Panel 2.9: repair and recovery of health systems.

This is a summary of the presentations and discussion of Panel 2.9, Repair and Recovery of Health Systems of the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04-06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related to the repair and recovery of health systems as pertain to the damage created by the Tsunami. It is presented in the following major sections: (1) needs assessment; (2) coordination; (3) filling gaps; (4) capacity building; (5) what was done well, and what should have been done better; (6) lessons learned; and (7) recommendations. Recommendations included: (1) how to make health systems better prepared for coping with disasters; and (2) how to support preparedness in local communities.

Azithromycin in the treatment of Legionella pneumonia requiring hospitalization.

Azithromycin is highly active against Legionella pneumophila and has been shown to be efficacious in animal models and in clinical studies of patients with legionnaires disease. This open, prospective, multicenter trial evaluated azithromycin for the treatment of legionnaires disease. Twenty-five hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia and a positive result of a L. pneumophila serogroup 1 urinary antigen assay received monotherapy with intravenous azithromycin (500 mg/day) for 2-7 days, followed by oral azithromycin (1500 mg administered over the course of 3 or 5 days). The mean total duration of intravenous plus oral therapy was 7.92 days. The overall cure rate among clinically evaluable patients was 95% (20 of 21 patients) at 10-14 days after therapy and 96% (22 of 23 patients) at 4-6 weeks after therapy. The results of this study support previously reported data demonstrating that azithromycin is both safe and efficacious for the treatment of hospitalized patients with legionnaires disease.