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D Bandaranayake

Publications and source records attributed to D Bandaranayake.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Assessment of the risk of transmission of N meningitidis in a classroom setting.

AIM: To evaluate the risk of colonisation with N meningitidis among university classroom contacts of a student with invasive meningococcal disease. METHODS: Throat cultures were obtained from classmates and faculty exposed to a university student with meningococcal disease. Exposures to the index case were quantified using a questionnaire. RESULTS: None of the 41 students and staff from whom cultures were obtained showed evidence of colonisation with N meningitidis. The contacts had spent an average of 13.5 h in class with the index case during the 2 days prior to the onset of her illness. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of colonisation with N meningitidis among casual university classroom contacts appears to be low. This study lends support to decisions to withhold chemoprophylaxis in most instances of such contact.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Delivery of hepatitis B immunisations in a selection of computerised general practices.

AIM: To assess the value of computerised general practices in providing information concerning the delivery of hepatitis B immunisation. METHODS: Hepatitis B immunisation data from August 1990 to June 1991 were collected from 27 general practices participating in a sentinel network. RESULTS: The study identified significant limitations in the use of data from computerised general practices for estimating hepatitis B immunisation coverage. While an accurate coverage figure could not be estimated, the results did suggest that hepatitis B coverage for three doses was at least 59.5% and that its use was very similar to the triple vaccine and measles/MMR for the third dose. Hepatitis B immunisation delivery outside the desirable time periods was common at 44%, suggesting a fairly disrupted immunisation schedule for many children. CONCLUSIONS: The relatively infrequent delivery of hepatitis B vaccine at the same time as other vaccinations may reflect provider concern about administering multiple injections at the same visit. Further improvement in the collection of data by computerised practices is necessary before the full value of this data source can be realised. Improvements in reminder/recall systems would improve the efficiency with which hepatitis B immunisation is delivered.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1994

Meningococcal disease in New Zealand: an audit of disease notification and contact management.

AIMS: To determine variations in practice across New Zealand for the notification and contact management of meningococcal disease and recommend action. METHODS: A retrospective survey using a questionnaire conducted during August and September 1992. The disease notification component of the audit looked only at process (post notification) rather than completeness of notification. RESULTS: The results indicated that there was considerable variation in practice across the country. Concerns expressed by respondents related to the availability of and payment for prescribed prophylactic antibiotics, contact definition, protocol availability and the appropriate delegation of duties. Deficiencies were identified in the above areas of concern as well as in follow-up procedures for contacts, record keeping and communication. CONCLUSIONS: Major variations in practice across the country which may be counterproductive to outbreak control should be minimised. A minority of area health boards (AHBs) and districts have well developed protocols that could be the basis for developing standards of good practice for the whole country.

Aftercare↗
PubMed1992

Communicable disease in New Zealand.

Communicable diseases remain a major problem in New Zealand; one which often only comes to the attention of management when an outbreak occurs and health care dollars are required for disease control. Hepatitis B and rheumatic fever remain the two diseases that place New Zealand in the developing nation league. Overall, the impact on mortality is low (only 5% in the 1-14 year age group) as is the impact on potential years of life lost. Morbidity figures are not known with any degree of accuracy as they are dependent on a notification system acknowledged to be deficient and hospital discharge data which include only a fraction of cases for a few serious diseases. The main preventive action hinges on the childhood immunisation programme which has undergone recent change. The true impact of environmental hygiene measures, health promotion and education has not been evaluated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Domestic unintentional injuries presenting to the accident and emergency departments in the Wellington region.

A prospective descriptive study of domestic unintentional injuries attending accident and emergency (A & E) departments in the Wellington region is presented. In a three month period there were 2207 such attendances. There was no difference in the proportion of males and females seen. A disproportionate number of the very young (under five years of age) and the elderly (65 years and over) attended A & E departments for these injuries. Approximately one-quarter of the attendances were for cuts or lacerations (26.6%) and one-fifth were for fractures (18.0%). Crude estimates of distance indicate that, on average, people travel greater distances for fractures than for other injuries. General practitioners referred one-tenth (10.6%) of all the attendances. Outcomes from the A & E attendances were: 70.4% were discharged, 7.7% were admitted to hospital, 14.6% were referred to outpatient clinics, and 7.2% were referred back to their general practitioners. There were no deaths in A & E departments.

Accidents, Home↗
PubMed1990

Trends in hepatitis B notifications 1976-87.

This paper considers trends in hepatitis B notifications in New Zealand during the period 1976 to 1987. It attempts also to demonstrate the fact that although notifications are never comprehensive, even incomplete statistics can give a reasonable and useful indication of trends. Since 1985 most districts have shown a gradual and persistent decline in notification rates. High notification rates are observed from Whangarei, Auckland, South Auckland, Rotorua, Gisborne and Hutt health districts. With a notification rate of 54 per 100,000 population in 1984 Whangarei health district gave the highest rate during this period. These observations are consistent with what is known from other studies about the geographical distribution of hepatitis B markers. Peak notification rates occur in the 15 to 25 age group with highest rates in groups of nonEuropean ethnicity. Notification rates within each district over the eleven year period are compared to the national rates. Further analyses by demographic factors based on information available for the year 1987 are presented. Again the highest rates are observed in groups of nonEuropean ethnicity with the Maori and Pacific Island populations showing rates of 27.2 and 23.0 per 100,000 population respectively. For the eleven year period notification rates for all types of infectious hepatitis are compared to identify secular trends. It is seen that hepatitis A notification rates have declined since the mid-1970s while rates for nonA nonB hepatitis and acute nonspecific hepatitis rose sharply in the early 1980s and have since declined slightly in 1986 and 1987.

Adolescent↗