LAPP Surveillance and Epidemiology Materials

Español: Materiales del LAPP para la vigilancia y la epidemiología

This page provides materials on general epidemiology and pertussis surveillance, vaccination, specimen collection, and diagnostics as a resource for epidemiologists, surveillance coordinators, immunization providers, and laboratorians. CDC-Latin American Pertussis Project gives a brief description of each material, with the language indicated in parentheses.

Training Materials on General Epidemiology

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Online Resources

• CDC TRAIN (in English)
  This comprehensive catalog of public health learning products is a free service of the Public Health Foundation. Training topics available include Introduction to Data Cleaning and How to Create an Epi-curve. To access this site, you must first create an account. You can access multiple TRAIN sites with the same account.
• Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Case Studies (in English)
  These applied epidemiology case studies are based on real-life epidemiologic investigations and developed for epidemiology training and use by schools of medicine, nursing, and public health.
• Epidemiologic Case Studies (in English and Spanish)
  These EIS case studies are available in both instructor and student versions, as well as PDF or Word formats. Two case studies (Botulism in Argentina and Salmonella in the Caribbean) are available in Spanish.
• Chapter 18: Surveillance Indicators from the Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (in English)
  This chapter discusses surveillance indicators in the context of various stages of disease prevention and control. The authors developed indicators to evaluate the appropriateness, completeness, accuracy, and timelines of surveillance systems.
• Chapter 19: Enhancing Surveillance from the Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (in English)
  This chapter outlines activities that may be useful at the state and local level to improve reporting for vaccine-preventable diseases.
• Chapter 20: Analysis of Surveillance Data from the Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (in English)
  This chapter discusses the importance of ongoing analysis of surveillance data both for detecting outbreaks and unexpected increases or decreases of disease occurrence, but also to determine the most appropriate and effective public health response in terms of resources and personnel.
• Epi Info 7 (in English)
  Public health professionals can use this free data management and analysis tool to create forms and input and analyze epidemiologic data.
  • Epi Info 7 tutorials (in English)
  • Videos on various functions in Epi Info 7 (in English)

Other Epidemiology Resources

• FOCUS on Field Epidemiology (in English) and Enfoque en Epidemiologia de Campo (in Spanish)
  This periodical by the University of North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness covers various field epidemiology topics relevant for surveillance and epidemiology personnel.
• Diccionario de Términos Epidemiológicos (in Spanish and English)
  This 1994 publication created by staff at the Mexican Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública provides epidemiologic terms translated into Spanish and Portuguese.

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Pertussis Surveillance and Vaccine Guidance Documents

• Chapter 10: Pertussis from the Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (in English)
  This chapter outlines the guidelines for surveillance of pertussis in the United States, including the importance of rapid case identification and surveillance; disease reduction goals; case definitions (including clinical description and case classification); epidemiologically important data to be collected during case investigations; and activities for enhancing surveillance, case investigation, and outbreak control.
• Pertussis chapter from Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (the Pink Book) 13th Edition (2015) (in English)
  This chapter provides physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and others comprehensive information on pertussis disease and vaccines.
• World Health Organization (WHO)-Recommended Standards for Surveillance of Selected Vaccine-Preventable Diseases [62 pages] (in English)
  This publication is a guidance document for various vaccine-preventable diseases, including pertussis, and provides a standard case definition, recommended types of surveillance activities, minimum data elements to be collected, and recommended data analysis, presentation, and reports.
• Pertussis Vaccines: WHO Position Paper – August 2015 (in English and French)
  This WHO position paper provides the most recent information on pertussis disease and pertussis vaccines. WHO position papers summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines and the current WHO position on the use of vaccines in the global context.
• WHO and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) immunization surveillance, assessment, and monitoring data related to pertussis (1980-2014) (in English)
  • WHO Pertussis reported cases- incidence time series
  • WHO: Diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and pertussis (DTP3) coverage among 1-year-olds (1980-2015)
  • PAHO: Vaccine Coverage by Vaccine: DTP3 (1995-last available)
  • PAHO: Vaccine Coverage in the Americas by Country
• PAHO: Technical Advisory Group (TAG) Final Reports (in English and Spanish)
  A list of final reports issued from annual TAG meetings on regional adaptation of the Global Vaccine Action Plan, progress on key disease elimination and control initiatives, and recommendations to address challenges faced by national immunization programs in the Americas.
• United States vaccine recommendations (in English)
  United States vaccine recommendations are developed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a group of medical and public health experts. Pertussis recommendations include: DTaP ACIP Vaccine Recommendations and Tdap/Td ACIP Vaccine Recommendations.

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Surveillance Case Investigation Form Examples

Pertussis case investigations should include collection of epidemiologic information through the use of a case report form.

Examples of United States Case Report Forms

• National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) Pertussis Surveillance Worksheet [2 pages] (in English)
• Wisconsin Pertussis Case Report Form [4 pages] (in English)
• Minnesota Pertussis Case Report Form [2 pages] (in English)
• Oregon Pertussis Case Report Form [4 pages] (in English)

Examples of Case Report Forms Used in Latin America

• Argentina’s Case Investigation Form for Pertussis [2 pages] (in Spanish)
• Colombia’s Case Reporting Form for Pertussis [2 pages] (in Spanish)

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Pertussis Materials

For Healthcare Professionals

• Pertussis Information for Healthcare Personnel (in English)
  This link includes materials for healthcare professionals on pertussis awareness and diagnosis, vaccination, postexposure prophylaxis recommendations, and how to collect laboratory specimens.

For General Public

• Pertussis materials for consumers (in English and Spanish)
  Free materials on pertussis, including resources to promote vaccination for pregnant women, infants and children, preteens and teens, and adults.

For Laboratory Personnel

• Diagnostic Testing (in English)
  This webpage includes information on specimen collection and diagnosis confirmation.
• Specimen collection videos
  These videos on the proper collection techniques for pertussis clinical specimens are available on YouTube.
  • Collecting a Nasopharyngeal Swab Clinical Specimen (in English and Spanish)
  • Collecting a Nasopharyngeal Aspirate Clinical Specimen (in English and Spanish)
• Optimal Timing for Diagnostics Testing (in English and Spanish)
  This diagram illustrates the best diagnostic test to use depending on the phase of the disease of the patient.

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