Abstract
Background Syndromic surveillance aims to provide early warning and real time estimates of the extent of incidents; and reassurance about lack of impact of mass gatherings. We describe a novel public health risk assessment process to ensure those leading the response to the 2012 Olympic Games were alerted to unusual activity that was of potential public health importance, and not inundated with multiple statistical 'alarms'. Methods Statistical alarms were assessed to identify those which needed to result in 'alerts' as reliably as possible. There was no previously developed method for this. We identified factors that increased our concern about an alarm suggesting that an 'alert' should be made. Results Between 2 July and 12 September 2012, 350 674 signals were analysed resulting in 4118 statistical alarms. Using the risk assessment process, 122 'alerts' were communicated to Olympic incident directors. Conclusions Use of a novel risk assessment process enabled the interpretation of large number of statistical alarms in a manageable way for the period of a sustained mass gathering. This risk assessment process guided the prioritization and could be readily adapted to other surveillance systems. The process, which is novel to our knowledge, continues as a legacy of the Games.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | e111-e117 |
| Journal | Journal of Public Health (United Kingdom) |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The members of the PHE Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance Team and those who helped with the Olympics service: Sally Harcourt, Helen Hughes, Paul Loveridge, Sue Smith, Maria Potton, Amardeep Bains, Edna Kara and Leandro Carrilho. Syndromic surveillance data providers: NHS Direct; participating EDSSS emergency departments; College of the Emergency Medicine; Advanced Health & Care; participating OOH service providers; QSurveillance®; University of Nottingham; EMIS/EMIS practices; and ClinRisk. The further work to further explore the method is part funded by the NIHR
Funding Information:
G.E.S., A.E. and R.M. receive support from the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Emergency Preparedness and Response and J.H. from the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Gastrointestinal Infections. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, the Department of Health or Public Health England.
Keywords
- Mass gatherings
- Risk assessment process
- Syndromic surveillance
