NCJ Number
223888
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Dated: July 2008 Pages: 949-951
Date Published
July 2008
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Since medical examiners are often the first to recognize an unusual occurrence of fatal infectious diseases, this paper reports on the development of a simple method for identifying and tracking infectious disease deaths in a statewide medical examiner’s office.
Abstract
The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) has recently established a comprehensive computerized surveillance system for infectious disease; called Med-X, this computerized surveillance system uses drop-down menus and groups of symptoms and syndromes in providing a more consistent classification of infectious disease deaths than under the previous system of handwritten data sheets. The advantages of the new system include more standardized data entry, inclusion in the electronic autopsy results for ready access, and an easy-to-use e-mail notification sent to the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) epidemiologists, allowing faster and more informative notification. Using an electronic notification system has enhanced the timeliness of reporting notifiable conditions to NMDOH, and OMI is working with NMDOH in evaluating the effectiveness of this notification in preventing the further spread of infections. Under this new system, infectious disease forms were completed for 1,566 out of 1,949 autopsies (80 percent) performed by the OMI in 2004. In 241 cases, 1 infectious disease was identified at autopsy, and 58 cases had 2 infectious diseases. Fourteen of the infectious diseases caused deaths, which are notifiable conditions in New Mexico. Pneumonia was the most commonly reported infectious disease (47 deaths), followed by sepsis (25 deaths). 7 references