Evaluating the Timeliness of Enteric Disease Surveillance in British Columbia, Canada, 2012-13
Table 1
Time intervals between steps in the surveillance of enteric diseases, BC, 2012-13.
Time interval1
Salmonella median [IQ] (range) in days
STEC median [IQ] (range) in days
Shigella median [IQ] (range) in days
Listeria median [IQ] (range) in days
Laboratory surveillance
1: symptom onset to sample collection
6 [3–11] (0–163)
4 [3–8] (0–108)
7 [4–13] (0–137)
3 [1–4] (0–13)
2: sample collection to sample receipt at PHL
5 [3–6] (0–36)
4 [2–6] (0–46)
4 [3–5] (0–20)
3 [2–4] (0–7)
3: sample receipt at PHL to PHL confirmation (incl. serotype or species)
3 [2–4] (1–70)
6 [2–21] (1–173)
1 [1–3] (1–30)
6 [3–8] (2–69)
4: PHL confirmation to start of PFGE run
6 [3–8] (0–55)
6 [5–10] (1–83)
8 [5–12] (0–34)
6 [5–8] (0–13)
5: start of PFGE run to report of PFGE result to provincial epidemiologists
10 [8–22] (1–57)
8 [5–10] (1–44)
9 [7–14] (2–49)
NA2
6: PHL confirmation to isolate sent for PT
7 [3–8] (0–27)
NA
NA
NA
7: isolate sent for PT to receipt of PT result at PHL
5 (2–26)
NA
NA
NA
8: receipt of PT result at PHL to report of PT result to provincial epidemiologists
9 [2–22] (0–38)
NA
NA
NA
A1: symptom onset to report of results to provincial epidemiologists
35 [25–48] (15–179)
26 [22–34] (13–99)
36 [27–49] (18–165)
NA2
Epidemiological surveillance
9: sample collection to regional health authority notification
4 [3–6] (0–18)
5 [3–7] (0–30)
4 [3–6] (0–35)
3 (1–8)
10: regional health authority notification to case report entry
0 (0–20)
0 (0–2)
0 (0–3)
0 (0-0)
11: case report entry to first attempt to contact
1 [0–2] (0–62)
0 (0–19)
0 (0–31)
1 [1–5] (0–55)
12: first attempt to contact to completed interview
0 (0–43)
0 (0–38)
0 (0–29)
0 [0–3] (0–6)
B1: symptom onset to completed interview
14 [9–21] (2–168)
12 [8–18] (3–119)
14 [10–21] (5–148)
13 [8–17] (3–61)
Numbers refer to intervals in Figure 1. Dates for reporting Listeria PFGE to provincial epidemiologists were not available (not in regular weekly report).
