This query was created as a collaboration between the ISDS Syndrome Definition Committee (SDC) members with input from the CDC, Division of Violence Prevention. The query includes keywords and discharge diagnosis codes (ICD 10, ICD 9, and SNOMED) for self-harm, suicide ideation and suicide attempt. The query has been evaluated using national and local data from several states and counties.
Syndrome Definition
Attached is a word document with multiple syndromes that we have found useful during the coagulopathy cluster situation. Most used queries are highlighted in yellow.
These queries were created in response to marijuana, particularly synthetic marijuana, tainted with anticoagulants often found in rodent poisons.
Query purpose:
To assist state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal public health practitioners in trend monitoring for long COVID (also commonly described as Post-COVID Complications (PCC) or long-haul COVID) related visits in the emergency department (ED) setting using syndromic surveillance data.
How it was developed:
Subject matter experts from seven jurisdictions (WA; VA; Harris County, TX; Pierce-Tacoma County, WA; NE; KS; KY) created and validated the definition using ED visit data from January – December 2023.
Query purpose:
To assist state, local, tribal, territorial, and federal public health practitioners in identifying patients likely to have long COVID (also commonly described as Post-COVID Complications (PCC) or long-haul COVID) by reviewing visits in the emergency department (ED) setting and to help with trend monitoring for long COVID related visits using syndromic surveillance data.
How it was developed:
Query purpose:
The aim of this syndrome definition is to assist with rapid detection of potential initial visits for a firearm injury. The following injury intents due to firearms are included in this definition: unintentional, intentional self-directed, assault, undetermined intent, legal intervention, and terrorism. The definition aims to capture only initial encounters for a firearm injury and negate subsequent encounters or sequelae.
How it was developed:
Why the syndrome was created:
Why the syndrome was created:
The purpose of the CDC Legionella v1 ESSENCE query is to capture potential visits related to Legionella. It is useful to identify potential cases for follow-up, conduct situation awareness and monitoring of outbreaks, and perform retrospective trend monitoring across geographic regions to identify possible disease hotspots, etc.
Data sources the syndrome was used on (e.g., emergency room, EMS, air quality):
Emergency room
Why the syndrome was created:
The purpose of CDC Medication Refill v1 is to monitor visits for any medication/prescription that a patient may have run out of. Anything repetitive that needs routine refill visits - dialysis, oxygen, heart, BP, cholesterol.
Description
In 2016, a half million people were treated in U.S. emergency departments (EDs) as a result of self-harm. 1 Not only is self-harm a major cause of morbidity in the U.S., but it is also one of the best predictors of suicide. Given that approximately 40% of suicide decedents visited an ED in the year prior to their death and that the majority of medically-serious self-harm patients are treated in EDs2, EDs serve as a critical setting in which to monitor rates and trends of suicidal behavior. To date, the majority of ED data for self-harm are generally two to three years old and thereby can only be used to describe historical patterns in suicidal behavior. Thus, in 2018, a syndrome definition for suicide attempts and suicidal ideation (SA/SI) was developed by the International Society for Disease Surveillance (ISDS) Syndrome Definition Committee in conjunction with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff, allowing researchers to better monitor recent trends in medically treated suicidal behavior using data from the CDC's National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP). These data serve as a valuable resource to help detect deviations from typical patterns of SA/SI and can help drive public health response if atypical activity, such as geospatial or temporal clusters of SA/SI, is observed. Such patterns may be indicative of suicide contagion (i.e., exposure to the suicide or suicidal behavior of a friend or loved one, or through media content, that may put individuals at increased risk of suicidal behavior). Research has demonstrated that suicide contagion is a real phenomenon. 3 13 Reasons Why is a Netflix series focused on social, school, and family-related challenges experienced by a high school sophomore; each episode in the 13-episode series describes a problem faced by the main character, which she indicates contributed to her decision to die by suicide. The series premiered March 31, 2017 and is rated TV-MA by TV Parental Guidelines4 (may be unsuitable for those under age 18 years due to graphic content). Nevertheless, the series has become popular among youth under 18 years of age. Of note, in the final episode, the main character's suicide by wrist laceration is graphically depicted. Following the premiere of the series, researchers and psychologists across the U.S. expressed concern that this graphic depiction of suicide could result in a contagion effect, potentially exacerbating suicidal thoughts and behavior among vulnerable youth viewers. To date, the only empirical data demonstrating the potential iatrogenic effects of this graphic portrayal of suicide comes from a study of Google Trends data demonstrating an increase in online suicide queries in the weeks following the show, with most of the queries focusing on suicidal ideation (e.g., how to commit suicide, how to kill yourself).5 However, there has been no study to examine changes in nonfatal self-harm trends following the series debut.
Objective: To describe national-level trends in nonfatal self-harm and suicidal ideation among 10-19 year old youth from January 2016 through December 2017 and examine the impact of popular entertainment on suicidal behavior.
Description
In Massachusetts, syndromic surveillance (SyS) data have been used to monitor injection drug use and acute opioid overdoses within EDs. Currently, Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) SyS captures over 90% of ED visits statewide. These real-time data contain rich free-text and coded clinical and demographic information used to categorize visits for population level public health surveillance. Other surveillance data have shown elevated rates of opioid overdose related ED visits, Emergency Medical Service incidents, and fatalities in Massachusetts from 2014-20171,2,3. Injection of illicitly consumed opioids is associated with an increased risk of infectious diseases, including HIV infection. An investigation of an HIV outbreak among persons reporting IDU identified homelessness as a social determinant for increased risk for HIV infection.
Objective: We sought to measure the burden of emergency department (ED) visits associated with injection drug use (IDU), HIV infection, and homelessness; and the intersection of homelessness with IDU and HIV infection in Massachusetts via syndromic surveillance data.