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M«nD?^RVE,LLANCE OF
morbioity AND MORTALITY
MODULE 4
USER S GUIDE
The surveillance of undernutrition and other nutritional
problems requires regular monitoring of the.gr.pwth and
development of children under qge five'.ygarsT
Photo by Pierre Claquin (or A KF
ISBN: 1-882839-15-3
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Dedicated to
Dr. Duane L. Smith (1939-1992),
Dr. William B. Steeler (1948-1992)
and all other health leaders, managers and workers
who follow their example in the effort to bring quality health
care to all in need.
Screening for and surveillance of anaemia is important
among women of childbearing age, particularly wherever
malaria and hookworm remain problems, such as in
Bangladesh
Photo by Jean Luc Ray for AKF
An overview of PHC MAP
The main purpose of the Primary Health Care Management Advancement
Programme (PHC MAP) is to help PHC management teams collect, process
and analyse useful management information.
Initiated by the Aga Khan Foundation, PHC MAP is a collaborative programme of the
Aga Khan Health Network1 and PRICOR1
2 An experienced design team and equally
experienced PHC practitioner teams in several countries, including Bangladesh, Chile,
Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan,
Senegal, Thailand and Zaire, have worked together to develop, test and refine the PHC
MAP materials to make sure that they are understandable, easy to use and helpful.
PHC MAP includes nine units called modules. These modules focus on essential
information that is needed in the traditional management cycle of planning-doing-evaluating. The relationship between the modules and this cycle is illustrated below.
PHC MAP modules and the
planning-evaluation cycle
MODULE 9
PHC MAP
MODULES
1. Information needs
2. Community needs
3. Work planning
4. Surveillance
5. Monitoring indicators
6. Service quality
7. Management quality
8. Cost analysis
9. Sustainability
W0DULE4
1 The Aga Khan Health Network includes the Aga Khan Foundation, the Aga Khan Health Services,
and the Aga Khan University, all of which are involved in the strengthening of primary health care.
2 Primary Health Care Operations Research is a worldwide project of the Center for Human Services,
funded by the United States Agency for International Development.
ii
Managers can easily adapt these tools to fit local conditions. Both new and
experienced programmers can use them. Government and NGO managers, man
agement teams, and communities can all use the modules to gather information
that fits their needs. Each module explains how to collect, process and interpret
PHC-specific information that managers can use to improve planning and moni
toring. The modules include user’s guides, sample data collecting and data process
ing instruments, optional computer programs and facilitators guides, for those who
want to hold training workshops.
The health and management services included in PHC MAP are listed below.
Health and management services
HEALTH SERVICES
GENERAL
PHC household visits
Health education
MATERNAL CARE
Antenatal care
Safe delivery
Postnatal care
Family planning
CHILD CARE
Breast feeding
Growth monitoring
Nutrition education
Immunization
Acute respiratory infection
Diarrhoeal disease control
Oral rehydration therapy
OTHER HEALTH CARE
Water supply, hygiene and
sanitation
School health
Childhood disabilities
Accidents and injuries
Sexually transmitted diseases
HIV/AIDS
Malaria
Tuberculosis
Treatment of minor ailments
Chronic, non-communicable
diseases
MANAGEMENT
SERVICES
Planning
Personnel management
Training
Supervision
Financial management
Logistics management
Information management
Community organisation
Several manager's guides supplement these modules. These are: Better manage
ment: 100 tips, a helpful hints book describing effective ways to help managers
improve what they do; Problem-solving, a guide to help managers deal with
common problems; Computers, a guidebook providing useful hints on buying and
operating computers, printers, other hardware and software; and The computerised
PRICOR thesarus, a compendium of PHC indicators.
3
3
3
3
3
-3
Antenatal care and the early detection and surveillance of
high risk pregnancies are essential for lowering maternal
mortality rates
Photo by Jean Luc Ray for AKF
The Primary Health Care Management Advancement
Programme has been funded by the Aga Khan Foundation
Canada, the Commission of the European Communities, the
Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A., the Aga Khan Foundation’s
head office in Geneva, the Rockefeller Foundation, the
Canadian International Development Agency, Alberta Aid,
and the United States Agency for International Develop
ment under two matching grants to AKF USA. The first of
these grants was "Strengthening the Management, Monitor
ing and Evaluation of PHC Programs in Selected Countries
of Asia and Africa" (cooperative agreement no. OTR-0158A-00-8161-00, 1988-1991); and the second was "Strength
ening the Effectiveness, Management and Sustainability of
PHC/Mother and Child Survival Programs in Asia and
Africa” (cooperative agreement no. PCD-0158-A-00-110200,1991-1994). The development of Modules 6 and 7 was
partially funded through in-kind contributions from the
Primary Health Care Operations Research project (PRICOR)
of the Center for Human Services under its cooperative
agreement with USAID (DSPE-6920-A-00-1048-00).
This support is gratefully acknowledged'. The views and
opinions expressed in the PHC MAP materials are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the
donors.
All PHC MAP material (written and computer files) is in
the public domain and may be freely copied and distributed
to others.
if
Module 4; Surveillance
Contents
QUICK START.......................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION
What is surveillance?........................................................................ 3
Surveillance methods ........................................................................ 8
How to use this module.................................................................... 13
SURVEILLANCE PROCEDURES
Step 1: Specify the objectives ....................................................... 16
Step 2: Define the data to collect.................................................. 20
Step 3: Select the methods and procedures................................. 24
Step 4: Develop the data collection and reporting procedures .. 27
Step 5: Collect and report the data .............................................. 34
Step 6: Analyse the data................................................................. 37
Step 7: Investigate causation (optional)......................................... 45
Step 8: Develop an action plan............................................ 1.... 47
Step 9: Prepare and present reports ............................................ 48
APPENDICES
A. Blank worksheets and analysis templates .............................. 51
A.l Planning, reporting worksheets........................................... 51
A.2 Templates for producing charts........................................... 53
B. Common diseases, definitions, and indicators ........................ 65
C. Case investigation: The example of neonatal tetanus ........... 77
D. Determining the cause of death .............................................. 81
E. Verbal autopsy protocols........................................................... 91
E.l Newborn and child death inquiry ....................................... 91
E.2 Maternal death inquiry ....................................................... 108
REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................. 121
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................................. 122
GLOSSARY .............................................................................................. 123
Module 4: Surveillance
IB
Acknowledgements
In May 1992, based on recommendations from the International Conference on
Management and Sustainability of PHC programmes and the PHC MAP Technical
Advisory Committee, the PHC MAP Management Committee decided to add a
module on surveillance to the PHC MAP series. An outline was agreed upon in
August by the authors.
Ms. Veronica Walker had the difficult task of liaison among the authors in Geneva,
Jakarta and Karachi, and between the authors and the reviewers, in addition to typing
several draft versions of the text. Her contribution is gratefully acknowledged.
This module draws heavily from, and is patterned after, the excellent WHO/EPI
manual, Training for mid-level managers: Disease surveillance. It also reflects, com
plements, and draws on material developed for Module 2, Assessing community
health needs and coverage and Module 5, Monitoring and evaluating programmes,
especially the instruments and indicators on mortality and morbidity. It also draws
on material developed for Module 3, Planning and assessing health worker activities,
particularly the CHW and clinic registers, which can easily be adapted for surveil
lance purposes. The verbal autopsy material is based, in part, on material prepared
by Dr. Abhay Bang of the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community
Health (SEARCH) Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, India. Thanks also to Dr. Ron Gray of
the Johns Hopkins University for his contributions to this section.
The text was prepared by Drs. Claquin and Reynolds. Dr. Marsh prepared the
material on cause of death and "verbal autopsies". We wish to thank the participants
of the Bangkok conference for their strong recommendation that this module be
added to the series, and especially David Fraser, Peter Tugwell, Khatidja Husein, and
Hugh Annett, who lobbied convincingly for its inclusion and who contributed their
ideas and time to the development of the outline. We also want to thank Paul
Richardson for his contributions to the internal debate on measuring mortality. The
results are reflected in this module, as well as in Modules 2 and 5.
The draft was tested in Nairobi, Kenya during an Aga Khan Health Service,
Kenya, workshop in September on, "Introduction to the use of Epidemiology in the
Surveillance of Morbidity and Mortality." Feedback from all participants and
facilitators, especially Dr. Joseph Valadez and Dr. Ruth Chunge, led to simplification
of the text in November and December.
Reviewers:
David Fraser • Social Welfare Department, Secretariat of His Highness the Aga
Khan, Aiglemont, France
Khatidja Hussein • Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University,
Karachi, Pakistan
Alain Roisin • Brussels, Belgium
George Stroh • Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Ga., USA
Peter Tugwell • Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada
Module 4: Surveillance
1
Quick start
Setting up a basic surveillance system
This is a simple program that you can use to set up your own surveillance system.
The program is on the diskette that comes with this module, named M0D4 QS.
Simply load it into a spreadsheet, such as Lotus 1-2-3 or QuattroPro, then just follow
these instructions. You can also do this manually. Just fill in the data table and make
up your own graphs.
The objective of this simple surveillance system is to monitor trends in morbidity
and/or mortality of up to five diseases, or some other indicators that interest you.
You can monitor anything you wish, as long as you have the data to do so. This
program assumes that you have, or will be able to get, the data you need.
First, decide which indicators you want to monitor. You should begin by
identifying your major target groups, your health goals for them, and the indicators
you will use to assess progress. You may have selected these indicators when you
went through Module 1. If not, you can enter your summary in the following table.
Here is an example:
Target
groups
Health goals
Indicators
Children
< 2 years
Reduce mortality
Reduce morbidity
Reduce disability
No. of deaths of children < 1 year
No. of children < 2 years with 3rd degree
malnutrition
No. of cases of immunizable preventable diseases
Reduce mortality
Reduce fertility
No. of maternal deaths
No. of live births
Married
women
15-49 years
Set up a table like the one below. Revise it to fit your own calendar. Enter up
to five indicators in the left hand column. Each month tabulate the number of cases
reported and enter them into the table. Here are some illustrative data.
Table 1
J
F
M
A
N
D
Tot.
A Infant deaths
B. 3rd degree malnutrition
C. Cases imm. prev. dis.
0
1
23 32
3
1
2
14
2
6
2 4
3
6
2 4 5
18 22 26 32 38 44 56 54
0
0 3
0
8
9
7 8
3
52
4
38
411
45
D. Maternal deaths
E. Live births
0
12
0
0 0
1
0
0
1
2 0
0
15 22 45 42 38 30 48 54 43 56
0
38
4
443
Module 4; Surveillance; quick start
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If you use the computer file that comes with this module, it will tabulate the
totals for,you and produce a graph for the first indicator (A). When you enter new
data, the totals in the table and the graph will update themselves automatically. If
you want to see a graph of another indicator, press /Graph, Name, Display, and
select one of the names (A, B, C, D, E) and press Enter.
Surveillance: A. Infant deaths
This is a very basic graph (it is a "Quick start," after all). You can make more
informative and sophisticated graphs. See the suggestions and templates in the
appendices.
Module 4: Surveillance; quick start
3
Introduction
What is surveillance?
Surveillance of morbidity and mortality is the collection
and analysis of selected health and vital events to:
• identify, investigate and control outbreaks or epidemics
• identify specific population groups at high-risk of illness
and death from priority diseases
• confirm current priorities among disease control activities
• evaluate the impact of preventive and curative control
activities on the incidence and prevalence of priority
diseases in the community
• monitor disease trends so as to adjust plans to meet
current needs
A more formal definition comes from the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC), which defines epidemiological sur
veillance as "the ongoing and systematic collection, analysis
and interpretation of health data in the process of describing
and monitoring a health event. This information is used for
planning, implementing and evaluating public health inter
ventions and programs. Surveillance data are used to both
determine the need for public health action and to assess
the effectiveness of programs."1
In the PHC MAP framework, morbidity and mortality
surveillance data are used largely for monitoring and evalu
1 Guidelines for evaluation surveillance systems. CDC Morbidity and monitoring
weekly report supplement. Vol 37, No. S-5, May 6,1988
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
4
ation to determine whether the programme is having an
impact on health. As such, it is an important tool that you
can use to see if you are reaching your health goals. But
surveillance data can also be used to assess health needs and
to set health goals in planning. Whereas Module 2 concen
trates on assessing health coverage, Module 4 is the one
that concentrates on assessing health status.
In this module, surveillance is presented largely as a
technique for monitoring and evaluating morbidity and mor
tality. And two levels of analysis are included. The first is
quantitative surveillance of the number of cases of a
given disease or death. The second is qualitative investi
gation of the causes of a disease or death.
Managers need to have accurate information on the
number of cases and the percentage of their target groups
Incidence
Cause
Morbidity
morbidity reports
Mortality
mortality reports
case, outbreak
case, outbreak
investigation (diseases) investigation (autopsies)
that are affected by a specific disease, and that are dying from
specific diseases. They need this information to be able to
evaluate the impact of their PHC strategy on health and to
determine if core PHC services are effective.
Sometimes they also need to know what has caused a
particular death or the outbreak of a particular disease. This
information may be essential to make sure that the assumed
causes are confirmed, and to adjust the programme to
prevent such events from happening again.
Surveillance does not have to be complex to be useful. In
fact, a common problem with many surveillance systems is
that they are too complex and too large. By trying to collect
Collect only as comprehensive information on all diseases, there is little time
much data as
left for analysis of the data and for taking action to reduce
you can use
the number of cases of disease. For this reason, we strongly
recommend that you collect only as much data as you can
use and that you concentrate on the most important health
problems.
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
The following list will give you an idea of what makes up
a good surveillance system. According to CDC guidelines, an
effective surveillance system:
• addresses health events which are of considerable public
importance, i.e., cause a substantial amount of morbidity
and/or mortality, and are amenable to practical control or
prevention;
• identifies and correctly classifies a large proportion of
target health events;
• correctly reflects the distribution of events over time,
place, and person;
• consists of components which include clear definitions of
health events under surveillance, a clear and logical path
for data flow, adequate knowledge of the population under
surveillance and defined and appropriate methods for
collection, analysis, interpretation and feedback of infor
mation
• gives rise to meaningful and effective public health action
based on the data processed in the system
• is uncomplicated
• is adaptable and responsive to new demands
• engenders a high level of participation
• provides information rapidly enough to allow effective
action to be taken
• requires minimal resources appropriate to the circumstances.1
Surveillance systems are often national or regional in
scope. They are designed to collect data on specific diseases,
such as AIDS, for use in national policy-making. The systems
we are suggesting in this module use the same methods, but
are designed to be used at local levels, to help PHC managers
monitor morbidity and mortality in their own programme
area. As such, they can reflect the health priorities and
concerns of local communities.
1 Ibid
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Principles of surveillance
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
Characteristics
of good
surveillance
systems
6
An example
The University Medical Centre in Lome, Togo, has been
monitoring data on paediatric deaths for nearly a decade. It
is one of the few sites in Togo that has enough data to
evaluate changes in infant mortality over time. Table 1
shows the ten leading causes of death among children less
than five years of age in 1989. Malaria tops the list, account
ing for one out of five deaths, followed by anaemia (13%) and
malnutrition (12%).
This type of data has been collected every year since 1985.
Figure 1 shows the data on malaria and anaemia deaths for
the five-year period 1985-1989. The data clearly show an
Table 1: Leading causes of death of children under age 5, Togo,
1989
Cause
Malaria
Anaemia
Malnutrition
ALRI
Meningitis
Diarrhoeal diesases
Coma, NOS
Tetanus
FUO
No. deaths
199
117
113
85
66
58
42
20
19
Percentage
22
13
12
9
7
6
5
2
2
Figure 1: Proportion of paediatric deaths from
malaria and anaemia, Togo, 1985-1989
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
7
upward trend in the proportion of deaths due to these two
diseases. The anaemia deaths, were associated with malaria?
Limitations of surveillance
Surveillance is a labour-intensive activity. It requires
much effort to collect the needed data, especially if it is not
already being collected as part of a routine recording and
reporting system. Tabulation and analysis of the data is also
time-consuming. For these reasons, most systems are limited
to a few key indicators.
It can take several years of data collection before trends
can be identified, particularly for diseases, such as dengue,
that break out every five years or so. You may be able to
use retrospective data to look at past trends, but this is often
difficult. This is because the indicators you want may not
have been collected, are slightly different than what you need,
or are not reported consistently.
It can be difficult to assess impact if your target population
is small, or if you cannot set up control groups to compare
disease patterns between programme and non-programme
areas. You need a large population to compute rates, espe
cially mortality rates, and it may be difficult to identify all of
the deaths that occur in your area.
Reporting of surveillance data is often incomplete, espe
cially from remote areas. Some programmes are fortunate
to get 50% reporting, and even those reports may be incom
plete or include errors which go undetected, if they are not
checked carefully.
Despite these limitations, surveillance can be an important
tool for PHC managers. It can help identify changes in
diseases and injuries that require immediate action. And by
investigating causation, a manager can often identify pro
grammatic changes that could help prevent a problem from
recurring.
1 Vernon, A. Cause of death from hospital data in developing countries. A review
based on the CCCD experience with hospital-based mortality surveillance systems in
Sub Sarahan Africa. Draft discussion paper, 9 May, 1992.
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
Reporting of
surveillance
is often
incomplete
8
Surveillance methods
This module describes, and recommends, four surveillance
methods. There are actually six principal methods, but two
of them, vital registration systems and censuses, are not often
feasible in developing countries. The six methods are
summarised below.
Surveillance methods Description
Routine reporting systems Information is routinely collected and reported by PHC staff
Sentinel reporting systems A small number of reporting units (usually health centres or
hospitals) carefully collect and report requested data
Sample surveys are conducted periodically to estimate the level
Surveys and special
studies
of a disease or condition in a given area
Case/outbreak
Special investigations are undertaken to determine the cause of
investigations
a disease or death and to recommend action to prevent its
recurrence
Vital registration systems Public and private health providers report births, deaths and
other selected data to a central system
Census
A count of all of a population, often including questions about
health habits, diseases, etc.
The first three of these methods are used largely to gather
quantitative information about the incidence of diseases and
deaths. The fourth is used to investigate the causes of
diseases and deaths.
1. Routine reporting systems
In routine reporting, health staff, and sometimes, non
health people, collect information about the number of
cases of reportable diseases and of selected deaths that occur
in their area. Data are collected as a part of the routine
screening and diagnosis process during home visits or during
visits to health facilities, health centres and hospitals. Thus,
the reports are based on direct contacts with the individual
who is sick, dying, or has died. In some cases the information
is provided second-hand from a relative, often the mother,
friend or neighbour.
Routine data is usually recorded in family or individual
folders and then transferred to summary tally sheets for
reporting of the aggregated data. At the end of each month
the information is compiled and sent to a supervisor for
further compiling and analysis.
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
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Most routine reporting revolves around health centres and
hospitals. They obtain information from staff within the
facility and from reports prepared by CHW’s and other
outreach workers. In some cases, community members help
collect data from households.
Advantages. Routine systems have the advantage of
taking data from an ongoing system. Thus, they are inex
pensive and efficient ways to collect information. A new
system, with additional staff to operate it, does not have to
be set up. The data cover all health activities from routine
well-baby clinics to surgery. The recording and reporting
systems have been standardised, which means that the same
definitions are used throughout the system, the same type of
data is collected, and the same reporting periods are used.
This is a great advantage for making comparisons among
areas.
Disadvantages. These systems almost always provide
an incomplete picture of the total number of cases that occur.
Some of the reasons for incomplete reporting are:
• Not all cases come to the health facility for treatment.
Some people go to private providers for treatment, others
to facilities outside the area, still others do not seek
treatment at all. Distance, transportation costs, hours of
operation, loss of income, cultural taboos, and many other
reasons tend to limit the use of health facilities.
• Not all cases are identified by outreach workers. CHW’s
may visit a household only once every 3-6 months, and
are likely to miss many cases that are not picked up by
the health facilities. When they do visit, they may neglect
to ask about health problems that happened months ago,
and the mother may not consider them important enough
to report on.
• Some diseases, such as neonatal tetanus, are more com
monly treated at hospitals than health centres, and there
fore go undetected by the health centre and CHW.
• Complete and accurate reporting are always a problem in
PHC. Some CHW’s are illiterate, others concentrate on
the most pressing concerns; some nurses and doctors skip
over some items because they are too busy, they don’t
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
Routine
reporting
systems
are usually
standardised
10
Selecting
sentinel sites
believe the item is important, or they didn’t ask. Even
when reporting is fairly regular and complete, there may
be inconsistencies among health workers if they don’t use
the same procedures, definitions and guidelines.
Nevertheless, routine reporting is the most common
method used in surveillance. And because it is so inexpen
sive, it is likely to be attractive to many PHC managers.
2. Sentinel reporting systems
In sentinel systems, a small number of health units in a
programme area is selected to report cases of diseases and
deaths that are seen and diagnosed at their facility. They
may also be asked to report additional information, such as
the age and immunization status of the children treated at
the facility. Staff at sentinel sites are given special training
and supervision to ensure that reporting is complete and
accurate.
