Public health risk communication by text message in response to a cluster of invasive meningococcal infection in a primary school.
PLoS Curr
; 62014 May.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24894450
ABSTRACT
Public health risk communication during emergencies should be rapid and accurate in order to allow the audience to take steps to prevent adverse outcomes. Delays to official communications may cause unnecessary anxiety due to uncertainty or inaccurate information circulating within the at-risk group. Modern electronic communications present opportunities for rapid, targeted public health risk communication. We present a case report of a cluster of invasive meningococcal disease in a primary school in which we used the school's mass short message service (SMS) text message system to inform parents and guardians of pupils about the incident, to tell them that chemoprophylaxis would be offered to all pupils and staff, and to advise them when to attend the school to obtain further information and antibiotics. Following notification to public health on a Saturday, an incident team met on Sunday, sent the SMS messages that afternoon, and administered chemoprophyaxis to 93% of 404 pupils on Monday. The use of mass SMS messages enabled rapid communication from an official source and greatly aided the public health response to the cluster.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
PLoS Curr
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article