"Establishing a COVID-19 pandemic severity assessment surveillance system in Ireland"
Thematic area: Surveillance |
Sub thematic area: Disease Surveillance
Applicability: Country |
Region: Europe
Year of publication: 2022 |
Organization(s): European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Health Protection Surveillance Centre, Health Service Executive North-East, Navan
Abstract
We developed a COVID-19 pandemic severity assessment (PSA) monitoring system in Ireland, in order to inform and improve public health preparedness, response and recovery. The system based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Influenza Severity Assessment (PISA) project included a panel of surveillance parameters for the following indicators: transmissibility, impact and disease severity. Age-specific thresholds were established for each parameter and data visualised using heat maps. The findings from the first pandemic wave in Ireland have shown that the WHO PISA system can be adapted for COVID-19, providing a standardised tool for early warning and monitoring pandemic severity.
