Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jan;16(1):172-177.
doi: 10.1111/irv.12890. Epub 2021 Oct 5.

Establishing a COVID-19 pandemic severity assessment surveillance system in Ireland

Affiliations

Establishing a COVID-19 pandemic severity assessment surveillance system in Ireland

Lisa Domegan et al. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2022 Jan.

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; pandemic severity assessment; surveillance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
COVID‐19 transmissibility parameters by week and age group during the first COVID‐19 pandemic wave in Ireland, March–June 2020, colour coded by threshold level. (A) Overall and (B) by age group
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
COVID‐19 impact parameters by week and age group, during the first COVID‐19 pandemic wave in Ireland, March–June 2020, colour coded by threshold level. (A) Overall and (B) by age group

References

    1. Reed C, Biggerstaff M, Finelli L, et al. Novel framework for assessing epidemiologic effects of influenza epidemics and pandemics. Emerg Infect Dis. 2013;19(1):85‐91. 10.3201/eid1901.120124 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization . (2017). Pandemic Influenza Severity Assessment (PISA): a WHO guide to assess the severity of influenza in seasonal epidemics and pandemics. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/259392
    1. World Health Organization . (2020). Considerations for implementing and adjusting public health and social measures in the context of COVID‐19. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/considerations‐in‐adjusting‐publ...
    1. World Health Organization . (2020). Report of the Review Committee on the Functioning of the International Health Regulations (2005) during the COVID‐19 response. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/documents/emergencies/a74_...
    1. Vega T, Lozano JE, Meerhoff T, et al. Influenza surveillance in Europe: comparing intensity levels calculated using the moving epidemic method. Influenza Other Respi Viruses. 2015;9(5):234‐246. 10.1111/irv.12330 - DOI - PMC - PubMed