NSSP Update – June 2021
A Technical Newsletter for the NSSP Community of Practice | June 2021
The National Syndromic Surveillance Program issues NSSP Update monthly to share the latest Community of Practice activities, technical and program updates, and ways in which syndromic surveillance is improving public health.
SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE IN ACTION
New Jersey Leverages Syndromic Surveillance to Make Workplaces Healthier and Safer
Syndromic surveillance combines multiple data sources to detect occupational injuries and exposures. Read the story.
MMWR
Decreases in COVID-19 Cases, Emergency Department Visits, Hospital Admissions, and Deaths Among Older Adults Following Introduction of COVID-19 Vaccine—United States, September 6, 2020–May, 2021
Read about the potential effect of increasing population-level vaccination coverage. Read the article.
Suspected Nonfatal Drug-Related Overdoses Among Youth in the US: 2016–2019
Explore how emergency department syndromic surveillance data are used to investigate trends in suspected nonfatal drug overdoses among youth. Read the article in Pediatrics.
Changes in Seasonal Respiratory Illnesses in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Syndromic surveillance data demonstrate how trends in respiratory emergency department visits deviated from seasonal norms. Read more in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Development and Validation of a Syndrome Definition to Identify Suspected Nonfatal Heroin-Involved Overdoses Treated in Emergency Departments
Analysis of the CDC heroin overdose syndrome definition demonstrates nearly all overdose visits were captured accurately. Read in the Journal of Public Health Management & Practice.
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
Are We Doing Enough to Improve Our Understanding of Mental Health?
The NSSP Community of Practice discusses a new suite of mental health syndromes that could advance the science.
Developing Syndrome Definitions
NSSP works with health departments and CDC programs to develop and improve syndrome definitions. Also see the NSSP Community of Practice Knowledge Repository.
TECHNICAL UPDATES
NSSP Introduces Calculated Race and Ethnicity Fields into ESSENCE
Search capabilities will include free-text values to improve overall data completeness. Read more.
NSSP Participation Increases
At least 71% of the nation’s emergency departments contribute data to NSSP. That’s more than 6,000 health care facilities! Here’s the latest map of participating U.S. counties.
Monthly National-level Free-text ESSENCE Queries
Analysts can exercise a high level of customization by using free-text queries. They can quickly code free-text queries and rapidly respond to outbreaks, disasters, and health events that unfold. These word clouds capture free-text queries from a national perspective.
| June 17 | NSSP Vendor Patches (Onboarding and Production); 12:00–8:00 AM ET |
| June 21 | NSSP Community of Practice Core Committee Call (Monthly); 1:00–2:30 PM ET |
| June 22 | Data Sharing Workgroup Call (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| June 24 | NSSP–ESSENCE User Group (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| June 29 | NSSP Community of Practice Call (Monthly); 3:00–4:30 PM ET |
| July 9 | Data Quality Subcommittee Call (Monthly); 12:00–1:00 PM ET |
| July 12 | NSSP Community of Practice Core Committee Call (Monthly); 1:00–2:30 PM ET |
| July 14 | Race and Ethnicity Data Quality Improvement Workgroup (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| July 20 | NSSP Community of Practice Call (Monthly); 3:00–4:30 PM ET |
| July 22 | NSSP–ESSENCE User Group (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| July 27 | Data Sharing Workgroup Call (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
View more calendar details at the NSSP Community of Practice.
