Public health emergencies in schools in Jiangmen in Guangdong, 2005-2011

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of public health emergencies in schools in Jiangmen, Guangdong province and provide evidences for the prevention and control of public health emergency in schools. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of public health emergencies in schools in Jiangmen from 2005 to 2011. Results A total of 31 school public health emergencies were reported during this period. Most of them were communicable disease epidemics and food poisoning events, and the communicable diseases related were mainly respiratory infections. The public health emergencies mainly occurred in primary schools at county and township levels, the occurrence peaks were in spring (March-June) and autumn (November-December). Conclusion It is necessary to strengthen the cooperation between health department and education department and take effective prevention and control measures to reduce the occurrence of public health emergencies in schools.