Evaluation of the universal epidemiological surveillance system for meningoencephalitis in Paraguay, 2016

Abstract

Bacterial neurological diseases are a global health problem. In Paraguay, two types of epidemiological surveillance are used for meningococcal infections: universal and sentinel. The objective was to evaluate the universal epidemiological surveillance system for meningoencephalitis. Cross-sectional descriptive study, following the guidelines of the Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems-CDC-2001. The database of the national system of 2016 was analyzed. To evaluate the attributes: data quality, acceptability, timeliness, sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) the sample size of a total population of 640 was calculated using EpiInfo7.2.2.2, confidence level 95%. The minimum size studied was 240 suspected cases. The grading scale was developed. Random samples of records, frequency measurements and central tendency (mean, median) were calculated in Excel. Epidemiological files were evaluated, the quality of the data in terms of completeness was 95% and inconsistency 4.2%. The acceptability of the actors reached 92%. The opportunity to take a sample ≤ 24 hours (Me= 1 day; R= -31-35 days), diagnosis ≤72h (Me= 0 days; R= 0-61 days) and notification has exceeded the required 24h (Me= 3 days; R= 0-41 days). The sensitivity of the system was found to be 90% with a PPV of 7.5%. In conclusion, the system is sensitive in terms of clinical surveillance with a low PPV, the data quality is excellent, acceptable by the actors, timely for sampling and diagnosis. However, the timeliness of notification needs to be improved.