Communicable
Disease Surveillance Centre Northern Ireland
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Health
& Social Services Boards in Northern Ireland
Pins mark laboratory locations. Point to display the name of the laboratory.
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Northern Health and Social
Services Board Population 449,623 |
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Eastern Health and Social Services
Board Population 671,579 |
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Southern Health and Social
Services Board Population 342,754 |
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Western Health and Social Services Board Northern Ireland Total |
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Source: 2007 mid-year estimate, General Registrar Office (NI)
Public health surveillance is the continuous process of collection, analysis and interpretation of data, and the subsequent dissemination of this information to policy makers, health care and other professionals. Communicable disease surveillance produces timely information for action, and the control of communicable disease involves not only doctors and nurses, but individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds eg farmers, vets, water engineers, environmental health officers and those working in the food industry.
Epidemiological surveillance requires the systematic collection of data. This is accomplished mainly by making use of data generated locally and collected centrally eg the reporting by medical microbiologists of laboratory confirmed infections.
CDSC (NI) participates in various national and international enhanced surveillance systems, such as Meningococcal disease, Tuberculosis, and Legionella. The Unit also operates an enhanced influenza surveillance system from October to April, in collaboration with the Queen's University, Belfast Department of General Practice, Data Retrieval Project (DRGP). There are other national data collecting systems to which CDSC (NI) has immediate access. All of these are used for surveillance and data obtained through different systems are often complementary.
CDSC (NI) receives data from several sources, primarily clinicians, hospital laboratories, consultants in communicable disease control and environmental health officers. Northern Ireland is fortunate to have a tradition of voluntary central reporting of laboratory confirmed infections and CDSC (NI) acknowledges the contribution of laboratories and other organisations to regional surveillance of communicable disease.
The data listed is for a selection of infections; requests for specific information may be accommodated by contacting us at feedbackni@hpa.org.uk.
Last Updated: 07/08/2008
© Copyright CDSC(NI) 2002