The sites chosen are not necessarily chosen because they
are representative of a given area. They may be chosen
because they are likely to see cases of certain diseases, or
because their caseloads are high enough that rare events are
likely to be identified. Other criteria that are important are:
reliability of data collection, timeliness of reporting, willing
ness of the staff to participate, high-quality laboratory or
diagnostic capabilities.
Hospitals are often included as sentinel sites, since they
are likely to have much higher caseloads than health centres,
they are more likely to see serious diseases, infant and
maternal deaths are more likely to occur there, and they are
more likely to have staff trained in diagnosis and data
processing.
Advantages. Sentinel sites may provide a more consis
tent picture of illness in a given area than routine reporting.
Data collected from these sites may also show whether
routine reporting is accurate or not. In addition, being chosen
to participate in surveillance tends to motivate the staff to
do the best they can to report accurately and on time.
Disadvantages. A major disadvantage of sentinel sys
tems is that they are not representative of the entire popu
lation at risk. The data they generate may not be of sufficient
volume to generate rates and ratios, which are important for
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
assessing changes in health status. Another disadvantage is
that populations served by the sentinel facility may change,
making the study of trends invalid.
Nevertheless, the sentinel system has a major advantage
in the quality of the data produced. They are also relatively
inexpensive to set up and operate, especially in contrast to
a "universal" system where all potential facilities would be
required to report.
3. Surveys and special studies
Sample surveys, such as those described in Module 2, are
often used for surveillance. They usually provide a broad
estimate of the incidence or prevalence of a disease. They
can also be used to estimate mortality rates, although the
sample sizes required to do this are very large. Surveys can
also be used to evaluate the reliability of the routine or
sentinel systems. For example, a morbidity and mortality
survey in a high-risk, underserved population may be a more
accurate and practical method for measuring disease patterns
that tend not to be seen at health facilities.
The surveys usually have to be repeated periodically, at
least annually, to develop trend data. Although this can be
expensive, the rapid surveys described in Module 2 are an
affordable option. They also relieve the health staff of the
burden of continual reporting.
4. Case and outbreak investigations
These investigations are attempts to identify the causes of
a death or disease. They are not alternatives to routine and
sentinel systems, but are used as the next step in epidemio
logical investigation. In general, a "case" investigation is an
investigation of a single case of a disease or death; an
"outbreak" investigation is an investigation of many cases.
However, when the occurrence of a particular disease is very
low, polio for example, even one case can be considered an
"outbreak."
Purposes. The usual purposes of these investigations are
to:
Purposes of
• confirm diagnoses and determine the causes (main/lead- eP|demlol°s>cal
ing and associated)
--------- ---------• confirm the existence of an outbreak (an increase in the
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
12
number of expected cases/deaths)
identify the most appropriate control measures
identify where and to whom to apply these measures
determine why the outbreak occurred
determine what can be done to prevent similar outbreaks
in the future
These investigations are conducted systematically, usually
following a written protocol and a logical cause-effect chain
of events to identify the underlying cause of the problem. An
example of a protocol for a neonatal tetanus investigation is
found in Appendix C.
Advantages. These investigations have a programmatic
as well as a medical objective. They can identify errors that
should be corrected (e.g., using contaminated needles) and
procedures that could be changed to prevent problems from
occurring in the first place (e.g., increase home visits to
monitor high-risk infants). The investigations can provide
staff with a chance to learn more about the conditions and
causes of diseases and deaths. They can use this information
to improve internal procedures, and also to help community
members understand what they can do to prevent unneces
sary health problems.
Verbal autopsy. A special technique for case investiga
tions of deaths, the "verbal autopsy," is featured in this
module. A PHC health worker, who needs to be trained in
the technique, conducts an in-depth investigation of the
death through interviews with the mother and anyone else
who was a witness to the death and the circumstances leading
up to it. See Appendix E.l for the instrument that is used.
The decision to conduct a case/outbreak investigation
may be triggered by a standard protocol, such as investigate
every case of polio, neonatal tetanus, and hepatitis; or,
investigate every neonatal and maternal death. In many
cases the decision may depend on the circumstances. If a
strange or unexpected event occurs, this might be enough
reason to investigate it, especially if it could be a threat to
health.
•
•
•
•
if
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
13
In summary, each of these methods has its advantages and
limitations. You may want to try a combination of systems,
relying on your existing reporting system for as much data
as is reasonable, setting up a small sentinel system to contin Each method
uously gather additional data on a few important health has advantages
problems, and adding mortality and morbidity questions to and limitations
an annual community survey to assess changes in health
needs as well as coverage.
Also, don’t expect too much of your surveillance system.
Surveillance usually monitors outcome data - impacts and
effects. A good system might identify changes in outcomes,
but it will not necessarily explain what caused the changes.
You may need to use other modules in the PHC MAP series
to look more closely at programme inputs, processes, and
immediate outputs to find the cause of a problem - or of a
success.
How to use this module
Who and when
This module is designed to provide PHC managers,
whether working in government or private organisations,
with simple and inexpensive tools for setting up and operat
ing a local surveillance system.
PHC managers are not likely to design or operate the
system themselves. Staff with a background in planning,
evaluation, MIS, as well as epidemiology and any similar
discipline, can easily learn how to use the tools in this module
to set up a system.
PHC consultants, especially those who are interested in
data for decision-making, should also find the module helpful.
How the module is organised
The module can be easily adapted to meet local needs.
The procedures that are described in the next section are
genera! and flexible. Those programmes that already have
a surveillance system will find that the module can help them
simplify their system. Those who do not have a system
already should find that they can start small, designing a
highly focused system of a few indicators at first, and expand
ing it later if it proves to be worthwhile.
This User’s guide has two main sections, in addition to
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
14
The User’s
guide has two
main
sections
the Introduction and Quick start. Procedures (or steps) come
next, describing a simple, but systematic process you can go
through to determine the kind of surveillance you need and
how to set up a system that meets your needs. The appen
dices contain useful guidelines, worksheets, and tools that you
can use in designing your surveillance system.
There is a computer file that comes with this guide that
includes a number of "templates" in Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro
Pro, or pre-designed tables that you can use to tabulate your
data. Each template includes pre-designed graphs that you
can display just by pressing one or more keys on your
computer’s keyboard.
A Facilitator’s guide has also been developed to help you
set up a workshop to train staff to use the module.
How to begin
If you haven’t tried the Quick start section, you may want
to do so, just to see how easy it is to set up a simple, but useful
surveillance system. Then go to the next section and read
through the Procedures. This should give you a better idea
of what a surveillance system involves and the kind of system
you want for your programme.
Module 4: Surveillance; introduction
15
Surveillance procedures
This section describes how you can design and operate
your own surveillance system using one or more of the
methods described in the Introduction. There are eight steps
in these procedures. The first three describe how to design
a system that will meet your needs. The next two describe
how to develop the appropriate data collection procedures
and then to collect and tabulate the surveillance data. The
last three steps describe how to analyse and interpret the
data so that you can take action quickly, if indicated, and
report your findings to others who might benefit from your
information. These eight steps are summarised below.
Steps in designing and operating a surveillance system
Step 1:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
Step 6:
Step 7:
Step 8:
Specify the objectives of surveillance
Define the surveillance data to collect
Select the surveillance methods
Develop the data collection procedures
Collect and tabulate the data
Analyse the data
Take action
Prepare and present reports
The major decisions you will have to make can be recorded
on the worksheets illustrated in this section. There are blank
worksheets in the Appendices that you can copy.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
16
Step 1: Specify the objectives
Before you begin to design a system it is very important
that you are absolutely clear on what the system is supposed
Have clear
to do. This step guides you through a simple process to help
objectives for yOU specify:
surveillance
purpose of the surveillance
2) users of the information that the system produces
3) scope of the surveillance (which geographic area and
which PHC services it will cover)
4) target groups that will be monitored
5) whether you just want to identify cases of mortality
and/or morbidity only, or, also the causes of mortality
and/or morbidity
6) time period the surveillance will cover - one year,
five years, three months and how frequently you will
collect and process your surveillance data.
WORKSHEET 1: SPECIFYING THE OBJECTIVES OF SURVEILLANCE
Purpose(s)
Assess needs
Identify risk factors
X Identify outbreaks
Identify unusual events
User(s)
Board of directors
X Government officials
Supervisors
Donors
Scope
X Geographic area(s):
X Programme service(s):
Target group(s)
X Children 1 month
X Children 12-23 months
Children 1-4 yrs
Children < 5 yrs
Cases
X Mortality
X Morbidity
Time period:
12 months
X Monitor trends
X Explain causes
X Evaluate impact on infant & maternal mortality
___Other:
Other;
PHC Manager
Community
PHC Staff
X CDC’
Other.
Other:
’ local Communicable Disease Centre
Entire project area
M/M preventable by PHC services
Women 15-49 yrs
Married women 15-49 yrs
X Pregnant women
Other:
Causes
Other
X Mortality
Specify:
Morbidity
Specify:
Frequency:
Monthly & quarterly
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
17
If you completed Module 1, it can be very helpful to refer
to Worksheets A and B. They will help you remember your
overall information needs and how surveillance fits in. When
you define what you want to monitor, keep your
programme’s goals clearly in mind. If a goal is to reduce
mortality or malnutrition, then this is probably what you
should design your surveillance system to monitor.
It may be useful to go through this step with a group, so
that all significant points of view are heard. Involve the
potential users of the information if at all possible. Make sure
someone is in the group who understands what can and
cannot be collected. This will help you avoid designing an
unrealistic system. Also, make sure that the objectives are
limited to something reasonable. Don’t try to measure everything. It is probably a good idea to limit it to 3-5 important Purposes of
items, especially if your programme is small,
surveillance
1. Purpose: First you need to specify the purpose of your
system. Most systems can be used to meet several purposes,
especially, if they are designed to do so from the beginning.
Among the principal purposes are the following:
• Assess needs. You may want to confirm that your
current disease control activities are correct, or you may
want to update an assessment of needs in your area.
• Identify risk factors. You may want to identify specific
population groups that are at high-risk of illness and death
so that you can develop interventions to protect them.
• Identify outbreaks. A major purpose of surveillance is
to identify quickly any outbreak or epidemic so that it can
be brought under control. Outbreaks of communicable
diseases, such as measles and AIDS, are especially serious
and should be identified and acted upon immediately.
• Identify unusual events. Equally important is to identify-----------------quickly any event that is unexpected but a serious threat to Surveillance
health. Examples would be a number of deaths from drown- svstems will
ing and food poisoning among school-age children.
problem
• Monitor trends. Many diseases are seasonal and you
may want to watch trends to identify unusual deviations
from expected patterns. You may also want to track
improvements in disease control over time.
Module 4: Surveillance: procedures
18
• Evaluate impact. Most managers want to know if their
programme is having any impact on health. Surveillance
can help you watch key trends, for example, in infant
mortality and the incidence of diarrhoeal diseases.
• Explain causes. In some situations you may want to
investigate the cause of an illness or death to determine
whether your programme can do anything in the future to
prevent such an occurrence. Some programmes investigate
every maternal death for this reason. Others look at reasons
for complications during childbirth to identify changes in
procedures that might be warranted.
Don’t expect your surveillance system to tell you every
thing; it will mainly alert you to a problem. Then you can
use some of the other modules in the PHC MAP series to get
more detailed information on the cause of the problem.
2. Users: The person or persons who will use the results of
the surveillance system should decide what the purpose is,
and specify the scope, target groups and other elements of
the surveillance objectives. Otherwise the information will
be of little use.
There may be one primary user, often the PHC manager,
and one or more secondary users, superiors, donors, and so
forth. If your system will be part of a larger regional or
national system, then you will probably be expected to report
your findings to your communicable disease centre.
If you have multiple users, take care to make sure that
each of them is consulted. You may have to negotiate
compromises to avoid designing an enormous system to meet
everyone’s needs.
3. Scope: Next, make sure to define the scope of the
geographic and programmatic areas to be monitored. Most
Set priorities Programme managers would like to monitor their entire
------------------ catchment area and all major diseases, but that may be too
much to be feasible. You may have to settle for setting up a
sentinel system that is representative, or that watches for
specific diseases. Set priorities. Identify what is most import
ant in your situation.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
19
Table 2: Common priority diseases and health problems for
surveillance in developing countries
Vaccine-preventable diseases Enteric diseases
Parasitic diseases
Measles
Neonatal tetanus
Tuberculosis
Poliomyelitis
Diphtheria
Pertussis
Mumps
Cholera
Dysentery
Watery diarrhoea
Malaria
Onchocerciasis
Schistosomiasis
Lymphatic filariasis
Leprosy
Ascariasis
Guinea worm
Trypanosomiasis
Pregnancy-related
problems
Other infectious and
communicable diseases
Other important diseases
STD/HIV/AIDS
Malnutrition
Anaemia
Heart disease
Diabetes____________________
'Several epidemiologists have recommended monitoring chickenpox as a measure of the qual
ity of surveillance.
Obstructed labour
Eclampsia
Prematurity
Post-partum infection
Chicken pox'
Yellow fever
Meningitis
Haemorrhagic fever
4. Target groups: Most PHC programmes have a limited
number of target groups, usually children under age five or
under age three years, or two to four years old, etc., and
married women in the reproductive age range. Don’t try to
monitor all age groups for all diseases, unless you plan to set
up a comprehensive system. Again, set priorities. Which are
your priority target groups, and what aspect of their health
are you most concerned about? If you completed Worksheet
A (in Module 1), you have probably already identified your
key target groups and the impact goals you want to measure.
5. Cases and/or causes: You will need to decide if you just
want to monitor quantitative data on the number of cases that
occur, or if you also want to know the causes of a death or disease.
The latter requires an investigation, which can be time-consum
ing and expensive. You may want to be selective and only
investigate causes of major outbreaks, infant deaths, and certain
high-priority concerns, e.g., a decline in nutritional status.
6. Time period and frequency: You will probably want
to monitor events for several years, and process your data
every one to three months. This will enable you to develop
trend patterns. In some cases, if you have the data, you may
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
20
want to go back in time to examine previous trends. If the
data are available, that could be a useful and not particularly
expensive undertaking.
Other considerations: Although this module concen
trates on mortality and morbidity, keep in mind that you can
use surveillance systems to monitor a number of other things.
as well. For example, you can monitor coverage; numbers
of children fully immunized; numbers of new acceptors of
family planning. You can also monitor disabilities and fertil
ity. If any of these are important to you, make sure you
include them in your design.
Don’t be afraid to leave some of these substeps incomplete
at first, and to come back to this step later to revise your
objectives. You may find out as you go along that some
objectives are just not feasible, or that some are more
important than you originally thought.
Step 2: Define the data to collect
This step guides you through a series of substeps to
determine precisely which data your system will collect, how
frequently, from which source, and using which procedure.
You can use Worksheet 2 to keep track of your decisions.
Focus on
programme
This step is a bit more technical than Step 1, so you may not
goals when de
want to have too large a group working on it. It would help
ciding what to
to have at least one representative of management, one or
monitor
two staff who understand the current record-keeping system,
and one person, perhaps a consultant, who understands the
requirements for and constraints on collecting data on mor
tality and morbidity. Again, remember to keep your
programme’s goals in mind when deciding what to monitor.
Target group mortality. Enter the target groups you
identified in Step 1 in the left column of Worksheet 2. In the
next column enter whether you are going to monitor the
mortality of each target group.
It is generally unrealistic to try to monitor all deaths. The
more practical, and programmatic priority, would be to monitor;
• maternal deaths: These are deaths that occur during
pregnancy, delivery, and up to 42 days after delivery.
• infant deaths: These are deaths that occur between
birth and the first birthday. You may want to distinguish
if
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
21
WORKSHEET 2: SPECIFY THE SURVEILLANCE PROCEDURES
Step 2: Define the data to collect
Step 3: Select the methods and procedures
Target
Mortality/
Data collection
Indicator
group
Morbidity/
Source Method’
Frequency
Other
Children <24
mos.
Children <5 yrs.
Monthly
CHW
HH visit
reports
Routine, all
health centres
Quarterly
Clinic
records
Routine, all
health centres
Verbal
autopsy for
cause
No. of cases by
disease, age, sex,
location
Monthly
Clinic
records
Sentinel, 6
health centres
No. of deaths, all
causes
Cause of death
Quarterly
Clinic,
CHW&
TBA
reports
Routine, all
centres
Verbal
autopsy for
cause
Mortality, all causes No. of deaths
children <24
months.
Morbidity and
No. of cases NNT
mortality of NNT
Mortality: cause of
death
Morbidity, all
immunizable
diseases
Pregnant women Mortality
—__ 1
' Routine, Sentinel, Sample survey/special study, Case/outbreak inuestigation, Verbal autopsy
between perinatal (died at birth), neonatal (died within the
first 28 days of life), and post-neonatal (died between the
29th and 365th day of life). The total of these, of course,
is infant mortality.
Investigating cause of death. If you want to determine
the cause of death, in addition to keeping track of the
number of deaths, then you will probably need to conduct
in-depth interviews to gather the needed information. If you
are able to get reliable autopsy reports, by all means use those.
If not, you can try the "verbal autopsy" approach. Appendix
E describes how to do this and includes prototype question
naires that you can use.
Before you make your final decision on this question,
however, look at the following chart. It summarises the
causes of death that you are likely to be able to determine
through verbal autopsies. In general, the causes of some
deaths are fairly easy to assess, others are more difficult. For
example, if a child dies in an automobile accident, from a fall,
or is electrocuted, the cause is usually obvious to witnesses.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
22
On the other hand, all but the most obvious causes of
neonatal deaths are very difficult to determine. The majority
of neonatal deaths are classified as "unknown.” See Appendix D
for a more detailed discussion of the feasibility of ascertaining
the cause of childhood and maternal death.
Table 3: Causes of death that can be determined through
interview
Relatively easy
Relatively difficult
Childhood mortality
Injury
Neonatal tetanus
Measles
Diarrhoea
Acute respiratory infection
Malnutrition
Neonatal sepsis
Maternal mortality
Post-partum haemorrhage
Obstructed labour
Eclampsia
Post-partum infection
Abortion-related
Morbidity. Repeat these steps to list the diseases that you
will monitor for each target group. Again, some are likely to
be more important than others to you. Keep your surveil
lance objectives (Worksheet 1) in mind as you select your
priorities. Use Table 2 checklist of common diseases to
identify the ones you want to include in your surveillance
system.
See Appendix B for more information on several of these,
including standard case definitions, lay definitions, and indi
cators.
Investigating cause of morbidity. As with mortality, if
you plan to investigate the cause of one or more of these
diseases, you may have to conduct in-depth interviews to get
the information you need. In most cases it is unrealistic to
investigate more than a few cases each year. You may want
to take a selective approach to this issue and determine on
a case-by-case basis if an investigation is warranted. Obvi
ously, if most of your children have been fully immunized and
there is an outbreak of polio, you would want to investigate
that immediately. Thus, you might limit investigations of
causation to significant and unusual events. That could come
as a result of the outcomes of steps 6 and 7, when you analyse
your data and decide whether you need to take action.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
23
How much information is needed? In addition to a
count of each case, you may want to collect other informa
tion, such as age, gender, immunization status, whether
prescribed PHC treatment was provided, and so forth. We
strongly recommend that you only collect as much informa
tion as you will use. That means:
• Routine reporting should be limited to: a) the total
number of cases of death or disease in each priority
category; and b) their distribution by gender, age group,
residence, date of occurrence, and, depending on local
conditions, the cause(s) of infant and maternal deaths.
• Sentinel sites should report all of the above in addition
to information on immunization status for immunizable
diseases, on index cases, and on contributing factors.
Maternal and infant deaths should be systematically inves
tigated by detailed verbal autopsies.
Routine reporting of age and gender is not superfluous
information. There is mounting evidence of mortality differ
ences between boys and girls, and this should be monitored.
Age at death is important for maternal as well as infant
mortality.
Indicators. At this point you can specify the indicator for
each item that you want to monitor. If you went through
Module 1, you may already have a tentative list that you can
examine. Or turn to Appendix B for a list of common
indicators for several of the diseases and health problems
mentioned above. Finally, you can consult Module 5: Mon
itoring and evaluating programmes, which contains a com
plete set of morbidity, mortality, disability and fertility
indicators.
An important decision that you need to make is whether
or not to calculate mortality and morbidity rates and ratios.
Unless you have a large population base, you probably will
not have enough cases to do this. A rough rule of thumb is
that you will need to have a population of at least 50,000 to
identify enough infant deaths to compute a reasonable infant
mortality rate. Since maternal mortality is far less common,
you would need a population about ten times larger. You
also need to collect data from the entire population. You
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
24
Specify
indicators
cannot use a sentinel system. Thus, you must have a very
good recording and reporting system that identifies every
infant and maternal death. That is difficult to find in most
developing countries.
The other approach is to collect the required data through
sample surveys. Module 2 describes how to do this, and the
sample size requirements, which are still large. In general,
you would need a sample of about 2,000 respondents (not
population) for infant mortality, and 7,000 for maternal
mortality. The data collection procedures are relatively
simple, and Module 2 includes sample questionnaires that you
can use. However, the computation and analysis procedures
are difficult, especially for maternal mortality estimates. The
advice from Module 2 is to consult a trained demographer if
you want to measure mortality rates or ratios. See Appendix
G.5 in Module 2 for a fuller discussion.
