Job Aid — Health Surveillance

Step-by-step field reference for health facility staff

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Communicable & Notifiable Diseases

Guidelines 6.4.2 — Covers IHR-mandated diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases, Caribbean priority diseases, and STIs. Use this job aid every time a suspected or confirmed communicable disease case presents.

Critical rule Any IHR Category A disease (Smallpox, Polio, COVID-19, Mpox, SARS, new influenza subtype) = EpiU notifies WHO within 24 hours. Do not wait for lab confirmation.
1

Identify: Is this a notifiable disease?

Open the guidelines at 6.4.2 and check the patient's symptoms against the four disease categories:

Category A — IHR (24h)

Smallpox, Polio, COVID-19/SARS, Mpox, Human Influenza new subtype

Category B — IHR Annex 2

Cholera, Plague, Yellow Fever, Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers, Dengue Haemorrhagic, West Nile

Category C — Regionally Important (Americas)

Influenza, Malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS, Chikungunya, Zika, Typhus

Category D — National / CARPHA

Chicken Pox, Measles, Typhoid, Leptospirosis, Rabies, Foodborne illness, Scabies, STIs, Leprosy

Also check 10.2 Case Definitions ↗ to confirm whether the patient meets the case definition.

2

Classify: Determine the reporting urgency

IMMEDIATE
IHR Category A — notify facility Medical Officer + EpiU simultaneously. EpiU applies IHR Annex 2 decision tool; WHO notified within 24 hours. Do not wait for lab.
Same day
Any suspected/confirmed CD case at DMO clinic — phone/WhatsApp/email to EpiU immediately
Every Monday
by 9 a.m.
All weekly reports submitted together for the previous epi-week via SLUHIS:
• CD syndromic surveillance data (HMIU & EpiU)
• EPI surveillance data — rash/fever, acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) — to EpiU
• Facility aggregate NCD/MH syndromic data (sentinel sites)
Phone/WhatsApp backup if SLUHIS unavailable
Tuesday
HMIU reviews PHC SLUHIS reports. Ensure Monday data is complete and accurate before end of Monday
Wednesday
EpiU reports national CD data to CARPHA. EpiU reports national EPI syndromic data regionally
Monthly
CD, syndromic, lab, NCD/MH, AMR and EHU data integrated into NSRT report — facility data must be complete in SLUHIS
3

Capture the minimum required data

Regardless of the capture method used (paper form, SLUHIS module, or DHIS-2), the same minimum dataset must be collected for every suspected or confirmed notifiable disease case:

Core fields — required for every CD notification

  • Patient name, date of birth, sex, address, and health district
  • Date of illness onset | Date first seen at facility | Date of admission (inpatients)
  • Symptoms and clinical findings meeting the case definition (10.2)
  • Case classification: Suspected / Probable / Confirmed
  • Specimen type, date collected, and laboratory requested
  • Travel history (last 21 days); animal contact (zoonoses)
  • Vaccination status (vaccine-preventable diseases)
  • Name and contact of reporting clinician and facility
⚡ Under discussion — which capture method? Currently, these fields are gathered via paper forms (6.3.3.1 — Hospital CD Notification Form, Lab Case Form, EPI Form, STI Form, HIV/AIDS Form, etc.). Three options are on the table:

Option A — Paper forms (current): Low barrier to adoption; works offline. Risk: transcription errors, delays in data reaching EpiU, hard to update as case status changes.

Option B — SLUHIS-based module: Data captured directly at the point of care in SLUHIS. No double entry. Case updates (suspect → confirmed → ruled out) handled in the same record. Requires stable connectivity and trained users.

Option C — DHIS-2 Tracker module (hospital level): DHIS-2 Tracker provides per-patient, longitudinal case tracking with event-based notification. Suitable for hospital-level sentinel surveillance at VHMC and private hospitals. Requires DHIS-2 configuration and integration with SLUHIS data flows.

The priority is capturing the minimum data fields consistently and getting them to EpiU on time — the tool matters less than the data.
One record, multiple updates Whether paper or digital — update the same notification record as classification changes (suspect → probable → confirmed / ruled out). Do not create a duplicate record at each stage.
4

Complete the form: what to record

  • Patient full name, date of birth, sex, address, district
  • Date of onset of illness
  • Date seen at facility / date of admission (inpatient)
  • Symptoms and clinical findings meeting the case definition
  • Provisional diagnosis (suspected / probable / confirmed)
  • Laboratory specimens taken (type, date collected, lab requested)
  • Travel history (last 21 days) and contact with animals (for zoonoses)
  • Vaccination status (for vaccine-preventable diseases)
  • Name and contact of reporting clinician / facility
Clinician completing notification form
Completing the CD notification form at point of care
Lab specimen labelling
Label specimens with patient ID & date before sending to lab
5

Report: who to notify and how

All reports go to the Epidemiology Unit (EpiU) at national level. Acceptable channels:

Phone Email: epidemiologyunit@govt.lc WhatsApp Fax

Laboratory sends confirmed CD results directly to EpiU by email/phone/fax. Facilities submit syndromic data via SLUHIS. For outbreaks, CARPHA is also notified by Wednesday.

For IHR Category A diseases Notify facility Medical Officer AND contact EpiU simultaneously. EpiU applies the IHR Annex 2 decision instrument and notifies WHO within 24 hours. Do not delay waiting for lab confirmation.
6

Laboratory follow-up and case update

When lab results are received:

  • Update the case status on the original notification form (confirmed / ruled out)
  • If confirmed: attach lab report to the notification form and re-send to EpiU
  • If ruled out: notify EpiU so the case is removed from active surveillance data
  • For TB: initiate contact tracing register and notify TB National Programme
  • For HIV: complete the HIV/AIDS Notification Form and refer to Infectious Diseases Programme

CARPHA Laboratory Investigation Forms are required for: E. coli (EHEC), Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Hepatitis A/B/C, Norovirus, Rotavirus, Listeria, Cryptosporidium. Send via EpiU.

7

File and record keeping

  • Retain original signed form at facility (inpatient file or outpatient register)
  • Enter data into SLUHIS by Monday morning
  • Maintain Doctor's Clinic Register up to date for all outpatient attendances
  • Retain duplicate copy of all notification forms for facility records
Reference Full case definitions are available at 10.2. SOPs for specific diseases (Arboviruses, HIV, Mpox, Leptospirosis, Diphtheria, Chickenpox, STIs, Rabies, Oropouche, Avian Influenza) are in 9.