 Country:
Portugal
Name
Portuguese Paediatric Surveillance Unit
Website
www.spp.pt/ingl/index_17.html
Year established
June 2000
Association
Portuguese Paediatric Society
Population under 15 years
1,673,600
General information
The Portuguese Paediatric Surveillance Unit (PPSU) is a scientific branch
of the Portuguese Paediatric Society (SPP), with no state institutional
links. Based on the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU), it was
created in June 2000 and began active surveillance in April 2001. The
PPSU includes on its mailing list all registered paediatricians, paediatric
surgeons, paediatric neurologists and paediatric cardiologists, as well
as the residents of these specialities for a total of 1,506 participants.
Notification is individual, not institutional. Both postal and electronic
notification is available for the return of both the postal card and
the case inquiry.
During the year 2003, the return rate of notifying cards oscillated
between 20 and 25%, amounting to circa 300 cards returned monthly. Of
the 3,340 cards returned in 2003, 145 (4.34%) participants notified cases.
More than one hundred cards are electronically returned each month. The
confirmation of notified cases is not yet closed as circa 50% of the
case inquiries have not yet been returned.
So far, the PPSU has been able to confirm the national dimension of
the surveillance system. Data confirm the utility of including non-hospital
based physicians on the mailing list, particularly for some conditions
under surveillance such as Diabetes. The large mailing list includes
every paediatrician (or related specialist) in the country, both active
and retired, as well as residents. The PPSU knows that this decision
affects negatively the return rates, but it has elements that suggest
that reporting cases of the diseases under surveillance is not negatively
affected. This fact supports the decision of keeping every member of
the Portuguese Paediatric Society on the mailing list, despite low return
rates, at least for some time.
Conditions studied
Group B streptococcal disease, Kawasaki Disease, haemolytic uraemic syndrome, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in under fives, accidents with baby-walkers, acute encephalytis and encephalomielytis, congenital CMV infection, hospitalized varicela-zoster virus infections, cerebral palsy among 5-years-old children, and congenital toxoplasmosis
Contact
Dr Daniel Virella, Scientific Coordinator, Portuguese Paediatric Society, R.
Amilcar Cabral, 15-r/c I 1750-018, Lisbon, Portugal
Tel: 351 21 757 4680 Fax: 351 21 757 76 17
Email: uvp-spp@ptnetbiz.pt
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