Epidemiological Surveillance and Analysis
A main task of the SMI is surveillance of communicable diseases and analysis of the current epidemiological situation, in Sweden as well as internationally. The surveillance is carried out in close collaboration with the County Medical Officers of Communicable Disease Control. The basis for the surveillance is the registration of the 64 notifiable diseases according to the Communicable Disease Act. These pathogens are notifiable in parallel to the SMI and the County Medical Officers, both by the clinicians and the laboratories.
The Department is also responsible for the surveillance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), and reports regularly to the EU commission and to the EU Nero CJD Network. Another task of the Department of Epidemiology is the surveillance of the coverage of the national vaccination program, and, together with the Department of Virology, the influenza surveillance.
The surveillance data are collected and analyzed, with the help of a computerized reporting system, SmiNet. After further data processing and analysis, the surveillance information is fed back via this homepage, the Yearly Report of Department of Epidemiology, and the weekly bulletin EPI-aktuellt (in Swedish). Longer reports are published in the bimonthly periodical Smittskydd (also in Swedish).
Despite advanced computer system, mere collection of data would have been of limited use. Numerical data must always be related to circumstances that affect these data, such as introduction of new laboratory methods, shifting indications for sampling, ongoing research projects or screening programs, etc. This analysis requires firm knowledge of the diseases under surveillance, as well as a considerable contact net. A large number of experts, within and outside the SMI, are engaged in an ongoing discussion on the circumstances that lie beyond the figures. For this reason, the Yearly Report of Department of Epidemiology is a key document, where the statistics from the past year are accounted for and discussed.
However, the surveillance is not limited to what happens within the Swedish borders. The epidemiological situation and development in our neighbouring countries, from which infectious diseases could quickly spread to Sweden, is followed closely. This is also done for more remote countries to which Swedes are travelling. Apart from traditional sources of information, such as the WHO and the communicable disease control institutes of other countries, various Internet resources are increasingly used.
Uppdaterad 2009-10-14 08:53