Public Health Surveillance Public Health Surveillance
• Ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice, • With the timely dissemination of these data to those responsible for prevention and control.

Systematic, ongoing IMP • Collection of data • Analysis • Interpretation • Dissemination Link to public health practice Surveillance is: information for action

Components of Surveillance System V.IMP  Data Collection  Analysis  Dissemination

1

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Public Health Surveillance
Information Loop of Public Health Surveillance (involving health care providers, public health agencies, and the public)

The components of surveillance and resulting public health action

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Public Health Surveillance
Purposes of Public Health Surveillance • • • • Assess public health status Setting public health priorities Evaluate prevention and control programs Generating hypothesis & stimulate research Uses of Public Health Surveillance V.IMP Estimate magnitude of the problem Determine geographic distribution of illness Portray the natural history of a disease Detect epidemics/define a problem Generate hypotheses, stimulate research Evaluate control measures Monitor changes in infectious agents Detect changes in health practices Facilitate planning
Evaluate control measures of MEASLES

• • • • • • • • •

Reported Cases (Thousands)

500

United States, 1963-1998 Vaccine MEASLES — by year, United licensed States, 1983–1998

450

350

Reported Cases (Thousands)

400

30

25 20 15

300 250 200 150 100 50 0
1963 1968 1973

20 10
1988 1993 1998

Sudden increase in reported cases; caused by vaccine failure > booster dose is required

10 5
0

1983

Year

1978

Year

1983

1988

1993

1998

Surveillance data usually collected are: • Vital events, births, deaths (mortality data), marriages,