Lecture 34 - Surveillance Flashcards
What is epidemiology surveillance
It is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, Interpretation and dissemination of data regarding a health event for use in public health action to reduce morbidity and mortality and to improve health
What is the main objective of most surveillance systems
The cornerstone objective is monitoring trends, which allows for the understanding of the ongoing story and how to influence it
Elements of surveillance
- Data collection (Health event)
- Analysis
- Interpretation
- Dissemination
- Action
What is surveillance used for
- Characteristics patterns of disease
- Detecting epidemics
- Further investigation
- Research
- Disease control programmes
- Setting priorties
- Evaluation
What are the two main types of surveillance
- Indicator-based
- Event-based
Indicator based
Monitoring specific infectious diseases or cancers, typically through passive notifications by clinicians
Event based
Monitoring reports, media stories, rumours, and other health event information that could pose a public health risk
Types of indicator based surveillance
- Passive surveillance
- Active surveillance
- Sentinel surveillance
Passive surveillance
Routine reporting of health data such as notifiable diseases.
- Disease registries e.g. cancer
- Hospital data
Pros:
- Low cost
- Data linkage
- Wide area
Limitations:
- Under-reporting
Active surveillance
Direct collection of data, often through surveys or serosurveillance
- Serosurveillance: The monitoring of the presence or absence of specific substances in the blood serum of a population
- Health survey: Active cases finding of TB
Sentinel surveillance
Selected institution or group monitor specific diseases or trends
Event-based and what sources are monitored
It is organised monitoring of reports, media stories, rumours and other information about health events that could be serious public health risk.
Rumour seuveillance:
source include blogs, social media and news
Characteristics of good surveillance
- Clear case definition
- Organised
- Workable/practical/simple
- Uniform
- Continous
- Timely
- Sensitive
- Acceptable
Name some infectious diseases that are notifiable in NZ
- Camplyobacteriosis
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid fever
- Covid 19
- Measles
- TB
Interpretation in surveillance by analysis
Understanding “what’s going on?” by analysing data trends in terms of person (age, sex, ethnicity), pace (location), and time
