Protocol for the evaluation of clinical data collected by the
European Influenza Surveillance Scheme
A protocol to evaluate the clinical data collected by the
European Influenza Surveillance Scheme (EISS) is now available at
http://www.eiss.org/news.cgi
(1). It has been developed to help standardise surveillance procedures within
EISS and harmonise the clinical influenza data that is being collected, and
is part of a larger quality control project within EISS that includes the
assessment of virological testing for influenza and respiratory syncytial
virus (2).
The evaluation protocol has been developed for the collection of clinical
data by sentinel practice surveillance networks. The sentinel practices
report cases of influenza-like illness and/or acute respiratory infection
and collect respiratory specimens for virological testing (3). Based on
evaluation guidelines from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control
(CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO), the protocol was pre-tested
in the Netherlands (May 2001) and France (April 2001), and was used to evaluate
the Belgian and Spanish surveillance networks during the 2001-2002 influenza
season (4). EISS is currently planning the evaluation of two other surveillance
networks during the 2004-2005 influenza season.
It is hoped that the evaluation protocol will be useful for national/regional
influenza surveillance systems in Europe and elsewhere. The protocol is
being shared with WHO, and an evaluation group in Finland (SUREVAL) that
is funded by the European Commission to develop methods to evaluate the
European Union's epidemiological surveillance networks (5).