An evaluation of the surveillance system for dengue virus infections in Maldives
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Kurzdarstellung
Background: Dengue is endemic in Maldives. The largest epidemic to date wasin 2011. This study evaluates the surveillance system for dengue during 2011,identifies gaps and suggests ways to improve.Methods: This evaluation of the national surveillance system for dengue was donein September to October 2012, using an evaluation tool based on United StatesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC) guidelines. Staff involvedin surveillance of different levels, and doctors expected to notify, were interviewed,and surveillance data from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) were compared byuse of an independent database of the country’s national referral hospital in Malé,Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), to assess sensitivity and timeliness.Results: National surveillance is conducted by HPA, which collects informationdaily from a network of health facilities. Standard case definitions were published,but they were not easily accessible to clinicians. The quality of data was acceptable.Information is disseminated as annual communicable disease reports to healthfacilities and uploaded onto the official website. The timeliness of reporting wasgood (median 2 days). However, the usefulness for early warning of outbreakswas limited, owing to central and peripheral resource limitations. Data were usefulfor planning. Sensitivity was 0.54. Acceptability by clinicians was poor, owing to thelack of feedback reaching them. The reporting rate was high from the paediatricward in IGMH (85%), where the responsibility of notifying was also assigned toward in-charge and support staff, but it was extremely low from the medical ward(1.7%), where only doctors were given the responsibility.Conclusion: This evaluation shows the performance of the dengue surveillancesystem was good overall. However, clinicians need more regular feedback. Theperformance could be improved significantly by written protocols, legislatureand assigning the responsibility of surveillance in hospitals to ward managers inaddition to doctorsZitat
Aishath Aroona Abdulla, Fathimath Rasheeda, Ibrahim Nishan Ahmed & Maimoona Aboobaku. (2014). An evaluation of the surveillance system for dengue virus infections in Maldives. WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 3 (1), 60 - 68. World Health Organization. Regional Office for South-East Asia. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/329722
Zeitschrift
WHO South-East Asia Journal of Public Health, 3 (1): 60 - 68ISSN
2224-3151 (Print)2304-5272 (Electronic)