Finally, don’t forget that you can also monitor coverage,
fertility, disability and other non-mortality/morbidity items.
If you plan to do that, consult Module 5 for extensive lists of
indicators that you can adapt to your system.
Step 3: Select the methods and procedures
In this step you will select the data collection procedures
for each of the indicators. Basically, that means that you will
decide whether to gather the data from routine reports, set
up a sentinel system, or conduct special surveys to collect the
data. The advantages and disadvantages of these approaches
were described in the Introduction. If you are not sure which
approach to select, you may want to read this section again.
Keep in mind that you can select more than one proce
dure. You could collect most of your data through routine
records and set up a sentinel system for a few additional
indicators. Also, keep in mind that you can change the
procedures at any time. You can add indicators, drop some,
switch to rapid surveys to collect data on an annual basis,
and so forth.
Fill in the second part of the last worksheet (Worksheet
2), which asks you to indicate: 1) the frequency of reporting;
2) the source of the data for the indicator; and 3) the data
collection method for each indicator. As the example shows,
most of the data will be reported monthly, and some quar
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
25
terly. The sources are largely routine reports from CHWs
and the health centres. And the methods will rely largely on
routine reporting, supplemented by a surveillance system in
six health centres and verbal autopsies to determine the
cause of each maternal and infant death.
Frequency of data collection/reporting. For the ma
jority of indicators of a routine system, the frequency of data
tabulation and reporting is monthly. However, for high
priority indicators, such as a case of polio in a fully covered
area, the reporting of cases should be weekly, or instantly so
that action can be taken immediately.
Sentinel sites usually report weekly so that outbreaks can
be detected quickly. For unusual or significant events, the
reports should be immediate.
Sources. Data are either already available or not. If they
are available, they are called secondary sources, which
include all kinds or reports and records. If they are not
available, they have to be collected especially for surveillance,
and are called primary sources, which include observations
and interviews. The most common sources for surveillance
systems are listed below, using a CHW as an example of the
data collection agent:
The sources of data are always people, originally. Thus,
you can substitute "laboratory technician," or "doctor" for
CHW and you will quickly see that there are many potential
sources of data for surveillance. In PHC programmes these
Direct observation
Unstructured:
CHW happens to see event
Structured:
CHW uses checklist to
observe
Direct reports
Free association: CHW
overhears discussion
Unstructured interview:
CHW talks to mother
Semi-structured interview:
CHW uses checklist to talk
to mother
Structured interviews: CHW
conducts formal interview
Tests: CHW examines child
Inventories: CHW counts
EPI supplies
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
Surveillance
procedures
Records and reports
Statistical:
CHW keeps track of cases
Documents:
CHW prepares monthly
report
Secondary reports:
CHW reads laboratory
reports
26
people might be clients, health workers, or non-health work
ers — school teachers, community leaders, university re
searchers. The main sources of surveillance data will usually
be health workers: outreach, health centre staff, and health
providers in other parts of the community, hospitals, mater
nity clinics, private midwives and doctors, etc. Typically, the
health workers observe, interview, and then record data
about morbidity and mortality. They do not always report
this information. If you are setting up your own system, don’t
rely exclusively on available reporting systems, such as health
centre and hospital activity reports. There may be a better
way to get information quickly and easily, even if it means
setting up a new systems for a while. See Module 5, Moni
toring and evaluating programmes for some suggestions.
Methods. The introduction described six of the most com
mon methods for collecting surveillance data. Although this
module emphasises two of them, routine and sentinel report
ing systems, the others are also listed to remind you that there
are other options.
You will need to consider your selections carefully, espe
cially if you are going to set up a new sentinel reporting
system. This can be expensive and time-consuming, espe
cially if the reporting requirements are large. However, if you
can keep it small and focused on the data you need most, it
can be invaluable to you.
You should complete the last part of Worksheet 2, then
review your overall design, consolidate or revise it as you
Description
Information is routinely collected and reported by PHC staff
A small number of reporting units (usually health centres or
hospitals) carefully collect and report requested data
Surveys & special studies
Usually sample surveys to estimate the level of a disease or
condition in a given area
Case/outbreak investigations Special investigations of one or more cases of a disease or
death to determine its cause and recommend action to
prevent its recurrence
Vital registration systems
Public and private health providers report births, deaths and
other selected data to a central system.
Census
A count of all of a population, often including questions about
health habits, diseases, etc.
Surveillance methods
Routine reporting systems
Sentinel reporting systems
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
27
J
3
3
fS
_S
425
s
3
■3
3
'S
-3
think necessary, and then move on to designing data collec
tion procedures.
Step 4: Develop the data collection and
reporting procedures
Once the surveillance procedures have been selected, you
can begin to design your data collection procedures. This
consists of three sub-steps:
• Develop operational definitions of cases
• Develop or revise the data collection/recording instruments
• Pretest the instruments
Develop an operational definition of a case
A "case" is defined as an individual situation or occurrence.
In health, a case is usually an individual person who has a
particular disease. Thus, a person who comes to a clinic
complaining of severe diarrhoea is a case. A child suffering
from 3rd degree malnutrition is a case. An important sur
veillance requirement is to be able to define each case that
is identified. A mother may bring a child in for examination,
not knowing what is wrong. The health worker must diag
nose that child’s condition so that it can be treated properly,
but also so that the health problem can be accurately
identified, recorded and reported.
Appendix B contains a listing of common diseases to
gether with their standard and "lay" (non-clinical) definitions.
Two examples are shown below.
*
Disease
Measles
3
3
-3
—J
3
Diphtheria
Standard case definition
History of a generalized maculo-papular
rash lasting three or more days and history
of any one of the following: cough, coryza,
conjunctivitis.
Acute pharyngitis, acute nasopharyngitis, or
acute laryngitis, with a pseudo membrane
Sore throat, with grey patch or
patches in the throat
You need to have a case definition for every disease that
you plan to monitor. This is necessary to ensure that all
health workers use the same definitions and criteria to
diagnose a specific disease. Otherwise, the surveillance sys
tem will be of no use.
•3
3
Lay definition
History of fever and rash and
any one of the following:
cough, running nose, red eyes
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
28
You can use the WHO definitions in Appendix B as a start.
There may be variations in your area that require a slightly
different definition. Contact your local epidemiology or
communicable disease control centre to get the standard
definitions used in your country.
There are a few important rules to convey to your staff
about identifying and recording cases:
• Avoid double-counting. If a child makes two visits to
a health centre for the same disease episode, count it as
one case only.
• Only count those cases that have been diagnosed
by a health worker. Count separately, but do not
record or report cases that have been reported by com
munity members, unless they have been diagnosed by
health staff. This is necessary to avoid misdiagnosis and
double counting.
• Count current cases only. You need to set a time
frame for including cases. That could be the number of
cases that occurred during the past seven days. Then, do
not include any cases that occurred eight or more days
ago.
Develop/revise data collection/recording instruments
There are three types of instruments that you might use
in routine and sentinel surveillance: registers, survey ques
tionnaires, and case investigation protocols.
Registers. The most likely instruments that you will use for
routine surveillance are your clinic and outreach registers. If
you set up a sentinel system you may want to expand them
to include additional data, or you may want to develop a
special form to collect additional data on a limited number
of diseases.
» Clinic registers. All ongoing PHC programmes will
already have registers, which can probably be used for
surveillance as well as basic record-keeping. If they aren’t
exactly what you need, you can probably adapt them fairly
easily. Module 3, Planning and assessing health worker
activities, suggests two clinic registers that can easily be
used for surveillance.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
29
3
3
=3
3
•3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
■
• Individual clinic treatment record. This form re
cords details of visits made by an individual for routine
care as well as for treatment of various diseases. The form,
a portion of which is shown in Exhibit 1, can be adapted
easily to include whatever disease you are interested in
monitoring. A separate record can be used to tabulate
entries from individual forms. This form is useful if you
want to include special characteristics of each case, such
as age, sex, marital status, etc.
• Daily clinical treatment record. This form is used to
record all visits made to a facility each day (Exhibit 2). In
addition to identifying all cases seen during the day, you
can also record the individual’s sex and age group. Daily
totals can easily be summarised each week or month.
• Outreach registers. Module 3 also describes and
illustrates an outreach activity register that can also
be used for surveillance (see Exhibit 3). This two-page
form is used by each CHW to record the results of monthly
visits that are made to each household in the CHW’s work
area. This form is designed to collect data on births,
deaths, immunization, diarrhoea and nutritional status of
all children under age five, and the pregnancy and im
munization status of all married women in the household.
The form can be adapted easily to collect other informa
tion needed for surveillance, including morbidity history,
current health problems, and even cause of death.
3
'3
3
3
a
ig
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
30
Exhibit 1: Excerpt from Module 3 — Individual clinical treatment
record
Household #: 1146
Individual 238 Medical record #A-65
Patient name Rosa Sanchez
Date of birth 28/11/53
Father/Husband name Pedro
Sex (M/F F
VISIT DATE
18/9 17/10 15/11
y/
Routine antenatal care
✓
Routine well-baby care
1 Tuberculosis
2 Polio
3 Diphth/Pertus/Tetanus
4 Measles
5 Mumps
Other diseases
6 Malnutrition
7 Diarrhoea/Dysentery
8 Intestinal parasites
\
For: unregistered only
i
Exhibit 2: Excerpt from Module 3 — Daily clinical treatment record
Name of clinic Mt. Vernon
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
MO/CHN: Pamela
Registered
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
243 416 24 518 661 84
306 610 47 618 721 96
M
F
F
M
F
F
✓
y/
y/
Date 28, Nov. 1992
1
2
Household no./Reg. no. 146 128
ID#
238 216
Sex: M/F
F
M
Aqe: Years <1
y/
1-5
6-14
y/
15-49
Over 49
y/
Routine ANC
Routine well-baby
Tuberculosis
Polio
Diphth/Pertus/Tetanus
y/
Measles
Mumps
Other diseases
Malnutrition
Diarrhoea/Dysentery
Intestinal parasites
3
62
45
M
✓
y/
y/
✓
y/
y/
✓
y/
✓
✓
y/
✓
Total
M=4
F=5
2
3
3
1
3
3
3
1
2
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
31
Exhibit 3: CHW Activities register (left side)
Sr. House I.D. Age
hold No.
Na
No.
01
02
242
243
03
04
244
245
05
246
05
07
247
248
Total
X
rs
C2
C3
C6
C2
C3
C4
C5
Cl
C4
C5
C6
(1)
21
2.7
NR
21
18
08
2.9
18
26
2.1
1.1
02
X 12
Children <3 years
March
Feb.
Jan.
Newly identified
birth
(Jan-Mar)
1mm.
Nut.
Wt.’
Wt.’
Still Wt. Wt.*
Live
St." St.’"(<l)
Ch.
Ch.
Ch.
DT
DT BW
(10)
(9)
(8)
(7)
(6)
(4) (5)
(3)
(2)
c
N
0
0
10.5
c
/
0
+
8.3
IC
/
2.4
12/3
N ______ IC
NW
+
+
11.2
IC
N
10.4
A
N
0
+
8.2
C
I
0
10.1
4C
+ ______ I_
+
8.3
C
II
+
8.5
IC
II
0
0
7.6
IC
I
0
0
+
80
N
I
0
+
+
3.4
C=5
N=4
+=1
+=3
+=7
A=1
1=6
0=4
0=6
0=0
1
IC=5
11=2
-=3
-=3
-=4
LBW=1
N=1
111=0
NW=0 NW=0 NW=1
• WEIGHT CHANGE
" NUTRITION STATUS
+
N
=
I
11
III
=
NW = ■
0
_
=
=
BW =
LBW =
NB =
Increase in weight
Same weight
Decrease in weight
Birth weight
Low birth weight
Newborn
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
Normal
First degree malnourished
Second degree malnourished
Third degree malnourished
Not weighed
32
Exhibit 3: CHW Activities register (right side)
Date of visits
Jan.
Feb. Mar.
(12)
15/2
(11)
12/1
12/1
13/1
14/2
14/2
Deaths
JanJan.
Mar.
(13)
18/3
18/3
12/3
13/1
14/2
12/3
10/1
10/1
12/2
13/3
13/3
ID#
(14)
PR
(15)
D
25/12
Married women
March
"’Imm. sta.
Feb.
PR
(16)
FP
(17)
7
8
4
5
4
10/1
7
13/2
6
13/3
7
1
2
3
_____
■” IMMUNIZATION STATUS
C
=
Complete
IC
A
N
=
=
=
Incomplete for age
Appropriate for age
No immunization
PR
DLVD =
FP
DT
ID#
Number
of family
members
AH DLVD
(19)
(20)
(21)
M
C
M
C
C
(22)
6
8
IC
C
M
M
3
5
IC
M
6
1C
IC
IC
I C=3
IC=5
N=0
M
M
Cl
8
3
5
PR
(IS)
6
C=1
IC=O
14=0
36
Pregnancy month of pregnant woman
Women who have delivered during the
quarter
Family planning
Date
• Death report. If you don’t already have one, you can
supplement the clinic and outreach register with a simple
"cause of death" form. Exhibit 4 is an example. One of
these forms would be filled out for each death identified
during the reporting period. The results can then be
tabulated at the end of the reporting period.
Survey questionnaires. Module 2, Assessing community
health needs, includes three instruments that you can use if
you plan to conduct surveillance through sample surveys.
• The first is a Vital events and health status question
naire. It allows you to measure the recent morbidity and
mortality status of every person in a selected household.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
33
Exhibit 4: Death report
Cause of death
Name: Conchita Juarez
Address: House #146, Mt. Vernon
Sex
F
____________________
Date of birth:
12 Oct. 1991
Date of death:
14 Nou. 1992
Age at death;
13 months
Supporting
CHW observed rash
Cause(s) of death: = main
1. Measles’
2.
3.
4.
’ Comments. Child had not been immunized against measles
Today’s date: 16 Nov, 1992
Signed: Pamela Jones
• The second is a Child mortality questionnaire, designed
specifically to collect data on mortality of children under
age one, between ages two to four, and under age five.
• The third is a Maternal mortality questionnaire.
You can adapt each of these questionnaires to suit your
programme’s needs and the diseases you want to monitor.
Exhibit 5 is an excerpt from the morbidity section of the vital
events questionnaire.
Case investigation. The current module includes two
prototype instruments that you can use to do in-depth
investigations of the causes of a disease, health problem or
death.
• Case investigation form. Appendix C contains a pro
tocol for investigating a case of neonatal tetanus.
• Verbal autopsy form. Appendix E contains two de
tailed protocols, one for investigating the cause of a child
death, the other for a maternal death.
Pretest the instruments
After you have selected (or developed) your instruments,
you should pretest them under real conditions. That is, try
them out in your programme to see if they are understand
able to your staff, easy to use, and produce the type of data
you need.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
34
Exhibit 5: Excerpt from Module 2 — Vital events and health
status
Morbidity
14, Is there anyone in your household who has been sick this week?
Yes ✓
(1) No(0) Go to Q.60 DK/NR
(9) Go to Q.60
Who is/are sick (probe and fill out following table, using SI. No, e.g,, 7.3, 9.2):
If more than one illness, code starting with 25, 35, 45, etc.
18. Disease Code:
20. Where Treated
21. Outcome
01
02
Diarrhoea/Dysentery
08
Polio
1
Gwemment dinic/liospital
1
Cured/Recovered
Anaemia
09
Tuberculosis
2
Mobile clinic
2
Still recovering
03
04
Scabies
Diphtheria
10
11
Acute respiratory inf
Fever
3
4
Private clinic/hospital
Private doctor
3
4
Permanent disable
Died
05
Whooping cough
12
Malaria
5
Private midwife/nurse
5
Other
06
Tetanus
Measles
13
99
Other:
DK/NR
6
Traditional practitioner
9
DK/NR
7
Pharmacy/drug store
Other.
07
8
Step 5: Collect and report the data
Training, supervision and quality control
Once you have your procedures and instruments, you can
start your surveillance. Good training and supervision of
your staff in data collection, tabulation, and reporting will be
crucial to the success of the system. Anyone who is involved
in any of these functions should be trained. That includes
community volunteers, TBAs, school teachers, as well as
CHWs and health centre staff.
Training should cover the following topics:
• the purpose and utility of surveillance
• how to recognize and classify specified diseases using
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
standard or lay case definitions
• how to record data on the clinic and outreach registers
• how to summarise and report the data on a weekly or
monthly basis
• how to determine if further investigation is needed.
Case investigations, including verbal autopsies, require
special attention. One consideration is the number of inves
tigators you need. If there will be few investigations, it may
be best to train a few people and let them handle all of the
investigations. But if there are likely to be many investiga
tions, and if they are likely to be spread out over a wide
geographic area, it may be better to train a larger number of
people who are assigned to different areas.
Investigations are not easy to conduct, and the people
chosen to do this must have a certain amount of persistence
and dedication to their task. It is natural for PHC staff to
dislike asking intimate questions, and a common problem is
that they avoid some or all of the required questions. Some
ways to deal with this are: 1) make sure the interviewers are
well trained to begin with; 2) watch them during practice
sessions to see if they have the tenacity to go after the needed
information; 3) make sure that there is enough time allocated
to allow the interviewer to get to and from the site, establish
rapport, and probe for answers; 4) encourage the investiga
tors to express their concerns and feelings, and help them to
deal with them; 5) emphasise the importance of their task
for the health and well-being of others; 6) teach them
culturally appropriate ways to obtain the information; and
7) accompany them periodically on investigations to observe
their technique and provide constructive feedback.
Supervision is important. Make sure that the interview
ers follow up on all designated cases and deaths. Don’t let
them skip some because they are inconvenient. Make sure
that they follow up on answers that are not complete, or
questions which aren’t answered. Encourage them to probe,
to go beyond the questionnaire to find out what really
happened. Discipline them to write responses down, espe
cially explanations that cannot be recorded easily on the
questionnaire. Tell them to use the local language or dialect,
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
36
and to record local words and phrases that are used. These
sometimes have subtle meanings, and the differences can be
important. Before they terminate an interview, encourage
them t0 summarise what they have recorded and ask for
verification.
Quality control is important, also. The best way to
ensure quality is to instil the desire for it in the interviewers.
Encourage them to examine their own procedures and to
identify ways to improve them. Bring the interviewers
together as a group to share experiences and to seek solu
tions to common problems.
Mistakes will still be made, despite all good intentions. In
sentinel systems and case investigations, in particular, it is
useful to have a second person verify the data. For example,
have someone check the entries on the registers and the
tabulations. Have a supervisor re-interview five to ten per
cent of the case investigations, or have the supervisor observe
five to ten percent of the case interviews.
~ “
A sure indicator of problems is a high "unknown" ratio. If
control
more than ten to 20% of the causes of a disease or death are
importance unknown, then it is likely that something is wrong. It could be that
------------------ the instrument, interview technique, or timing of the interview is
causing the bias.
Closely
supervise
investigators
Data collection, tabulation and reporting
If you plan to collect data through a survey, see Module 2
for specific instructions.
Routine and sentinel system data collection will be done
daily. You decided in Step 1 the time period and frequency
of data collection. You may want to try out your system for
a few weeks and then assess whether you need to make any
changes. You may also have changed your mind about
frequency as you have clarified your procedures. For exam
ple, if your CHWs make a routine monthly call to every
household, or if they do an annual remapping update, that
may be a good time to collect your surveillance data.
Normally your staff would tally data daily on a register and
then add up the totals at the end of the day or week. Those
summaries can then be compiled at the end of the recording
period (usually a month). If there are several health centres
(or CHWs) reporting the data, you will probably enter the
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
31
totals from each one on a separate register. Exhibit 6
illustrates one way to do that on a routine register.
Sentinel data might be more complex, if additional data
on such items as immunization status and other variables are
required. But the idea is the same. Just tally the data,
compute the totals, and compile the reports from the various
units.
Case investigation data is likely to be different. In the first
place, there are likely to be few investigations in a given
reporting period. Second, the amount of data collected is
likely to be much greater. Nevertheless, summary reports
can be prepared in the same way. Exhibit 6 could be
modified, for example, to report the total number of deaths
in the period, by sex and age group. A list of causes of death
could be substituted for the diseases listed in the left column.
Step 6: Analyse the data
Analysis should be encouraged at each level of the sur
veillance system. If CHWs learn to interpret the data they
are collecting they will have a better understanding of the
needs of their communities. Health centre staff should also
be encouraged to analyse their data.
Surveillance data can be easily tabulated in three ways:
summary tables, disease charts, and maps.
Summary tables
Most tables will be made up of simple counts of the
numbers of cases. Some tables may include percentage
distributions, and a few might include averages. Table 4
illustrates a table of counts. This is a summary of the data
from Exhibit 6 on measles and diarrhoea.
Disease charts
You can also construct charts from these tables. Figure 2
is a chart drawn from the data in the table above. Note how
the high number of measles cases in two health centres is
immediately noticeable in a bar chart. One of the values of
charts is that patterns and trends can be seen quickly.
