Table 1 Key aspects of syndromic surveillance systems assessing the A/H1N1 pandemic in Europe*
Country | System name/Short description | Data source | Coding system | Type of syndromic ILI definition (individual, national, European, CDC) | Host (administrative level) | Potential administrative level of analysis | Prospective (P) or retrospective (R) data analysis | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austria | SIDARTHa Tirol | Emergency medical dispatch centre | Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (AMPDS) | Individual | Regional | Local†, regional‡ | R | [21] |
Belgium | SIDARTHa Leuven | Emergency Department | Free-text | Individual | n.a. | Local | R | [21] |
SIDARTHa Belgium | Ambulance service | ICD-9 | Individual | National | National | R | [21] | |
Belgian absenteeism surveillance | Absenteeism | Number of absent students and workers | n.a.; (partly absenteeism due to illness) | National | Regional, national | P | [22] | |
Denmark | DMOS unscheduled general practitioner influenza surveillance | Primary care | ILI checkbox in electronic patient record | Close to national and European | National | Regional, national | P | [23] |
France | Lyon emergency department surveillance | Emergency department | UrgIndex coding system based on free-text, ICD-10 | Individual | Local | Local | R | [24] |
Ireland | Out-of-hours general practitioner telephone service surveillance | Telephone helpline | Free-text | National, CDC, individual | Local | Local, regional, national | P | [25] |
Italy | Liguria emergency department surveillance | Emergency department | Free-text | Close to CDC | n.a. | Local, regional | P | |
Spain | SIDARTHa Cantabria | Emergency department | Canadian Emergency Department Triage and Acuity Scale (regional adaptation) | National, close to European | n.a. | Local | R | |
Sweden | GETWELL | Web queries | Free-text | Individual, oriented at European | National | National (regional focus: Capital region) | P | |
United Kingdom | NHS Direct surveillance England/Wales | Telephone helpline | NHS Direct clinical assessment system protocol | Individual | National (England) | Local, regional, national (England, Wales) | P | |
Q-Surveillance (scheduled care surveillance England) | Primary care | READ code | Individual | National (England) | Local, regional, national (England) | P | ||
School surveillance West Midlands | Absenteeism | n.a., number of absent students | n.a. (absenteeism due to illness) | Local | Local | R | [35] | |
UK retail sales surveillance | Over-the-counter sales | No information | Individual | n.a. | Local, regional, national (England) | R | [36] | |
NHS 24 surveillance Scotland | Telephone helpline | Call protocol codes, free-text | Individual | National (Scotland) | Local, regional, national (Scotland) | P | [37] | |
Europe | Google Flu Trends surveillance Europe | Web queries | Free-text | Individual | n.a. | National | R | [38] |