Lessons from measles surveillance in the U.S. outlined.

2004 JUL 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Investigators outline the lessons learned from establishing and evaluating indicators of the quality of measles surveillance in the United States in a recent issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

"As part of a strategy to eliminate measles, seven indicators were adopted in the United States in 1996 to ensure the quality of measles surveillance. This report summarizes the U.S. experience with these indicators during 1996-1998. The indicators are compiled from data reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during routine surveillance supplemented with information collected directly from states," researchers in the United States report.

"Measles case investigations are generally thorough, and sufficient information is collected to control and monitor disease," said Rafael Harpaz and colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "A high proportion of measles cases are imported from other countries, suggesting that investigations are complete. For some states, the lag from disease onset to reporting is long, and the number of health department investigations of measles-like illnesses is low. Most of these investigations include laboratory testing of clinical specimens."

The scientists ...