title: Informing the front line about common respiratory viral epidemics.
abstract: The nature of clinical medicine is to focus on individuals rather than the populations from which they originate. This orientation can be problematic in the context of acute healthcare delivery during routine winter outbreaks of viral respiratory disease where an individuals likelihood of viral infection depends on knowledge of local disease incidence. The level of interest in and perceived utility of community and regional infection data for front line clinicians providing acute care is unclear. Based on input from clinicians, we developed an automated analysis and reporting system that delivers pathogen-specific epidemic curves derived from a viral panel that tests for influenza, RSV, adenovirus, parainfluenza and human metapneumovirus. Surveillance summaries were actively e-mailed to clinicians practicing in emergency, urgent and primary care settings and posted on a web site for passive consumption. We demonstrated the feasibility and sustainability of a system that provides both timely and clinically useful surveillance information.
authors.affiliation: University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors.forename: Per H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Gesteland
authors.forename: Matthew H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Samore
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Pavia
authors.forename: Rajendu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Kent
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Korgenski
authors.forename: Kristine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: Judy A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Mundorff
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Rolfs
authors.forename: Brent C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Carrie L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Byington
mesh_terms: D000258:Adenovirus Infections, Human / Q000453:epidemiology; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology; D020407:Internet; D029121:Metapneumovirus; D018184:Paramyxoviridae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*