Program Operations Guidelines for STD Prevention: Surveillance and Data Management

Surveillance is the ongoing and systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data in the process of describing and monitoring disease trends. This information can assist programs to better plan, implement, and evaluate efforts to control STDs. For this reason, surveillance is a core public health function and must be considered one of the most essential and of the highest priority in any STD prevention program. This examines the objectives of a STD surveillance system, describes the components and operation of such a system, and provides case definitions for selected STDs.

The national STD surveillance system uses a reported case registry method. Data sources include laboratory reports, morbidity reports, patient interviews, and information provided by or obtained from health care providers. The system is used to estimate the burden of disease, acquire and allocate resources, detect trends signaling changes in the occurrence of disease, detect epidemics, stimulate epidemiologic research, identify risk factors associated with disease occurrence, and assess the efficacy of control measures.

When using these guidelines, consideration should be given to the disease prevalence in the community, the characteristics of the existing networks of providers and laboratories, and the level of resources available to support STD prevention and control activities. Except for those areas where standardization is clearly indicated (e.g., essential data elements), these guidelines should not be construed as inflexible rules, but as a source of guidance to state and local health departments and laboratories and to their partners in STD prevention and control.