Appendix A contains a number of "templates," which are
pre-formatted tables on computer files. If you use these, you
simply enter the basic data (counts of cases) and the computer
automatically computes the totals, percentages (where ap-
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
Customize and
update proce
dures
38
Exhibit 6: Summary of data from ten health centres
Excerpt from a modified daily clinical treatment record
Date: 30 Nou. 1992
Health centres
10
7
8
9
6
4
1
2
3
5
36 25 42 65 33 43 53 32 44 47
61
61
35
41
71 40 35 62 43 54
16
16
12
12
6
9
8
10
5
8
21
64 39
73 108 57 57 62 33 58
4
2
3
3
2
5
3
5
7
8
12
4
8
8
4
6
16
21
6
7
2
4
6
2
3
4
3
6
5
3
4
6
5
2
4
5
4
8
5
6
5
12
4
8
6
8 14
16
10
Tot.
420
494
99
572
42
91
35
46
89
1
1
18
12
Programme: Mt. Vernon PHC
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Sex: Male
Female
Aqe: Years <1
1-4
5-14
15-49
Over 49
Routine ANC
Routine well-baby
Tuberculosis
Polio
Diphtheria/
Pertussis/TT
Measles
Mumps
Other diseases
Malnutrition
Diarrhoea/
Dysentery
Intestinal parasites
1
2
1
2
1
6
4
3
2
6
14
2
8
10
7
9
2
4
34
1
55
3
8
1
10
8
54
propriate), and averages (also, where appropriate). The com
puter will also construct a graph of your data for you. If you
change any figures, the calculations and graphs will change
automatically.
Summary disease charts are also useful. They are usually
made for a 12-month period, as shown in Figure 3. This chart
presents data from one health centre. Similar charts can be
prepared for all health centres combined. That is, the total
number of cases for all ten health centres would be entered
each month.
Long-term trend data are easier to visualise in a line chart,
as illustrated in Figure 4. As will be discussed later, this type
of chart is especially useful for identifying seasonal and
epidemic patterns.
if
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
39
Table 4: Measles and diarrhoea cases reported, December, 1992
Health centre:
Measles
Diarrhoea
Total
1
2
1
2
3
3
6
6
4
2
14
16
6
5
2
2
0
8
7
1
3
4
8
8
9
1
4
18
10
28
10 Total
34
12
54
8
88
20
Maps
Mapping is described in detail in Module 3: Work planning.
The advantage of a visual presentation of the geographical
distribution of cases is that it is easier to identity the location
of cases. That can often give you a quick picture of how
communicable diseases are spreading. You may see diar
rhoea cases clustered in one area, STDs spread along trans
portation routes and other diseases limited to urban areas.
Many PHC programmes now use maps for planning and
those same maps can be used to identify households with a
disease or health problem. If you plan to monitor several
diseases, you can use different coloured pins or symbols to
indicate each disease.
Figure 2: Measles and diarrhoea cases, December, 1992
I—i Measles
LZZZJ Diarrhoea
example, you might show the number of cases of malaria in
each village, town, or district. Figure 5, malaria in this
example, illustrates how data on the progression of a disease,
malaria in this example, might be monitored.
Charts and maps are powerful visual aids. But you can
usually show only a few diseases on each chart, otherwise
they become too cluttered and difficult to understand. Thus,
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
40
you should be selective in developing charts and maps. You
could easily develop 50 charts for just five diseases reported
from ten health centres.
Figure 3: Measles cases, Mt. Vernon Health Centre, 1992
Figure 4: Measles cases, Mt. Vernon Health Centre, 1990-1992
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
i*\i kii i*j
Gii lii l*j i*j ifil lii l*j l*j (ii (*j ,*i [*J lid id J*i
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
House
Factory, mill
Health center
Subdistrict HQ
Highway
Road
Malaria case
iki liJ lid' lk-;' iki
42
Computing rates and ratios
Most programme managers will not (or should not) calcu
late rates and ratios unless their target population is large
enough to produce reasonably accurate figures. You should
be especially cautious about computing mortality rates. As
we mentioned in Step 2, a rough rule of thumb is that you
will need to have a population of at least 50,000 to identify
enough infant deaths to compute a reasonable infant mor
tality rate. You would need a population ten times that size
to compute a maternal mortality rate. Module 2 shows how
to estimate the population size needed to identify a particular
"attribute" (such as the proportion of children under age two
who are malnourished). The recommendation from Module
2 is to consult an expert for advice on whether you can (or
should) calculate rates and ratios.
If your population is large enough, then you should
compute these rates and ratios. The most typical of these
are defined and illustrated below:
• Incidence rate. The number of new events that occur
in a population in a given period of time divided by the
total number of persons exposed to risk during that same
period;
No. new TB cases last month x 10n = 13 x 100,000= 1.53
Total population
850,000
This is usually expressed as 1.53 per 100,000 population;
• Attack rate. A cumulative incidence rate that is ob
served for a limited period, like an epidemic. The formula
is the same as the incidence rate formula;
• Prevalence rate. The total number of all individuals
who have an attribute or disease at a particular point (or
period) in time divided by the population at risk. The
following example is for May, 1992. The rate would be
expressed as 156 cases per 100,000 population in May
1992;
Total no. TB cases now x 10" = 1325 x 100,000 = 155.9
Total population
850,000
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
43
Appendix B includes appropriate rates for each common
disease that you are likely to include in your surveillance
system. You can also consult Module 5, which includes lists
of morbidity and mortality indicators that you could use.
Analysis
The purpose of analysis is to: 1) identify patterns, and 2) if
possible, causes of diseases or deaths.
Look for the following patterns in your data:
• Spikes: Unusual or sharp increases or decreases in the
number of cases. This can indicate an outbreak of a
disease, perhaps due to an unexpected general problem,
such as the introduction of a new strain of flu.
• Clusters: Groupings of cases by time period, area, age
group, etc. This can indicate an outbreak that is limited
to a certain part of the population, such as an outbreak of
cholera in a specific part of a city.
• Trends: Gradual increases or decreases in cases over
time. You need to watch trends carefully, since they may
occur so gradually that change is not obvious. Examples
could be increases in tuberculosis cases, or decreases in
anaemia.
• Systematic variations: Regular changes, such as sea Surveillance
sonal variations in diseases. Measles, for example, varies systems are
sensitive to the
seasonally. A sudden spike might be natural.
number of
If you are running a sentinel system, you are likely to reported cases
have more data, which will enable you to do more detailed
analyses. The most typical is a correlation. For example, you
might examine disease patterns by age group, by sex, by age
and sex, by parity, by site, and so forth. This is the same type
of analysis described in Module 2 as "cross-tabulations." If
you are planning to use a computer to analyse your data, try
the Epi Info programme that comes with Module 2. It was
designed for surveillance.
Changes in disease patterns may indicate an improvement
in health, if the trend is down, or a deterioration, if the trend
is up. But the changes could also reflect better or worse
surveillance, rather than a real change in health status.
Surveillance systems are very sensitive to the number of
reported cases. Ideally, all cases would be identified and
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
44
reported. But if they are not, then your figures will under
estimate the actual level of disease. On the other hand, if
more cases are reported than actually occurred, then you will
overestimate the threat.
There are four major factors that can influence the number
of cases that are reported.
• completeness of reporting
• seasonal variation
• epidemics or outbreaks
• coverage
• Completeness of reporting: Surveillance reports may
change for two major reasons. First, people may use the
health centre more, and as a result, more diseases would
be recorded. Second, health workers may improve their
case-finding skills and identify more diseases than before.
Thus, an apparent increase in diseases may actually just
be an increase in reporting. The opposite can occur as
well, of course. If neither of these factors has changed
between reporting periods, you can be more confident that
a change in the data will reflect a real change in cases.
0 Seasonal variation: Some diseases vary with seasons.
Measles, malaria and Guinea worm, for example, vary with
the seasons. When coverage, e.g., malaria prevention and
control, increases, the seasonal variation will be less no
ticeable. Seasonal outbreaks vary from one area to an
other, however, and you may need to chart your own
experience for several years to identify seasonal variations.
• Epidemics: Some diseases reach epidemic levels every
few years. Incidence may be relatively steady for several
years and then increase dramatically. Measles can be like
this. Epidemic patterns also vary from one area to an
other, and they also have to be charted to identify the
patterns.
• Coverage: As your target population becomes protected
from a particular disease or health problem, the incidence
should decline. As more women get enrolled in ANC and
have safe deliveries, the incidence of childbearing prob
lems should decline. This is the one change that you would
hope to see.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
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• Other factors: If your target population is changing due
to in or out-migration, you could see significant changes
in disease patterns. In some central cities slum popula
tions increase 10-15% annually, which can have a signifi
cant negative effect on overall health status. Even if
coverage is high, diseases can still spread if the health
intervention is ineffective. For example, a breakdown in
the cold chain can destroy the efficacy of vaccines. You
may also see changes in health status due to a general
improvement (or deterioration) in socio-economic status,
due to an increase (or decrease) in the availability of other
health services, or of food, clothing and shelter. Natural
disasters, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fires can
bring about tremendous changes in health.
• Analysis of differences due to age, sex, education,
income and other factors: Although you are not likely
to turn your surveillance activities into a research pro
gramme, you may want to examine some factors every
once in awhile to see if there are any subgroups that are
more affected by a particular disease. For example, you
might compare disease and mortality patterns of infant
boys and girls. If mortality is higher among one group,
there is an obvious need to direct more attention to that
group.
You may also want to examine changes over time. For
example, if you compare ARI cases for several years, you
may notice a shift in the age groups affected by the disease.
Step 7: Investigate causation (optional)
You may want to determine the cause of certain diseases,
health problems or deaths. As noted previously, this requires
special training and in-depth investigation. For most PHC
programmes, including those with sentinel surveillance sys
tems, investigation of causation will probably be done on a
selective basis.
Case and outbreak investigations
Appendix C contains a prototype form for investigating
a case of neonatal tetanus. You can modify this form to apply
to other diseases.
You will need one form for each case selected for inves-
kb
liu
■w
iwhininiiiiui
W
lil
45
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
46
tigation. Then follow these general guidelines for conducting
the investigation:
• Observe or examine the patient, if possible
• Interview the mother or other relative who has first-hand
knowledge of the case
• Interview the health worker who examined, observed or
treated the case
• Collect basic descriptive information about the case
• Confirm the diagnosis
• Identify symptoms the patient had before and during the
illness
• Determine whether the patient had received appropriate
preventive care
• Identify the treatment the patient received during the
illness
• Identify the outcome of the treatment and illness
Analyse the information that is collected to identify: 1) the
main cause of the disease or problem; and 2) action that could
be taken in the future to prevent a recurrence of the disease.
Verbal autopsies
Appendix D provides important information and guide
lines on ascertaining the cause of death. Appendix E con
tains two verbal autopsy protocols, one for child, and the
other for maternal death investigations.
The procedures for using the verbal autopsies are similar,
but not identical, to those for case and outbreak investiga
tions.
• Observe or examine the body, if possible
• Interview the mother or other relative who has first-hand
knowledge of the death
• Interview the health worker who examined, observed or
treated the deceased (prior to, during, or after the death)
• Collect basic descriptive information about the death
circumstances of the death,
symptoms and condition of the person at time of death
suspected causes (diarrhoea, ARI, injury, etc.)
• Complete the coding chart
BE
F
8?
SB-
gg
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
47
• Identify the main (most probable) cause of death
• Identify associated causes
• Determine whether the patient had received appropriate
preventive care
• Identify the treatment the patient received during the
illness
As with case/outbreak investigations, the analysis should
identify: 1) the main cause of the death; and 2) action that
could be taken in the future to prevent this type of death.
Verbal autopsy data can be cumulated, as well. That is,
the results of several investigations can be summarised, as in
Table 5. This example shows the results of verbal autopsies
of 61 children. Diarrhoea was the main cause of death for
40, and ARI for 21. Of those who died from diarrhoea, 20
had non-associated causes, 12 had ARI, eight were malnour
ished, three had measles and ten had a low birthweight.
For more information about ascertaining cause of death
and analysing the results, see Appendices D and E.
Step 8: Develop an action plan
Analyse
information
collected
Obviously, the whole purpose of surveillance is to find
ways to prevent unnecessary disease and death. The data
you collect through your system will help you do that. Once
you have identified problems, and then determined their
causes, the next step is to do something to eliminate those
problems.
In many cases the actions that are needed will be obvious.
For example, if many women are having pregnancy compli
cations because they are not getting adequate care, then they
need to be enrolled in ANC. In other cases the solutions
aren’t going to be obvious. For instance, diarrhoea may
continue to be a problem even though most mothers know
how to prevent and treat it. In this case you may need to
gather more specific information on the cause of the problem
before you can recommend a solution.
In either case, you will need to take action. In addition to
the suggestions in this module, Module 6: Service quality, can
help you do a more in-depth assessment of problem PHC
services.
The Problem-solving guide will also provide you with
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
if
48
Table 5: Main and associated causes of death of 61 infants
Main cause
Diarrhoea
ARI
Total
No.
none ARI
cases
40
20
12
21
11
61
31
12
diarrhoea malnutrition
8
8
8
3
11
measles
3
4
7
low
birthweight
10
5
15
some ideas. If you are still uncertain, this may be a good time
to conduct a brainstorming session with your staff, commu
nity representatives, and others to identify the root cause of
the problem and to search for solutions. If you have a viable
solution, or even if you don’t, but want to develop one, then
outline a plan of action. The plan does not have to be
detailed, but it should include:
What: The action(s) to be taken should be specified, e.g.,
provide ANC training to TBAs, or brainstorm what can be
done to enrol high-risk women in ANC.
Who; The specific people who will be responsible for each
action should be identified, by name or position.
When: The dates for starting and/or completing the actions.
In some cases it may be important to include where, to
specify the sites or locations where the actions will take place,
how, to outline the procedures that will be followed, and the
resources that will be made available to carry out the
actions.
Actions needed
Specific details may need to be worked out later, and even
will^often be somc of the above elements may have to wait until the formal
______ 1 us
report is ready and can be studied more carefully. If so, then
they should be incorporated into the preliminary action plan.
Step 9: Prepare and present reports
Most surveillance systems are designed at the central level
and require reports to be sent to that level for analysis and
interpretation. This module has proposed a local surveillance
system, where the reports should address the concerns of
local PHC managers. However, the data generated by this
system should be useful to other levels as well.
If you are going to make formal reports to other levels,
then the following guidelines may be of some help to you.
if
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
• Review your original objectives (see Worksheet 1) to make
sure that you know the user’s most important objectives,
questions, issues, and indicators. Make sure that your
report addresses them.
• Review your tables, charts, and maps. Decide which ones
will provide the users with the information that most
interest them. Add a short narrative to explain each one.
WORKSHEET 3: DEVELOP ACTION PLANS
ACTION TO TAKE
(What)
RESPONSIBLE
(Who)
Identify all 3rd degree
malnourished children <3
years of age
All CHWs and HC
staff
DATES
OTHER
(When) (Where, How, Resources)
June
Via HH visits and routine
clinic services
Order them in some logical sequence, such as the follow
ing;
The number of cases of each disease
The number of deaths, by cause
An analysis of trends, what they mean
Major issues that need to be addressed
A summary of the actions that you have (or plan to) take.
It is also a good idea to keep a record of your reports, and
to supplement your official reports with more frequent
(perhaps monthly) internal reports, actions taken, and results
observed. Documenting the actions that you have taken to
deal with a problem is invaluable information. It can help
you — and others — avoid mistakes in the future, and most
important, replicate those actions that really work.
Module 4: Surveillance; procedures
51
Appendix A: Blank worksheets and
analysis templates
A.l: PLANNING, REPORTING WORKSHEETS
WORKSHEET 1: SPECIFY THE OBJECTIVES OF
SURVEILLANCE
Purpose(s)
Assess needs
Identify risk factors
Identify outbreaks
Identify unusual events
User(s)
Board of directors
Government officials
Supervisors
Donors
Scope
Geographic area(s):
Programme service(s):
Target group(s)
Children 1 month
Children 12-23 months
Children 1-4 yrs
Children 5 yrs
Cases
Mortality
Monitor trends
Explain causes
Evaluate impact on
O t he r:_________________________________
Other:
PHC Manager
Community
PHC Staff
CDC*
Other.Other-.
’ local Communicable Disease Centre
Women 15-49 yrs
Married women 15-49 yrs
Pregnant women
Other:
Causes
Mortality
O\-\C MOO
'11)642 f'J'
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.l
Other
Specify:
52
WORKSHEET 2: SPECIFY THE SURVEILLANCE
PROCEDURES
Step 2: Define the data to collect
Mortality/ Indicator
Target
Morbidty/
group
Other
Step 3: Select the methods
Data collection
Source
Method’
Frequency
‘ Routine, Sentinel, Sample suruey/special study, Case/outbreak investigation, Verbal autopsy
WORKSHEET 3: DEVELOPING ACTION PLANS
ACTION TO TAKE
(What)
RESPONSIBLE
(Who)
DATES
(When)
OTHER
(Where, How,
Resources)
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.l
53
A.2: TEMPLATES FOR PRODUCING CHARTS
Tjj
3
3
4
3
3
-a
-3
3
4
a
a
This section is made up of a number of pre-formatted charts of various
kinds. These charts have been designed to illustrate various ways that you
can display different sets of data. In most cases the same data are used for
a number of charts so that you can see the differences immediately. Just
select the pattern you prefer and draw your own charts.
The charts are also on the computer disk that comes with this module,
both in Lotus 1-2-3 and QuattroPro. \Ne call these "templates." You can
substitute your own data, titles, legends, etc. into the computer file and then
choose the type of display you wish. The name of each chart and computer
file are shown in the title for easy reference. To use a template, simply load
the appropriate computer file, substitute your own data, titles, and any other
information you want to add, and then select the view mode. You can print
these charts out, of course, make transparencies of them to use on overhead
projectors and make copies for handouts.
This is a list of the charts included in this appendix:
Template A: One variable counts - one series of data
(GRAPH A.WQ1)
A-l BAR
A-2 LINE
A-3 ROTATED BAR
A-4 AREA
Template B: One variable counts - two or more series of data
(GRAPH B.WQ1)
B-l STACKED BAR
B-2 3D-BAR
B-3 RIBBON
B-4 BAR
Template C: Frequency distributions - one series of data
(GRAPH C.WQ1)
C-l PIE
C-2 EXPLODED PIE
C-3 BAR
3
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
54
Template D: Frequency distributions - two or more series of data
(GRAPH D.WQ1)
D-l COLUMN
D-2 3-D BAR
Template E: Correlations - two variables (GRAPH
E.WQ1)
E-l XY
E-2 BUBBLE
Template A: One variable counts - one series of data
[File: GRAPH„A.WQ1]
The two columns on the right are all you need to make a basic graph.
The first column is the list of months (you can substitute names: JAN, FEB;
or letters: J, F, M). The second column is the data for each month. In this
example, these are reported cases of VD each month.
Months
Cases
Data for the first six months have been entered. Just
1
6
add data for each month as they become available. You
don’t have to change anything else. Substitute your
2
8
own data and press the F10 key to see the graph. Press
11
3
<Esc> to return to this screen.
4
4
You can display the same data using different types
12
5
of graphs. This template has been set up to display
6
8
ONE VARIABLE using four alternative graphs: LINE,
7
BAR, ROTATED BAR, and AREA. To switch from
8
one graph to another, press /, Graph, Type, and select
9
one of these four types of graph. Then press View to
see it.
10
To change the titles, press /, Graph, Text and select
11
the line you want to edit. See your computer manual
12
for more information about making graphs.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
55
Reported cases of VD: 1991 Bimanu Health Centre
A-l: Bar
A-2: Line
Months
A-3: Rotated bar
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
A-4:Area
56
Template B: One variable counts - two or more series
of data [Fife: GRAPH_B.WQ1]
Very often you will want to display two or more series of data. The
following examples show how to do that. The example also illustrates how
the “X-axis” can be changed from a time dimension (months, weeks, years)
to places (health centres, provinces, villages, etc.). You can also substitute
people (CHWs, children by immunization status, etc.). Thus, these graphs
can be used to display data on TIME, PLACES, and PEOPLE, merely by
substituting the data and titles. Also note that you can enter your data in
the spreadsheet in a horizontal or vertical direction. It doesn’t matter.
These illustrative data are of reported cases of measles (one variable) from
several health centres over a two-year period. Data for 1991 are the FIRST
series, those for 1992 are the SECOND series. You can enter six or more
series in most graph programmes, however, they can become cluttered and
difficult to read if there are more than three or four series.
The two new types of graphs on the left are called STACKED BAR and
RIBBON. The graph on the upper right is called a 3D-BAR. Also notice the
addition of LEGENDS in these graphs. Often, when you have more than
one series of data, you need to add legends to distinguish one series from
the other. In these examples, the legends distinguish 1991 from 1992.
