Disease Surveillance: Types, Advantages, and Disadvantages PDF

An Overview of Disease Surveillance: Types, Advantages, and Disadvantages Disease surveillance helps health workers watch and control how diseases spread. It means collecting, checking, and sharing information about diseases to keep people safe and to keep control of spread diseases. There are two...

An Overview of Disease Surveillance: Types, Advantages, and Disadvantages Disease surveillance helps health workers watch and control how diseases spread. It means collecting, checking, and sharing information about diseases to keep people safe and to keep control of spread diseases. There are two main types of disease surveillance: passive surveillance and active surveillance. Each has good and bad points. **Types of Disease Surveillance** **Passive Surveillance** Passive surveillance is when doctors, hospitals, and labs send reports about sick people to health offices. They do this without being asked. One good thing about passive surveillance is that it is cheap. It uses systems that are already working, so no extra money is needed. It is also good for watching diseases over a long time. Another good point is that it can be good for diseases that happen often. But there are some problems with passive surveillance. Sometimes, not all cases are reported because it depends on the health workers. The information might not always be correct or complete. Also, reports can come late, making it hard to act fast. **Active Surveillance** Active surveillance is finding cases of sickness by healthcare workers. They visit hospitals, talk to doctors, or do surveys to collect information. Active surveillance gives better and more accurate information. It is very useful during outbreaks because it finds cases quickly. This helps health workers act fast. It is also good to check if the actions that were made to decrease the disease is working. However, active surveillance has some bad points too. It costs more money and needs more workers. This makes it hard to carry out, especially in places with low income or vulnerable population. Disease surveillance is very important to keep people healthy. Passive surveillance is cheap and works for regular tracking, but active surveillance is better for finding cases during outbreaks. Each has good and bad points but using both together can help protect people from diseases.