History and Present State of the Infectious Disease Surveillance and Reporting System for Schools in Taiwan

Hsu CY

2005 Vol.21 NO.3

Correspondence Author：

Abstract：

According to statistical documentation of the Center for Disease Control of Taiwan (CDC-Taiwan), there were several rather severe outbreaks of infectious diseases, which occurred at various schools in Taiwan over a one-year period beginning in September 1993. Since elementary schools are places of high population density and individuals of lower resistance to disease, if one individual is infected, the outbreak of a disease can easily reach epidemic proportions. For the purpose of effectively detecting the start of infectious disease on school grounds and swiftly arresting or controlling it, CDC-Taiwan launched the “School-based Surveillance System”（SS）and started promoting it among all public elementary schools across the country. So far, 448 schools have signed up to take part in the system, and in February 2004 the SS joined forces with an existing “Student Health Information Administration System” of the Ministry of Education. Then the system took advantage of an Internet online reporting approach to reach a set goal of digitalizing information management as well as speeding up the process of such infectious disease monitoring.