41.5.2 Weekly reportable diseases
Currently, seven diseases and conditions are identified to be reported weekly to the next reporting level (see Table 41.1). Reports should include the total number of cases and any deaths seen during the week (Monday to Sunday). Reports should be sent to the Health Centre every Monday, using the weekly reporting format shown in Appendix 41.2. In this format, you are expected to record the name of the disease, as well as the age and sex of the patient, and the place where the case was diagnosed (Health Post or community). For suspected cases of malaria, the laboratory result based on the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) should also be recorded.
Before you use the weekly reporting format, what types of analysis should you do if there is more than one case of a priority disease? (Think back to Study Session 40.)
You should organise and report the data according to the age and sex of the cases to see if any patterns are evident. As you should remember from Study Session 40, data should be analysed in this way before reporting.
In the final study session in this Module, we describe in more detail the actions you should take to investigate and manage an epidemic of a communicable disease in your community.
41.5.1 Immediately reportable diseases