Pilot Study of Automated Surveillance to Measure Burden

International Vaccine Institute, Seoul

Investigators

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION: Rotavirus is the most common cause of diarrhea among children < 5 years of age and is responsible for an estimated 440,000 deaths each year. Most of these deaths occur in developing countries and India accounts for approximately 100,800 (23%) rotavirus-associated deaths annually. We hypothesize that a phone- and web-based case reporting system will be well-accepted by clinic and hospital based clinicians and laboratory staff. We also hypothesize that introduction of this system will provide a robust method for highly efficient disease reporting and monitoring of diarrhea and rotavirus incidence among the target population of children < 5 years of age. The specific aims are to: 1. Establish the feasibility of implementing a phone/web-based disease reporting system. We will conduct baseline and post-introduction field assessments of system acceptability, ease of use, and reporting accuracy compared with use of traditional paper-based surveillance reports among hospital-based pediatric care providers. We will identify methods to optimize use and introduction of the phone/web-based surveillance system in areas with limited telecommunications and health-care infrastructure. 2. Determine the burden hospitalizations among children < 5 years of age in the study population for acute diarrhea. Children who attend hospitals with acute diarrhea will be clinically evaluated and a fecal specimen will be collected for rotavirus antigen detection testing using a commercially-prepared assay. Hospital-based clinicians will report patients with diarrhea and children with laboratory-confirmed rotavirus diarrhea via the phone/web-based reporting system. 3. Determine the methodologic appropriateness and accuracy of measuring population-based incidence rates for alll-cause diarrhea hospitalizations and rotavirus diarrhea hospitalizations among sub-district populations within the field site. We will analyze ICD-10 hospital discharge codes and review pediatric departments logbooks to assess the proportion of children with diarrhea who are captured in the phone/web-based surveillance system. We will calculate the proportion of children with an adequate fecal specimen that is collected and tested for rotavirus. We will assess the potential use of the phone/web-based case reporting system for measuring the impact of health interventions including vaccines. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]