Critical Information in Surveillance

Generally, a surveillance system should answer the Who, What, When, Where, and How questions. The critical information should include:

• Personal information: age, sex
• Time: onset of the disease, reporting period
• Place: woreda, region
• Risk factors: risk factors for that specific disease
• Number of cases: magnitude
• Management outcome: deaths, recovery (seriousness)
• Management approach: inpatient, outpatient