Health centres
1991
1992
North
45
82
Tustin
67
98
Baro
87
123
Selin
65
88
Baqio
56
77
Series 2
Series 1
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
57
Reported cases of measles: 1991-1992
Routine surveillance: Under age five
B-l: Stacked bar
B-2: 3D Bar
B-4: Bar
Health centres
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
58
Template C: Frequency distributions - one series of
data [File: GRAPH._C.WQ1]
Templates A and B are used to display display counts of variables. They
show HOW MANY cases occurred, HOW MANY people died, etc. Fre
quency distributions show the PERCENTAGE of cases in various categories.
For example, the percentage of children who died of malaria, ARI, injuries,
and so forth. You can use bar graphs to show percentage distributions as
well as counts. And you can also use PIE charts.
The following example shows how to use pie graphs to display frequency
distributions. It also shows one way to display data about PEOPLE, in this
case, the percentage of neonatal deaths by cause.
Data for C-l: Pie graph and C-2: Exploded pie graph;
Main causes of neonatal deaths
Main cause
Prematurity/trauma
Tetanus
ARI/Pertussis
Diarrhoeal diseases
Others
Total
Number
432
255
123
67
221
877
Pregnancy complications
Age
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
Total
Number
14
26
28
34
22
12
136
Percent
10.3%
19.1%
20.6%
25.0%
16.2%
8.8%
100.0%
These percentages would
be entered as Series 1 of your
graph. You can then select
other types of graphs, as ex
plained in Template A.
You don’t need to compute the per
centages yourself with these kinds of
graphs, the computer program does it
for you.
Pie graphs have a unique feature
that you may want to use. They can be
"exploded." One or more pieces of the
pie can be partially moved for empha
sis, as shown in C-2.
The graphs on the next page show
several other ways to display frequency
distributions. One way is to compute
the frequency percentages yourself and
then enter them into one of the graphs
shown in Templates A or B (line, area,
bar, stacked bar, rotated bar, ribbon). If
you want the percentages to be dis
played, you can do this by selecting the
“Interior labels” option (press /, Graph,
Customize series, Interior labels, select
the series to be displayed, <Enter>, then
select where you want to place the
labels (top, right, etc.).
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
59
Main causes of neonatal deaths
877 infants, 1986
Pregnancy complications
by age group: 136 women, 1992
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
60
Template D: Frequency distributions - two or more
series of data [File: GRAPH D.WQ1]
You can also use a COLUMN graph to display frequency distributions.
Note that this graph displays the name of the disease as well as its
percentage, just as the PIE graphs do. You can compare data from different
sites, or different periods of time, or different types of people by entering
each one as a separate series. You need to save each series as a separately
NAMED graph. In this example the first graph is named HC#1, and the
second is HC*2. To display (or print) one of the graphs, press /, Graph,
Name, and select the graph you want, then press View to see it.
Data for Dl-2 for column graphs
Sentinel centres
HC#1
154
Malaria
STD
198
221
ARI
Diarrhoea
422
Other
677
HO2
231
256
316
366
743
Data for D3 column graph
Malaria
STD
ARI
Diarrhoea
Other
Total
HC #1
Number
154
198
221
422
677
1672
Sentinel centres
HC #2
Number
Percentage
Percentage
231
12.1%
9.2%
13.4%
11.8%
256
13.2%
316
16.5%
25.2%
366
19.1%
40.5%
743
38.9%
100.0%
1912
100.0%
HC #3
Number
186
245
267
321
744
1763
Percentage
10.6%
13.9%
15.1%
18.2%
42.2%
100.0%
You can also compute the percentages yourself and enter these into a
graph, just as in Template D. The following example shows data from three
sentinel surveillance centres.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
ikj Iki (kJ UJ UJ
lii
■ ini *i iy w ffl m ifl iw w mm w w iiiiiiHiiim w ■ ■ ■ iiii
Disease report 1991: Sentinel centres
Sentinel centre 1
Sentinel centre 2
D-l: Column
D-2: Column
Diarrhoea (25.2%)
ARI (132%)-----
STD (11.8%)
~
Malaria (9.2%)
Sentinel centres 1-3
D-3: Columns
*L
'
lk & & & & & & ki'
&
?
& & & & & &' lk)
Other(40.5%) —
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
62
Template E: Correlations - Two Variables
[File: GRAPH E.WQ1]
You can show the relationship between two series of data, such as age
and a disease. You do this by listing two blocks of data and then identifying
the spot in the graph where the values of the two variables intersect. The
type of graph that is produced is often called an XY graph, because you plot
one value (say age) on the X axis and the other value (say the number of ill
people) on the Y axis. You can either plot a large number of data points,
which produces a SCATTER diagram, or group the data (say into five-year
age groups) and connect the data points with lines. If you have enough data,
you can also do statistical tests (usually regressions) to see if there is a
statistical relationship between the two variables. In general, does one
increase or decrease as the other changes?
One such graph is shown below. It is based on the first two variables and
shows the number of children in three-month age groups who are malnour
ished. The slope of the line shows that malnutrition increased with age up
to 18 months and then declined sharply.
Age (months)
ARI
6
18
9
23
12
36
15
33
18
42
21
28
24
21
The next graph, a BUBBLE graph, lets you add a third variable. In this
example, that is SEVERITY. Malnutrition is usually measured in degrees (1,
2, 3), with 3 being severly malnourished. By taking the average severity of
malnourishment in each age group, we can show where the problem was
greatest, since the size of the bubble indicates the severity.
The graph shows that the severity of malnutrition increased as the
number of cases increased. Then it began to decline.
Consult your computer manual if you are interested in learning more
about displaying your data. The computer programs are very versatile now,
and very "user-friendly." With a little effort, you, or one of your staff, can
learn how to make effective presentations fairly rapidly and easily.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
63
Number of cases
ARI cases by age of child, June-July, 1990
Malnourished cases by age of child, June-July, 1990
55-r
50
Number of cases
4540
35-
3025
20
15
IO
Age groups (in months)
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix A.2
IB
65
Appendix B: Common diseases,
definitions and indicators
This appendix is a listing of some common diseases that many PHC
programmes deal with regularly. Some of these are specific to certain
regions of the world and may or may not be problems in your area. Many
more could be added, and you are encouraged to identify those that are
important to you but which are not listed. You may find it helpful to develop
a summary like those listed in this appendix. That way everyone will have
a common understanding of definitions and indicators to use. The diseases
included in this appendix are listed below.
Common priority diseases and health problems for surveillance
in developing countries
Acute respiratory infections
Acute watery diarrhoea
Cholera
Diphtheria
Dysentery
HIV/AIDS
Measles
Neonatal tetanus
Pertussis
Poliomyelitis
Tetanus
Trachoma
Tuberculosis
Urinary schistosomiasis
The terminology used in this appendix is defined below:
Standard case definition: Clinical definition of the disease.
Lay definition: Common, non-clinical definition, using clear terms to
identify symptoms.
Incubation: The time interval between initial contact with an infectious
agent and the first symptom of the disease.
Indicator(s): An indirect measure of a phenomenon that cannot be easily
measured directly (for example, weight-for-age as an indirect measure of
health/nutritional status).
Background indicator: Information that provides a context against
which morbidity and mortality will be interpreted.
Estimation: The type of measure used to estimate the incidence or
prevalence of a disease.
Rate: The frequency of occurrence of some event, such as kilometres/hour,
cases/month.
Data sources: Typical sources of data for these indicators.
Used for: Typical management uses, such as for needs assessment, baseline
and follow-up assessments, etc.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
66
Mortality ascertainment via interview: Degree to which the indicator
can be used to determine the cause of death.
Value and limitations: Utility of the indicator with respect to monitoring,
evaluation, etc. Limitations, such as cost, validity, etc.
Comments: Relevant comments on the effect of the diseases characteris
tics on measurement; other factors that affect the indicator.
ACUTE RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS (ARI)
Standard case definition: Fast breathing (60 per minute or more if child
less than two months; 50 per minute or more if the child is two months up
to 12 months; 40 per minute or more if child 12 months up to five years) is
a sign of pneumonia. The severity of the pneumonia is judged on the
presence of chest indrawing (the lower chest wall draws in when the child
breathes in). Look for non-specific signs of pneumonia, sepsis or meningitis:
the child stops feeding well, is abnormally sleepy or difficult to wake, has
fever or low body temperature (35.5 C) or has convulsions.
Lay definition: “Pneumonia” (defined as fast breathing) and “change” in
normal behaviour.
Incubation: Varies according to the agent. Often unknown.
Indicator(s): Number of children diagnosed with pneumonia.
Background indicator: Currently not identified.
Estimation: Incidence by age groups; Case fatality rate.
Data sources: Hospital and health centres registers; health care facilities
and household surveys.
Used for: Needs assessment and monitoring of ARI control activities.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High.
Value and limitations: Not all cases are brought to curative facilities.
However, after an initial training of the health staff and of community health
workers in identifying the symptoms of pneumonia and of severe pneumo
nia, the quality of reporting should improve significantly.
Comments: Currently, ARI is probably the leading cause of death among
young children in less developed countries. Surveillance of pneumonia is an
essential step in its recognition as a priority and in monitoring progress in
its control.
ACUTE WATERY DIARRHOEA
Standard case definition: Frequent loose and watery stools often
associated with fever and vomiting.
Lay definition: Watery diarrhoea as defined by the mother.
Incubation: Variable depending upon the agent responsible. Generally
between eight to 18 hours.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
67
Indicator(s): Number of reported cases by age groups.
Background indicator: Percentage of households: a) using a latrine; b)
having access to safe water.
Estimation: Incidence of acute watery diarrhoea; number of episodes per
child per year.
Data sources: Hospital and health centre registers. Health centres and
household surveys.
Used for: Needs assessment. Monitoring of diarrhoeal diseases control
activities (as a denominator of the estimation of case management). Outbreak
investigation.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High.
Value and limitations: Most clinical cases of diarrhoea go unreported,
except in settings having extensive monitoring of decentralized ORS packets
delivery. Incidence has seasonal variations which has implications for the
timing of surveys.
Comments: Although case identification is necessary, WHO stresses the
importance of adequate case management.
CHOLERA
Standard case definition: Sudden and severe watery diarrhoea with
rapid dehydration.
Lay definition: Many local terms often meaning “deadly diarrhoea.”
Incubation: From a few hours to five days; usually two-three days.
Indicator(s): 1. Number of suspected cases and deaths; 2. Number of
laboratory-confirmed cases.
Background indicator: Occurrence of outbreaks in the past.
Estimation: Attack rate by age group and gender.
Data sources: Outbreak investigation in non-endemic area; hospital and
health centres registers in endemic areas.
Used for: Outbreak investigation. Needs assessment.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High.
Value and limitations: Assessment of the quality of food-handling and
water and sanitation in non-endemic areas; assessment of health education
(ORT) and case management in endemic areas.
Comments: Reporting of cholera cases is often considered as sensitive
information by MOH, because of the implication for exportation of edibles
and on tourism.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
68
DIPHTHERIA
Standard case definition: Acute pharyngitis, acute nasopharyngitis, or
acute laryngitis, with a pseudo membrane.
Lay definition: Sore throat, with grey patch or patches in the throat.
Incubation: Usually 2-5 days, occasionally longer.
Indicator(s): Number of cases.
Background indicator: Vaccination coverage DPT3 by 12 months of age.
Estimation: Incidence not predictable.
Data sources: Health centre registers and, occasionally, from outbreak
investigation.
Used for: Not used.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: Low.
Value and limitations: Low.
Comments: Often occur as outbreaks when social or natural conditions
lead to crowding of susceptible children.
DYSENTERY
Standard case definition: Diarrhoea with blood, mucus and pus accom
panied with fever, nausea and sometimes vomiting.
Lay definition: Diarrhoea with blood and mucus.
Incubation: 1-3 days on average.
Indicator(s): Number of cases by month and by age groups.
Background indicator: Water and sanitation status.
Estimation: Incidence.
Data sources: Hospital and health centre registers. Health centres and
household surveys.
Used for: Needs assessment. Monitoring of diarrhoeal disease control
activities (as a denominator of the estimation of case management). Outbreak
investigation.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High. Some types of Shigella
(the agent) have a case fatality rate among hospitalized patients as high as
20%.
Value and limitations: Generally under reported. Seasonal variations.
Comments: In addition to continued feeding and prevention of dehydra
tion, dysentery cases must receive appropriate antibiotic treatment.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
69
HIV/AIDS
Standard case definition: For epidemiological surveillance an adult
(above 12 years) is considered to have AIDS if:
A test for HIV antibody gives positive results AND one or more of the
following are present:
• >10% body weight loss or cachexia, with diarrhoea or fever, or both,
intermittent or constant, for at least one month, not known to be due to
a condition unrelated to HIV infection.
• Tuberculosis with the combination of weight loss plus fever or plus
diarrhoea as described above.
• Tuberculosis that is disseminated (involving at least two different organs)
or miliary, or extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (which may be presump
tively diagnosed).
• Kaposi’s sarcoma.
• Neurological impairment sufficient to prevent independent daily activi
ties, not known to be due to a condition unrelated to HIV infection (for
example, trauma).
• Candidiasis of the oesophagus.
Lay definition: Local terminology. In many countries of Africa, the term
“slim" is used.
Incubation: One to three months between exposure and sero-positivity;
up to ten years between HIV-1 infection and the development of AIDS.
Indicator(s): Number of cases by age group.
Background indicator: Prevalence of sero-positivity.
Estimation: Incidence and Prevalence.
Data sources: Hospital and health centre registers; TB control unit
surveillance reports; laboratory registers.
Used for: Need assessment. Monitoring of control activities.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High.
Value and limitation: The case definition: is simple to use; includes
extrapulmonary and pulmonary tuberculosis; and has high specificity.
However it has a low sensitivity.
Comments: Screening of blood donors in hospitals is often an initial step
in surveillance to document the existence of sero-positive individuals in the
community and discuss further steps.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
70
pjj..
MEASLES
Standard case definition: History of a generalized maculo-papular rash
lasting three or more days and history of any one of the following: cough,
coryza, conjunctivitis.
Lay definition: History of fever and rash and any one of the following:
cough, running nose, red eyes.
Incubation: About ten days, varying from seven to 17 days from exposure
to onset of fever, usually 14 days until rash appears.
Indicator(s):
Number of cases of measles
a) total
b) by age.
less than nine months
between 9-23 months
more than two years
2. Percentage of cases of measles with a documented valid vaccination
against measles, by age group.
Background indicator: Percentage of infants having a valid measles
vaccination by 12 months of age.
Estimation: Depending upon the time of the year, the vaccination
coverage and the population density. Each country and district differs. As
an example, between 1891-1991, the rate for the countries of the WHO South
East Region ranged between 29.2 and 10.54 per 100,000 population.
The expected number of cases among children in your area can be
estimated, using the formula: a x b x .85 x .90
a= number of surviving children
b= coverage in the age group
c= vaccine efficacy: 85%
d= incidence rate: 90%
Data sources: Routine and sentinel reporting; outbreak investigation.
Used for: Assessing effectiveness EPI and quality of MCH. Must be included
in needs assessment, baseline and periodic evaluation.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High.
Value and limitations: Useful to assess the quality of protection to
high-risk groups, particularly among refugees.
Comments: Measles is a seasonal disease each year with an epidemic
occurring every two to three years depending upon local conditions. In
creased vaccination coverage rates lowers the magnitude of yearly seasonal
peaks and widen the epidemic intervals.
1.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
71
NEONATAL TETANUS
Standard case definition: History of normal suck and cry for the first
two days of life, AND history of onset of illness between three and 28 days
of age AND history of inability to suck followed by stiffness and/or
“convulsions” and death (80% of cases).
Lay definition: History of normal suck and cry first two days of life, AND
history of inability to suck, convulsions and/or stiffness between three and
28 days of age. In several cultures, history of the baby turning “blue.”
Incubation: Between three to 21 days with a range between one day and
several months. In the majority of cases incubation is about ten days.
Indicator(s):
1) total number of cases of NNT:
2) number of NNT cases according to the immunization status of their
mothers
3) percentage of NNT cases delivered by a trained attendant.
Background indicator: a) percentage of infants found protected against
NNT at the time of receiving DPT 1; b) TT vaccination coverage of women
of child bearing age.
Estimation: To calculate the expected number of cases: a x b x .8 x .01
a = number of newborns
b = coverage (at the time of DPT 1)
c = vaccine efficacy: 80%
d = attack rate: 10 per 1000 live births (1%)
Data sources: Vital registration and/or lay TBA reporting;Vaccination
records; MCH records.
Used for: Needs assessment and PHC overall monitoring.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High by the use of verbal
autopsy technique.
Value and limitations: NNT rate is a good predictive indicator of IMR
and of MMR.
Comments: Neonatal tetanus cases have a tendency to cluster. Each case
should be investigated.
PERTUSSIS
Standard case definition: History of severe cough and history of any
one of the following: cough persistent two or more weeks, fits of coughing,
cough followed by vomiting.
Lay definition: History or observation of repeated and violent coughing
and history or observation of any one of the following: cough persisting two
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
(including any child less than 15 years of age diagnosed to have Guillain
Barre Syndrome) for which no other cause can be identified.
Lay definition: History of sudden onset of weakness and paralysis of the
leg(s), and/or arm(s) and/or trunk, AND documentation that paralysis was
not present at birth or associated with serious injury or mental retardation.
Incubation: Commonly between seven to 14 days for paralytic cases.
151
(II (JI
181
f l (J) ill II (|1
POLIOMYELITIS
Standard case definition: Any patient with acute flaccid paralysis
'll d i
or more weeks, fits of coughing, cough followed by vomiting, typical
“whoop” in older infants and children.
Incubation: Commonly seven to 10 days, rarely exceeding 14 days.
Indicator(s): Number of cases by age-groups.
Background indicator: Vaccination coverage DPT 3 by 12 months of
age.
Estimation: The expected number of cases can be estimated by the
formula: a x b x .8 x .8
a = number of surviving children
b = coverage in the age group
c = vaccine efficacy: 80%
d = incidence rate: 80%
Data sources: Hospital and clinic records.
Used for: Pertussis is generally not considered a high priority for surveil
lance.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: Medium; case fatality rate is
usually 1%.
Value and limitations: Unless the staff has been trained in the differential
diagnosis of pertussis (ARI), case ascertainment can be difficult. However
pertussis surveillance might be of interest in the monitoring of active ARI
control programmes and because of its importance (like measles) in wors
ening malnutrition.
Comments: Should be included in the list of reportable diseases in refugee
situations.
f l (?j I? (JI !J1 (11
72
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
in »i
1. Number of cases of acute flaccid paralysis with date of onset and age
at onset, vaccination status.
2. Number of suspected cases of polio.
3. Number of confirmed cases of polio.
Background indicator: Vaccination coverage OPV 3 by 12 months of
age.
®
Indicator(s):
73
Estimation: From zero polio in the Americas and 1814 cases reported in
1991 in the WHO Africa region to 6020 reported for India alone in 1991.
Locally, the expected number of cases among children can be estimated: a
x b x c x d with:
a = number of surviving children
b = coverage (use local figure if available)
c = vaccine efficacy: 90% for OPV 3
d = attack rate: 0.6% (use local rate if available and recent).
Data sources: Weekly or monthly surveillance reports; laboratory reports.
Used for: Assessing the effectiveness of polio eradication activities and the
quality of surveillance.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: Low. The number of deaths
can be guessed by assuming a case fatality rate of five percent.
Value and limitations: Each new case should be considered on its own
merits as a challenge to the health team.
Comments: A must in the current context of polio eradication efforts.
TETANUS (besides neonatal tetanus)
Standard case definition: A case of tetanus occurs when a person has:
(1) a stiff jaw and trouble opening the mouth or swallowing; (2) painful
stiffness of the neck and abdominal muscles (often other body muscles get
stiff too); (3) a clear mind; (4) a wound, often infected, or history of a wound
within the past few weeks. In severe cases, the person may appear to be
smiling (risus sardonicus) with raised eyebrows. His back and neck may be
arched, his arms bent with fists clenched at his chest, and his legs extended.
Noise, light or touching the person may trigger sudden, painfully tightening
of the muscles (convulsions).
Lay definition: History of injury or ear infection followed by difficulty in
opening mouth (or jerking of the mouth) or stiffness of the neck or body.
Incubation: Between three to 21 days with a range between one day and
several months. In the majority of cases incubation is about ten days.
Indicator(s): Number of cases by age group.
Background indicator: None for male adults as vaccination status is
generally unknown. For females of child-bearing age: TT 2 or TT 3
vaccination coverage.
Estimation: Currently difficult as surveillance is neglected.
Data sources: Hospital or health centre registers; in some places, lay
reporting of vital events.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
74
Used for: Initial needs assessment. Measuring rate of complications of
associated diseases (like Guinea worm, for example) or other hazards
(contaminated street drugs in urban settings, for example).
Mortality ascertainment via interview: High by verbal autopsy tech
niques. Among males, search for a history of an open wound; among females,
tetanus is often a complication of septic abortion or delivery.
Value and limitations: Useful for the monitoring of MMR and of adult
health for occupational hazards (agriculture).
Comments: Generally underestimated.
TRACHOMA
Standard case definition: Chronic inflammation of the eyes, leading to
shrinkage and turning-in of lids and blindness.
Lay definition: Blinding disease.
Incubation: Five to 12 days.
