title: Response to H1N1 in a U.S.-Mexico border community.
abstract: Public health experts from a county health department and a school of public health collaborated to establish a simple, functional surveillance system to monitor swine-origin influenza virus as it crossed from Mexico into a Texas border community during the 2009 pandemic. The draft national and state preparedness plans were found to be cumbersome at the local level, so a simple, more practical real-time surveillance and response system was developed, in part by modifying these documents, and immediately implemented. Daily data analyses, including geographical information system mapping of cases and reports of school and daycare absences, were used for outbreak management. Aggregate reports of influenzalike illness and primary school absences were accurate in predicting influenza activity and were practical for use in local tracking, making decisions, and targeting interventions. These simple methods should be considered for local implementation and for integration into national recommendations for epidemic preparedness and response.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus, Brownsville, Texas 78520, USA. joseph.b.mccormick@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Joseph B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ballou
authors.forename: Yvette
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Salinas
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reininger
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gay
authors.forename: Fidel
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Calvillo
authors.forename: J Gaines
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Leonel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Fisher-Hoch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019058:Community Networks; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000276:immunology; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2009 Jul 16;361(3):225-9
references.pmid: 19564629
references.citation: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 May 1;58(16):435-7
references.pmid: 19407739
references.citation: Science. 2009 Jun 19;324(5934):1557-61
references.pmid: 19433588
references.citation: J Clin Virol. 2009 Jul;45(3):174-8
references.pmid: 19540156
references.citation: Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1993 Mar-Apr;87(2):162
references.pmid: 8337716
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2009 Aug 13;361(7):728-9
references.pmid: 19564634
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Apr 11;103(15):5935-40
references.pmid: 16585506
references.citation: Nature. 2005 Sep 8;437(7056):209-14
references.pmid: 16079797
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2005 Sep 29;353(13):1374-85
references.pmid: 16192482
references.citation: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 May 15;58(18):497-500
references.pmid: 19444154
references.citation: Nature. 2009 Jun 18;459(7249):931-9
references.pmid: 19525932
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2009 Jun 18;360(25):2605-15
references.pmid: 19423869
references.citation: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 May 1;58(16):431-3
references.pmid: 19407737
references.citation: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2009 Jun 5;58(21):585-9
references.pmid: 19498336
references.citation: Clin Infect Dis. 2002 Sep 1;35(5):590-6
references.pmid: 12173135
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2009 May 21;360(21):2156
references.pmid: 19423868
references.citation: Wkly Epidemiol Rec. 2009 Jun 19;84(25):249-57
references.pmid: 19537358