Analysis of presentations to on-site medical units during World Youth Day 2008.

World Youth Day 2008 was held in Sydney, Australia in July 2008. New South Wales (NSW) Health, the government health provider in Australia's most populous state, worked with partner agencies to provide medical services via on-site medical units at key event venues. A post-event review of medical records from the on-site medical units indicated 465 patient presentations, comprised largely of infectious respiratory symptoms and general health concerns of a primary care nature. Providing on-site health services is considered an important risk-mitigation action for many mass gatherings, especially those that generate a substantial temporary population of participants and take place over a number of days.

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine roll-out in NSW.

The roll-out of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine in NSW was significantly different to that envisaged for a pandemic vaccination program. Pre-pandemic planning had focused on the urgent roll-out of a vaccine through mass vaccination clinics in a time of high demand due to a virulent influenza virus. Instead the situation was less urgent, with the vaccine available only after the peak of incidence of infections in NSW. Consequently mass vaccination clinics were considered to be a less appropriate method of delivering the vaccine than a primary care focused delivery model. This paper describes the program, some of the controversies considered during its roll-out and factors to be considered in planning for future pandemics.