ArticlePLoS currents2012
Evaluating the New York City Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance for Monitoring Influenza Activity during the 2009-10 Influenza Season.
Article in PLoS currents, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond influenza-like-illness: data-driven syndromic surveillance for fine-scale monitoring of seasonal respiratory viruses.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Pollen Exposure and Associated Healthcare Utilization: A Population-based Study Using Health Maintenance Organization Data in the Washington, DC, Area.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2021Observational
- Retrospective Observational Study of Atypical Winter Respiratory Illness Season Using Real-Time Syndromic Surveillance, England, 2014-15.Emerging infectious diseases · 2017Observational
- Article
- Detection of influenza-like illness aberrations by directly monitoring Pearson residuals of fitted negative binomial regression models.BMC public health · 2015Article
- Emergency department and 'Google flu trends' data as syndromic surveillance indicators for seasonal influenza.Epidemiology and infection · 2014Article
- Developing Syndromic Surveillance to Monitor and Respond to Adverse Health Events Related to Psychoactive Substance Use: Methods and Applications.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
- The Evolution of BioSense: Lessons Learned and Future Directions.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
- Advancing the Use of Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance Data, New York City, 2012-2016.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo use laboratory data to assess the specificity of syndromes used by the New York City emergency department (ED) syndromic surveillance system to monitor influenza activity.
designFor the period from October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010, we examined the correlation between citywide ED syndrome assignment and laboratory-confirmed influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In addition, ED syndromic data from five select NYC hospitals were matched at the patient and visit level to corresponding laboratory reports of influenza and RSV. The matched dataset was used to evaluate syndrome assignment by disease and to calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the influenza-like illness (ILI) syndrome.
resultsCitywide ED visits for ILI correlated well with influenza laboratory diagnoses (R=0.92). From October 1, 2009, through March 31, 2010, there were 264,532 ED visits at the five select hospitals, from which the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) received confirmatory laboratory reports of 655 unique cases of influenza and 1348 cases of RSV. The ED visit of most (56%) influenza cases had been categorized in the fever/flu syndrome; only 15% were labeled ILI. Compared to other influenza-related syndromes, ILI had the lowest sensitivity (15%) but the highest specificity (90%) for laboratory-confirmed influenza. Sensitivity and specificity varied by age group and influenza activity level.
conclusionsThe ILI syndrome in the NYC ED syndromic surveillance system served as a specific but not sensitive indicator for influenza during the 2009-2010 influenza season. Despite its limited sensitivity, the ILI syndrome can be more informative for tracking influenza trends than the fever/flu or respiratory syndromes because it is less likely to capture cases of other respiratory viruses. However, ED ILI among specific age groups should be interpreted alongside laboratory surveillance data. ILI remains a valuable tool for monitoring influenza activity and trends as it facilitates comparisons nationally and across jurisdictions and is easily communicated to the public.
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Registered trials
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