Reporting of Lyme disease

[Franky]

They cant even get the simple part of record keeping in order! Very good article on how officials cant get their act together.


NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The incidence of Lyme disease in Connecticut is underreported as public health officials count on completion this year of an electronic reporting system.

Work on the computerized surveillance system began in 2005 and the state Public Health Department promised state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal that it would be online in the summer of 2006. The current projected completion date now is the end of this year.
Blumenthal has been pressing the agency since 2004 to compile more precise reports of Lyme disease.

"Awareness of Lyme disease helps people prevent it," he said. "If people think that Lyme disease is going away because of underreporting it could give them a false sense of security."

Kirby C. Stafford III, state entomologist, said Lyme disease "has always been underreported."

"The number of cases is important to know for the true risk of the disease and its economic impact," he said. "We need to know for research and policy."

Connecticut's top epidemiologist said the reporting system is designed to follow trends such as increases, declines and shifts, rather than to capture each single case.

"Epidemiologists have a tool box," said Dr. Matthew Cartter, epidemiology program coordinator in the state Department of Public Health. "The reportable disease system is a good tool for watching trends in common diseases," he said.

"Underreporting has been going on for 20 years. For many diseases the reporting rate is about 10 percent. We never think the numbers reported are the total number of cases of Lyme disease," he said.

"What we need to look at is an efficient, substantial method of recording Lyme disease cases," he said.

Connecticut reported 1,788 cases of Lyme disease in 2006.

The state is installing a Public Health Information Network, which will connect to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another system, the Connecticut Electronic Disease Surveillance System will feed information to state officials and the information network.

But as of May 11, the state Department of Information Technology was trying to make the systems work, the New Haven Register reported Sunday, citing Public Health Department documents.

Two private labs to be connected to the Public Health Information Network have outdated software and state information technology personnel received incorrect installation instructions for the Connecticut surveillance system.

Cartter said linking the new systems to older computer systems in commercial labs is a "considerable information technology challenge."

Officials hope to have a large clinical lab online by the end of the year, he said.

A doctor now reporting a case of Lyme disease must complete and submit a paper form, including laboratory results, if available. The state contacts and questions the doctor and the lab.

Between 1998 and 2002 the state health department required laboratory results with Lyme disease reports, partly to clarify the efficacy of a Lyme disease vaccine. The vaccine was pulled from the market in 2002 and the system reverted to a doctor-reported system.

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Information from: New Haven Register, ctcentral.com