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. 2011 Jan 13;6(1):e15699.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015699.

Auditing the management of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks: the need for a tool

Nuria Torner  1 , Dolors Carnicer-Pont, Jesus Castilla, Joan Cayla, Pere Godoy, Angela Dominguez; Epidemiological Surveillance Working Group of Catalonia and Navarre, Spain
Collaborators, Affiliations

Auditing the management of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks: the need for a tool

Nuria Torner et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Public health activities, especially infectious disease control, depend on effective teamwork. We present the results of a pilot audit questionnaire aimed at assessing the quality of public health services in the management of VPD outbreaks. Audit questionnaire with three main areas indicators (structure, process and results) was developed. Guidelines were set and each indicator was assessed by three auditors. Differences in indicator scores according to median size of outbreaks were determined by ANOVA (significance at p≤0.05). Of 154 outbreaks; eighteen indicators had a satisfactory mean score, indicator "updated guidelines" and "timely reporting" had a poor mean score (2.84±106 and 2.44±1.67, respectively). Statistically significant differences were found according to outbreak size, in the indicators "availability of guidelines/protocol updated less than 3 years ago" (p = 0.03) and "days needed for outbreak control" (p = 0.04). Improving availability of updated guidelines, enhancing timely reporting and adequate recording of control procedures taken is needed to allow for management assessment and improvement.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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