Abstract
To validate the utility of a chief complaint–based emergency department surveillance system, we compared it with respiratory diagnostic data and calls to Telehealth Ontario about respiratory disease. This local syndromic surveillance system accurately monitored status of respiratory diseases in the community and contributed to early detection of respiratory disease outbreaks.
Highlights
The threat of emerging infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and pandemic influenza, makes early detection of health events critical for effective control and intervention of such outbreaks
This study verified that emergency department (ED) chief complaint (CC) data can be used as a timely source of surveillance for respiratory diseases
ED CCs in southeastern Ontario strongly correlated in time with National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) respiratory discharge diagnoses and calls to Telehealth Ontario about respiratory disease
Summary
The threat of emerging infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and pandemic influenza, makes early detection of health events critical for effective control and intervention of such outbreaks. In September 2004, the Queen’s University Emergency Syndromic Surveillance Teama created a real-time emergency department surveillance system (EDSS) to monitor respiratory and gastrointestinal CCs temporally and spatially. The Study We conducted an investigation to verify and validate the utility of a triage CC-based EDSS in southeastern Ontario as a tool for monitoring respiratory disease by comparing it retrospectively with data from NACRS and Telehealth Ontario.
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