IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i19p6822-d1247256.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance to Monitor Tick-Borne Diseases: A 6-Year Small-Area Analysis in Northeastern Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Massimiliano Colucci

    (Hospital Direction, Local Health Authority 8 (Azienda ULSS Berica), Veneto Region, 36100 Vicenza, Italy)

  • Marco Fonzo

    (Hygiene and Public Health Unit, Department of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Liana Miccolis

    (Hygiene and Public Health Unit, Department of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Irene Amoruso

    (Hygiene and Public Health Unit, Department of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Sara Mondino

    (Hospital Direction, Local Health Authority 8 (Azienda ULSS Berica), Veneto Region, 36100 Vicenza, Italy)

  • Andrea Trevisan

    (Hygiene and Public Health Unit, Department of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Romina Cazzaro

    (Hospital Direction, Local Health Authority 8 (Azienda ULSS Berica), Veneto Region, 36100 Vicenza, Italy)

  • Tatjana Baldovin

    (Hygiene and Public Health Unit, Department of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Chiara Bertoncello

    (Hygiene and Public Health Unit, Department of Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

Abstract

Tick-borne diseases (TBD) are endemic in Europe. However, surveillance is currently incomplete. Alternative strategies need to be considered. The aim of this study was to test an Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance (EDSyS) system as a complementary data source to describe the impact of tick bites and TBD using a small-area analysis approach and to monitor the risk of TBD to target prevention. ED databases in the Local Health Authority 8 District (Veneto, Italy) were queried for tick-bite and TBD-related visits between January 2017 and December 2022. Hospitalisations were also collected. Events involving the resident population were used to calculate incidence rates. A total of 4187 ED visits for tick-bite and 143 for TBD were recorded; in addition, 62 TBD-related hospitalisations (of which 72.6% in over 50 s and 22.6% in over 65 s). ED visits peaked in spring and in autumn, followed by a 4-week lag in the increase in hospital admissions. The small-area analysis identified two areas at higher risk of bites and TBD. The use of a EDSyS system allowed two natural foci to be identified. This approach proved useful in predicting temporal and geographic risk of TBD and in identifying local endemic areas, thus enabling an effective multidisciplinary prevention strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Massimiliano Colucci & Marco Fonzo & Liana Miccolis & Irene Amoruso & Sara Mondino & Andrea Trevisan & Romina Cazzaro & Tatjana Baldovin & Chiara Bertoncello, 2023. "Emergency Department Syndromic Surveillance to Monitor Tick-Borne Diseases: A 6-Year Small-Area Analysis in Northeastern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(19), pages 1-12, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:19:p:6822-:d:1247256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/19/6822/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/19/6822/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Václav Hönig & Pavel Švec & Lukáš Marek & Tomáš Mrkvička & Zubriková Dana & Maria (Vögerl) Wittmann & Ondřej Masař & Daniela Szturcová & Daniel Růžek & Kurt Pfister & Libor Grubhoffer, 2019. "Model of Risk of Exposure to Lyme Borreliosis and Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus-Infected Ticks in the Border Area of the Czech Republic (South Bohemia) and Germany (Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-17, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:19:p:6822-:d:1247256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.