Evaluation of sentinel surveillance system for hand, foot, and mouth disease in Southern Vietnam, 2016 - 2018

Abstract

Along with routine surveillance, the sentinel surveillance system (SSS) for hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) helps to describe the epidemiological characteristics and recommend appropriate control activities. Evaluation of surveillance system is necessary to assess the current situation and improve the quality of system. All four HFMD sentinel sites in Southern Vietnam were evaluated for simplicity, acceptability, and data quality by interviewing staff and reviewing data completeness of 900 case questionnaires in 2016- 2018. The results showed that all sites agreed that HFMD SSS was simple and willing to participate. Of the 900 case questionnaires, 824 (91.6%) had the missing data rate under 15%. Information that was often missing included contact history (43.8%), address at commune/ward level (19.6%), and school place (17.8%). The HFMD SSS in Southern Vietnam in 2016-2018 had simplicity and high acceptability; however, the data quality needed to be improved. Therefore, the importance of epidemiological questions should be emphasized in training courses, and the contact history questions should be adjusted to avoid missing information.