Tracking suspected heroin overdoses in CDC's National Syndromic Surveillance Program

Intertwined Epidemics: National Demographic Trends in Hospitalizations for Heroin- and Opioid-Related Overdoses, 1993–2009

The historical patterns of opiate use show that sources and methods of access greatly influence who is at risk. Today, there is evidence that an enormous increase in the availability of prescription opiates is fuelling a rise in addiction nationally, drawing in new initiates to these drugs and changing the geography of opiate overdoses. Recent efforts at supply-based reductions in prescription ...

Syndromic Surveillance

Introduction The US Department of Health and Human Services has mandated that after October 1, 2015, all HIPAA covered entities must transition from using International Classification of Diseases version 9 (ICD9) codes to using version 10 (ICD-10) codes (www.cms.gov). This will impact public health surveillance entities that receive, analyze, and report ICD-9 encoded data. Public health agencie...

Syndromic Surveillance

Syndromic surveillance is the regular collection, analysis, and interpretation of real-time and near-real-time indicators of diseases and other outbreaks by public health organizations. Motivated by the threat of bioterrorism, syndromic surveillance systems are being developed and implemented around the world. In a 2004 systematic review of publicly available information, 115 surveillance syste...

Beyond the Public’s Health: Constructing National Syndromic Surveillance

Establishing a National Syndromic Surveillance System among Asylum Seekers

Introduction Most European countries are facing a continuous increased influx of asylum seekers [1]. Poor living conditions in crowded shelters and refugee camps increase the risk for outbreaks of infectious diseases in this vulnerable population. In line with ECDC recommendations [2], we aim to improve information on infectious diseases among asylum seekers by establishing a new syndromic surv...