Under-ascertainment, under-reporting and timeliness of Iranian communicable disease surveillance system for zoonotic diseases

Weerakoon²,

et al. 2020

BMC Public Health

Background: Leishmaniasis is a notifiable disease in Sri Lanka since 2008. Previous studies show a gap in the notification of leishmaniasis. The purpose of the present study was to determine the Knowledge, attitudes and practice of medical officers regarding leishmaniasis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Anuradhapura district which reported the highest case load of leishmaniasis. Medical officers from public and private health care institutes in the area filled a selfadministered questionnaire in the presence of the investigators. Results: One hundred and eighty-eight (188) medical officers completed the questionnaire. Of them, 95.7% were aware of leishmaniasis as a parasitic infection and 84.7% correctly identified Leishmania donovani as the causative organism in Sri Lanka. From the respondents, 181 (96.8%) knew that the vector of leishmaniasis is sand fly. Cutaneous leishmaniasis was reported as the most prevalent form of leishmaniasis in the country by 176 (94.1%). Nearly half of the respondents (98, 54.1%) were aware of the fact that the Anuradhapura district has the highest disease burden. Many of them had the idea that leishmaniasis is an emerging disease (155, 84.3%,) and early diagnosis is important in controlling the disease (163, 89.1%). Although about three fourth (123, 73.7%,) of the participants mentioned that leishmaniasis should be notified at first clinical suspicion, only 74 (42.5%) were aware that it is a legal requirement. Some medical officers (39, 22%) believed that the current notification system in the country is not effective. Unavailability of notification forms (60, 36.8%) heavy workload (85, 50.3%) and inadequate supportive staff (55, 35.1%) were reported as barriers for timely notification. Even though 105 (58.0%) of medical officers had suspected leishmaniasis during the last 8 years period only 35 (19.4%) had notified. Conclusions: Even though more than 90% of the participants had good theoretical knowledge about leishmaniasis; notification of leishmaniasis is considerably inadequate. This study emphasizes the need for greater efforts to improve the notification of leishmaniasis in Sri Lanka.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Is leishmaniasis adequately notified in Sri Lanka? A survey among doctors from an endemic district, Sri Lanka

Weerakoon²,

et al. 2020

BMC Public Health

“…Only one-fth of medical o cers who suspected leishmaniasis had noti ed. This trend for leishmaniasis under-reporting was observed in previous studies conducted in Sri Lanka (12) and in other countries as well (18,19). Low rate of awareness on proper noti cation chain and the fact that disease noti cation is a legal requirement (as pointed out in the study ndings) should be some of the factors responsible for this low noti cation rate.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Is Leishmaniasis adequately notified in Sri Lanka? A survey among doctors from an endemic district, Sri Lanka.

Weerakoon

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: Leishmaniasis is a notifiable disease in Sri Lanka since 2008. Previous studies show a gap in the notification of leishmaniasis. Purpose of the present study was to determine the Knowledge, attitudes and practice of medical officers regarding leishmaniasis.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Anuradhapura district which reported the highest case load of leishmaniasis. Medical officers from public and private health care institutes in the area filled a self-administered questionnaire in the presence of the investigators.Results: One hundred and eighty-eight (188) medical officers completed the questionnaire. Of them, 95.7% were aware of leishmaniasis as a parasitic infection and 84.7% correctly identified Leishmania donovani as the causative organism in Sri Lanka. From the respondents, 181 (96.8%) knew that the vector of leishmaniasis is sand fly. Cutaneous leishmaniasis was reported as the most prevalent form of leishmaniasis in the country by 176 (94.1%). Nearly half of the respondents (98, 54.1%) were aware of the fact that the Anuradhapura district has the highest disease burden. Many of them had the idea that leishmaniasis is an emerging disease (155, 84.3%,) and early diagnosis is important in controlling the disease (163, 89.1%). Although about three fourth (123, 73.7 %,) of the participants mentioned that leishmaniasis should be notified at first clinical suspicion, only 74 (42.5%) were aware that it is a legal requirement. Some medical officers (39, 22%) believed that the current notification system in the country is not effective. Unavailability of notification forms (60, 36.8%) heavy workload (85, 50.3%) and inadequate supportive staff (55, 35.1%) were reported as barriers for timely notification. Even though 105 (58.0%) of medical officers had suspected leishmaniasis during last eight years period only 35 (19.4%) had notified.Conclusions: Even though more than 90% of the participants had good theoretical knowledge about leishmaniasis; notification of leishmaniasis is considerably inadequate. This study emphasizes the need for greater efforts to improve the notification of leishmaniasis in Sri Lanka.

“…Only one-fifth of medical officers who suspected leishmaniasis had notified. This trend for leishmaniasis under-reporting was observed in other countries as well (21,22). Low rate of awareness on proper notification chain and the fact that disease notification is a legal requirement (as pointed out in the study findings) should be some of the factors responsible for this low notification rate.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Is Leishmaniasis adequately notified in Sri Lanka? A survey among doctors from high endemic district of Sri Lanka.

Weerakoon

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: Leishmaniasis is a notifiable disease in Sri Lanka since 2008. Previous studies show a gap in the notification of leishmaniasis. Purpose of the present study was to determine the Knowledge, attitudes and practice of medical officers regarding leishmaniasis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Anuradhapura district which reported the highest prevalence of leishmaniasis. Medical officers from public and private health care institutes in the area filled a self-administered questionnaire in the presence of the investigators. Results: One hundred and eighty-eight (188) medical officers completed the questionnaire. Of them, 95.7% were aware of leishmaniasis as a parasitic infection and 84.7% correctly identified Leishmania donovani as the causative organism in Sri Lanka. From the respondents, 181 (96.8%) knew that the vector of leishmaniasis is sandfly. Cutaneous leishmaniasis was reported as the most prevalent form of leishmaniasis in the country by 176 (94.1%). Nearly half of the respondents (98, 54.1%) was aware of the fact that the Anuradhapura district has the highest prevalence of the disease. Many of them had the idea that leishmaniasis is an emerging disease (155, 84.3%,) and early diagnosis is important in controlling the disease (163, 89.1%). Although about three fourth (123, 73.7 %,) of the participants mentioned that leishmaniasis should be notified at first clinical suspicion, only 74 (42.5%) were aware that it is a legal requirement. Some medical officers (39, 22%) believed that the current notification system in the country is not effective. Unavailability of notification forms (60, 36.8%) heavy workload (85, 50.3%) and inadequate supportive staff (55, 35.1%) were reported as barriers for timely notification. Even though 105 (58.0%) of medical officers had suspected leishmaniasis during last eight years period only 35 (19.4%) had notified. Conclusions: Even though more than 90% of the participants had good theoretical knowledge about leishmaniasis; notification of leishmaniasis is considerably inadequate. This study emphasizes the need for greater efforts to improve the notification of leishmaniasis in Sri Lanka.