Computer-aided detection of temporal clusters of organisms reported to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre

This article describes a computer system developed to assist in the identification of temporal clusters among the several hundred different organisms reported each week to the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. A threshold value is calculated for each organism on the basis of past reports. Organisms in excess of their threshold are identified for further investigation. The calculation of the thresholds allows for past outbreaks, long-term trends, and scatter in the data.