Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30810535›Full record

ArticleJMIR public health and surveillance2019

A Syndrome-Based Surveillance System for Infectious Diseases Among Asylum Seekers in Austrian Reception Centers, 2015-2018: Analysis of Reported Data.

Ziad El-Khatib, Karin Taus, Lukas Richter, Franz Allerberger, Daniela Schmid

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR public health and surveillance, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. Article
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  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Ziad El-KhatibDepartment of Surveillance and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Vienna, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0756-7280
Karin TausDepartment of Surveillance and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Vienna, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0603-3252
Lukas RichterDepartment of Surveillance and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Vienna, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6982-6239
Franz AllerbergerDepartment of Surveillance and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Vienna, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0045-8164
Daniela SchmidDepartment of Surveillance and Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Vienna, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3725-7761
Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety · ATKarolinska Institutet · SE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAustria has been among the main European countries hosting incoming asylum seekers since 2015. Consequently, there was an urgent need to predict any public health threats associated with the arriving asylum seekers. The Department of Surveillance and Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) was mandated to implement a national syndrome-based surveillance system in the 7 reception centers by the Austrian Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Health.

objectiveWe aimed to analyze the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases among asylum seekers using data reported by reception centers through the syndrome-based surveillance system from September 2015 through February 2018.

methodsWe deployed a daily data collection system for 13 syndromes: rash with fever; rash without fever; acute upper respiratory tract infection; acute lower respiratory tract infection; meningitis or encephalitis; fever and bleeding; nonbloody gastroenteritis or watery diarrhea; bloody diarrhea; acute jaundice; skin, soft tissue, or bone abnormalities; acute flaccid paralysis; high fever with no other signs; and unexplained death. General practitioners, the first professionals to consult for health problems at reception centers in Austria, sent the tally sheets on identified syndromes daily to the AGES.

resultsWe identified a total of 2914 cases, presenting 8 of the 13 syndromes. A total of 405 signals were triggered, and 6.4% (26/405) of them generated alerts. Suspected acute upper respiratory tract infection (1470/2914, 50.45% of cases), rash without fever (1174/2914, 40.29% of cases), suspected acute lower respiratory tract infection (159/2914, 5.46% of cases), watery diarrhea (73/2914, 2.51% of cases), and skin, soft tissue, or bone abnormalities (32/2914, 1.10% of cases) were the top 5 syndromes.

conclusionsThe cooperation of the AGES with reception center health care staff, supported by the 2 involved ministries, was shown to be useful for syndromic surveillance of infectious diseases among asylum seekers. None of the identified alerts escalated to an outbreak.

Indexed as

asylum seekersAustriaepidemiological monitoringmass health monitoringpopulation surveillancepublic health surveillancerefugee healthrefugeessyndrome surveillance system

Identifiers

PMID30810535
PMCPMC6414818
OpenAlexW2902333840

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.