The assessment of data sources for influenza virologic surveillance in New York State

Escuyer, Kay L.; Waters, Christine L.; Gowie, Donna L.; Maxted, Angie M.; Farrell, Gregory M.; Fuschino, Meghan E.; St. George, Kirsten

ESCUYER Et al. influenza test data. 2 The consequent network and data monitoring systems have facilitated the detection of numerous important events and viral changes, including the rapid identification in 2009 of the pandemic influenza strain (A/H1pdm09). In 2010, to address concurrent fiscal constraints and emerging diseases, the CDC and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) initiated the Influenza Virologic Surveillance Right Size Project to assess the vast and complex national surveillance system, determine the most efficient means to monitor influenza activity, and establish a standard reference for the CDC and state PHLs. 2 The Influenza Virologic Surveillance Right Size Roadmap (1st Edition released in 2013) attempted to guide surveillance toward a more systematic and statistically relevant process. The roadmap includes sample size calculators, developed to estimate the appropriate numbers of samples needed to achieve influenza surveillance with statistical confidence for situational awareness and rare/novel influenza event detection. The roadmap proposed identification of alternate, non-PHL, data sources as a means to augment state PHL data and, in turn, enhance national surveillance.