Description
Syndromic surveillance systems can detect increases in respiratory and gastrointestinal illness, but diagnosis of etiologic agents can be delayed due to difficult, time-consuming identification and low rates of testing for viral pathogens. Rapid diagnostic (RD) assays may aid in early identification and characterization of large outbreaks by allowing decision makers to “rule in” or “rule out” potential etiologic agents.
Objective
This paper describes preliminary results and implementation lessons learned from a RD testing pilot project. The project’s purpose is to prospectively collect diagnostic data on common causes of community-wide illness in order to supplement syndromic surveillance in New York City.