7.3 Which Type of Surveillance Is Best?
An outbreak is characterized by increased occurrences, such as infectious diseases or the number of microbes in a geographical region above the threshold rate. This increase could be due to a single infection, such as anthrax, Legionella, cluster A streptococcal infection, or multiple infections. The increase could happen in weeks or months and in a single entity or across multiple hospitals.
The term “pseudo-outbreak“ refers to a situation in which a microscopic organism is found in a culture at a higher rate than anticipated and cannot be linked to the alleged infection intimated by primary culture from a clinical standpoint.
The following information is collected for conducting appropriate surveillance:
- Name
- Date of birth (DOB)
- Social Security number (SSN)
- Sexual identity
- Hospital record number
- Ward number/name
- Name of the consultant
- Date of admittance
- Date of initial infection
- Date of discharge or death
- Site of disease
- Microorganism(s) sequestered with antimicrobial sensitivity or verification of infectious disease by other methods
- Medical assistance and practices at the time of infection.