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Using nurse hot line calls for disease surveillance
J S Rodman1, F Frost, W Jakubowski
1Southwest Center of Managed Care Research, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108, USA.
Emerging Infectious Diseases
|June 11, 1998
Summary
Nurse hot lines provide valuable public health surveillance data. Analysis of calls can help detect infectious disease outbreaks and seasonal trends, offering a cost-effective surveillance method.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
- Infectious Disease Surveillance
Background:
- Nurse hot lines handle numerous public health inquiries.
- These calls represent a potential, underutilized data source for disease surveillance.
- Early detection of infectious disease outbreaks is crucial for public health response.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of nurse hot line call data for public health surveillance.
- To assess the potential for identifying infectious disease outbreaks using this data source.
- To investigate patterns of disease reporting through nurse hot lines.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of nurse hot line call data from multiple locations.
- Examined call volume for specific symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting.
- Correlated call data with known disease outbreaks and seasonal patterns.
Main Results:
- A significant increase (over 17-fold) in diarrhea-related calls was observed during the 1993 Milwaukee cryptosporidiosis outbreak.
- Consistent seasonal variations in calls for diarrhea and vomiting were identified in Baltimore and Albuquerque.
- Nurse hot line data demonstrated a clear signal during a major infectious disease event.
Conclusions:
- Nurse hot line calls serve as a valuable and timely indicator for public health surveillance.
- This method offers an inexpensive approach to monitor infectious diseases and identify epidemics.
- Utilizing nurse hot line data can enhance disease detection and response capabilities.
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