A Syndromic Surveillance Service Supporting Environmental Public Health Incidents

Results Syndromic surveillance reporting Routine weekly surveillance bulletins are produced from each syndromic system: these reports present the current indicator trends and encapsulate the main summary findings from the weeks surveillance, providing a number of key messages for health professionals.1 Heatwave surveillance Syndromic surveillance plays an important part in assessing the health impact of heatwaves and plays an integral role in the Heatwave Plan for England. During summer 2013 England experienced a heatwave: significant increases in heat/sunstroke were observed during 7-10 July 2013 (figure).2 In addition to the direct impact of heat, syndromic surveillance systems detected a spike in ED asthma attendances during a series of thunderstorms that followed the heatwave.3 Cold weather surveillance A cold weather plan for England was launched in 2011 with the aim of reducing preventable mortality and morbidity due to severe cold weather. Syndromic surveillance plays a part in this plan: emergency department cold weather indicators have been developed and are used each winter to assess the impact of cold weather on public health.4 Air pollution During March/April 2014 an air pollution event affected large parts of the UK; syndromic surveillance was used to assess the public health impact. Indicators for the presentation of asthma, difficulty breathing and wheeze all showed marked and significant increases during the air pollution episode, illustrating the impact of the episode. Flooding During early 2014 there was severe flooding across several areas of England. Syndromic surveillance systems were used, monitoring indicators of gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and vomiting. Daily data were compared between affected and unaffected areas to determine whether there had been an impact on health. There were no gross changes in the incidence of syndromic indicators in flooded areas, thus providing reassurance to national and local response teams.