ArticleBMC public health2021
Development and assessment of a hospital admissions-based syndromic surveillance system for COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada: ACES Pandemic Tracker.
Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mixed-methods evaluation and enhancement of Peel Public Health's heat-related illness emergency department visit surveillance system, 2018-2024.Canada communicable disease report = Releve des maladies transmissibles au Canada · 2026Article
- Impact of the LCBO strike on Ontario emergency department visits with an alcohol-related chief complaint: a natural experiment in alcohol policy.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Prospective clinical surveillance for severe acute respiratory illness and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in Kenyan hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Changes to Public Health Surveillance Methods Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has continued to pose a major global public health risk. The importance of public health surveillance systems to monitor the spread and impact of COVID-19 has been well demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to describe the development and effectiveness of a real-time public health syndromic surveillance system (ACES Pandemic Tracker) as an early warning system and to provide situational awareness in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada.
methodsWe used hospital admissions data from the Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance (ACES) system to collect data on pre-defined groupings of symptoms (syndromes of interest; SOI) that may be related to COVID-19 from 131 hospitals across Ontario. To evaluate which SOI for suspected COVID-19 admissions were best correlated with laboratory confirmed admissions, laboratory confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions data were collected from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Correlations and time-series lag analysis between suspected and confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions were calculated. Data used for analyses covered the period between March 1, 2020 and September 21, 2020.
resultsBetween March 1, 2020 and September 21, 2020, ACES Pandemic Tracker identified 22,075 suspected COVID-19 hospital admissions (150 per 100,000 population) in Ontario. After correlation analysis, we found laboratory-confirmed hospital admissions for COVID-19 were strongly and significantly correlated with suspected COVID-19 hospital admissions when SOI were included (Spearman's rho = 0.617) and suspected COVID-19 admissions when SOI were excluded (Spearman's rho = 0.867). Weak to moderate significant correlations were found among individual SOI. Laboratory confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions lagged in reporting by 3 days compared with suspected COVID-19 admissions when SOI were excluded.
conclusionsOur results demonstrate the utility of a hospital admissions syndromic surveillance system to monitor and identify potential surges in severe COVID-19 infection within the community in a timely manner and provide situational awareness to inform preventive and preparatory health interventions.
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