Indicator(s): Diagnosis of lymphoid follicles and hypervascularisation of
the cornea, particularly on the tarsal conjonctiva lining the upper eyelid;
Background indicator: Prevalence of corneal scars and blindness among
adults.
Estimation: Prevalence among children.
Data sources: Periodic surveys; in areas where the health staff has been
trained, from health registers.
Used for: Needs assessment and monitoring of intervention.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: N.A.
Value and limitations: Good for a given ecological area.
Comments: Trachoma is a disease of poverty, unhygienic surrounding (flies
and scarce water resources) and dust (Sahel particularly). Trachoma is rarely
a primary cause of consultation.
TUBERCULOSIS
Standard case definition: An ill child with a history of contact with a
suspect or confirmed case of pulmonary tuberculosis. Any child who does
not return to normal health after measles or whooping cough; with loss of
weight, cough and wheeze who does not respond to antibiotic therapy for
acute respiratory disease; with abdominal swelling with a hard painless mass
and free fluid; with painful form or soft swelling in a group of superficial
lymph nodes; with any bone or joint lesion of slow onset; with signs
suggesting meningitis or disease in the central nervous system.
In adult, confirmed isolation of mycobacterium bacilli (acid-fast bacilli or
AFB) in sputum; and/ or typical pulmonary lesions in X-rays.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
75
Lay definition: An ill child with a history of contact with a suspected or
confirmed case of pulmonary tuberculosis. Any ill child with one of the
following:
• Who does not return to normal health after measles or whooping cough.
• With loss of weight, cough and wheeze who does not respond to
antibiotic therapy for acute respiratory disease.
An adult with history of persistent cough not responding to antibiotic
therapy and a loss of weight during the previous months and low-grade
fever and/or sweating at night.
Incubation: From infection to demonstrable primary lesion or tuberculin
reaction, about four to 12 weeks. While the risk of pulmonary or extrapulmonary reaction is greater in the following two years, the infection
can remain latent throughout life.
Indicator(s):
Number of suspected cases (on clinical basis) by age group.
Number of cases bacteriologically and/or X-ray confirmed by
age group.
Background indicator: Vaccination coverage for BCG.
Estimation: Incidence rates not predictable.
Data sources: Registers from health centres and/or from TB clinics;
microbiology laboratory registers.
Used for: Needs assessment. Measuring the quality of reporting systems.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: Difficult, unless the deceased
was a known patient who did not take his/her treatment regularly.
Value and limitations: Recently, the incidence of tuberculosis has been
increasing worldwide for two reasons: a) the HIV/AIDS pandemic which
increases the rate of secondary infections; b) increased resistance to known
drugs. The monitoring of the incidence of tuberculosis might be of increasing
value as a marker of AIDS transmission.
Comments: A disease often neglected by surveillance systems in the past,
tuberculosis (particularly pulmonary tuberculosis) is be included in the future
because of new interest in respiratory infections and because of its growing
toll on health.
1.
2.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
76
URINARY SCHISTOSOMIASIS
Standard case definition: Clinical symptoms (frequent and uncomfort
able urination with blood appearing in urine at the end) associated with
presence of eggs of Schistosoma Haematobium in the urine.
Lay definition: Blood in urine.
Incubation: Two to six weeks.
Indicator(s): Number of cases of children six to 15 years having haematuria (blood in urine).
Background indicator: Percentage of children six to 15 years bathing
under safe conditions; percentage of households having access to safe water.
Estimation: Incidence and prevalence.
Data sources: Health centre registers; periodic school surveys.
Used for: Needs assessment. Monitoring of control activities.
Mortality ascertainment via interview: Low. Urinary schistosomiasis
is a chronic disease of the adult with a differential mortality.
Value and limitations: The presence of haematuria (assessed by dip
sticks) has been found an acceptable test to confirm the diagnosis of S.
haematobium. Re-infection occurs after treatment.
Comments: Surveillance is generally focused on school-attending children.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix B
77
Appendix C: Case investigation forms
THE EXAMPLE OF NEONATAL TETANUS1
Neonatal tetanus has been targeted for control by most national health
programmes. Neonatal tetanus incidence is a reliable indicator of the quality
and effectiveness of two important PHC activities: EPI and MCH. Each
reported case of neonatal tetanus becomes a challenge to the PHC manager
since it points to a failure of the programme; insufficient TT coverage, cold
chain breakdown, poor TBA training or unhygienic delivery practices or
handling of the umbilical cord. PHC managers should keep in mind the fact
that NNT cases are often clustered.
Health centre supervisors should use a case investigation form to inves
tigate all cases of neonatal tetanus. The purpose of investigating neonatal
tetanus cases is to identify why the case occurred so that future cases can
be prevented.
When investigating a case of neonatal tetanus, ask the mother of the
infant if she is willing to answer some questions about her infant’s illness.
Explain that the information she provides will help you prevent future case.
With the case investigation form in front of you, ask her the questions listed
on the form, and carefully record her responses. The questions are about:
• The immunization status of the mother.
• Whether the mother received antenatal care.
• Where the baby was born.
• Whether a trained attendant was present at the time of the actual delivery.
• How the cord was cut and treated (was any substance smeared on it).
• Whether the infant sucked normally at birth, then later developed
problems with sucking, convulsions and stiffness.
• Whether the infant was treated in a hospital for the illness and where.
If the mother is unable to answer, ask a close female relative who attended
the birth or saw the infant during his first weeks of life.
On the following pages you will find a sample of a neonatal tetanus case
investigation form.
1 WHO/EP1/MLM/9.14 Training for mid-level managers; disease
surveillance, revised 1991
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix C
78
PHC supervisors should monitor to make sure neonatal tetanus cases are
investigated promptly and correctly and help with the investigations if
needed. For example, a trained officer may conduct some case investigations
himself or provide additional training if health workers are uncertain of the
procedures to follow.
Follow these steps when analysing neonatal tetanus case
investigation forms:
1.
Confirm the diagnosis of each case. Review the form to make sure
that each reported case of neonatal tetanus fulfilled the appropriate
case definition of the disease.
2.
Determine the immunization status of the mother of each neonatal
tetanus case. Was the mother immunized? If not, why not? Was
there a missed opportunity?
3.
Look at the geographic distribution of cases by reviewing the disease
map. This will tell you whether cases of neonatal tetanus are lo
cated in certain geographic areas or if they are widespread.
4.
Look for similarities among cases. You may see a pattern that will
help you identify solutions.
For example, did all mothers of neonatal tetanus cases go for immuniza
tion to the same health worker who does not immunize women at every
opportunity? Did they use a common birth attendant or did they deliver
their child at the same hospital?
if
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix C
79
NEONATAL TETANUS CASE INVESTIGATION FORM
Instructions: Either circle the appropriate response, or record the answer in the blank
space following each item.
Province:
Village:
Health centre:
Date case reported:
Reported by:
Date of investigation:
Household address of case:
Name and job title of investigator:
A, CASE INFORMATION
Family name:
Given name:
Date of birth:Sex: Male/Female
How long has the mother been resident in the area?
Ethnic group (if applicable):
B. IMMUNIZATION STATUS OF MOTHER AND ANTENATAL CARE
Was the mother immunized against tetanus)? Yes/No
If yes, number of doses:date of last dose
Did you see an immunization record? Yes/No
Did the mother receive antenatal care? Yes/No
If yes, location and dates:
Did the mother visit a health facility for reasons other than antenatal care during this
pregnancy? Yes/No
If yes, give the reason for visit and dates:
C. BIRTH OF INFANT
Where was the baby born? Hospital/home/other:
If the delivery was in an institution, give the name and address of the institution:
Was the delivery attended by: doctor/traditional birth attendant/nurse/midwife/other:
If attended by a traditional birth attendant, give the name and address.
Describe how the cord was cut and with what type of equipment.
Describe how the cord stump was treated or dressed.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix C
80
Neonatal tetanus case investigation (continued)
D. SYMPTOMS
Date of onset of illness:
Did the child suck and cry normally for the first two days of life? Yes/No
If no, describe:
________
Did the child later have a problem with sucking? Yes/No
If yes, describe:
Was the child stiff later? Yes/No
Did the child later have convulsions? Yes/No/Unknown
Other complications:
E. TREATMENT/OUTCOME
Was the patient cared for in health facility? Yes/No
If yes, where?
Was the patient seen by a health worker? Yes/No
If yes, give diagnosis:
Did the patient die? Yes/No
If yes, give date and details:
Comments:
F. TO BE ANSWERED BY HEALTH FACILITY STAFF:
Is this a case of neonatal tetanus? Yes/No
If yes, could this case have been prevented? Yes/No
If yes, describe:
____ _ __ _____
What actions should be taken to prevent similar cases in the future?
__
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix C
81
Appendix D: Determining the cause of death
Assessing the probable leading causes of death allows managers to
document the effectiveness of health interventions, and to identify changes
that they can make in procedures to reduce unnecessary mortality.
However, causation is not always easy to determine. This appendix
describes some of the common causes of death among young children and
among women during pregnancy and childbirth. It discusses the ease or
difficulty of measuring causation accurately.
Identifiable causes of death
The list of common causes of death in children is small, generally limited
to diarrhoea, injury, neonatal tetanus, measles, ARI, malnutrition, and
possibly such other neonatal conditions as sepsis. The following table lists
these conditions. Those nearest the top are easier to verify through an
interview with the mother than those near the bottom.
Table D-l: Childhood causes of death that can be determined
through interview
Relatively easy
Relatively difficult
Childhood mortality
Injury
Neonatal tetanus
Measles
Diarrhoea
Acute respiratory infection
Malnutrition
Neonatal sepsis
Note that death due to injury or trauma tops the list. Drowning or falling
off a cliff is seldom confused with other common causes of child death.
Likewise the neonatal tetanus picture is quite distinct: an initially healthy
baby develops stiffness/convulsions and an inability to suck dying on or after
day three. Similarly the cough, fever, red eyes, and rash of measles is
recognizable by family members. Diarrhoea and ARI are often more difficult
to identify in different settings. Malnutrition is likely to be recognized if acute
with marasmus, kwashiorkor, or marasmic kwashiorkor while chronic mal
nutrition, i.e., stunting, or milder forms will be missed.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
82
Many other conditions are important of which neonatal ones are among
the most challenging. Indeed, all but the most obvious causes of neonatal
death are notoriously difficult to establish. “Unknown” rates for newborns
are almost always higher than for older children.
In neonates:
Birth defects, if obvious, will be recallable if there is no social taboo. Major
internal abnormalities, such as heart defects, of course will go undetected.
Tiny babies will be reported, but in areas where small babies are common
or even desired, they will go unnoted. Of great programmatic interest are
newborns dying of birth trauma or birth asphyxia. While theoretically
distinct, there are many hurdles to identifying these babies, especially the
reluctance of mothers and birth attendants to report poor delivery practices.
Newborns who die generally have many indistinguishable signs regardless
of underlying cause: grey colour, irritability/sleepiness, poor feeding, abnor
mal breathing, vomiting and so on.
In addition to expanding the scope of ascertainment to the newborn,
researchers are attempting to break down syndromes into meaningful
distinct subsets. For example, diarrhoea syndromes probably can be divided
into acute watery diarrhoea, persistent diarrhoea, and dysentery. This is
important because the programmatic response varies for each. Likewise,
pertussis (an EPl preventable disease) may be characteristic enough to be
distinguishable from other fatal ARI conditions.
In older children:
Validly identifying common childhood killers, notably malaria and AIDS,
poses additional challenges. Table D-2 lists some of these conditions by age
and the likelihood that they could be diagnosed by interview.
Two points from Table D-2 need amplification. "Local ecology" (see
malaria and AIDS) refers to the prevalence of the condition in the manager’s
setting. For example, if malaria is common, the general public, including the
informant, is more likely to be able to recognize it. And malaria is statistically
more likely to be the correct diagnosis than in areas where it is unusual.
Related is the notion that specific programmes may have unusual killers that
are not on this list. For example, visceral leishmaniasis is said to account
for the largest PMR of child death in one north Pakistan valley. It is likely
that it could be identified by interview although one will not find much expert
guidance.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
83
Table D-2: Other causes of childhood death ascertainable by
interview by age with likely validity*
Condition
Failure to feed
Prematurity
Small for gestational age
(SGA)
0 - 1
1
Month Month
-5 Yrs
Comments
4 4-4-
e.g., after maternal death.
LBW is a childhood risk for 1-2 years.
Although most LBW babies in developing
countries are probably SGA, the
distinction is important as programme
response differs.
More likely with LBW baby or in extreme
environmental cold.
Not common.
Non-specific presentation, especially in
neonates.
Non-specific even in prematures.
Readily diagnosable in newborns;
uncommon thereafter.
Difficult to distinguish from asphyxia , but
programme response is similar for both.
Important to distinguish as emphasis of
programme response is different in each
case: antibiotics vs. oral rehydration
therapy vs. nutritional therapy.
Different in each case: antibiotics vs. oral
rehydration therapy vs. institutionaal
therapy.
4-
4-
4-
4-
Hypothermia
+
Milk aspiration
Sepsis
+
Hyaline membrane disease
Tetanus
+
Meconium aspiration
4-
4-
->•4-4-
Dysentery
4-
+
4-
Acute watery diarrhoea
(AWD)
4-4-4-
4-
Persistent diarrhoea
Pertussis
-F-H-
4-
Cerebral/CNS infection
+
Malaria
AIDS
‘ + = low validity;
EPl significance; the “whoop” may be
highly specific, but prolonged coughing is
not (asthma, TB, foreign body, para
pertussis, etc.).
Very non-specific in newborns; children
4may have meningitis, TB, cerebral malaria,
encephalitis.
4Local ecology imperative.
+/++
Local ecology imperative.
++ = medium validity
+++ = high validity
4-
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
In women of child-bearing age:
Women in the reproductive years make up the other main target group
of PHC. Many, perhaps 25-50% of all deaths in this age, are considered
“maternal mortality,” ie., related to pregnancy, labour, delivery, or the first
six weeks after termination of pregnancy. Most maternal mortality falls into
five syndromes which can be recognized through a survey interview instru
ment (Table D-3). Of course, due to the social implications, abortion-related
deaths are severely under-recognized.
Table D-3: Maternal causes of death that can be determined
through interview
________________________________________ Maternal mortality____________________
Relatively easy
Post-partum haemorrhage
Obstructed labour
Eclampsia
Post-partum infection
Relatively difficult
Abortion-related
Reporting Deaths
Step 4 in the main text described several ways that deaths can be
identified, recorded and reported. The two major ones are: 1) a death report
(see Exhibit 4), which extracts information on deaths from hospital, clinic,
and provider records, and 2) an outreach register (see Exhibit 3).
The usefulness of medical records is limited even when they exist and
when they can be located. Busy medical staff appropriately spend more
time attending to desperately ill patients than they do writing in charts.
Outreach workers do not usually have first-hand knowledge of the death
and can only get a rough idea of the cause of death. As a result, you probably
will not find the detail that you would need to identify cause of death in
these reports and records. In addition, you also have to be careful to ensure
that the record consulted is, indeed, that of the deceased and that the
deceased is from your catchment area.
Verbal autopsies
As noted before, in the abscence of a formal autopsy, the best way to
establish cause of death is through a verbal autopsy (VA). This concept
has been broadly introduced in previous sections and a step-by-step ap
proach is proposed in Appendix E. The technique consists of “ verbally,”
i.e., with an interview, conducting an “autopsy,” i.e., ascertaining the causes
of death. There is usually no better way because the death may have been
undocumented and in the (possibly remote) past.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
85
How to process the data
Assign a cause of death
Once deaths have been reported and a VA conducted, a cause must be
assigned and coded before the information can be tabulated.
Assigning a diagnosis can be done in two different ways. Some use clinical
judgement of one or more experts, usually paediatricians and obstetricians.
Ideally, at least two should reach agreement by consensus. The other
approach does not rely on the presence of an expert panel. It uses objective
scoring systems for each condition, various signs are sought and are
pre-classified as either major or minor, different combinations of which make
the diagnosis. For example, a probable ARI death requires the presence of
cough for more than two days, rapid breathing for more than one day plus
one of the following four: chest wall indrawing, nostril flaring, grunting on
breathing out or blue lips/tongue.
An added complexity is the probabilistic weighting added to assigning the
diagnosis. This can be omitted; however, it adds little work and is quickly
grasped. The rationale is that some combinations of clinical information are
likely to have a greater positive predictive value than others for the
condition in question. In the ARI example, cough and rapid breathing lead
to a possible diagnosis whereas cough and rapid breathing AND any one of
the additional four signs of respiratory difficulty lead to a probable diagnosis.
Note that in the field a certain diagnosis is never possible.
Assigning cause of death, even using these scoring systems, requires
additional skills. This should be the responsibility of the interviewer’s
supervisor. Occasionally the verbatim history will clarify “ DK” (don’t know)
responses enough to allow assigning a possible or even probable cause of
death. You may decide to re-interview households if your unknown ratio
is unacceptable, say, above ten to 20%.
Coding the cause of death
Coding the diagnosis is the next step, having made the diagnosis or
diagnoses for the case. International convention uses terminology such as
“immediate, underlying, and antecedent cause,” and “other significant
conditions.” These reflect a biomedical, Western bias where patients are
more likely to die in a hospital fully documented. These terms have little
relevance to the developing world where people die from multiple causes
often without a clear primary condition and with no documentation.
Thus, a different coding system using two types of diagnosis is proposed:
main and associated The main diagnosis is the one, in the opinion of the
coder, which is likely to be the most important. All others are associated
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
86
causes. Because sequence plays a role, a condition closer to the time of death
is the main cause. So for a baby with diarrhoea for two weeks who develops
cough and rapid breathing three days before death: Main - ARI, Associated
= diarrhoea.
It is often difficult or impossible to distinguish which is the main cause,
as in the case of nearly simultaneous ARI and diarrhoea. Decision rules are
required for a host of circumstances. In this example, we code ARI as the
main and diarrhoea as the associated cause.
Malnutrition can be confusing, too and should be listed as an associated
cause unless there is evidence that the child died purely from insufficient
food, a very rare event. Obviously, the vast majority of children dying with
malnutrition die of infection, and this would be listed as the main cause.
Unforeseen circumstances require specific rules as they arise. These
should be recorded in a VA procedure manual and consistently followed in
the future.
Each PHC program can decide for itself its coding rules. It does not really
matter what is decided. Bias will be present, but this can be dealt with in
the interpretation. More important is that random error is minimized. Most
important is that the coding of diagnosis will not lose information so
long as all information is analyzed.
Coding requires some technical skills, including using the procedure
manual and making logical decision rules for special cases. We recommend
that the assigner make only tentative recommendations. The coder, then,
checks the assignor’s scoring, reviews the case, and codes the diagnoses.
How to analyze mortality data
Dual analysis
Following the coding methods described previously, analysis is a dual
process: 1) cause of death by main cause and 2) cause of death by
consolidated cause, that is, all causes combined. For comparison purposes
over time and among programs, analysis by single (main) cause is standard.
However, analysis by consolidated cause yields the PHC manager more
information. In the consolidated analysis the numerator is the count of
diagnoses, not individuals. These die with a condition rather than of it.
Once this is grasped, one can see that consolidated analysis is a powerful
way to measure the true burden of given conditions.
Table D-4 shows hypothetical data by way of illustration. Consider
diarrhoea. Of 61 deceased children, 40 died of diarrhoea as the main cause.
Of these, 20 had no associated cause; 12 had ARI; eight had malnutrition;
three had measles; ten were LBW. Look at the ARI row. Of the 21,11 had
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
87
ARI without any associated cause. However, eight had diarrhoea as an
associated cause, and so on. The number of children dying with diarrhoea,
then, is 48 (40 + 8). Similarly, the number of children dying with ARI is 21
+12 = 33, not 21.
Table D-4: Causes of death: main and associated (hypothetical)
Main cause
Diarrhoea
AR!
Total
Associated causes
Total
40
21
61
none
20
11
31
ARI
12
12
diarr.
8
8
malnutr. measles
8
3
3
3
11
6
LBW
10
3
13
Note also that the row totals do not equal the total number listed in the
main cause column. In other words, in the diarrhoea row, 20 + 12 + 8 + 3
+ 10 = 53, not 40. How can this be? It is because children dying with
diarrhoea not only had one, but often two or more associated conditions.
That is, the 20 (40 - 20) who did have associated conditions actually
accounted for (53 - 20) 33 associated conditions. Play with the numbers for
a few minutes and you will grasp this easily.
Note that the only total figure which corresponds to the number of
deceased children is 61. The totals of the numbers of children dying with
various conditions is greater than the number of deaths because children die
with more than one condition. This also means that there are strategies for
controlling different diseases that will impact a single disease’s mortality
burden. Conversely, reducing the cause-specific mortality of a specific
disease will also reduce mortality due to other killers. Indeed, ARI programs
are remarkably effective in lowering both pneumonia mortality and measles
mortality.
