BACKGROUND Efficient and reliable surveillance and notification systems are vital for monitoring public health and disease outbreaks. However, most surveillance and notification systems are affected by a degree of underestimation (UE) and therefore uncertainty surrounds the 'true' incidence of disease affecting morbidity and mortality rates. Surveillance systems fail to capture cases at two dis...

BACKGROUND Evidence suggests that survey response rates are decreasing and that the level of survey response can be influenced by questionnaire length and the use of pre-notification. The goal of the present investigation was determine the effect of questionnaire length and pre-notification type (letter vs. postcard) on measures of survey quality, including response rates, response times (days ...

The capacity of state and territorial health departments to investigate foodborne diseases was assessed by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists from 2001 to 2002 with a self-administered, Web-based survey. Forty-eight health departments responded (47 states and 1 territory). The primary reason for not conducting more active case surveillance of enteric disease is lack of staff, ...

P. Niblett S. Graham The OASIS Web Services Notification (WSN) family of specifications defines a standard interoperable protocol through which Web services can disseminate events. We present here a summary of three WSN specification documents that are currently available: WS-Base Notification, WS-Topics, and WS-Brokered Notification. We conclude with a brief discussion on the use of the notifi...

Salmonella Typhimurium is the most common bacterial cause of gastrointestinal disease in NSW. Regular review of surveillance procedures ensures system objectives are met and informs improvements in system utility and efficiency. This paper assesses the timeliness and data completeness of NSW Salmonella Typhimurium surveillance after the routine introduction of multilocus variable repeat analysi...

In 1987 an unexpected change in the epidemiology of meningococcal disease began in Australia. The change was accompanied by an outbreak of serogroup A meningococcal disease among Aboriginal central Australians, and was followed by a progressive rise in notifications of disease caused by both serogroup B and C nationwide. Over the last 4 years, the notification rate has plateaued at 2.1-2.3 per ...

When admission control is used, an online scheduler chooses whether or not to complete each individual job successfully by its deadline. An important consideration is at what point in time the scheduler determines if a job request will be satisfied, and thus at what point the scheduler is able to provide notification to the job owner as to the fate of the request. In the loosest model, often se...

BACKGROUND There has been a resurgence of tuberculosis worldwide, mainly in developing countries but also affecting the United Kingdom (UK), and other Western countries. The control of tuberculosis is dependent on early identification of cases and timely notification to public health departments to ensure appropriate treatment of cases and screening of contacts. Tuberculosis is compulsorily not...

BACKGROUND The aims of tuberculosis (TB) control programme are to detect TB cases and treat them to disrupt transmission, decrease mortality and avert the emergence of drug resistance. In 1992, DOTS strategy was started in Arsi zone and since 1997 it has been fully implemented. However, its impact has not been assessed. The aim of this study was, to analyze the trends in TB case notification an...