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Public Health Surveillance Paper

Decent Essays

Public health surveillance is a continuous, well-organised manner of collecting, analysing and interpreting health-related data that is used for the planning, implementing, and evaluating public health practices (WHO, 2017). The information obtain makes it easier for the public health personnel to initial warning signs of any Public Health Emergency that may arise (WHO, 2017). Therefore, public health surveillance system is deem high quality if it is composed of the following characteristics that reflexes the organisations and individuals willingness to be involved in the surveillance. Due to the changing nature of the surveillance, flexibility is important, along with simplicity, stability, and quality that reflects integrity of the surveillance …show more content…

In order to have an accurate overview of the HIV epidemic of all medical center, reports on the positively diagnosed patients, care and treatment provided and notification of HIV deaths are documented. This aids in the determination of the prevalence of the disease within each of the regions and the impact the disease has on the country (MOH, 2013).
Tuberculosis has been around for thousands of years, however continues to persist in the Guyanese population. This disease is of major public health concern globally. Therefore, standardised surveillance tools are available at established TB clinics to facilitate accurate recording and reporting of all cases positive of TB, TB/ HIV and drug resistant TB (MOH, 2005).
Describe the impact of changing case definitions (a definition of the condition by person, place and time and quantity of associations between exposures and outcomes, to develop and test hypotheses about causal associations) in a surveillance system. Provide an …show more content…

Therefore, over the years there are new and improve criteria for case identifications of diseases. As a result, this influence a change in case definition as was identified in Chickenpox (Varicella) in 1990 as compare to 2010 (CDC, 2017).The clinical presentation of chickenpox is characterised by generalized papulovesicular rash, fever, loss of appetite, and tiredness. However, the Laboratory criteria for positive diagnosis in 1990 were isolation of varicella virus from a clinical specimen, or by standard serologic assay, while in 2010 additional laboratory analysis such as antigen detection by direct fluorescent antibody test, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were also utilised for the deadly cases of varicella (CDC,

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