Optimizing Use of Multistream Influenza Sentinel Surveillance Data

Abstract

We applied time-series methods to multivariate sentinel surveillance data recorded in Hong Kong during 1998–2007. Our study demonstrates that simultaneous monitoring of multiple streams of influenza surveillance data can improve the accuracy and timeliness of alerts compared with monitoring of aggregate data or of any single stream alone.

Keywords

• Sentinel surveillance
• influenza
• multivariate analysis
• dispatch
• Hong Kong