APPLIED EPIDEMIOLOGY IN THE AUSTRALIAN COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) plays a pivotal role in collaborative research in the policy and practice of vaccine preventable diseases at the local, national, and international levels. From February 2021 to December 2022, I undertook a field placement at NCIRS, in the Surveillance, Coverage, Evaluation and Social Sciences unit. This thesis contains details of my projects during the 22-month field placement. My projects include an evaluation of four surveillance systems on COVID-19 severity data in Australia, an investigation of a norovirus outbreak at a social event in Sydney Olympic Park, an analysis of COVID-19 notifications data in Australia from January 2020 to November 2021, and an analysis of an association between invasive meningococcal disease and socio-economic status in Australia. This thesis also describes other public health experiences during my placement. These experiences include my role as a contact tracer during the Delta outbreak at the Western Sydney Public Health Unit, my role in investigating the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in educational settings in New South Wales and co-facilitating a pre-conference workshop at the Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network (TEPHINET) conference. Collectively, these projects and experiences fulfil the competencies of the Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology program at the Australian National University. Show more