From Pandemic to Endemic: Applied Epidemiology of Communicable Diseases in Australia
Abstract
This thesis presents public health activities, experiences, and projects that satisfy the competencies for the Master of Philosophy (Applied Epidemiology) undertaken during my 22-month field placement at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. From February 2022 to December 2023, I carried out fieldwork in the National Incident Centre at the Office of Health Protection, which is responsible for coordinating national surveillance and control of communicable diseases in Australia during emergency periods. Across 2022 to 2023, Australia transitioned its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from national emergency response to one focused on the prevention and management of severe disease, death, and health impact associated with COVID-19, consistent with other common communicable diseases. My experiences and responsibilities within my field placement changed over time and were heavily influenced by this transition.
This thesis describes the public health activities and experiences undertaken during my field placement including repeated epidemiological analyses of multiple public health datasets; data quality improvement activities; involvement in several national surveillance committees or working groups; and designing an epidemiological study to validate use of the screening method for vaccine effectiveness against severe disease associated with COVID-19 in Australia. The projects presented here comprised of analyses of public health datasets, an evaluation of the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System for severe disease associated with COVD-19; investigating trends in community behaviours associated with self-reported COVID-19 in Australia using repeated cross-sectional surveys; and conducting an outbreak investigation of SARS-CoV-2 in a hospital setting.
The public health activities and experiences undertaken during my field placement, and the findings from my projects have contributed to the body of knowledge regarding applied epidemiology and informed public health policy, decision-making, and action for COVID-19 in Australia.