Surveillance programmes
Sentinel syndromic surveillance
What’s reported
Visits for undifferentiated fever, fever and rash, fever and respiratory symptoms (influenza-like illness), fever with haemorrhagic symptoms, gastroenteritis, accidents and violence; hospital sites also report fever with neurological symptoms and fever with jaundice. Fever, gastroenteritis, accident and violence counts are given for under-5s and for those 5 and over, and each syndrome is set against its thresholds.
Reported by
78 sentinel sites, hospitals and health centres across all parishes.
How often
Weekly. Parish health departments submit by 3 p.m. on Tuesday; reports after that are late.
Class 1 notifiable events
What’s reported
The highest-priority diseases and health events: those under the International Health Regulations or international surveillance, vaccine-preventable diseases, events of national interest and any exotic or unusual communicable disease, among them fever and rash (measles and rubella), maternal deaths and tuberculosis.
Reported by
All health care providers, public and private, on a Class 1 Notification Form, with a case investigation for each.
How often
Immediately on suspicion, within 24 hours of contact. The bulletin gives confirmed totals for the year to date beside the previous year’s.
Influenza surveillance
What’s reported
Visits for influenza-like illness, admissions for severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) as a share of all admissions, and laboratory results for influenza A and B by subtype, RSV, parainfluenza and adenovirus. A Caribbean update from PAHO follows.
Reported by
78 sentinel sites (ILI) and six SARI hospital sentinel sites, with testing at the National Public Health Laboratory.
How often
Weekly.
Dengue surveillance
What’s reported
Suspected, probable and confirmed dengue cases by week of symptom onset, laboratory-confirmed cases, and dengue-related deaths by date of death. Weekly cases are set against the seasonal line and the medium, high and very high activity levels.
Reported by
All health care providers, public and private, on a Class 1 Notification Form, with RT-PCR and IgM testing at the National Public Health Laboratory.
How often
Within 24 hours of suspicion, while dengue is under enhanced surveillance. The bulletin reports weekly, with yearly totals back to 2004.
COVID-19 surveillance
What’s reported
Cases confirmed by PCR or antigen test, deaths, and positivity, the share of samples testing positive, which sets the level of transmission.
Reported by
All medical practitioners, public and private, with SARI and ILI surveillance and testing at the National Public Health Laboratory.
How often
Within 24 hours of suspicion (Class 1). The bulletin reports weekly; totals run from the first confirmed case on 10 March 2020.
In the weekly bulletin
Every programme on this page reports in the Weekly Epidemiology Bulletin, published by the National Surveillance Unit.
Questions?
National Surveillance Unit, 15 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5. Telephone (876) 633-7924.