Analysis on quality of surveillance for public health emergency in Fujian province, 2004-2007

ObjectiveTo evaluate the quality of the surveillance for public health emergency. MethodsAccording to the definite quality indicators, the data of public health emergency reporting from the internet-based direct reporting system were analyzed. ResultsFrom 2004 to 2007, 554 public health emergencies were reported in Fujian province, 45.13% of them were potential events. The annual proportion of potential events decreased in a linear way (I/Isup2/supsubCMH1/sub= 45.2825, IP/I0.0001). The average sensitive value of surveillance was 96.0 h with an average annual increase rate of 35.9%. The average delay time for reporting was 15.7 h; only 8.3% of the events were reported within 2 hours. The average time for controlling the events was 6.0 d with an annual decrease rate of 52.22%. The average percentage of events with final report was 54.30%, with an average annual increase rate of 66.60%. The time for final report was missed for 55.96% of the events, the first reporting time was missed for 53.25% of the events, the time of receiving report was missed for 53.25% of the events, and the time of the last case was missed for 8.66% of the events. ConclusionIn recent years, the surveillance and control of potential emergency had been conducted, however, the timeliness of reporting and the percentage of final report were still unsatisfactory, the time data for many events was either missed or illogical. The low sensitivity of the surveillance in primary and middle schools was one of the key factors for the high occurrence of emergency in these settings.