources/h1n1_deployment_report.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.who.int/influenza_vaccines_plan/resources/h1n1_deployment_report.pdf</a>.</p><p>^aOther Essential Personnel include essential government workers as designated by the GOL</p><p>^bNot Applicable</p><p>^cNo Data</p><p>Number of distributed influenza A(H1N1) pandemic vaccine doses by target population, 2009–2010 Lao PDR.</p