Newsletter January 2007
The EPIET team is wishing you all a Happy New Year 2007
Cohort 10
The closing and diploma ceremony for fellows of cohort 10 took place in Mahón in
October 2006. Good luck to all and keep in touch!
Cohort 12
The fellows of cohort 12 took up their duties right after the introductory course.
Past and upcoming modules
-
Project review module (preparation for scientific Seminar) took place in Tallinn,
Estonia: 28 August- 1st September 2006 (Cohort 10 & 11). Again, this module
proved to be much appreciated, as an opportunity to review key methods in field
epidemiology and practice scientific communication of the results of field work.
-
The 12th EPIET Introductory Course took place 25 Sept-11 October 2006 in El
Lazareto, Menorca. Thirteen EPIET fellows from cohort 12, Christopher Williams
from cohort 11, seven German FETPs from cohort 11 and 12, and a Norwegian
FETP participated in the course. In addition 12 external participants participated.
The Course was followed by the EPIET Scientific Seminar in the Teatre
Principal de Maó, 12-14 October 20006. The seminar was jointly organised with
the EPIET Alumni Network (EAN) and the Canadian Field Epidemiology Training
Programme. One hundred and seventy participants registered. The seminar was
also an occasion for many of the fellows from the 11 previous EPIET cohorts to
gather. More than 110 abstracts were submitted to EPIET, of which 10% were
rejected, 55% accepted as posters and 35% accepted as oral communications. In
2006, the presentations included completed work by the fellows of the 10th and
11th cohorts, participants from the German, Norwegian and Spanish FETPs,
EPIET alumni of cohorts 1- 9 and colleagues from EPIET host institutes.
Presentations were grouped by topic and both oral and poster presentations were
made.
-
The Computer tools for outbreak investigation module was held in
cooperation with Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) in Vienna, Austria
from December 11-15, 2006. Thanks to Daniela Schmid and Franz Allerberger
for a perfect organisation and unforgettable Thursday evening!
-
The Rapid Health Assessment in Complex Emergency Situations Module
will be held in Veyrier du Lac, France from February 19-23 2007 for cohort 11
and 12.
-
The Communication module for cohort 12 will be held in Berlin, Germany from
26th - 30th March 2007, in collaboration with Robert-Kock Institute.
The Vaccination Module for cohorts 11 and 12 will be held in Bilthoven, The
Netherlands, from 11-15 June 2007, in collaboration with RIVM.
International Conferences
The Fourth TEPHINET Global Scientific Conference was jointly hosted by the
Secretariat of Surveillance in Health [SVS] of the Brazilian Ministry of Health and
Training Programs in Epidemiology and Public Health Interventions Network, and was
held from November 12-17, 2006.
7 fellows had abstracts accepted for oral presentations:
-
-
Naomi Boxall: Two clusters of influenza A/H5N1 in humans in the Republic of
Azerbaijan, February-March 2006
Peter Makary: Seasonality of Puumala virus infections in Finland
Lisa King: Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection linked to consumption of
ground beef, France, 2005
Mårten Kivi: Identification of Determinants for Surgical Site Infections in the
Netherlands in 1996-2004 to Improve Comparison of Infection Occurrence between
Hospitals
Luise Ledet-Müller: Low Vaccine Effectiveness during Measles Outbreak in
Ukraine, September 2005 - May 2006
Maarten Hoek: Vaccination of Household Contacts of a Sporadic Case of
Meningococcal Disease: a Cost-Effective Intervention?
Lisanne Gerstel: Mumps outbreak in a village amongst partying young adults
vaccinated with Rubini strain - Spain, August 2006
The following abstracts were accepted for Poster presentations:
-
-
Agnes Hajdu: A Point-Prevalence Survey of Hospital-Acquired Infections and
Antimicrobial Use in a Paediatric Hospital - Northwestern Russia, 2006
Agnes Hajdu: Incidence of surgical site infections after prosthetic replacement of
hip joint - first results of a new mandatory surveillance system in Norway, 2005
Lisa King: High vaccine coverage following a measles mass vaccination campaign,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, April 2006.
Lisanne Gerstel: Evaluation of the tuberculosis surveillance system in
Extremadura region- Spain, 2004
We have the pleasure to announce that Lisa King got the John Snow Award during
the conference for her presentation “Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection
linked to consumption of ground beef, France, 2005”.
Congratulation Lisa for your excellent work!
We would like again to congratulate all the fellows for the outstanding work, and for
their very professional presentations in Brasilia.
Canada course
From 21-25 November 2006, a training module was held in the Canadian Field
Epidemiology Program on Surveillance (2 days) and Rapid Assessment in Complex
Emergencies (3 days). From Europe, Bernadette Gergonne (ECDC, EPIET alumna
cohort 9), Alain Moren (EpiConcept) and Arnold Bosman (ECDC, EPIET-coordinator)
participated as facilitators.
International Missions
Epicentre had a request from MSF-CH to provide epidemiological support for an
outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea in Angola. Lisanne Gerstel was selected for this
mission, and was away from the 16th of December 2006 to the 6th January 2007.
Epicentre had a request to provide epidemiological support for an outbreak of Rift
Valley Fever in Kenya. Ole Wichmann was selected for this mission, and will depart
shortly.
Selection process cohort 13
The application process for cohort 13 as just started. All information concerning this
selection is stated on the website at: www.epiet.org
Topics from the Programme Office
As earlier informed, the EPIET administration at SMI has been strengthened with the
addition of Therese Leike, programme assistant. Please find below the various tasks of
the programme office:
In general, please contact:
Carole for general administrative/organisational issues
Anna for general issues related to fellows, except financial aspects
Therese for general issues related to reporting
Carole Desmoulins: Programme Administrator, tel 00 46 8 457 23 70, mobile 00 46
70 557 23 70, email carole.desmoulins@smi.ki.se
Responsible for EPIET administrative communication between programme office and
EC, coordinators, fellows, training sites, Steering Committee, SMI, and ECDC
Responsible of distribution of tasks between employees at the programme office
Support to project leader and coordinators in setting up new agreements, budgets…
Monitor the budgets
Responsible for administrative issues for contracts for coordinators, fellows and experts
Responsible for exploring scenarios for administrative organisation after fall 2007
Improve administrative procedures
Collaborate with ECDC for administration of C12 and possible future cohorts
Develop archive system
Develop Viadesk (virtual office) with Anna
Develop EPIET website with Anna and Therese
Anna Bohlin: Programme Secretary, tel 00 46 8 457 23 96, mobile 00 46 70 605 23
96, email anna.bohlin@smi.ki.se
Responsible for organisation of modules, seminars, courses (booking tickets, contact
with hotels, informing participants, relations with facilitators…)
Responsible for administrative issues of selection process for new cohorts
Responsible for developing/updating EPIET website
Responsible for developing/updating Viadesk in Collaboration with Carole
Responsible for developing/updating EPIET general Database (collaboration with Carole
and Therese)
Therese Leike: Programme Assistant, tel 00 46 8 457 23 78, email
therese.leike@smi.ki.se
Responsible for administrative issues for preparing reports to EC and to ECDC, in
collaboration with Carole and SMI’s administrative team
Responsible for payment of per diems to participants (fellows, facilitators,
coordinators...) to various courses, modules, seminars…
Responsible for management of invoices (check, report, split…)