1.Acute Ischemic Stroke in Nonconvulsive Status Epilepticus–Underestimated? Results from an Eight-Year Cohort Study.
Christopher TRAENKA ; Gian Marco De MARCHIS ; Lisa HERT ; David J SEIFFGE ; Alexandros POLYMERIS ; Nils PETERS ; Leo H BONATI ; Stefan ENGELTER ; Philippe LYRER ; Stephan RÜEGG ; Raoul SUTTER
Journal of Stroke 2017;19(2):236-238
No abstract available.
Cohort Studies*
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Stroke*
2.Learning from recent outbreaks to strengthen risk communication capacity for the next influenza pandemic in the Western Pacific Region
Lauren O' ; Connor ; Lisa Peters ; Rose Aynsley
Western Pacific Surveillance and Response 2018;9(5):15-17
When an influenza pandemic swept the globe in 1918, it was nicknamed the “Spanish flu” despite evidence of circulation in other countries. This was because the Spanish press were free to publish stories about the outbreak that peers in neighbouring countries were not due to wartime censors.1 Other governments hid negative news about the pandemic and over-reassured the public. Attempts to prevent panic backfired, and the resulting breakdown in trust “threatened to break the society apart”.1
3.Marking the 1918 influenza pandemic centennial: addressing regional influenza threats through the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies
Erica Dueger ; Lisa Peters ; Ailan Li
Western Pacific Surveillance and Response 2018;9(5):1-4
In 1918, near the close of the First World War, pandemic influenza swept across the world. Spread by the movement of troops and fueled by dense military-camp living quarters, the virus caused unusually high mortality rates in people 20–40 years old. An estimated 500 million people were infected, and up to 50 million died. Since then, pandemics caused by newly emerging influenza viruses have occurred every 10–40 years, with each of the pandemics in 1957, 1968 and 1977 taking the lives of roughly one million people.1 More recently, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic resulted in an estimated half a million deaths and raised concerns about how prepared the global community was to cope with future public health events.2 Past pandemics can teach us important lessons about preventing and responding to emerging global health threats. This special issue highlights significant achievements across the Western Pacific Region in global pandemic preparedness and response.
4.Intravenous Thrombolysis in Patients with Stroke Taking Rivaroxaban Using Drug Specific Plasma Levels: Experience with a Standard Operation Procedure in Clinical Practice.
David J SEIFFGE ; Christopher TRAENKA ; Alexandros A POLYMERIS ; Sebastian THILEMANN ; Benjamin WAGNER ; Lisa HERT ; Mandy D MÜLLER ; Henrik GENSICKE ; Nils PETERS ; Christian H NICKEL ; Christoph STIPPICH ; Raoul SUTTER ; Stephan MARSCH ; Urs FISCH ; Raphael GUZMAN ; Gian Marco DE MARCHIS ; Philippe A LYRER ; Leo H BONATI ; Dimitrios A TSAKIRIS ; Stefan T ENGELTER
Journal of Stroke 2017;19(3):347-355
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Standard operating procedures (SOP) incorporating plasma levels of rivaroxaban might be helpful in selecting patients with acute ischemic stroke taking rivaroxaban suitable for IVthrombolysis (IVT) or endovascular treatment (EVT). METHODS: This was a single-center explorative analysis using data from the Novel-Oral-Anticoagulants-in-Stroke-Patients-registry (clinicaltrials.gov:NCT02353585) including acute stroke patients taking rivaroxaban (September 2012 to November 2016). The SOP included recommendation, consideration, and avoidance of IVT if rivaroxaban plasma levels were < 20 ng/mL, 20‒100 ng/mL, and >100 ng/mL, respectively, measured with a calibrated anti-factor Xa assay. Patients with intracranial artery occlusion were recommended IVT+EVT or EVT alone if plasma levels were ≤100 ng/mL or >100 ng/mL, respectively. We evaluated the frequency of IVT/EVT, door-to-needle-time (DNT), and symptomatic intracranial or major extracranial hemorrhage. RESULTS: Among 114 acute stroke patients taking rivaroxaban, 68 were otherwise eligible for IVT/EVT of whom 63 had plasma levels measured (median age 81 years, median baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale 6). Median rivaroxaban plasma level was 96 ng/mL (inter quartile range [IQR] 18‒259 ng/mL) and time since last intake 11 hours (IQR 4.5‒18.5 hours). Twenty-two patients (35%) received IVT/EVT (IVT n=15, IVT+EVT n=3, EVT n=4) based on SOP. Median DNT was 37 (IQR 30‒60) minutes. None of the 31 patients with plasma levels >100 ng/mL received IVT. Among 14 patients with plasma levels ≤100 ng/mL, the main reason to withhold IVT was minor stroke (n=10). No symptomatic intracranial or major extracranial bleeding occurred after treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Determination of rivaroxaban plasma levels enabled IVT or EVT in one-third of patients taking rivaroxaban who would otherwise be ineligible for acute treatment. The absence of major bleeding in our pilot series justifies future studies of this approach.
Arteries
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Hemorrhage
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Humans
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National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
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Plasma*
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Rivaroxaban*
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Stroke*
5.Strategies for combating avian influenza in the Asia–Pacific
Lisa Peters ; Carolyn Greene ; Eduardo Azziz-Baumgartner ; Suizan Zhou ; Socorro Lupisan ; Wang Dayan ; Aspen Hammond ; Filip Claes ; Elizabeth Mumford ; Erica Dueger
Western Pacific Surveillance and Response 2018;9(5):8-10
Avian, swine and other zoonotic influenza viruses may cause disease with significant impact in both human and animal populations. The Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases (APSED), long recognizing the increased global impact of zoonotic diseases on human populations, has been used as the foundation for improving national preparedness and regional coordination for response to zoonotic diseases in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region.1 APSED encourages multisectoral coordination at the human–animal–environment interface as the primary action required for zoonotic disease control.2 In this article we emphasize the effectiveness of these multisectoral collaborations in responding to zoonotic diseases at the regional and country level, using avian influenza as an example.
6.Preparedness for influenza vaccination during a pandemic in the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region
Leila Bell ; Lisa Peters ; James Heffelfinger ; Sheena Sullivan ; Alba Vilajeliu ; Jinho Shin ; Joseph Bresee ; Erica Dueger
Western Pacific Surveillance and Response 2018;9(5):11-14
Background
Influenza vaccination is a key public health intervention for pandemic influenza as it can limit the burden of disease, especially in high-risk groups, minimize social disruption and reduce economic impact.1 In the event of an influenza pandemic, large-scale production, distribution and administration of pandemic vaccines in the shortest time possible is required. In addition, monitoring vaccine effectiveness, coverage and adverse events following immunization (AEFI) is important. Since seasonal influenza vaccination programmes require annual planning in each of these areas, establishing and strengthening annual influenza programmes will contribute to pandemic preparedness.2 This paper presents efforts made in the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region to improve seasonal influenza vaccination and pandemic preparedness.