ArticleClinical epidemiology and global health2019
Use of systematic epidemiological methods in outbreak investigations from India, 2008-2016: A systematic review.
Article in Clinical epidemiology and global health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dominance ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Ethical reporting and oversight in outbreak investigations conducted in India, 2015-2025: a systematic review.BMC medical ethics · 2026Pooled it
- The quality of measles outbreak investigation report, how can it bridge the gap and help to fulfill the goal of measles elimination?BMC infectious diseases · 2025Pooled it
- The practice of evaluating epidemic response in humanitarian and low-income settings: a systematic review.BMC medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Surveillance of Food and Waterborne Pathogens in North-East India: Protocol for a Laboratory-Based Sentinel Surveillance Study.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Effectiveness and Safety of Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Persons Exposed to Cases of Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease: A Systematic Review.Open forum infectious diseases · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn the absence of a comprehensive review, we conducted a systematic review on the use of systematic approach in outbreak investigation using reports from India.
objectivesThe primary objective was to estimate the proportion of outbreak reports from India during 2008-16, that reported the steps in outbreak investigation. The secondary objectives were to (1) describe the outbreak reports by selected characteristics (source, investigating agency, disease, time, place and person) (2) estimate the proportion of outbreaks that conducted analytical and additional studies.
methodsWe searched eight electronic databases and grey literature for outbreak investigation reports among humans at community settings from India during 2008-2016. We developed a check-list based on the 10-steps approach used by Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) of ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE), Chennai, India. This checklist was used to independently screen and extract data on general characteristics of the outbreak investigation reports and the steps completed. We adopted The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) check list for prevalence studies to examine the credibility and consistency. The protocol was registered at Prospero (CRD42017065038). We calculated proportion of reports that followed the steps in their investigation and descriptive statistics on selected characteristics.
resultsOf 10,657 articles screened, 136 articles were included for the review. Completion of the ten steps in the outbreak investigations was seen in 16% of reports. The highest level of completion was for drawing conclusion in outbreak investigation (98%) and the lowest completion (29%) was for developing a case definition by time, place and person followed by conducting an analytic study (24%).
conclusionsOutbreak reports from India either lacked application of systematic steps for investigation or failed to report the actual procedures followed. We recommend improving systematic investigation of outbreaks through training and supervision of outbreak response teams and encouraging publications.
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