School of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, Level 4 50 Rundle Mall Plaza, Rundle Mall, Adelaide, South Australia, 5000, Australia.
Adelaide Medical School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Aug 20;24(1):2254. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19740-y.
Infectious disease outbreaks are an ongoing public health concern, requiring extensive resources to prevent and manage. Invasive Meningococcal Disease (IMD) is a severe outcome of infection with Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, which can be carried and transmitted asymptomatically. IMD is not completely vaccine-preventable, presenting an ongoing risk of outbreak development. This review provides a retrospective assessment of public health management of IMD outbreaks.
A systematic search was performed in PubMed and EMBASE. English-language studies reporting on IMD outbreaks and associated public health response were considered eligible. Reporting on key characteristics including outbreak size, duration, location, and public health response were assessed against Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology guidelines. A summary of lessons learned and author recommendations for each article were also discussed.
39 eligible studies were identified, describing 35 outbreaks in seven regions. Responses to outbreaks were mostly reactive, involving whole communities over prioritising those at highest risk of transmission. Recent responses identified a need for more proactive and targeted controls. Reporting was inconsistent, with key characteristics such as outbreak size, duration, or response absent or incompletely described.
There is a need for clear, comprehensive reporting on IMD outbreaks and their public health response to inform policy and practice for subsequent outbreaks of IMD and other infectious diseases.
传染病疫情是当前公共卫生关注的一个持续问题，需要大量资源来预防和管理。侵袭性脑膜炎球菌病（IMD）是脑膜炎奈瑟菌感染的严重后果，这种细菌可以无症状携带和传播。IMD 不能完全通过疫苗预防，因此仍然存在暴发的风险。本综述对 IMD 暴发的公共卫生管理进行了回顾性评估。
在 PubMed 和 EMBASE 上进行了系统检索。符合条件的研究为报告 IMD 暴发及相关公共卫生应对措施的英文研究。根据《观察性研究的报告质量评估工具》（Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology，STROBE）评估报告关键特征（包括暴发规模、持续时间、地点和公共卫生应对措施）的研究。还讨论了从每篇文章中总结的经验教训和作者建议。
确定了 39 项符合条件的研究，描述了来自七个地区的 35 起暴发。对暴发的反应大多是被动的，涉及整个社区，优先考虑传播风险最高的人群。最近的应对措施表明需要更积极主动和有针对性的控制措施。报告不一致，缺乏或未完整描述暴发规模、持续时间或应对措施等关键特征。
需要对 IMD 暴发及其公共卫生应对措施进行明确、全面的报告，为 IMD 和其他传染病的后续暴发提供信息，以指导政策和实践。
