Review Article
The Past, Present, and Future of Public Health Surveillance
Table 6
Comparison of definitions of public health surveillance over time.
| Year | 1662 | 1687 | 1963 | 1968 | 1986 | 1988 | 1998 | 2001 | 2006 | 2012 | Graunt | Petty | Langmuir | WHO | CDC | Thacker and Berkelman | Choi | CDC | PHAC | WHO |
| (1) Name | Natural and political observations | ✓ | | | | | | | | | | Political arithmetic | | ✓ | | | | | | | | | Surveillance | | | | ✓ | | | ✓ | | | ✓ | Disease surveillance | | | ✓ | | | | | | | | Health surveillance | | | | | | | | | ✓ | | Epidemiologic surveillance | | | | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | | | | Public health surveillance | | | | | | ✓ | | ✓ | | ✓ |
| (2) Components | Ongoing | | | ✓ | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Systematic | | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Population-based | | | | | | | ✓ | | | | Data collection | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | Mortality data | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | | | | | | | Morbidity data | | | ✓ | | | | | | | | Epidemiologic data | | | | ✓ | | | | | | | Health data | | | | | ✓ | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Other relevant data | | | ✓ | | | | ✓ | | | | Data analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | Interpretation | ✓ | | ✓ | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | Dissemination | | | ✓ | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ |
| (3) Purpose | Curiosities concerning the waxing and waning of diseases | ✓ | | | | | | | | | | Disease control | | ✓ | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | | | | Public health practice | | | | | ✓ | | | | | ✓ | Public health action | | | | | | | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Planning, implementation, and evaluation of practice | | | | ✓ | ✓ | | ✓ | | | ✓ |
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Sources of surveillance definitions: Graunt [29]; Petty [66]; Langmuir [67]; WHO [69]; CDC [71]; Thacker and Berkelman [30]; Choi [74]; CDC [75]; PHAC [77]; WHO [78–80].
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