The audience for this toolkit is World Bank Task Managers and their counterparts in other organizations—those who, in response to requests, go to countries, assess the problems, design projects to address these problems, and implement or supervise these projects. Most World Bank staff are already overloaded with work and do not have the time to read material that is impractical or researchorien...

Coccidioidomycosis or Valley Fever is a fungal disease that occurs primarily in the southwestern United States. Of the estimated 150,000 U. S. coccidioidomycosis infections per year, approximately 60% occur in Arizona, making this state the focal point for investigation of the disease. In this manuscript, we describe the epidemiology of coccidioidomycosis reported in Arizona over the last decad...

Public health surveillance involves the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data for use in public health practice. A surveillance system includes the capacity to collect and analyze data as well as the ability to disseminate the data to public health agencies that can undertake effective prevention and control activities. An emerging issue in environmental public health surveillance inv...

CONTEXT Public Health Ontario (PHO) publishes various infectious disease surveillance reports, but none have yet been formally evaluated. OBJECTIVE PHO evaluated its monthly and annual infectious disease surveillance reports to assess public health stakeholders' current perception of the products and to develop recommendations for improving future products. DESIGN An evaluation consisting o...

Public health surveillance is undergoing a revolution driven by advances in the field of information technology. Many countries have experienced vast improvements in the collection, ingestion, analysis, visualization, and dissemination of public health data. Resource-limited countries have lagged behind due to challenges in information technology infrastructure, public health resources, and the...

BACKGROUND Despite the growing popularity of syndromic surveillance, little is known about if or how these systems are accepted, utilized and valued by end users. This study seeks to describe the use of syndromic surveillance systems in Ontario and users' perceptions of the value of these systems within the context of other surveillance systems. METHODS Ontario's 36 public health units, the p...

Objective This presentation will describe public health efforts to improve data collection by utilizing technology that supports record linkage through the implementation of the Master Patient Index (MPI). The initial use case will be applied to ambulatory syndromic surveillance at Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). It will include applications for incorporating the MPI into currently...

Communicable disease monitoring and response activities must be based upon local public health surveillance systems, even during infectious disease emergence, natural disasters, and during bioterrorism events. The NSW Department of Health has developed an emergency department surveillance system intended to monitor important public health conditions during mass gatherings and to identify outbre...