Assessment of impacts of public health interventions on the SARS epidemic in Beijing in terms of the intervals between its symptom onset, hospital admission, and notification.
- Author:
Wan-Nian LIANG
1
;
Min LIU
;
Qi CHEN
;
Ze-Jun LIU
;
Xiong HE
;
Yue PAN
;
Xue-Qin XIE
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Adult; China; epidemiology; Disease Notification; Disease Outbreaks; Female; Fever; Hospitalization; Humans; Male; Public Health; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; epidemiology; Time Factors
- From: Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 2005;18(3):153-158
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVESTo assess the impacts of public health interventions on the outbreak of SARS in Beijing by analyzing the intervals between symptom onset, hospital admission and notification of its cases.
METHODSData of SARS cases reported from the Beijing Municipal Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (BCDC) were collected and analyzed by descriptive epidemiology.
RESULTSIn the early epidemic period, the intervals between the disease onset and the hospital admission seemed irregular, so was the intervals between the hospital admission and the notification. After the middle ten days of April, the intervals turned out to be more regular, and the disordered situation in terms of the hospital admission and the case notification was gradually brought under control.
CONCLUSIONSPublic health interventions against SARS has revealed positive impacts on SARS control program in Beijing. The timing and sensitivity of epidemic information reporting systems has been greatly improved in Beijing as a result of successful fight against this disease.
