Abstract
We developed an automatic syndromic surveillance system from electronic medical records with the purpose of early detection of the outbreak of infectious diseases. This system works by monitoring the number of patients who visit a doctor with fever, respiratory symptoms, diarrhea, vomiting, or rash. At first, we conducted a study at one clinic from May 2005 to September 2006 to develop the prototype.
Then, since October 2006 we have started to extend the system to other medical institutions in the same community in order to detect outbreaks in the community. We found an outbreak of the Noro virus in October 2006, a late influenza outbreak in March 2007, and a meningitis outbreak due to Echo virus type 30 in late August and September 2007. In the case of the meningitis outbreak, the system detected vomiting as the initial sign of meningitis, and the public health center sent a recommendation to schools through the education board that everyone should wash their hands.
