Epidemiology of public health emergencies in schools in Ningbo, 2004-2011

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of public health emergencies in schools in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, from 2004 to 2011. Methods Descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of public health emergencies in schools in Ningbo during this period. Results Totally 124 public health emergencies of grade Ⅳ were reported. The attack rate was 2.9%, Outbreaks of communicable diseases, including chickenpox, influenza and mumps, accounted for 99.19% of the total events. Public health emergencies mainly occurred during March-June and October-January. Primary schools were the major place where the outbreaks occurred (69.35%). The attack rate in township middle schools was highest (7.18%), followed by city middle schools (6.86%). Conclusion Public health emergencies occurred frequently in the schools in Ningbo, especially in rural areas, It is necessary to strengthen the prevention and control measures in schools.