Role
The Polio Expert Panel (PEP) has an ongoing role to:
- review and classify all reported cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) as
- non-polio AFP
- AFP with more information required
- polio compatible AFP
- poliomyelitis
- non AFP
- advise on poliomyelitis surveillance, prevention and eradication.
Members
|
Member |
Background and experience |
|---|---|
|
Professor David Isaacs (Chair) |
Paediatric infectious diseases specialist – Department of Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW |
|
Associate Professor Philip Britton (Deputy Chair) |
Paediatric Active Enhanced Diseases Surveillance representative – Kids Research Institute, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW |
|
Dr Shopna Bag |
Public health physician – Director, Public Health Medicine, Centre for Population Health, Western Sydney Local Health District, Parramatta, NSW |
|
Dr Anne Morris |
Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit representative – The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW |
|
Professor John Pearn |
Paediatrician – Emeritus Professor, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital, Herston, Qld |
|
Dr Eppie Yiu |
Paediatric neurologist – Neurology Department, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Vic |
|
Associate Professor Bruce Thorley |
Virologist – Director, National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory, VIDRL, The Doherty Institute, Melbourne, Vic |
Meetings
The PEP meets:
- every 2 months by teleconference to review Australian AFP cases
- annually face-to-face to review the performance AFP surveillance systems.
The PEP convenes on an ad hoc basis where there is a suspected case of poliomyelitis in Australia.
Related committees or groups
The National AFP Surveillance Coordinator tasks the PEP to review and classify AFP cases reported by the:
The PEP is a subcommittee Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) of the reports to the:
- CDNA
- Australian Government Department of Health
- World Health Organization (WHO).
Contact
