Evaluation of the role of information integration in the surveillance of viral Hepatitis B

Objective The present study was designed to evaluate the role of information integration in the surveillance of viral Hepatitis B in order to find a better way of surveillance of the epidemic．Methods Forty-five reported hepatitis B cases who were currently residents in the city of Zhangqiu were selected as the subjects．Information about the epidemic from hospital reports，follow-ups and blood tests was in turn integrated based on a unified case definition with the infection status of the reported cases redetermined in order to evaluate the role of information integration in the surveilance of viral Hepatitis B．Results It was found through integration of the information from medical faciliyties and follow-ups that carriers of hepatitis B accounted for 31％，acute hepatitis B for 9％，chronic hepatitis B for 7％，overlapping cases for 4％，non-acute hepatitis B 40％(only based on history) and indefinitive cases for 9％of the reported．And reintegration of information from blood tests revealed that carders of hepatitis B accounted for 33％，chronic hepatitis B for 20％，acute hepatitis B for 13％，non-viral hepatitis for 2％，non-acute hepatitis B 20％and indefinitive cases for 9％of the reported．Conclusion The reported cases of hepatitis B are of mixed infections，with acute hepatitis B constituting only 13％．Integration of information from different channels contributes to the classification of mixed infections of reported cases，allowing accurate reporting of actual prevalence of hepatitis b in China．