Implementation and Initial Analysis of a Laboratory-Based Weekly Biosurveillance System, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur,...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• Medical Microbiology

Background:

• Infectious disease surveillance is crucial for timely outbreak detection.
• Microbiologic laboratories are key sources of data for tracking bacterial infections.
• Existing surveillance methods may lack real-time capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate an automated infectious disease surveillance system.
• To monitor bacterial species reported by microbiologic laboratories in a specific region.
• To assess the system's ability to detect potential infectious disease outbreaks.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 210 microbiologic laboratories in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France.
• Implemented an automated alarm system triggered by bacterial case counts exceeding 2 standard deviations from the historical mean.
• Monitored 611 bacterial species starting from July 2013.

Main Results:

• Generated 34 alarms signaling potential infectious disease outbreaks between July 2013 and March 2016.
• 41% (14 out of 34) of these alarms led to health alerts declared by the regional health authority.
• The system demonstrated effectiveness in identifying concerning trends in bacterial infections.

Conclusions:

• Automated surveillance systems can enhance the early detection of infectious disease outbreaks.
• The implemented system shows promise in improving public health response to bacterial infections.
• Ongoing improvements include developing an internet-based platform and expanding laboratory participation.