School Absenteeism Surveillance Data during the 2009 Influenza A/H1N1 Pandemic

In April 2009, a novel strain of influenza A was detected in Mexico, which quickly spread to the United States and the rest of the world. In response to the pandemic, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NH DHHS) developed a web-based school absenteeism reporting system to track and record overall absenteeism and influenza-like-illness (ILI) related absenteeism in New Hampshire schools.

Objective

To monitor community illness and detect outbreaks during the 2009 influenza A/H1N1 pandemic using a newly developed surveillance system for monitoring school absenteeism.