Contributing to public health in Vietnam through applied epidemiology

Abstract

This dissertation showcases the projects I undertook between February 2022 and December 2023 that fulfil the requirements of the Master of Applied Epidemiology Program (MAE) at the Australian National University (ANU). My field placement during the MAE was at the Department of Communicable Disease Control, situated within the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Chapter 1 - Introduction This chapter provides a summary of my practical experience in the field, outlines how I fulfilled MAE requirements, and highlights additional projects I participated in during my MAE that further meet the MAE competencies.

Chapter 2 - Analysis of a public health dataset: Within-household SARS-CoV-2 transmission and vaccine effectiveness during a COVID-19 school outbreak in Vietnam, September to December 2021. In this project I assessed transmission dynamics within households of SARS-CoV-2-positive school children and the protective effects of COVID-19 vaccination among household contacts in Vietnam. Outcomes of this project were a manuscript for submission to the Western Pacific Surveillance and Response journal, and a poster presentation of my results at the FETP International Night (Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference), Atlanta, Georgia, April 25-26, 2023 (Conference presentation 1). As part of this project, I also conducted a literature review on factors associated with the risk of COVID-19 transmission by children to their household contacts.

Chapter 3 - Investigation of an acute public health problem or threat: Spatial epidemiological characteristics of an unusual adenovirus outbreak at the National Children's Hospital in Vietnam This chapter describes my investigation into an Adenovirus outbreak that occurred at the Vietnam National Children Hospital (VNCH) in September 2022. VNCH requested the help of NIHE to investigate this outbreak and I contributed by supporting the lead epidemiologist at the Department of Infectious Disease, NIHE. As an outcome of this project, I drafted a manuscript for submission to a journal (Draft manuscript 2).

Chapter 4 - Establish or evaluate a surveillance system or other health information system: Sensitivity of Vietnam's national COVID-19 reporting system among schoolchildren in Thai Nguyen City, Vietnam, during the Omicron variant epidemic In this project I assessed the sensitivity of the national COVID-19 case reporting system in identifying COVID-19 cases among the schoolchildren population in Thai Nguyen City. Outputs from this project were a draft manuscript for submission to a journal (Draft manuscript 3), a virtual presentation at Communicable Diseases & Immunisation Conference 2023, Jun 19 - 21, 2023 (Conference presentation 2) and the The 13th international conference on Public Health among Greater Mekong Sub-Regional countries conference, 1-2 July, 2023, Hue, Vietnam (Conference presentation 3).

Chapter 5 - Design and conduct an epidemiological study: Post-COVID-19 condition among children aged 12-17 years in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam For this project I collected data using an online survey targeting parents of school children aged 12-17 residing in Thai Nguyen city, Vietnam, to investigate the occurrence of persisting COVID-19 symptoms among schoolchildren, and to explore factors associated with the likelihood and duration of post COVID-19 condition symptoms.

Chapter 6 - Other MAE requirements In this chapter, I provide details of the additional MAE requirements I fulfilled throughout the duration of my fellowship. Specifically, these were a lay audience report, a lesson from the field, and my teaching experience.