Australia releases One Health action plan for antimicrobial resistance
The Australian government late last week released a One Health Master Action Plan (OHMAP) to support the country s 2o20 antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategy.
The plan highlights areas the Australian government and other stakeholders need to focus on to achieve the seven objectives of the 202o AMR strategy, which established a 20-year vision to minimize the development and spread of AMR in humans, animals, and the environment. The objectives include clear governance for AMR initiatives, prevention and control of infections, greater public awareness of AMR, appropriate antibiotic use and stewardship practices, integrated surveillance, and a strong collaborative research agenda across all sectors.
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Gartnavel General in Glasgow where cases of Covid are said to have spread like a cruise ship earlier this year after elderly people were moved from another hospital As many as 2,133 Scots may have contracted Covid-19 while in hospital over the course of the pandemic this year, figures show. The incubation period, which is the time between exposure to the virus and symptom onset, is on average 5-6 days, but can be as long as 14 days. As of November 8, Scotland had seen a total of 75, 173 cases of the virus and of those 1,571 patients (2.1%) tested positive 15 or more days after being admitted to hospital, which means they are likely to have contracted Covid in wards.
“The fragility of the epidemiological situation is underscored by the substantial disease burden in the acute healthcare system with the trend in hospitalised Covid-19 cases decreasing slowly against high absolute levels. Moreover, the number of confirmed cases in intensive care and deaths associated with Covid-19 are not reducing,” the letter added.
Nphet also said there is a “persistently high incidence in older persons, a population group most vulnerable to the adverse health outcomes associated with the diseases”.
The group recommended that the HSE establish a national outbreak control team which will work with the HSE’s National Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control team to bring “consistency of approach to management of outbreaks of covid-19 in acute hospitals”