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Culpepper Allison

Syndromic surveillance has become an integral component of public health surveillance efforts within the state of Florida. The near real-time nature of these data are critical during events such as the Zika virus outbreak in Florida in 2016 and in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma in 2017. Additionally, syndromic surveillance data are utilized to support daily reportable disease detection and other surveillance efforts. Although syndromic systems typically utilize emergency department (ED) visit data, ESSENCE-FL also includes data from non-traditional sources: urgent care center visit data, mortality data, reportable disease data, and Florida Poison Information Center Network (FPICN) data. Inclusion of these data sources within the same system enables the broad accessibility of the data to more than 400 users statewide, and allows for rapid visualization of multiple data sources in order to address public health needs. Currently, the ESSENCE-FL team is actively working to incorporate EMS data into ESSENCE-FL to further increase public health surveillance capacity and data visualization.

Objective: To describe the strategy and process used by the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) Bureau of Epidemiology to onboard emergency medical services (EMS) data into FDOH’s syndromic surveillance system, the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE-FL).

Submitted by elamb on

Near real-time emergency department chief complaint data is accessed through Florida’s syndromic surveillance system: Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Communitybased Epidemics-Florida (ESSENCE-FL). The Florida Department of Health relies heavily upon these data for timely surveillance of influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI). Hospital discharge data available from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) captures information about influenza-associated ED visits and is considered complete. The delay in receiving the data (up to a year) hinders timely evidence-based decision making during the influenza season. Previous analyses (comparing the complete AHCA hospital discharge data to the ESSENCE-FL ILI syndrome and Influenza sub-syndrome) have shown ESSENCE-FL is a timely, effective tool to monitor influenza activity in the state and that the Influenza sub-syndrome most closely approximates influenza season activity in Florida. Adults > 65, pregnant women and children < 5 are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality from influenza infection. This investigation aims to determine if syndromic surveillance can be used to characterize in near real-time influenza infection in adults > 65, pregnant women, and children < 5 by comparing ED visits for influenza and ILI in ESSENCE-FL to historical AHCA records of people who incurred ED charges at a Florida hospital with diagnosed influenza.

Objective

To determine if emergency department (ED) based syndromic surveillance can be utilized to characterize in near real-time influenza infection in three high-risk populations: a) adults > 65, b) pregnant women, and c) children < 5.

Submitted by Magou on

Syndromic surveillance ED data has historically shown the highest number of visits on Mondays, with decreasing volumes throughout the week. Previous studies have shown that increased negative health outcomes have occurred on Mondays. A study in the European Journal of Epidemiology provided evidence that suggests a higher incidence of cardiovascular events on Mondays compared to other days of the week.

Objective

To investigate the day of week effect on myocardial infarctions (MI) in the age group of 18 – 64 years using ESSENCE-FL emergency department (ED) data.

Submitted by rmathes on

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) utilizes the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community Based Epidemics (ESSENCE-FL) as its statewide syndromic surveillance system. ESSENCE-FL comprises of chief complaint data from 231 of 240 EDs, representing 96 percent of the total number of EDs in Florida. Historically, syndromic surveillance has categorized patient chief complaint data into syndromes for the purpose of disease surveillance or outbreak detection. Triage notes are much longer freetext, pre-diagnostic data that capture the presenting symptoms and complaints of a patient.

Objective

This study assesses the utilization of triage notes from emergency departments (EDs) and urgent care centers (UCCs) for active case finding in ESSENCE-FL during the Zika response.

Submitted by Magou on
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