The British Paediatric Surveillance Unit: activities and developments in 1990 and 1991

The British Paediatric Surveillance Unit is a joint undertaking of the British Paediatric Association, the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and the Department of Epidemiology at the Institute of Child Health, London. It provides an active case reporting system which aims to facilitate the surveillance of rare childhood infections and other conditions. Cards with a menu of up to twelve reportable disorders are sent monthly to more than 1100 paediatricians throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. The average response rate is 90%. Reported cases are followed up according to study protocols. Since its inception in 1986, the Unit has facilitated the study of a wide range of disorders, including HIV infection and AIDS, Reye's syndrome, Kawasaki disease, congenital rubella, neonatal herpes, congenital toxoplasmosis and acute rheumatic fever, and the number of new applications for surveys has increased in 1992-3. Several European paediatric organisations have expressed interest in setting up similar schemes in their own countries.