Applied Epidemiology in the Australian Capital Territory
Date
2015
Authors
Mills, Lucas James
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
In this thesis, I present a body of work that was completed
during my Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology (MAE)
placement at the Communicable Disease Control Section at the ACT
Health Protection Service from March 2014 to November 2015. I
discuss my experiences as an MAE scholar and my role in the
day-to-day activities of the section, including the surveillance
of notifiable diseases and my participation in the response to
several acute public health events.
I present the findings from an epidemiological study, describing
the asbestos exposures of people diagnosed with mesothelioma in
the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
I describe and evaluate a surveillance system that I helped
establish, which monitors passengers returning from an
Ebola-affected country in response to the epidemic in West
Africa. An evaluation found that the system was able to assess
and monitor returned travellers in a timely manner.
I investigated a foodborne outbreak of gastroenteritis at a large
function in the ACT. Enterotoxin producing Clostridium
perfringens was isolated from a sample of butter chicken consumed
at the function. This was consistent with the epidemiological
investigation that showed eating the butter chicken was
associated with illness. This resulted in the preparation of an
article for publication.
I present findings from a study that describes trends in
pathology testing and test positivity for sexually transmissible
infections in the ACT, 2003–2012. There has been a dramatic
increase in notification rates for STIs, such as chlamydia and
gonorrhoea. Analysis of ACT data show that for the period
studied, test positivity was relatively stable. The study
demonstrates that it is feasible to utilise pathology testing
data to better understand notification-based surveillance data.
I presented the findings in an oral presentation at the
Communicable Disease Conference 2015 in Brisbane.
To demonstrate competencies around peer-led teaching, I prepared
a ‘Lesson From the Field’ on choosing the right statistical
test and conducted a teaching session for first year MAEs on the
appropriate use and interpretation of p-values and confidence
intervals.
In summary, this thesis describes my experiences in the MAE
program, and presents the findings of several epidemiological
studies. The work presented in this thesis supported the public
health response to a number of high-profile health events and
helped to improve our understanding of communicable disease
surveillance in the ACT.
Description
Keywords
Epidemiology, Public Health
Citation
Collections
Source
Type
Thesis (MPhil)
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
License Rights
Restricted until
Downloads
File
Description