The use of social media as a syndromic sentinel for diseases is an emerging field of growing relevance as the public begins to share more online, particularly in the area of influenza. Several applications have been developed to predict or monitor influenza activity using publicly posted or self-reported online data; however, few have prioritized accuracy at the local level. In 2016, the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) collected localized Twitter information to evaluate its utility as a potential influenza sentinel data source.

As global temperatures increase, so too does interest in the effect of climate change on the population’s health. 2016 represented the hottest year on record globally and well above the 20th century average in Virginia. With large-scale climate change comes an increase in severe weather patterns, including heat waves. Heat waves can have immense health impacts on a community, including heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and dehydration.

Early Notification Detection Systems have taken a critical role in providing early notice of disease outbreaks. To improve the detection methods for disease outbreaks, many detection methods have been created and implemented. However, there is limited information on the effectively of syndromic surveillance in Thailand. Knowing the performance, strengths and weakness of these surveillance systems in providing early warning for outbreaks will increase disease outbreak detection capacity in Thailand.

Objective:

The Louisiana Office of Public Health (OPH) Infectious Disease Epidemiology Section (IDEpi) conducts syndromic surveillance of Emergency Department (ED) visits through the Louisiana Early Event Detection System (LEEDS) and submits the collected data to ESSENCE. There are currently 86 syndromes defined in LEEDS including infectious disease, injury and environmental exposure syndromes, among others. LEEDS uses chief complaint, admit reason, and/or diagnosis fields to tag visits to relevant syndromes.