Topic:

Presenter: Dr. Mark Wilson and Dr. Geoffrey Jacquez

Uses of space-time data to define outbreak clusters. Spatial patterns in monitoring for disease and directing intervention.

Public health surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health event data with the objective of disease control and prevention. This lecture presents an introduction to issues in disease surveillance. The background of disease cluster investigations is presented, along with their role in public health. The basic cluster types are introduced and the cluster investigation guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control are described. The lecture closes with important issues such as `Texas Sharpshooter' sampling and whether disease causality may be inferred from cluster investigations.

OBJECTIVES: Those who successfully complete the module should

• SCENARIO 1
• SCENARIO 2