Examples of analysis and response
The following examples of types of analysis and data presentation may
guide PHC managers. The figures come from AKU’s experience in five
Karachi PHC programs with a population base of about 45,000 in 1991
when the IMR was 63. The results were obtained using an earlier instrument
which has since been improved. These types of analysis and computations
are readily performed by hand with or without a pocket calculator.
Table D-5 shows the breakdown by main cause of death among all
children under five years of age. EPI is well in place, but controlling
diarrhoea is still a major challenge. ARI is a moderate problem although we
believe that we are under-recognizing it. Experience has shown that the
interviewers “relax” once they establish one diagnosis, usually diarrhoea
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
88
which is not difficult to identify in our setting. Thus, co-infections with ARI
and diarrhoea are certainly being missed. Improved training and supervision
is needed. Note also the unacceptable unknown rate, another indication of
problems either in the instrument or in the collecting/assigning/coding
processes.
Table D-5: Main cause of death: Age 0-5 years, 1991
MAIN CAUSE
Diarrhoea syndromes
ARi/pneumonia
Birth injury/asphyxia
Prematurity/low birth weight
Injury
Malnutrition
EPI-preventable
Others
Unknown, ill-defined syndromes
No.
38
15
7
7
5
1
0
11
36
Percent
31.7
12.5
5.8
5.8
4.2
0.8
0.0
9.2
30.0
TOTAL
120
100
Not shown, but a highly recommended next step, would be a set of tables
(or columns) ranking causes of death by age. We usually look at deaths in
newborns (0-28 days of age), post-neonatal infants (one through 11 months
of age), and children one through four years of age.
Table D-6 shows the same children after analysis by consolidated cause.
Note that the numbers refer to diagnoses, not children. Note also some
important differences with Table D-5. First, malnutrition is ranked as the
second most common cause with a proportionate mortality ratio of almost
15% (compared to a PMR of 0.8% as a main cause). This is because of our
convention of coding it as an associated cause rather than a main cause.
Also note that LBW assumes greater importance. Again this has been
because of the decision to assign LBW as an associated cause (because the
more proximate “biomedical” causes are infection, low temperature, low
blood sugar, immature lungs, etc). Unfortunately these main causes are
usually unknown. One could dispute this rule; we are probably trying to
obtain an unrealistic degree of detail. Finally note that the unknown rate,
while still high, is lower than in Table D-5 (which has many main causes
listed as unknown).
Again, a separate set of tables (or columns) for various ages at death is
suggested.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
89
Table D-6: Consolidated* cause of death: Age 0-5 years, 1991
CONSOLIDATED CAUSE
Diarrhoea syndromes
Malnutrition
Prematurity/low birth weight
ARl/pneumonia
Birth injury/asphyxia
Injury
EPI-preventable
Other
Unknown
TOTAL
No. Diagnosis
42
29
27
19
7
5
1
21
45
Percent
21.5
14.9
13.8
9.7
3.6
2.6
0.5
10.8
231
196
100.5
(’main plus associated causes combined; counts refer to diagnoses, not patients)
Other types of descriptive analysis are rewarding and not difficult to
perform by hand. For example, cumulative mortality curves (0-100% of
mortality by age at death) depict the ages of death for various sub-sets of
the data: by total, by sex, or by individual diagnosis. Figure D-l is an example
showing age of death by sex, two very similar curves (in that example).
Figure D-l: Cumulative under five mortality by age and sex
o Male
Age at death in months
+ Female
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
Ma|e =
141
Female =
Missing values =
141
4
IB
90
The table shows that almost 50% of infant mortality occurred in the first
six weeks of life, a time when cultural practices make access to the baby
difficult. Teaching trained birth attendants to recognize illness in young
infants might be an answer. Likewise if a PHC manager has noticed that
no ARI deaths occurred after 24 months of age, he should focus the target
group of his ARI control programme more narrowly to the less than two
years of age.
A cautionary note in recommending policy: mortality trends need several
years of data before they can be assessed and, by the time they have been
documented, they are probably already evolving. As PHC programme
managers know, they are in the business of “changing the distribution of
death." There are several reasons why the level and composition of mortality
could change in a target group. For example, adding an ARI control
programme would hopefully lower the ARI proportionate mortality ratio,
the IMR, and the ARI ASCSMR. Comparable changes have been seen
through EPI and CDD programmes.
In addition to specific programmatic inputs, the distribution of deaths is
changing due to larger forces related to the "health transition" (a term coined
to enlarge the search for the causes of improved health beyond the usual
economic development and health services explanations). One definition of
the health transition is the “social, cultural, and behavioral factors which
parallel the epidemiologic transition and may do much to propel it.” This
related term, “epidemiologic transition,” refers to the change in disease
patterns usually accompanying “development,” i.e., a decrease in (primarily
childhood) mortality secondary to infection, malnutrition, and contaminated
environment with an increase in morbidity and mortality due to chronic
disease (in the aged) as the life expectancy increases and birth rates fall. The
terms are often used interchangeably.
The bottom line is this: a “successful” PHC manager will among other
achievements like “community empowerment” cause a favourable change
in the level and distribution of deaths in target groups. This will probably
be due to several effects: 1) specific programme activities, 2) more intangible
“social’' factors that encourage mothers to be more assertive in providing
their children the care they need; and 3) cross-sectoral economic factors,
such as income generation schemes.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix D
91
Appendix E: Verbal autopsy protocols
E.l: NEWBORN AND CHILD DEATH INQUIRY
INSTRUCTIONS
INTERVIEWER:
1.
2.
Complete pages 1-3
Complete all the modules indicated on page 3
ASSIGNER:
1.
2.
3.
Review the completed form.
For each module completed, complete the score column, and
Circle the most certain cause of death.
CODER:
1.
2.
3.
4.
For each module completed, review the assigned cause(s) of death.
Transfer all assigned causes of death to page 12, and
Tick one main cause and other associated causes (including other and
unknown).
Comment as needed.
IDENTIFYING INFORMATION:
1) Village:
2) Division:
3) House#:
4) Family no.:
5) I.D.#:
6) Name of deceased:7) Sex: M( ); F( )
8) Name of informant:
9) Relationship with deceased:
10) Date of birth:
/ /
11) Date of death:
/
/
12) Age at death:
13) Where did the child die?
1. Residence
2. Private hospital/clinic
3. Govt, hospital
4. Other: specify:
14) Did the child receive treatment outside home before death?
(
) 1. Yes
( J 2. No - GO TO QUESTION 17
(
) 3. Don’t know — GO TO
QUESTION 17
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
92
15)
If YES, where did the child receive treatment?
(
) 1. At PHC centre
(
) 2. Private doctor
(
) 3. Govt, hospital
( ) 4. Private hospital
(
) 5. Homeopath
(
) 6. Unqualified person
(
) 7. Other: Specify.
16)
What treatment did the child receive?
INFORMATION FROM FAMILY FOLDER OR OTHER SOURCES:
17) Registration date
/
/
18) Total family monthly income
19) Is the father employed?
Yes (_), No (_), Don’t know ( )
Is the mother working away from home?
Yes (_), No (_), Don’t know ( )
21) Is the mother divorced/widowed/separated?
Yes (_), No (_), Don’t know (_)
22) Ethnic group
23) Religion
24) Nutritional status (most recent prior to last illness):
NL(_); 1st (J; 2nd (J; 3rd (J
Immunization dates:
25) BCG
/
/
26) Measles
/
/
27) DPT 1
/
/
28) DPT 2
_J
/
29) DPT 1
/
/
30) Polio 1
_/
/
31) Polio 1
/
/
32) Polio 3
/
/
20)
if
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
93
33) How did the child die? (Include the informant’s exact words. Probe,
but do not interpret the history. Focus on physical events)
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
SCREENING QUESTIONS FOR CAUSES OF DEATH
Interviewer: Tick each condition present within three days of death, and
go to all modules indicated.
(N = no; Y = yes; DK = don’t know)
No.
Condition at time of death
Present within 3
days of death?
Y
N
34
Three or more loose stools in 24
hours?
35
Cough? OR
rapid breathing > 12 hrs? or
difficult breathing > 12 hrs? or
noisy breathing > 12 hrs?
Cough with vomiting in baby over
three months old?
36
37
39
DK
DIARRHOEA
■» page 95
ARI
-> page 96
PERTUSSIS
■» page 97
Extreme sleepiness & fever? OR
irritability & fever? OR
convulsions?
Stiff body? OR
lockjaw? OR
convulsions?
Death in the 1st week of life?
BRAIN INFECTION
■“ page 98
TETANUS
page 99
PERINATAL
-» page 100
Underweight OR
malnourished (local term)
MALNUTRITION
~ page 101
40
Injury or accident?
INJURY
■» page 102
No.
Condition at time of death or
within three months
41
Rash with cough within three
months prior to death?
Present within 3
days of death?
N
Y
DK
N
Y
DK
If Y or DK, go to:
MEASLES
•* page 103
When:
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
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39a
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1
1
38
If Y or DK, go to:
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94
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95
DIARRHOEA
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
No.
Was this symptom
present?
42
Were there three or more loose
or liquid stools per day?
Did the baby have: dry mouth?
OR
sunken fontanel? OR
extreme thirst? OR
sunken eyes?
Was there blood in the stools?
OR
Was there severe cramping?
OR
Was there fever?
Did the loose stools persist for
more than two days?
Did the loose stools persist for
more than 14 days?
43a
43b
43c
43d
44a
44b
44c
45
46
N
Y
DK Weight
Score
E
any =
S
any =
D
c
p
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: DIARRHOEA SYNDROMES
Assigner: Circle all possible causes at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic
likelihood
probable
possible
ACUTE WATERY
DIARRHOEA
IE + 1C + IS
1E + 1S
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
DYSENTERY
IE + ID + 1C
1E + ID
PERSISTENT
DIARRHOEA
IE + IP + 1C
1E + IP
96
ARI
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assignor: For each “Y,” enter the weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
No.
47
48
49a
49b
49c
49d
Was this symptom present?
Was there a cough for more
than two days?
Was there rapid breathing for
more than one day?
Was there, for more than 1/2
day:
chest wall indrawing? OR
nostril flaring? OR
grunting on breathing out? OR
blue lips or tongue?
N
Y
DK
Weight
E
Score
E
any =
E
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: ARI
Assignor: Circle cause at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic
likelihood
probable
possible
ARI
3E
2E
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
uu (U dJ
score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y” or unshaded “DK,” enter the weight letter in the
No.
50
51
52
53
54
55
Was this symptom present? DK
Were there bouts of severe
coughing for more than two
weeks?
Was there choking or vomiting
after coughing bouts?
Was there a “whoop" sound
during breathing in?
Was there swelling of the
eyelids?
Were there other cases of
“whooping cough” in the
village/ neighbourhood?
Did the baby receive three or
more DPT shots?
N
Y
Weight
c
c
c
s
s
X
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: PERTUSSIS
Assigner: Circle cause at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic likelihood
probable
possible
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PERTUSSIS
97
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
PERTUSSIS
3C + no X or
2C + 2S + no X
2C + no X
Score
98
BRAIN INFECTION
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y” or unshaded “DK,” enter the weight letter in the
score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
No.
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
Was this symptom present? DK
Was there fever7
Was the child more irritable
when picked up than when left
alone?
Was there extreme sleepiness?
Was the neck stiff?
Were there any convulsions?
Was there a raised fontanel?
Was there vomiting?
N
Y
Weight
E
C
Score
C
C
C
S
S
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: BRAIN INFECTION
Assigner: Circle cause at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic likelihood
probable
possible
IB
BRAIN INFECTION
IE + 3C or
IE + 2C + 2S
1E + 2C
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
99
TETANUS
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
Table A. NEWBORNS DYING BETWEEN AGE 3-28 DAYS OF LIFE
(younger newborns go to PERINATAL MODULE; older children: see
Table B below)
No.
Was this symptom present?
DK N
Y
Weight
63
Was the death between 3-28
E
days of age?
64
Was the baby able to suck well
E
after birth?
65
Was the law locked?
C
any =
Was there: back-arching/
66a
C
rigidity? OR
66b
Score
convulsions?
Table B. OLDER CHILDREN (MORE THAN 28 DAYS OF AGE)
Weight
DK N
Y
Was this symptom present?
No.
Ch
Did the child’s body become
67
rigid?
Ch
Was the law locked?
68
Were there convulsions? AND
69a
both =
Was the child awake between
69b
Ch
them?
Score
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: TETANUS SYNDROMES
Assigner: Circle all possible causes at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic likelihood
probable
possible
NEWBORN TETANUS
2E + 2C
2E + 1C
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
CHILD TETANUS
3Ch
2Ch
100
PERINATAL SYNDROMES
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
No.
70
71
72a
72b
73a
73b
74
75
76
77
Was this symptom present?
DK
Did the baby die before age 7
days?
Did the baby fail to shown signs
of life?
(crying, breathing, moving)
Was the baby smaller than
usual? AND
born of a pregnancy of < 8
months?
Was the baby smaller than
usual? AND
born of a pregnancy of >or = 8
months?
Did the baby not cry for at least
five minutes after birth?
Did the baby have convulsions?
Was the delivery longer than 12
hours?
Did the baby show any
abnormality of head,
chest/abdomen, arms/legs?
N
Y
Weight
E
Score
SB
both =
PR
both =
SGA
C
C
C
A
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: PERINATAL SYNDROMES
Assigner: Circle all possible causes at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic
likelihood
probable
possible
PREMATURITY SMALL FOR
BIRTH CONGENITAL
GESTATIONAL INJURY/
ANOMALY
AGE
ASPHYXIA
IE + 1SB
1E + 3C
IE + 1A
IE + 1SGA
IE +1 PR
1E + 2C
STILL
BIRTH
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
l'
101
MALNUTRITION
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
No.
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
Was this symptom present?
In the month before death was
the child;
Listless? OR
Lacking energy? OR
Disinterested in surroundings?
Did the child have malnutrition
(local term)?
FOR CHILDREN > six
MONTHS: Was the child fed
any milk besides breast milk
before age six months?
In the three months before
death, did the child have
diarrhea three or more times?
In the three months before
death did any diarrhea episode
last more than 14 days?
In the three months before
death did the child have
diarrhea AND pneumonia
(either at the same time or at
different times)9
Was the child especially hungry
compared to other children
his/her age?
DK
N
Y
Weight
c
c
c
s
s
s
s
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: MALNUTRITION
Assigner: Circle cause at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic
likelihood
probable
possible
MALNUTRITION
2C
1C-2S
1C or 3S
DHC ' >00
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
.1 0 6 2
a
Score
102
INJURY
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Make sure that the informant’s history is complete (page 2).
Additional space is provided below if needed.
No.
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
Were any of these situations present?
Was there a bite or sting from an animal or poisonous insect?
Was there a burn?
Was there drowning?
Was there poisoning?
Was there a traffic accident?
Was there a fall?
Was there choking?
Was there cutting or piercing from a sharp object or bullet
like projectile?
DK
N
Y
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: INJURY
Assigner: Each “Y” represents a probable injury diagnosis.
Diagnostic
likelihood
probable
INJURY
1Y
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
103
MEASLES
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of death.
No.
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
Was this symptom present?
Did the child die after age (our months?
Was there rash for more than three days?
Was there fever for more than three days?
Was there cough with the rash?
IF the child survived for more than five days
after the rash started, did the skin peel all
over? (not applicable)
During the fever & rash, were the eyes red?
Were there other cases of measles in the
house or in the villaqe/neiqhbourhood?
In your opinion, did the child have measles
within three months of death?
Did the rash ever look like little blisters
filled with water?
DK
N
Y
C
S
S
X
SCORING CAUSE OF DEATH: MEASLES
Assigner: Circle cause at the highest level of certainty
Diagnostic
likelihood
probable
possible
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
Weight
E
E
E
E
C
MEASLES
4E 4- 2C + no X or
4E + 1C + 2S + no X
4E + 1C + no X
Score
CAUSE OF DEATH: CODING CHART
Coder: Follow decision rules to code cause of death by ONE main and any
associated cause(s). Add comments as desired. Sign and date. Thank you.
CAUSE OF DEATH
probable
possible
Main
(1 only)
Associated
fl f I U
Acute watery diarrhoea
Dysentery
Persistent diarrhoea
ARI
Pertussis
Measles
Brain infection
Neonatal tetanus
Childhood tetanus
Stillbirth
Prematurity
Small for gestational age
Birth injury/asphyxia
Congenital anomaly
Injury: specify
Other: specify
Unknown
CODER COMMENTS:
CODER SIGNATURE:
DATE:
® ® W W W fl ®
DX
Code
no.
f l f l f l f l fl
104
DATE:
ira
REVIEWER SIGNATURE
w w
REVIEWER COMMENTS:
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
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105
NEWBORN AND CHILD DEATH INQUIRY
INSTRUCTIONS TO TRAINERS AND INTERVIEWERS:
EXPLANATION OF QUESTIONS
No. Explanation
Three or more loose stools in 24 hours: separate episodes in a day
Cough:
Rapid breathing: faster than normal
Difficult breathing: requires more muscular effort; sucking in of skin
between/above/below ribs; unable to drink normally; chest wall caving in
Noisy Breathing: normal breathing is quiet; noisy breathing has sounds
on breathing in or out; squeaks, wheezes, grunts
36. Cough with vomiting: coughing so hard that it causes the baby to
vomit
37. Extreme sleepiness and fever: does not wake up enough to recog
nize mother or eat properly
Irritability and fever: cries more than usual
38. Stiff body:
Lockjaw: jaw won’t fully open
41. Rash with cough within three months of death: red spots on body
42. Same as 34
43a. Dry mouth: loss of wetness or saliva on inner lips, inner cheeks, tongue
43b. Extreme thirst: frantic for liquids
43c. Sunken eyes: eyes that look “owlish” with darkish depressions
around them due to loss of water
43d. Sunken fontanel: baby’s soft spot may normally sink a bit when up
right; this is much more than that
44a. Blood in stool: usually small reddish spots in the motions, but may be
lots
44b. Severe cramping: cries just before or during passing motions
44c. Fever: temperature above 101 degrees F (38.5 C) or felt warm
45. Loose stools persist for more than two days: at least into the 3rd day
46. Loose stools persist for more than 14 days: passed loose stools daily
for this period
47. Cough for more than 2 days: at least into the third day
48. Rapid breathing: see 35
49a. Chest wall in-drawing: lower ribs suck in with breathing in (the op
posite of what normally happens)
49b. Nostril flaring: nostrils widen and open up to let more air in
49c. Grunting on breathing out: brief vocalizations during exhaling as if
in pain; best to demonstrate: “hgh” (listen to your trainer)
34.
35.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
106
49d. Blue lips or tongue: dusky blueness (can also be seen in nail beds)
50. Bouts of severe coughing: coughing spells for more than a minute
separated by quiet episodes
51. Choking or vomiting after coughing bouts: like 36, but adds the idea
of choking. Babies can choke either on mucus or their vomit
52. “Whoop” sound: or “Hooo” sound as baby breathes in usually at
the end of a long coughing bout
53. Swelling of eyelids: puffiness of upper and/or lower lids
55. Did the baby receive three or more DPT shots: by written record only.
Most will not be able to prove this
56. Fever: see 44c
57. More irritable when picked up: usually sick children prefer to be picked
up and become less irritable. Babies who hurt don’t want to be touched
58. Extreme sleepiness: see 37
59. Neck stiff: hurts to bend the neck forward. The head may be bent back
60. Convulsions: episodes of jerking of arms and/or legs with or without
loss of consciousness; seizures, fits
61. Raised fontanel: full or bulging soft spot, especially when baby held
erect
63. Death between 3-28 days: dying on the 3rd through the 28th day of
life
64. Suck well after birth: Normal sucking at least three different times
65. Jaw locked: can’t open enough to suck
66a. Back arching: back bent backwards and stiff in that position
66b. Convulsions: see 60
67. Rigid body: arms and/or legs and/or back all stiff, possibly with
back arching like 66b
68. Jaw locked: can’t open enough to eat
69. Convulsions AND awake between them: although the child is very
sick, he is conscious between the convulsions; he may move eyes to
mother or express emotion
70. Die before age seven days: dies in the first week of life
71. Fail to show signs of life: was the baby dead at birth, i.e., without
heartbeat, breathing, crying, movement or arms/legs/face muscles
72a. Smaller than normal: smaller than the usual newborn? or less than
2500 grams (if weighed)
72b. Pregnancy < 8 months: premature
73a. See 72a
73b. Pregnancy or = 8 months: at full term or nearly so
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
107
Not cry for at least five minutes after birth: almost all healthy babies
cry after a few seconds or minutes of birth. Five minutes is a long
time NOT to cry, and the mother should remember it
75. Convulsions: see 60; they are harder to see in a newborn
76. Delivery 12 hours: was there pushing for more than 12 hours
85. Bite or sting: animal (large or small): mammal, bird, insect, spider, reptile,
fish, jellyfish, and so on
86. Burn: from flame, heater, stove, etc.
87. Drowning: in pond, river, sea, bucket of water, dish of milk, etc.
88. Poisoning: medicine, plant, cleaner, chemical, insecticide, petrol, rat
poison, etc.
89. Traffic accident: an event involving any of the following: pedestrian
and/or passengers on wheeled conveyance (car, rickshaw, bicycle,
tonga, motorcycle, bus, etc.)
