The Maine CDC relies on data from many sources to inform its work and to complete its mission. By monitoring current trends, the Maine CDC can recognize early warning signals and be prepared to respond to potential emerging public health threats.
One way to observe this data is via syndromic surveillance.
What is syndromic surveillance?
Syndromic surveillance is the collection of health data based on syndromes. A syndrome is a pattern or collection of symptoms related to an illness. All hospitals in Maine, except for Togus VA Medical Center, collect report information about emergency room (ER) visits to the Maine CDC. Reports happen within hours after a visit.
The Maine CDC then uses computer algorithms to search the text of these reports. The algorithm categorizes ER visits into syndromes, and adds up the number of visits in a number of different categories into daily tallies and graphs. Over time, these graphs can show trends or "spikes" of outbreaks.
This surveillance can help the Maine recognize trends not only in outbreaks or illnesses but also in injury, drug, or alcohol related ER visits.
You can view this data here Emergency Room Visits (Syndromic Surveillance)
Other Health and Safety Data and Resources:
For more public health information about drug and alcohol use and overdoses, visit the State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) and the Maine Drug Data Hub.