Infectious Disease Surveillance 2e

This fully updated edition of Infectious Disease Surveillance is for frontline public health practitioners, epidemiologists, and clinical microbiologists who are engaged in communicable disease control. It is also a foundational text for trainees in public health, applied epidemiology, postgraduate medicine and nursing programs.

The second edition portrays both the conceptual framework and practical aspects of infectious disease surveillance. It is a comprehensive resource designed to improve the tracking of infectious diseases and to serve as a starting point in the development of new surveillance systems. Infectious Disease Surveillance includes over 45 chapters from over 100 contributors, and topics organized into six sections based on major themes.

Section One highlights the critical role surveillance plays in public health and it provides an overview of the current International Health Regulations (2005) in addition to successes and challenges in infectious disease eradication.

Section Two describes surveillance systems based on logical program areas such as foodborne illnesses, vector-borne diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, viral hepatitis healthcare and transplantation associated infections. Attention is devoted to programs for monitoring unexplained deaths, agents of bioterrorism, mass gatherings, and disease associated with international travel.

Sections Three and Four explore the uses of the Internet and wireless technologies to advance infectious disease surveillance in various settings with emphasis on best practices based on deployed systems. They also address molecular laboratory methods, and statistical and geospatial analysis, and evaluation of systems for early epidemic detection.

Sections Five and Six discuss legal and ethical considerations, communication strategies and applied epidemiology-training programs. The rest of the chapters offer public-private partnerships, as well lessons from the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic and future directions for infectious disease surveillance.

The book contains over 45 chapters, drawn from experiences of over 100 authors involved in implementation of surveillance systems. It is organized into four sections based on major themes. Section I begins with an introductory chapter that highlights the critical role surveillance plays in public health and offers an overview of the rest of the book. The second chapter introduces the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and its emphasis on international reporting and strengthening surveillance capacities worldwide. The other chapters in the first section describe disease-specific or program-specific surveillance systems, such as foodborne and vector-borne disease surveillance.   Section II explores the use of information technology to advance infectious disease surveillance. The chapters discuss use of the Internet to facilitate disease reporting and dissemination of findings, electronic transfer of surveillance data from laboratories, and data management. Also, novel surveillance systems that use algorithms to assist in de-automated analyses to detect temporal and spatial clustering are introduced.   Section III presents topics in surveillance methodology, including molecular epidemiology, data analyses, communication with the media and the public, and evaluation of surveillance systems. Section IV addresses broad topics important in the conduct of public health surveillance for infectious diseases. Chapters discuss ethical considerations, the legal basis for conducting surveillance, and the legal considerations for isolation and quarantine. In addition, examples of surveillance-related training opportunities and partnerships in the private sector are presented. Lastly, Section V concludes with a review of historical lessons learned from application of surveillance in disease control.  

This fully updated edition of Infectious Disease Surveillance is for frontline public health practitioners, epidemiologists, and clinical microbiologists who are engaged in communicable disease control. It is also a foundational text for trainees in public health, applied epidemiology, postgraduate medicine and nursing programs.  The second edition portrays both the conceptual framework and practical aspects of infectious disease surveillance. It is a comprehensive resource designed to improve the tracking of infectious diseases and to serve as a starting point in the development of new surveillance systems. Infectious Disease Surveillance includes over 45 chapters from over 100 contributors, and topics organized into six sections based on major themes. Section One highlights the critical role surveillance plays in public health and it provides an overview of the current International Health Regulations (2005) in addition to successes and challenges in infectious disease eradication.  Section Two describes surveillance systems based on logical program areas such as foodborne illnesses, vector-borne diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, viral hepatitis healthcare and transplantation associated infections. Attention is devoted to programs for monitoring unexplained deaths, agents of bioterrorism, mass gatherings, and disease associated with international travel. Sections Three and Four explore the uses of the Internet and wireless technologies to advance infectious disease surveillance in various settings with emphasis on best practices based on deployed systems. They also address molecular laboratory methods, and statistical and geospatial analysis, and evaluation of systems for early epidemic detection. Sections Five and Six discuss legal and ethical considerations, communication strategies and applied epidemiology-training programs. The rest of the chapters offer public-private partnerships, as well lessons from the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic and future directions for infectious disease surveillance.