Pertussis outbreak detected by active surveillance in Cyprus in 2003

M Theodoridou; A Hadjipanagis; N Persianis; S Makri; C Hadjichristodoulou

doi:10.2807/esm.12.05.00709-en

Surveillance report Open Access

Like 0

Download

Pertussis outbreak detected by active surveillance in Cyprus in 2003
M Theodoridou¹ , A Hadjipanagis² , N Persianis² , S Makri³ , C Hadjichristodoulou³
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

Affiliations: ¹ First Department of Paediatrics, Agia Sofia Children’s Hospital, University of Athens, Athens, Greece ² Greece-Cyprus Paediatric Surveillance Unit, Nicosia, Cyprus ³ Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece

Correspondence:
C Hadjichristodoulou
xhatzi med.uth.gr
View Citation Hide Citation

Citation style for this article: Theodoridou M, Hadjipanagis A, Persianis N, Makri S, Hadjichristodoulou C. Pertussis outbreak detected by active surveillance in Cyprus in 2003. Euro Surveill. 2007;12(5):pii=709. https://doi.org/10.2807/esm.12.05.00709-en

Abstract

Pertussis is a disease of substantial public health importance that still lacks an efficient surveillance system. It has been a notifiable disease in Cyprus since 1930, and has had an incidence rate of 1 per 100,000 persons during the last 10 years. In 2001, the Greece-Cyprus Paediatric Surveillance Unit (GCPSU) was established with the aim of active surveillance for rare paediatric diseases, including weekly data reporting, zero reporting, and obligatory laboratory tests. From November 2002, pertussis has been included in the active surveillance scheme of GCPSU, resulting in a very early detection of an outbreak in June 2003 that led to immediate and successful action.