lecture 32 - surveillance Flashcards
what is surveillance
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
- information for action
what is surveillance used for
- characterising patterns of disease
- detecting epidemics
- further investigation
- research
- disease control programs
- setting priorities
- evaluation
what is indicator based surveillance
specific selected “indicators” under surveillance
- generally specific infectious disease or cancers
- most commonly passive notification by clinician / laboratory
- reported on rates of disease by demographic characteristics of affected individuals
what is event based surveillance
organisation monitoring of reports, media stories, rumours and other information about health events that could be a serious risk to health
what is passive surveillance
indicator based is mostly passive
routine reporting of health data
- notifiable disease
- disease registries
- hospital data
what is passive surveillance useful for
- baseline data
- monitor trends
- monitor impacts
what are the strengths to passive surveillance
- low cost
- wide area
- data linkage
what are the limitations to passive surveillance
- under reporting
most surveillance systems only encounter the people that interact with the health system
rely on people to come for screening
symptomatic more likely to be captured
what are the forms of active surveillance and their characteristics
serosurveillance
- the monitoring of the presence or absence of specific substances blood serum of a population
health survey
- very intensive
- almost impossible to do at a national level
what is the analysis of surveillance
- number of cases
person
place
time
rates
what is the action of surveillance
to those who need to know :
- ministry of health
- district health board
- affected population
newsletter
annual report
presentations
media / special alerts
