Disease Surveillance Methods

Catalog description

Students will learn the health systems, informatics, epidemiological, and statistical concepts underlying the collection and use of surveillance data in global public health. The course will provide special focus on infectious diseases but will also consider diseases or conditions with non-infectious etiologies. The course covers the principles of surveillance including the use of disease registries, routine passive surveillance systems, active disease surveillance, molecular and syndromic surveillance systems as well as basic informatics concerns in surveillance systems. Students will analyze data and integrate information using a public health surveillance framework to inform public health policy. The course is trans-disciplinary and is intended to 1) emphasize connections between the health systems information needs, data collection and interpretation and the statistical methods used in these applications; 2) provide an overview of how surveillance information is translated into action, using examples from low, middle and high income countries; and 3) provide a foundation for using various types of surveillance data in multiple realistic public health settings.