Increasing role of Public Health Rapid Response Teams in infectious disease outbreaks

Abstract Background Following the Ebola crisis (2013-2016), the WHO, Global Health Security Agenda and other international actors advocated for the development of Public Health Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to strengthen outbreak response. Despite significant investment, evidence on the uptake, composition and effectiveness of such teams remains lacking. Methods Qualitative review of published and grey literature including from governmental and multilateral agencies, with semi-structured interviews of key informants. Thematic content analysis was completed and evidence synthesised to inform future policy recommendations. Results RRTs have been adopted globally providing surge capacity in outbreak settings. RRTs typically include microbiologists and field epidemiologists but can be more efficacious when broadly multidisciplinary with the inclusion of social scientists, risk communicators and infection prevention and control professionals. The organisation of RRTs must be responsive to district and national contexts so existing systems are not undermined, with regional collaboration beneficial where skill gaps exist. Literature and interviewees agreed that RRTs should not be uniformly defined by narrow technical capabilities, but rather regional standards and evaluation of deployments used to assess operational readiness. Conclusions Public Health RRTs should be multiprofessional in nature and evaluated against regional standards to be effective. Future research should seek to assess the experience of countries before and after RRT implementation including detailed economic assessment. Key messages