Lai, Jana Yun Reng
Description
From 2015-2016 I undertook the Master of Philosophy in Applied
Epidemiology (MAE) whilst under the employment of the Murdoch
Childrens Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne as a research
officer for a study based in the People’s Democratic Republic
of Laos (Lao PDR). To satisfy the requirements of the MAE, I
completed projects in the areas of data analysis, public health
surveillance, epidemiological research and outbreak
investigation.
The work I...[Show more] was employed for with MCRI formed the basis of my data
analysis competency. The aim of this project was to determine the
pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) coverage required to achieve
herd immunity using pneumococcal carriage surveillance at Mahosot
Hospital in Lao PDR. Beyond the analysis of these data, I was
responsible for overseeing and coordinating the larger body of
work for this project based in Lao PDR. This work is ongoing and
a final publication will be published later in 2017.
With guidance from my field supervisor, I was responsible for
establishing the epidemiology of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in
Kiribati pre- and post-rotavirus (RV) vaccine introduction. As
part of this review, I established post-marketing surveillance of
intussusception (IS) as part of RV vaccine introduction. The
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the surveillance of IS
post-RV vaccine introduction due to experiences with a previous
formulation of the vaccine. This evaluation is ongoing and will
be completed in 2017.
In response to vaccine preventable disease (VPD) outbreaks in Lao
PDR, the Ministry of Health, National Immunization Programme
(NIP) requested information regarding evidence of serological
protection of H. influenzae type b (Hib) in their population.
This study was the basis of my epidemiological research for the
MAE. The results from this study would provide data on Hib
protection in their population to help inform NIP if changes to
their current schedule were necessary.
For my outbreak investigation competency, I was involved with the
team at WHO Lao PDR country office in responding to a circulating
vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) outbreak in Lao PDR
from October 2015 to mid-2017. As part of this work I will
contribute to the outbreak investigation section of the larger
WHO report to be submitted to NIP.
This thesis presents my experience as a MAE scholar; the skills
gained, knowledge learnt and the impact this body of work had on
public health in the Asia-Pacific region for VPD.
Keywords: Vaccine-preventable disease, Laos PDR, pneumococcal
conjugate vaccine, Kiribati, intussusception, rotavirus vaccine,
Haemophilus influenzae type b, vaccination evidence, serology,
poliovirus, circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus
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