A new web-based system for reporting notifiable diseases will improve how we track and manage disease outbreaks in Ireland, according to a public health expert.
Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (Cidr) allows public health and laboratory staff to instantly report cases from a list of 63 diseases that by law must be notified, including salmonella food poisoning, measles and variant CJD.
The Cidr system replaces previous reporting through phone, fax or e-mail and provides a centralised database where users can enter and view data on disease outbreaks in real time, according to Dr Suzanne Cotter, Cidr team leader and a specialist in public health medicine with the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
"With Cidr we are able to make the notification immediately once we hear about it," she said.
"It improves the surveillance in that we are able to identify what is happening a lot quicker."
The system also tightens up parameters for reporting disease.
"The information is cleaner and more complete. We have tried to tie down the data through drop-down menus," said Dr Cotter, who added that this would ultimately have benefits for cataloguing and reviewing details of outbreaks.
In addition, Cidr can accommodate "enhanced data," like whether a child diagnosed with measles attends a crèche, allowing measures such as targeted vaccinations to be taken quickly.
As part of the Health Service Executive, the HPSC has been implementing and hosting the Cidr system since January 2005. National rollout to departments of public health and clinical and reference laboratories is due to be completed later this year and it is planned to eventually include GPs on the system.
Information on the database is secure and complies with data protection.
"It is a very tightly governed system, we are very careful. Everybody has to have data protection training and people only get access to the information they are entitled to know as a result of their formal job," said Dr Cotter.
The system is one of the first of its kind in Europe and has attracted international attention, says Dr Cotter.
"It's quite novel. Our system has the advantages of enhanced data and we are very closely linked with the laboratories and with public health."
The National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) which receives samples from GPs and hospitals all over the country, currently uses Cidr to inform public health authorities when tests identify a notifiable disease.
The system has increased the workload, but it helps staff comply with legislation on reporting, according to Lindsay Jones, a senior technical officer at the NVRL. "It's extra work for the labs, but it has to be done," she said.
"It's going to be very exciting when the labs come on line," she said.
