2. Introduction-
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and
silver.”
(Mahatma
Gandhi)
In the everyday life of hustle and bustle, it is almost a
lacking hour to keep a watch on health. As being noted by
many great leaders and personalities around us “health is
life”. We must keep an eye to look for it. As it is a need of the
hour to keep our health maintained and to keep a keen watch
over it. Thus emphasizing its “SURVEILLANCE”
(Information for Action- surveillance is the bridge
between what we think is happening and what actually is
happening).
Surveillance -"sur" means "from above" and "veiller"
means "to watch
3. Definition-
“Surveillance is a systematic ongoing process of
collection, transmission, analysis and interpretation
and feedback of public health related data essential
for decision making ie. Planning, implementation,
and evaluation of public health practice”.
“Acc. To WHO”
The surveillance means supervision or close watch
especially on suspected person.
4. Importance of Health Surveilllance-
It serves as an early warning system for impending
public health emergencies.
It document the impact of an intervention, or track
progress towards specified goals.
Monitor and clarify the epidemiology of health
problems, to allow priorities to be set and to
inform public health policy and strategies.
5. Purpose of Health Surveillance-
Health surveillance provides and interprets data to facilitate
the prevention and control of disease.
Establish the baseline of a health condition
Understand trends and pattern of disease
Detect outbreaks or emergence of new disease
Identify resources needed during and after public health
emergencies
Monitor changes in infectious agents
Set research priorities.
Stimulate research .
6. Levels of Health surveillence-
Individual or Family Surveillance- It includes
surveillance of an infected person in a family as long as
the individual is the source of infection to others . e.g.
typhoid case and carriers.
Community or Local Population Surveillance- It
includes surveillance of the whole community for early
detection and prevention & control of a disease e.g.
malaria.
National Surveillance- It includes surveillance at the
National level e.g surveillance of small pox after its
eradication.
International Surveillance- It includes surveillance of
some of the diseases which are listed by WHO e.g
malaria, influenza etc. are to be reported information to
the countries in the world to take timely actions.
7. Surveillance Process -
Surveillance is a systematic process which includes
following steps:-
1.Collection of relevant information about the disease
under surveillance.
Establish Goals.
Develope Case definitions.
Select appropriate personnel.
2.Compilation and analysis of data.
Acquire tools and clearances for collection , analysis
and dissemination .
Implement surveillance system.
Evaluate surveillance activities.
3. Reporting of data and providing feedback.
8. Types of Surveillance-
Active Surveillance-
Active surveillance (“ hot pursuit”) identifies
cases through screening of hospital administration
records,emergency department logs, medical
wards, and intensive care units and out-of-
hospital facilities, including nursing homes,
radiology centres , and physician’s
offices.Screening is the essential step in active
survelillance and Also known as Community based
surveillance.
9. Advantges-
more accurate and complete data.
can be very sensitive.
can collect more detailed information.
can produce early and timely data.
Flexible.
Disadvantages -
high cost.
labor intensive.
difficult to sustain over time.
methodology must be well- developed.
10. Passive Surveillance-
Routine reporting of cases and deaths recorded at health
centres, dispensaries and hospital is called as passive
surveillance (or cold pursuit”) ascertains cases by
searching hospital discharge diagnoses.
Initiated by service providers such as hospital ,
laboratories , health care centers etc.
To access trends and identify risk factors for prevention
and control.
Wait for reporters to report,Also known as Hospital based
surveilllance.
11. Advantges-
Inexpensive.
Can cover large areas.
Low data collection burden for health department.
The most often in use.
Disadvantages-
Under reporting.
incomplete data & missing information.
Can be slow.
Lack of motivation.
12. Sentinel surveillance-
“location” to monitor for collection of interest“location”
might include –sites, events, providers, animal/vectors,
choose a “location” that is most susceptible to change.
The following criteria should be considered in selecting a
sentinel health facility (usually a general or infectious
disease hospital) :
It should be willing to participate.
It serves a relatively large population that has easy access
to it.
It has medical staff sufficiently specialized to diagnose,
treat and report cases of the disease under surveillance.
13. Advantage-
Rational- less but better data.
consistent data- stable sample.
choice of sentile sites(motivation,responsibility,
competency,data quality , geographical distribution,
timelines.)
Disadvantage-
Representativeness?
voluntary principle.
denominator?
actors rotation.
motivaton lost
14. Syndromic surveillance –
Syndrome is a complex of symptoms.
Syndromic surveillance focuses on one symptom or
constellation of symptoms (clinical outcomes) rather
than a diagnosed disease.
No need of laboratory confirmation.
More sensitive, but less specific
Faster public health interventions.
15. Conclusion-
Surveillance provides information on the health of
the community. Public health relies on information
from medical care providers and takes prevention
oriented actions based on information received.
Surveillance involves taking information in ,
analysing and interpreting it , and disseminating it to
those who need it.
