title: Sensitivity of the Swedish statutory surveillance system for communicable diseases 1998-2002, assessed by the capture-recapture method.
abstract: To assess the sensitivity of the Swedish surveillance system, four notifiable communicable diseases in Sweden were examined during 1998-2002 with the two-sources capture-recapture method, based on parallel clinical and laboratory notifications. The sensitivity (proportion of diagnosed diseases actually being notified) was highest for salmonellosis (99.9%), followed by meningococcal infection (98.7%), and tularaemia (98.5%). For penicillin-resistant pneumococci, introduced as a notifiable disease in 1996, the overall sensitivity was 93.4%--increasing from 86.5% in 1998 to 98.5% in 2002. The system benefited from parallel reporting, with a sensitivity of clinical and laboratory notifications alone (all diseases combined) of 91.6% and 95.9% respectively. The sensitivity of both clinical and laboratory notifications was markedly higher in counties using the national electronic reporting system, SmiNet. Thus, sensitivity was higher for diseases with a long tradition of reporting, and there is a run-in period after a new disease becomes notifiable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI), Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jansson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arneborn
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ekdahl
mesh_terms: D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods*; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012480:Salmonella Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology