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Performance Assessment of a Communicable Disease Surveillance System in Response to the Twin Earthquakes of East Azerbaijan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2015

Javad Babaie ,
Ali Ardalan ,
Hasan Vatandoost ,
Mohammad Mehdi Goya  and
Ali Akbari Sari
Javad Babaie
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster Public Health, School of Public Health, and Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, National Institute of Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
Ali Ardalan*
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster Public Health, School of Public Health, and Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, National Institute of Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hasan Vatandoost
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Entomology and Vector Control, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Mohammad Mehdi Goya
Affiliation:
Centre for Communicable Disease Management, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran
Ali Akbari Sari
Affiliation:
Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Ali Ardalan, MD, PhD, 78 Italy Ave, Department of Disaster Public Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran (e-mail: aardalan@gmail.com).
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Abstract

Objective

Following the twin earthquakes on August 11, 2012, in the East Azerbaijan province of Iran, the provincial health center set up a surveillance system to monitor communicable diseases. This study aimed to assess the performance of this surveillance system.

Methods

In this quantitative-qualitative study, performance of the communicable diseases surveillance system was assessed by using the updated guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Qualitative data were collected through interviews with the surveillance system participants, and quantitative data were obtained from the surveillance system.

Results

The surveillance system was useful, simple, representative, timely, and flexible. The data quality, acceptability, and stability of the surveillance system were 65.6%, 10.63%, and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity and positive predictive value were not calculated owing to the absence of a gold standard.

Conclusions

The surveillance system satisfactorily met the goals expected for its setup. The data obtained led to the control of communicable diseases in the affected areas. Required interventions based on the incidence of communicable disease were designed and implemented. The results also reassured health authorities and the public. However, data quality and acceptability should be taken into consideration and reviewed for implementation in future disasters. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:367–373)

Keywords

communicable diseasesdisasterspublic health surveillance
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , August 2015 , pp. 367 - 373
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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