90. Fall; from standing onto a hard surface, from a tree, from a cliff, etc.
91. Choking on food, on a toy, on a stick; suffocating while sleeping, etc.
92. Cutting, piercing object: gunshot, knifeblade, glass, arrow, etc.
93. After age four months: after he turned four months
94. Rash for more than three days: at least into the fourth day
95. Fever for more than three days: see 44c
96. Cough with rash: cough for three days also
97. Peeling rash after the fifth day: skin flakes off
98. Red eyes: visible red lines (tiny blood vessels) or generalized redness of
the whites of the eyes
101. Rash look like blisters; did it look like chickenpox
74.
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.l
ti
108
E.2: MATERNAL DEATH INQUIRY
INSTRUCTIONS
INTERVIEWER:
1. Complete pages 1-3.
2. Complete all the modules indicated on page 3.
ASSIGNER:
1. Review the completed form.
2. For each module completed, complete the score column, and
3. Circle the most certain cause of death.
CODER:
1. For each module completed, review the assigned cause(s) of death.
2. Transfer all assigned causes of death to page 10, and
3. Tick one main cause and other associated causes (including other and
unknown).
4. Comment as needed.
IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
1) Name of deceased:
2) I.D.#:
__________
3) Village:4) Division:
5) House #■.
6) Family no.:
7) Name of informant:
8) Relationship to deceased:
9) Date of deceased’s birth:
10) Date of deceased’s death
11) Deceased’s age at death
_____________________
12) Total family monthly income
13) Language group:
14) Religion:
15) What was her marital status at the time of death?
( ) Married ( ) Divorced ( ) Separated
( ) Widowed ( ) Single
16) If MARRIED, how long had she been married?
(
)
17) How many time had she been pregnant?
(
)
18) How many abortions had she had?
(
)
19) How many stillbirths had she had?
(
)
20) How many children were born alive to her?
(
)
21) How many of those children are still alive?
()
if
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
109
22) Was she pregnant in the last five years?
(
23) If YES, how many times?
(
24) Was she pregnant at the time of death?
(
25) If YES, for how many months?
(
26) Had she been pregnant within 42 days of death?
(
27) Where did the woman die? ...( ) 1. Residence
( ) 2. Private hospital/clinic
( ) 3. Govt, hospital
( ) 4. Other: specify:
28) Did she receive treatment outside home before death?
( ) 1. Yes
( ) 2. No
( ) 3. Don’t know
29) If YES, where did the she receive treatment?
( ) 1. At PHC centre
( ) 2. Private Doctor (MBBS)
( ) 3. Govt, hospital
( ) 4. Private hospital
( ) 5. Homeopath
( ) 6. Unqualified person
( ) 7. Other: specify:
30)
)
)
)
)
)
How did the woman die? Include all treatments received. (Include
the informant’s exact words. Probe, but do no interpret the history.
Focus on physical events)
%
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
«
no
SCREENING QUESTIONS FOR CAUSES OF DEATH
Interviewer: Tick a response for each TIME and sign combination, and
go to all modules indicated.
(N = no; Y = yes; DK = don’t know)
ANTEPARTUM
HEMORRHAGE
— page 112
33
Post-delivery AND
vaginal bleeding up to death
POSTPARTUM
HEMORRHAGE
— page 113
34
During labour AND
baby not delivered in 24 hours
OBSTRUCTED LABOR
— page 114
35
During pregnancy OR labour
OR delivery OR delivery day
AND seizures
Early OR mid-pregnancy AND
fever OR
ECLAMPSIA MODULE
-* page 115
tr i
m
'S t
Cl
Wt
l»|J
Abdominal pain OR foul
smelling vaginal discharge
‘
37
ABORTION
(MISCARRIAGE)
■» page 116
ret
36
w
32
PUERPERAL INFECTION
-» page 111
IK i
Post-delivery AND
fever OR
foul smelling vaginal discharge
mid- OR late pregnancy AND
vaginal bleeding up to death
If Y or DK, go to:
l« | la i
31
Present at
death?
N
Y
DK
JBI
Time and Sign
Module 4; Surveillance; appendix E.2
W
No.
Ill
PUERPERAL INFECTION
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the Weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of
death.
Sign or symptom
No.
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
No Don’t
know
Was the death after delivery?
Was the death within six weeks of
delivery?
Was the death within one week of
delivery?
Was there fever?
Were there chills and sweats?
Was there a foul-smelling vaginal
discharge?
Was there abdominal pain (below the
navel)?
Was there bleeding from several sites?
Yes
Weight
Score
E
E
C
S
C
C
C
C
RULES FOR ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH: PUERPERAL
SEPSIS
Assigner: Determine the score (above), and circle the highest level of cer
tainty.
Probability
possible
probable
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
Score
2E + 1C + IS
2E + 2C
112
ANTEPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the Weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of
death.
No.
Sign or symptom
46
Did the death occur in mid- or late
pregnancy?
Was the woman not in labor?
Was the bleeding painless?
Had there been previous painless vaginal
bleeding during this pregnancy?
Was there sudden abdominal pain below
the navel?
Did the abdomen swell below the navel?
47
48
49
50
51
No
Don’t
know
Yes
Weight
Score
E
E
P
PS
A
AS
RULES FOR ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH: ANTEPARTUM
HEMORRHAGE
Assigner: Determine the score (above), and circle the highest level of cer
tainty.
Probability
possible
probable
Diagnosis Score
Placenta Previa
Placental
Abruption
2E + IP
2E + 1A
2E + IP + IPS
2E + 1A + IAS
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
113
POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
Interviewer: Answerback! question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the Weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of
death.
No.
Sign or symptom
52
Was there heavy vaginal bleeding up
to the time of death, such as:
bright red blood? OR
clots?OR
pads could not keep up with it?
Was the afterbirth incompletely
delivered?
Were shreds of membranes visible in
the birth canal?
53
54
No
Don’t
know
Yes
Weight
Score
E
C
C
RULES FOR ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH: POSTPARTUM
HEMORRHAGE
Assigner: Determine the score (above), and circle the highest level of cer
tainty.
Probability
possible
probable
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
Score
IE
IE + 1C
114
OBSTRUCTED LABOR
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the Weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of
death.
No.
Sign or symptom
55
Was the woman in labour for more
than 24 hours?
Was the woman in labour for more
than 48 hours?
Was the abdominal pain worse than
the usual pains of labour9
Was there abdominal swelling or
change in abdominal shape?
Was there heavy vaginal bleeding up
to the time of death7
Was there an abnormal presentation
of the baby (feet, bottom, arm,
shoulder, cord first; or twins)?
Was the mother short (less than five
feet or less than 150 cm)?
Was there a history of large previous
babies?
|
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
No
Don't
know
Yes
Weight
Score
E
C
C
C
C
S
s
s
RULES FOR ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH: OBSTRUCTED
LABOR
Assigner: Determine the score (above), and circle the highest level of cer
tainty.
Probability
possible
probable
Score
1E + 2C
IE + 2C + 2S or
IE + 3c
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
115
ECLAMPSIA
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the Weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of
death.
No.
Sign or symptom
63
64
65
Was the woman pregnant?
Was there at least one seizure?
Was there swelling of the.
face? OR
Hands and ankles? OR
Was there high blood pressure during
the pregnancy?
Was this the first pregnancy?
Was there:
headache? OR
visual disturbance?
Was there abdominal pain?
66
67
68
69
No Don’t
know
Yes
Weight
Score
E
E
C
C
S
s
s
RULES FOR ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH: ECLAMPSIA
Assigner: Determine the score (above), and circle the highest level of cer
tainty.
Probability
possible
probable
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
Score
2E + 1C
2E + 2C or
2E + 1C + 2S
116
ABORTION (MISCARRIAGE)
Interviewer: Answer each question. (DK = don’t know; N = no; Y = yes)
Assigner: For each “Y,” enter the Weight letter in the score column.
Refer to the ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH table to assign cause of
death.
No.
Sign or symptom
70
Was the woman in early or midpregnancv?
Was there fever?
Was there foul smelling vaginal
discharge?
Was there abdominal pain below the
navel?
Was there:
Depression OR
Unwanted pregnancy OR
Was there vaginal bleeding up to time
of death?
Was there passage of incompletely
formed baby or tissue?
71
72
73
74
75
76
No
Don’t
know
Yes
Weight
Score
§!-
E
C
C
&■
C
C
C
E
E
E
&
RULES FOR ASSIGNING CAUSE OF DEATH: Abortion
(miscarriage) Related
Assigner: Determine the score (above), and circle the highest level of cer
tainty.
&
p;
Probability
possible
probable
Score
2E + 1C
2E + 2C
E£'
«?■
S
&
&’
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
117
CAUSE OF DEATH: CODING CHART
Coder: Follow decision rules to code cause(s) of death by ONE main and
any associated cause(s). Add comments as desired. Sign and date. Thank
you.
DX
code
no.
Cause of death
probable
possible
main
(1 only)
associated
Puerperal infection
Placenta previa
Placental abruption
Postpartum hemorrhage
Obstructed labor
Eclampsia
Abortion-related
Other: (specify)
Unknown
CODER COMMENTS:
CODER SIGNATURE:
DATE:
REVIEWER COMMENTS:
REVIEWER SIGNATURE: DATE:
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
118
DEFINITIONS: TIME OF DEATH AND MAJOR SIGNS
Time of death
• Early pregnancy; missed periods with prior regular periods; breast swell
ing; without noticeable abdominal swelling; may not be known by anyone,
including the decedent
• Mid-pregnancy; visibly pregnant; no periods for 4-6 months; baby due in
3-5 months; baby may be kicking; usually noticed by family; almost always
by the mother-to-be
• Late pregnancy; very visibly pregnant; definite baby kicking; no periods
for 6-9 months; baby due in 0-3 months
• Labour; intermittent pains present with or without the urge to push;
passage of water; bloody show
• Delivery; urge to push with the appearance and birth of the baby and
passage of the afterbirth
• Post-delivery; within 42 days of delivery
Signs
• Vaginal bleeding up to death: passage of copious bright red blood, dark
blood, or clots from the vagina/birth canal
• Seizures: interrupted consciousness with stiffening and/or jerking of one
or more limbs, +/- jaw clenching, +/- loss of urinary continence
• Abdominal pain/tenderness (not in labour): in this case, usual lower
mid-line, anterior discomfort which is below the navel, i.e., where the
womb is
• Difficult delivery with labour 24 hours: the normal discomfort of inter
mittent labor pains evolved into prolonged bouts of unrelenting pain,
often with maternal physical and mental exhaustion without achieving
delivery within a day’s time
• Fever: temperature above 100 degrees F or “feels warm to touch” or
intermittently clammy (cold) and flushed (sweaty, warm) skin; may have
chills (mild shivers) or rigours (severe shivers)
• Foul-smelling vaginal discharge: bloody or purulent mucus discharge from
vagina/birth canal that has an unusually bad odor
Module 4: Surveillance; appendix E.2
121
References and bibliography
General
• CDC. Guidelines for evaluation surveillance systems. Morbidity and moni
toring weekly report supplement. Vol 37, No. S-5, May 6,1988.
• Halperin W. and E. L. Baker. Public health surveillance. Van Nostrand
Reinhold, New York, 1992.
• WHO/EPI/MLM/91.4. Training for mid-level managers: disease surveil
lance. Revised, 1991.
• Vaughan J. P. and R. M. Marrow. Manual of epidemiology for district health
management. WHO, 1989.
• Vernon, A. Cause of death from hospital data in developing countries: A
review based on the CCCD experience with hospital-based mortality surveil
lance systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Draft discussion paper, 9 May 1992.
Verbal Autopsy
• Bang, A.T. and R. A. Bang and the SEARCH team. Diagnosis of causes of
childhood deaths in developing countries by verbal autopsy; suggested
criteria. WHO Bull., pp. 499-507,1992.
• Gray, R. H. "Verbal autopsy: using interviews to determine causes of death
in children," IIP Occasional paper, no. 14. The Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, USA, March, 1991.
• Gray, R. H., et al. "The use of verbal autopsy methods to determine selected
causes of death in children." IIP Occasional paper no. 10. The Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, February, 1990.
• Kalter, H. D., et al. "Validation of postmortem interviews to ascertain
selected causes of death in children." IntJEpi. 19:380-386,1990.
• Snow, B. and K. Marsh. "How useful are verbal autopsies to estimate
childhood causes of death?" Health policy and planning. 7:22-29,1992.
• Snow, R. W., et al. "Childhood deaths in Africa: uses and limitations of
verbal autopsies." Lancet, 340:351-355,1992.
Module 4: Surveillance; references
122
Acronyms and abbreviations
AKF
ALRI
AKU
ANC
ARI
AWD
BCG
CCCD
CDC
CDD
CHN
CHW
DPT
EPI
FUO
GM
HH
HIV
IECIMR
LBW
MCH
MIS
MMR
MOH
NNT
OPV
ORS
ORT
PHC
PHC MAP
PMR
SGA
STD
TB
TBA
TT
WHO
Aga Khan Foundation
Acute lower respiratory infection
Aga Khan University
Antenatal care
Acute respiratory infection
Acute watery diarrhoea
Bacillus of Calmette and Guerin
Combatting Childhood Communicable Diseases
Center for Disease Control, U.S. Public Health Service (USA)
Control of diarrhoeal diseases
Community health nurse
Community health worker
Diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus
Expanded Programme for Immunization
Fever of unknown origin
Growth monitoring
Household
Human immunodeficiency virus
Information, education, communication
Infant mortality rate
Low birth weight
Maternal and child health
Management information system
Maternal mortality rate
Ministry of health
Neonatal tetanus
Oral poliovirus vaccine
Oral rehydration salts
Oral rehydration therapy
Primary health care
Primary Health Care Management Advancement Programme
Proportionate mortality rate
Small for gestational age
Sexually-transmitted diseases
Tuberculosis
Traditional birth attendant
Tetanus toxoid
World Health Organization
Module 4: Surveillance; acronyms and abbreviations
123
Glossary
Attack rate: The percentage of individuals in a defined group who get a
disease over a defined time period.
Case: An individual situation or occurrence. In health this usually refers to
an individual person with a disease, health problem or who has died.
Case fatality rate: The proportion who die, of the number of persons
diagnosed as having a specific disease.
Catchment (area): The geographic area surrounding one or more health
facilities. It refers to the population residing in that area, which includes the
programme’s target populations.
Census: A count of all members of a population.
Community health worker (CHW): A person indigenous to the com
munity who provides basic health promotion, disease prevention and
curative health services to members of the community. Includes "village
health workers," "health guides," and other terms.
Coverage: The proportion of a target group that has received a service or
is protected from a disease or health problem.
Disease surveillance: The collection of information about cases of
diseases and the use of that information to evaluate the effectiveness of
preventive activities to correct any problems which hinder disease-reduction
objectives from being met.
Disease trend: The pattern formed by increases and decreases in the
number of reported cases of disease over time.
Effectiveness: The degree to which desired outcomes are achieved.
Efficiency: The degree to which desired outcomes are achieved without
wasting resources.
Endemic: The constant presence of a disease or infectious agent within a
given geographic area.
Epidemic: The occurrence in a community or region of more cases of a
disease than usually occur in a specified period of time. Synonym: outbreak.
Epidemic pattern: The occurrence of a disease in a pattern in which more
cases occur during certain periods of time than in other periods.
Incidence: The number of new cases of a disease in a defined population
during a specified period of time.
Incubation: The time interval between initial contact with an infectious
agent and the appearance of the first sign or symptom of disease.
Indicator: An indirect measure of an event or condition. For example, a
baby’s weight-for-age is an indicator of the baby’s nutritional status.
Module 4: Surveillance; glossary
IB
124
Inputs: Resources, e.g., personnel, equipment, information and money.
Lay definition: Non-medical definition, using terminology easily under
stood and used by non-clinical individuals to describe a medical event or
condition.
Management: The art and science of getting things done through people.
Objectives: The output and/or effect your PHC programme hopes to have.
Outbreak: The occurrence in a community or region of more cases of a
disease than usually occur in a specified period of time. Synonym: epidemic.
Outbreak investigation: A study conducted for the purpose of collecting
data about an outbreak, with the objective of controlling the outbreak and
preventing similar outbreaks in the future.
Outcomes: Results of your PHC programme, including outputs, effects and
impacts.
Outputs: Products and services provided by a PHC programme.
Effects: Changes in knowledge, skills, attitude, and behaviour (including
coverage) as a result of a PHC programme.
Impacts: Changes in health status, (mortality, morbidity, disability,
fertility) as a result of a PHC programme.
Percentage: A proportion multiplied by 100. For example 3,500 children
immunized out of 5,000 x 100. (3,250/5,000) * 100 = 65%.
Prevalence: The total number of cases of a disease in a defined population
at a specified point in of time. Also used with "coverage," as with the
“contraceptive prevalence rate,” meaning the proportion of the target
population that is currently practising family planning.
Primary health care: Essential health care, accessible at affordable cost
to the community and the country, based on practical, scientifically sound
and socially acceptable methods. It includes at least eight components:
health education, proper nutrition, basic sanitation, maternal and child
health care, immunization, control of common diseases and injuries, pre
vention of local endemic diseases and provision of essential drugs.
Processes: Activities or tasks carried out through the PHC programme.
Proportion: A special type of ratio expressing a relationship between a
part and the whole. For example, 3,250 children immunized out of 5 000
(3,2500/5,000 = .65).
Rate: A measure of the frequency of occurrence of an event, such as cases
per month.
Ratio: Two numbers related to each other in a fraction or decimal, such
as the number of cases of measles per 1,000 children. Any fraction, quotient,
proportion, or percentage is a ratio.
Module 4: Surveillance; glossary
125
Routine reporting site: Compilation and reporting of selected epidemi
ological data by all health facilities in a designated surveillance area. Data
are usually taken from routine records.
Seasonal variation: The occurrence of a disease in a pattern where more
cases occur in one (or more) seasons of the year.
Sentinel reporting site: A health facility that is specially chosen to
collect and report specific epidemiological data, often taken from special
records and forms.
Signs of disease: The evidence of disease found in a case by the examiner.
Special surveys: Studies that collect data that cannot be obtained from
routine and sentinel reporting systems.
Symptoms of disease: The sensations of disease felt by the patient.
System: A set of discrete, but interdependent, components designed to
achieve one or more objectives.
Target group: Specific groups of people designated to receive a PHC
service, such as children under age three.
Vaccine efficacy: The ability of a vaccine to prevent disease when used
in routine immunization services.
Verbal autopsy: An in-depth investigation by structured interviews of
the cause of death and the circumstances leading up to it.
Vital registration: Recording and reporting of births and deaths on a
routine basis to a central authority by public and private health providers.
Module 4: Surveillance; glossary
126
School children can be a useful resource for identifying health
risks at home, promoting healthy behaviour, maintaining
simple records and controlling common local diseases
Photo by Jean Luc Ray for AKF
PHC MAP MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Dr. Ronald Wilson • Aga Khan Foundation, Switzerland (Co-Chair)
Dr. Jack Bryant • Aga Khan University, Pakistan (Co-Chair)
Dr. William Steeler • Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan, France (Co-Chair)
Dr. Jack Reynolds • Center for Human Services, USA (PHC MAP Director)
Dr. David Nicholas • Center for Human Services, USA
Dr. Duane Smith • Aga Khan Foundation, Switzerland
Dr. Pierre Claquin • Aga Khan Foundation, Switzerland
Mr. Aziz Currimbhoy • Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan
Mr. Kabir Mitha • Aga Khan Health Service, India
Dr. Nizar Verjee • Aga Khan Health Service, Kenya
Ms. Khatidja Husein • Aga Khan University, Pakistan
Dr. Sadia Chowdhury • Aga Khan Community Health Programme, Bangladesh
Dr. Mizan Siddiqi • Aga Khan Community Health Programme, Bangladesh
Dr. Krasae Chanawongse • ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Thailand
Dr. Yawarat Porapakkham • ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Thailand
Dr. Jumroon Mikhanorn • Somboon Vacharotai Foundation, Thailand
Dr. Nirmala Murthy • Foundation for Research in Health Systems, India
PHC MAP TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Dr. Nirmala Murthy • Foundation for Research in Health Systems, India (Chair)
Dr. Krasae Chanawongse • ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Thailand
Dr. Al Henn • African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), formerly of
the Harvard Institute for International Development
Dr. Siraj-ul Haque Mahmud • Ministry of Planning, Pakistan
Dr. Peter Tugwell • Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada
Dr. Dan Kaseje • Christian Medical Commission, Switzerland, formerly of the
University of Nairobi, Kenya
KEY PHC MAP STAFF AT THE CENTER FOR HUMAN SERVICES
Dr. Jack Reynolds (PHC MAP Director)
Dr. Paul Richardson
Dr. David Nicholas
Dr. Wayne Stinson
Ms. Maria Francisco
Dr. Neeraj Kak
Ms. Lori DiPrete Brown
Ms. Pam Homan
Dr. Lynne Miller Franco
Ms. Mary Millar
MODULE 4
USER’S GUIDE
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