Effect of surveillance method on reported characteristics of Lyme disease, Connecticut, 1996-2007

To determine the effect of changing public health surveillance methods on the reported epidemiology of Lyme disease, we analyzed Connecticut data for 1996-2007. Data were stratified by 4 surveillance methods and compared. A total of 87,174 reports were received that included 79,896 potential cases....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Emerging infectious diseases 2012-02, Vol.18 (2), p.242-247
Main Authors: Ertel, Starr-Hope, Nelson, Randall S, Cartter, Matthew L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Child
Child, Preschool
Connecticut - epidemiology
data collection
endemic diseases
epidemiologic methods
Epidemiology
Female
Humans
Incidence
Infant
Lyme disease
Lyme Disease - epidemiology
Male
Methods
Middle Aged
population surveillance
Population Surveillance - methods
Public health
public health practice
Seasons
Young Adult
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Summary:To determine the effect of changing public health surveillance methods on the reported epidemiology of Lyme disease, we analyzed Connecticut data for 1996-2007. Data were stratified by 4 surveillance methods and compared. A total of 87,174 reports were received that included 79,896 potential cases. Variations based on surveillance methods were seen. Cases reported through physician-based surveillance were significantly more likely to be classified as confirmed; such case-patients were significantly more likely to have symptoms of erythema migrans only and to have illness onset during summer months. Case-patients reported through laboratory-based surveillance were significantly more likely to have late manifestations only and to be older. Use of multiple surveillance methods provided a more complete clinical and demographic description of cases but lacked efficiency. When interpreting data, changes in surveillance method must be considered.
ISSN:1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI:10.3201/eid1802.101219