Rapid establishment of a national surveillance of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Belgium

Archives of Public Health

Vincent Melis¹  Sophie Quoilin²  Javiera Rebolledo Gonzalez²  Nathalie Bossuyt²  Chloé Wyndham-Thomas²  Jessika Deblonde²  Tinne Lernout²  Dominique Van Beckhoven²  Aline Vilain²  Nina Van Goethem³ 

[1] Directorate Healthcare, Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment, Brussels, Belgium;Scientific Directorate of Epidemiology and public health, Sciensano, J. Wytsmanstraat 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium;Scientific Directorate of Epidemiology and public health, Sciensano, J. Wytsmanstraat 14, 1050, Brussels, Belgium;Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institut de recherche expérimentale et clinique, Faculty of Public Health, Université catholique de Louvain, Clos Chapelle-aux-champs 30, 1200, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium;

关键词: COVID-19;    Hospital-based surveillance;    Hospital capacity;    Hospital outcome;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13690-020-00505-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn response to the COVID-19 epidemic, caused by a novel coronavirus, it was of great importance to rapidly collect as much accurate information as possible in order to characterize the public health threat and support the health authorities in its management. Hospital-based surveillance is paramount to monitor the severity of a disease in the population.MethodsTwo separate surveillance systems, a Surge Capacity survey and a Clinical survey, were set up to collect complementary data on COVID-19 from Belgium’s hospitals. The Surge Capacity survey collects aggregated data to monitor the hospital capacity through occupancy rates of beds and medical devices, and to follow a set of key epidemiological indicators over time. Participation is mandatory and the daily data collection includes prevalence and incidence figures on the number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. The Clinical survey is strongly recommended by health authorities, focusses on specific patient characteristics and relies on individual patient data provided by the hospitals at admission and discharge.ConclusionsThis national double-level hospital surveillance was implemented very rapidly after the first COVID-19 patients were hospitalized and revealed to be crucial to monitor hospital capacity over time and to better understand the disease in terms of risk groups and outcomes. The two approaches are complementary and serve different needs.

【 授权许可】

CC BY