Early Detection of Influenza Activity Using Syndromic Surveillance in Missouri

Syndromic surveillance is used routinely to detect outbreaks of disease earlier than traditional methods due to its ability to automatically acquire data in near real-time. Missouri has used emergency department (ED) visits to monitor and track seasonal influenza activity since 2006.

Objective

To assess how weekly percent of influenza-like illness (ILI) reported via Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE) tracked weekly counts of laboratory confirmed influenza cases in five influenza seasons in order to evaluate the early warning potential of ILI in ESSENCE and improve ongoing influenza surveillance efforts in Missouri.