Volume 13, Number 10—October 2007
Research
SurvNet Electronic Surveillance System for Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Germany
Gérard Krause*
, Doris Altmann*, Daniel Faensen*, Klaudia Porten*1, Justus Benzler*, Thomas Pfoch, Andrea Ammon*2, Michael H. Kramer‡, and Hermann Claus*
, Doris Altmann*, Daniel Faensen*, Klaudia Porten*1, Justus Benzler*, Thomas Pfoch, Andrea Ammon*2, Michael H. Kramer‡, and Hermann Claus*Table 1
Levels of evidence supporting associations with named exposures, reported infectious disease outbreaks, 2004 and 2005, Germany
| Level of evidence | No. exposures (%) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geographic setting | Person-to-person | Food | Blood | Water | Animal | All | |
| Pathogen (in linked person or environmental sample) indicates epidemiologic link | 98 (1.4) | 3,544 (64.7) | 65 (3.8) | 4 (1.3) | 3 (3.5) | 8 (13.6) | 3,722 (25.2) |
| Significant association by epidemiologic study (e.g., case control or cohort study) | 763 (10.7) | 369 (6.7) | 139 (8.2) | 148 (47.3) | 5 (5.9) | 2 (3.4) | 1,426 (9.7) |
| Most cases had same exposure | 6,063 (85.2) | 1,361 (24.8) | 1,342 (79.4) | 60 (19.2) | 44 (51.8) | 32 (54.2) | 8,902 (60.4) |
| Breach of applicable standard recommendations supports epidemiologic link | N/A | N/A | 57 (3.4) | 28 (8.9) | 3 (3.5) | 2 (3.4) | 90 (0.6) |
| Other reasons | 191 (2.7) | 207 (3.8) | 88 (5.2) | 73 (23.3) | 30 (35.3) | 15 (25.4) | 604 (4.1) |
| All entries |
7,115
(100) |
5,481
(100) |
1,691
(100) |
313
(100) |
85
(100) |
59
(100) |
14,744
(100) |
| All outbreaks | 7,074 | 5,400 | 1,637 | 311 | 85 | 59 | 14,566 |
