Understanding the wider impact of viral circulation

An ongoing project mapping viruses to inform health outcomes has uncovered previously unknown impacts of viruses and vaccination, adding further weight to the benefits of vaccine uptake.
 
Findings from the Ecologic Health Outcome Monitoring Environment Reporting (E-HOMER) initiative are hoped to improve understanding of the health impacts of viral circulation in the community, providing timely information to GPs and other healthcare providers.
 
The respiratory arm of the project, known as SnotWatch, tracks the circulation of viruses through the monitoring of community and hospital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results in near real-time.
 
Led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), the project collates data on health outcomes alongside laboratory results for virus tests, to create a ‘large and rich’ data platform. This platform will be used to describe and predict health problems related to common viruses in the community.
 
Dr Aaron Weinman, MCRI Research Coordinator, told newsGP the research conducted so far has revealed specific ‘novel benefits’ of vaccination, giving GPs ‘further impetus’ to increase vaccine uptake.
 
‘By continuously monitoring this platform, we will learn more about the previously unknown consequences of virus circulation,’ he said.
 
‘We have found that viruses we have vaccines against are associated with conditions that we don’t have vaccines against. For example, in our first study, we found that influenza and RSV were associated with febrile seizures.
 
‘So, we uncover a previously hidden benefit of vaccination. This provides an additional reason for people to get vaccinated.’
 
SnotWatch uses de-identified health outcome data and laboratory results to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between viral circulation and associated health conditions, including myocardial infarctions, febrile seizures, chilblains, hepatitis, asthma, Kawasaki disease, and bacterial diseases.
 
The continuous monitoring is expected to improve understanding of the health impacts and patterns of seasonal viral activity in the community. Similar approaches were seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the benefits of sentinel surveillance to reduce spread of the virus were explored.
 
The researchers will also use these data to inform policymakers about disease burden and cost-effectiveness of therapies and vaccines.
 
For GPs, a recently published Microbiology Australia review highlights that SnotWatch enables ‘better-informed’ diagnoses and anticipation of healthcare presentations and outcomes, while improving resource management and enabling the benefits of vaccination to be ‘more fully appreciated’.
 
With their clearly defined role in reducing the spread of disease by boosting vaccine uptake, Dr Weinman said the project will support GPs by providing ‘timely and local’ information on which respiratory viruses are circulating.
 
‘Our platform will give GPs access to easy-to-understand surveillance outputs, such as dashboards, trend summaries and local alerts,’ he said.
 
‘It will also help in having clearer conversations with patients and families about what viruses are circulating and expected illness patterns.’
 
He also cites the benefits of the E-HOMER initiative in antimicrobial stewardship by supporting GPs to explain to patients when respiratory illnesses are likely to be viral and antibiotics are unlikely to help.
 
Further, he says it can help general practices anticipate increased demand during seasonal peaks and outbreaks by providing information to identify ‘unusual trends’ in respiratory illness earlier, such as an early influenza season or unexpected rise in a particular virus.
 
Dr Weinman says the project now has established relationships with major pathology laboratories to provide access to de-identified PCR test results, as well as studies published examining how well-known viruses are associated with ‘health conditions of interest’, including myocardial infarctions.
 
Currently, the team is developing online resources to bring the dashboards of localised virus activity to GPs, including a platform to inform patients about circulating viruses and clinical implications, which patients can also interact with. Collaboration with other jurisdictions is also underway to demonstrate the broader relevance of the SnotWatch framework.
 
GPs with questions about the project can contact the SnotWatch team at snotwatch@mcri.edu.au.
 
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disease surveillance infectious diseases myocardial infarctions PCR test respiratory virus vaccination vaccine uptake