BACKGROUND Rabies reemerged in China during the 1990s with a gradual increase in the number and geographical dispersion of cases. As a consequence, a national surveillance program was introduced in 2005 to investigate the outbreak in terms of vaccination coverage, PEP treatment, and geographical and social composition. METHODS The surveillance program was coordinated at the national level by ...

The incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection continues to rise among core groups and efforts to reduce the numbers of new infections are being redoubled. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is the use of short-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) to reduce the risk of acquisition of HIV infection following exposure. Current guidelines recommend a 28-day course of ART within 36-72 hour...

In Australia, the non-occupational post-exposure prophylaxis service in Victoria (VNPEPS) maintains a database of non-occupational post-exposure prophylaxis (NPEP) use throughout the state. Through the database the service can monitor and respond to patterns of NPEP presentation, re-presentation and follow-up as well as those who test positive for HIV. We describe a cohort of NPEP individuals f...

AIM We report a one-health investigation of three cases of leptospirosis on a dairy farm with unvaccinated cattle in New Zealand. The cases are discussed in the context of diagnostics, risk factors, persistence of symptoms and outbreak mitigation measures. METHOD Clinical and laboratory records from the human cases were reviewed and serological and molecular investigations were conducted into...

OBJECTIVES As international estimates of the effectiveness of post-exposure prophylaxis of measles vary, we sought to determine the effectiveness of post-exposure prophylaxis with either vaccine or immunoglobulin in susceptible persons with known measles contact. METHODS Data were obtained on all cases of measles notified in NSW between 1 March and 31 May 2006 and their contacts. The effectiv...

Surgeons face the occupational risk of parenteral transmission of infection, in particular with HIV, percutaneous exposure to which carries an estimated risk of transmission of 0.3%. This risk may be reduced by antiretroviral prophylactic treatment. The UK Department of Health issued guidelines on post-exposure prophylaxis in June 1997. We assessed whether the guidelines had been implemented an...

To address a severe shortage of human resources for health, the Zambian Ministry of Health has begun to make use of lay counsellors for HIV counselling and testing. However, their skills and knowledge rarely have been reviewed or refreshed. We conducted a two-day refresher workshop for lay counsellors to review their performance and refresh their skills and knowledge. The objective of this stud...

In their Personal View, Seema Shah and colleagues1 addressed ethical issues to be considered in paediatric HIV cure research.1 The recent rebound of HIV RNA in the so-called Mississippi baby dispelled hopes of a cure, and cautions against use of the term cure.2 In a subsequent Correspondence,3 the same investigators accepted the limits of our knowledge and the complexity of the scientific quest...

Human rabies is regarded as a fatal disease; however, its occurrence is preventable. Prevention consists of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for humans and controlling the main cause through dog vaccination. In Thailand, health care budgets are increasingly allocated to human PEP rather than eradication of rabies in dogs. This is the case, even if controlling rabies in the dog population is a mo...