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Challenges Faced by Hospital Healthcare Workers in Using a Syndrome-Based Surveillance System During the 2003 Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Taiwan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Fuh-Yuan Shih ,
Muh-Yong Yen ,
Jiunn-Shyan Wu ,
Fang-Kuei Chang ,
Lih-Wen Lin ,
Mei-Shang Ho ,
Chao A. Hsiung ,
Ih-Jen Su ,
Melissa A. Marx  and
Howard Sobel
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Fuh-Yuan Shih
Affiliation:
College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan Department of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
Muh-Yong Yen
Affiliation:
Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
Jiunn-Shyan Wu
Affiliation:
Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Taipei, Taiwan
Fang-Kuei Chang
Affiliation:
Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Taipei, Taiwan
Lih-Wen Lin
Affiliation:
Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Taipei, Taiwan
Mei-Shang Ho
Affiliation:
Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Chao A. Hsiung
Affiliation:
Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, National Health Research Institute, Taipei, Taiwan
Ih-Jen Su
Affiliation:
Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Taipei, Taiwan
Melissa A. Marx
Affiliation:
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York
Howard Sobel
Affiliation:
World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Chwan-Chuen King*
Affiliation:
College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
*
Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, No. 17, Xu Zhou Rd., Taipei City, Taiwan, 100, Republic of China ([email protected])
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Abstract

Because the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Taiwan in 2003 was worsened by hospital infections, we analyzed 229 questionnaires (84.8% of 270 sent) completed by surveyed healthcare workers who cared for patients with SARS in 3 types of hospitals, to identify surveillance problems. Atypical clinical presentation was the most often reported problem, regardless of hospital type, which strongly indicates that more timely syndromic surveillance was needed.

Type
Concise Communications
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , March 2007 , pp. 354 - 357
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2007

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