Evaluating the Timeliness of Enteric Disease Surveillance in British Columbia, Canada, 2012-13

Abstract

Timely surveillance of enteric diseases is necessary to identify and control cases and outbreaks. Our objective was to evaluate the timeliness of enteric disease surveillance in British Columbia, Canada, compare these results to other settings, and recommend improvements. In 2012 and 2013, information was collected from case report forms and laboratory information systems on 2615 Salmonella, shigatoxin-producing E. coli, Shigella, and Listeria infections. Twelve date variables representing the surveillance process from onset of symptoms to case interview and final laboratory results were collected, and intervals were measured. The median time from onset of symptoms to reporting subtyping results to BC epidemiologists was 26–36 days and from onset of symptoms to case interview was 12–14 days. Our findings were comparable to the international literature except for a longer time (up to 29 day difference) to reporting of PFGE results to epidemiologists in BC. Such a delay may impact our ability to identify and solve outbreaks. Several process and system changes were implemented which should improve the timeliness of enteric disease surveillance.

Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli in British Columbia, 2011–2017: Analysis to inform exclusion guidelines

“…There is no reason to believe symptoms and outcomes for the same disease would be different for the one health authority from which these data were unavailable. The number of HUS cases was likely an underestimate given that HUS may not have developed at the time of the public health interview, which occurs one to two weeks after symptom onset (43). Nonetheless, a significant association with stx2 was observed, and this association may be even stronger with a higher number of HUS cases.…”

Determining the long-term health burden and risk of sequelae for 14 foodborne infections in British Columbia, Canada: protocol for a retrospective population-based cohort study

“…Infection onset date will be determined using the onset date reported in Panorama, and where this is missing, the date that the infection was reported minus the number of days between onset to reporting (eg, estimated using the Panorama data or from the literature). 50 …”

“…Infection onset date will be determined using the onset date reported in Panorama, and where this is missing, the date that the infection was reported minus the number of days between onset to reporting (eg, estimated using the Panorama data or from the literature). 50 Exposed time at risk will be measured starting from the infection onset date, plus any additional induction periods (specific to each sequela and currently being determined via literature review and medical expert consultation). The end of the exposed time at risk period is currently being determined via literature review and medical expert consultation.…”

Sistema Dedicado Para Vigilância Em Saúde:

“…Ademais, algumas pesquisas utilizaram métodos semelhantes para identificar as fragilidades dos sistemas de vigilância em saúde. Dentre os problemas encontrados, logo se destacam: inflexibilidade para acréscimo de informações adicionais, falta de sistema de verificação de qualidade de dados, ausência de instrumentos validados para conclusão de casos, preenchimento inadequado e incompletos (HUSSAIN et al, 2016), excesso de documentos necessários para o registro, excesso de casos duplicados e discrepantes devido ao uso de formulários impressos (ADAMSON et al, 2017), à demora para conclusão de casos suspeitos (GALANIS et al, 2017) e à baixa sensibilidade (MONTEIRO et al, 2011).…”