Public Health Surveillance Paper

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Pages: 3

Public health surveillance serves many different purposes, but the primary objectives of public health surveillance are to use scientific and factual data to assess the public health status of a health condition, establish public health priorities, evaluate public health intervention and programs, and develop research. (Lee, 2010). Assessing the public health status of a health condition is one purpose of public health surveillance. In doing so, health officials can determine the nature of a disease and take immediate action or monitor a disease or condition to see its progression throughout time. Monitoring and assessing the status of a health condition can be very effective in controlling the disease or illness. Public health priorities are …show more content…
(Lee, 2010) The documentation of the distribution and spread of diseases can be used for epidemiological research. According to a review article from the New England Journal of Medicine, the Zika virus had been in obscurity for over 70 years but was introduced to Brazil by travelers from the Pacific Islands, and the virus had spread rapidly into America from Brazil. (Peterson et al., 2016) This rapid spread and distribution of the Zika virus is an excellent example of one of the primary uses of surveillance in epidemiological research. After the proliferation of the Zika virus to America and other countries, the virus is now a global public health emergency and it is determined that this is the first time we have an infectious virus that is associated with birth defects (Peterson et al., 2016). There is no current treatment or vaccine for the Zika virus; however, through public health surveillance, we have prevention programs in place to decrease the spread of the Zika virus. Also, using the data about the distribution and spread of the virus, we are currently carrying on epidemiological research into finding a cure for