Abstract
We report 5 years’ surveillance data from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control on unexplained deaths and critical illnesses suspected of being caused by infection. A total of 130 cases were reported; the incidence rate was 0.12 per 100,000 person-years; and infectious causes were identified for 81 cases (62%).
Highlights
We report 5 years’ surveillance data from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control on unexplained deaths and critical illnesses suspected of being caused by infection
In 2003, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) demonstrated that the world has become a global village in which human risk for exposure to different kinds of biological hazards is increased through frequent travel and commercial activities [1,2,3,4,5]
In 2000, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control collaborated with academic institutions, medical examiners, local health authorities, and experts from different fields to establish a nationwide surveillance center for outbreak and unexplained death investigation due to unknown infectious causes (COUNEX) (Figure)
Summary
We report 5 years’ surveillance data from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control on unexplained deaths and critical illnesses suspected of being caused by infection. Various efforts have been proposed and conducted to analyze secondary data periodically [6,7,8,9], they generally provide information for the less urgent decision making in health policy and may not be in time for infectious disease control. In 2000, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control collaborated with academic institutions, medical examiners, local health authorities, and experts from different fields to establish a nationwide surveillance center for outbreak and unexplained death investigation due to unknown infectious causes (COUNEX) (Figure).
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