An Assessment of Introducing Internet Reporting System for Enhancing Influenza Surveillance

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Influenza is one of the most important diseases that should be monitored for its activities and antigenic changes throughout the world. In Korea, there is a nationwide influenza surveillance system in which 649 sentinel clinics and hospitals (selected by the regional population distribution) have participated. However, there were a few crucial problems due to the low level of participation in the system and the time consuming process of collecting laboratory diagnosis results. To increase the participation and Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) case reporting rate, the internet reporting system of the influenza surveillance was introduced. METHODS: The surveillance data obtained through online were analysed and a questionnaire survey was conducted to sentinel physicians. RESULTS: The average annual participation rate was 53% in the season 2001-2002 and it was increased to 61.8% in 2002-2003. After we introduced the internet reporting system, the annual participating rate rose up to 74.0%. The average annual reporting rate of ILI was 6.9%, 6.6% and 11.4% in the season 2001-2002, 2002-2003 and 2003-2004, respectively. The utility rate of internet reporting system was 62.4%. According to the questionnaire survey (n=109), 57.8% of sentinels answered that the change of reporting system helped to promote the participation rate to the influenza surveillance attributing it to the public advertisement (46.0%) and the convenience of the internet reporting system (30.2%). CONCLUSION: By introducing the internet reporting system which enhances the influenza surveillance, higher rate of sentinel participation can be achieved.