Epidemiological characteristics of public health emergencies in Guangzhou, 2007–2016

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of public health emergencies in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and provide scientific evidence for the effective prevention and control of public health emergencies.

Methods The incidence data of public health emergencies in Guangzhou from 2007 to 2016 were collected from " China Disease Reporting Information System” for a descriptive epidemiological analysis.

Results A total of 920 public health emergencies were reported in Guangzhou during this period, involving 62 562 disease cases and 65 deaths. Unclassified events and communicable disease epidemics accounted for 83.04% and 93.04%, respectively. There was positive correlation between number of public health emergencies and local population density with the Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.198 (P＜0.05). Most public health emergencies occurred in schools, accounting for 74.41%. The median duration of epidemic was 11.08 d (ranging from 0 to 168.41 d), while the median interval between the onset of index case and online reporting was 6.32 d (ranging from 0 to 86.72 d). The correlation was positive with the Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.433 (P＜0.001).

Conclusion The public health emergencies were mainly communicable disease epidemics in Guangzhou from 2007 to 2016, which mainly occurred in schools. The sooner report the epidemic, the shorter the epidemic duration was. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the surveillance for public health emergencies for the early reporting and early response to reduce the spread of related diseases.