Surveillance System Comparison
SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM COMPARISON 2
Surveillance System Comparison
This section of your Scholar-Practitioner Project prompts you to explore modern surveillance systems
applied at different levels of government related to the disease you selected. In addition, you describe the
government�s responsibility to monitor and report at the four political levels. By understanding the
reporting requirements of government, you are able to design your surveillance system to meet those
requirements.
To complete this portion of your Scholar-Practitioner Project, write a 2- to 3-page paper that addresses
the following:
Identify modern surveillance systems implemented at the local, state, regional, and national levels related
to the disease you selected.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the modern systems in monitoring the disease you selected.
Analyze the government�s responsibilities for monitoring the disease/condition you selected at the
different political levels (local, state, regional, and national). Include an explanation of how the reporting
requirements differ at each level.
Suggest how you would apply any lessons learned in this exercise to the system you are constructing.
Surveillance System Comparison
Modern surveillance systems implemented at the local, state, regional, and national levels
Early warning surveillance systems are designed to create an early alert of a disease
threat through the detection of mere presence of potentially infectious micro-organisms. Early
warning surveillance systems are mostly monitored at the federal level. Syndromic surveillance
deals with symptoms indicative of Ebola virus. This surveillance system providing real time
monitoring for non-specific, prediagnostic indicators of disease outbreaks has been broadly
adopted by cities, states and the national government. States use The Real Time Outbreak and
Disease Surveillance System (RODS) in gathering data on symptoms of emergency room
patients (Institute of Medicine (US) Forum on Microbial Threats, 2007).
Situational awareness surveillance systems are used in monitoring the progress and
outcome of an intervention for purposes of mitigating or stopping the progression of a
communicable disease. Cities, states and the national government have shown a wide and
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multifaceted use of surveillance for describing and informing response throughout the entire
period of an outbreak. Animal surveillance systems help in detecting transmission of the Ebola
virus among animal and human populations over space and time, in addition to predicting future
transmission patterns.
The effectiveness of the modern systems in monitoring Ebola virus
The modern surveillance systems assist local and state health departments in enhancing,
designing, and developing means for rapid detection of Ebola outbreaks as well as other public
health threats and emergencies. These surveillance systems enable the health departments to
investigate and mitigate such outbreaks of part of a National Electronic Disease Surveillance
System. For instance, syndromic surveillance systems help in providing timelier identification of
disease outbreaks than could be achieved through traditional surveillance systems. Nevertheless,
sysndromic surveillance has been criticized for the few outbreaks that it has managed to detect
and most people are doubtful as to its potential to perform better than alternative systems to alert
the public health community to a problem.
The government’s responsibilities for monitoring Ebola virus at the different political
levels (local, state, regional, and national)
In America, public health surveillance for infectious diseases occurs through a variety of local,
state, regional and federal programs. Healthcare providers and others often report cases of
‘notifiable’ infectious disease as defined under local and state health codes to health departments.
Accordingly, health department officials conduct a verification of the disease reports, monitor
disease incidence, identify possible, and send the findings to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies carry out
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an independent gathering and analysis of information for disease surveillance. Furthermore, the
federal agencies fund national and international networks for disease surveillance laboratories
which establish diagnostic tests and develop disease diagnostic research. Despite the CDC
having set out guidelines for surveillance systems funded by the national government, there is a
general lack of evaluation. In addition, so far there is barely any evidence to support the cost-
effectiveness of massive national public health surveillance investments.
In conclusion, it is very important to note that effective surveillance requires a clear appreciation
of the capabilities sought. When designing a surveillance system, I need to establish the
phenomena that need detection, the populations in which detection is needed, and the data that
would be most effective for that purpose. An effective surveillance system should be follow
legally and professionally acceptable processes, be cost-effective, and have the ability to identify
in an ongoing predictive, sensitive, simple, timely, standardized, and flexible manner the
emergence of meaningful epidemiological phenomena as well as their particular associations.
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Reference
Institute of Medicine (US) Forum on Microbial Threats. (2007). Global infectious disease
surveillance and detection: Assessing the challenges – finding solutions, workshop summary.
Washington DC: National Academies Press.
