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Displaying results 1 - 8 of 8
  • Syndromic Surveillance in Boston: Validating the Detection of Small Events and Integrating Response from a Local Health Department

    Content Type: Abstract

    The interpretation of aberrations detected by syndromic surveillance is critical for success, but poses challenges for local health departments who must conduct appropriate follow-up and confirm outbreaks. This paper describes the response of the… read more
    … CUSUM is used to detect signals of potential interest. All signals are reviewed daily by BPHC communicable disease … likely due to an unidentified virus. Available lab tests did no identify any pathogens. CONCLUSIONS The utility of … investigation. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 1/1 1/15 1/29 2/12 2/26 3/12 3/26 4/9 4/23 Date N o. o f v is its (v om iti ng ) …
  • Bio-Surveillance and Enhanced Situational Awareness

    Content Type: Abstract

      Syndromic surveillance has been used to detect variation in seasonal viral illnesses such as influenza and norovirus infection (1). Limited information is available on the use of a comprehensive bio-surveillance system, including syndromic… read more
    … daily by the BPHC syndromic surveillance system from all 10 Boston EDs. Three gastrointesti- nal (GI) syndrome … 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 12.00% 1-Dec 15-Dec 29-Dec 12-Jan 26-Jan 9-Feb 23-Feb 9-Mar Pe rc en t o f E D V is its fo r N … (p=0.004). In the previous year, these two syndromes did not correlate (p= 0.076). Of 18 outbreaks, specimens …
  • Syndromic Surveillance and Zip Code Data: The Role of Zip Codes in Understanding Populations

    Content Type: Abstract

    Syndromic surveillance systems use residential zip codes for spatial analysis to identify disease clusters. However, the use of emergency medical services can be influenced by geographic proximity, specialty services, and severity of illness. We… read more
    … Massachusetts. The proportion of Boston residents (n=26,560) who sought care at any particular site ranged from … with neighborhood socio-economic markers. CONCLUSIONS All Boston hospitals demonstrated wide variability in the …
  • A Comparison of Locally Developed Influenza-like Syndrome Definitions Using Electronic Emergency Department Data in Boston and New York City

    Content Type: Abstract

    To compare locally-developed influenza-like syndrome definitions (derived from emergency department (ED) chief complaints) when applied to data from two ISDS DiSTRIBuTE Project participants: Boston and New York City (NYC) [1].
    … daily from 50 of 61 (82%) EDs in NYC representing 94% of all ED visits (avg daily visits ~ 10,000). Each department … 2, 2005 to May 17, 2008 were calculated for each site for all ages and 6 age groups (<2, 2-4, 5-17, 18-44, 45-64, … a greater magnitude of visits as influenza-like than did the other city’s local definition. Figure – Proportion …
  • Age Specific Correlations between Influenza Laboratory Data and Influenza-like Syndrome Definitions in Boston and New York City

    Content Type: Abstract

    To compare age-group-specific correlation of influenza-like syndrome (ILS) emergency department (ED) visits with influenza laboratory data in Boston and NYC using locally defined ILS definitions.
    … ED morbidity patterns. Also, BPHC receives reports of all influenza isolates in Boston identified by any … from Oct 2, 2005 – May 17, 2008 were calculated for all ages, and for 6 age groups (<1, 1-4, 5-24, 25-44, 45-64, … for the <1 and 1-4 age groups was below 0.43 for all syndrome definitions. No significant correlation was …
  • Analysis of Syndrome Definitions for Gastrointestinal Illness with ICD9 Codes for Gastroenteritis during the 2006-07 Norovirus Season in Boston

    Content Type: Abstract

    We report on a retrospective analysis of gastrointestinal syndrome definitions based on chief complaints and ICD9 diagnosis for gastroenteritis during the 2006-07 season of increased norovirus activity.
    … (BPHC) syndromic surveillance system receives daily, de- identified patient-visit data from 10 hospital emer- … vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, and dehydration. GI3 did the same, but excluded visits that contained gyne- … syndromes and ICD9 codes for gastroenteritis. CONCLUSIONS All three syndrome definitions had a fairly high de- gree of …
  • Sneezes vs. Wheezes: Syndrome Definitions for Influenza-like Illness

    Content Type: Abstract

    During influenza season, the Boston Public Health Commission uses syndromic surveillance to monitor Emergency Department visits for chief complaints indicative of influenza-like illness (ILI). We created three syndrome definitions for ILI to capture… read more
    … Any chief complaint containing “flu” was included in all three syndrome groups. Figure 1. Syndrome Definitions … Trends in the number of weekly visits and percentage of all ED visits for each ILI syndrome definition were compared …
  • Do Women Really Complain More than Men? Looking at Gastrointestinal Chief Complaints in Boston

    Content Type: Abstract

    The purpose of syndromic surveillance is the early identification of disease outbreaks. Classification of chief complaints into syndromes and the type of statistics used for aberration detection can affect outbreak detection sensitivity and… read more
    … GISG but dilute the aberration detection ability of Gi1 due to high daily volume. We determined the sensitivity and … Female Sensitivity Specificity Sensitivity Specificity All GIC (n= 2795) 71% 96% 79% 93% Gi1 (n=881) 75% 96% 84% …