[Facsimile and Internet for provisions of information about prevalence of infectious disease to primary care physicians].

PURPOSES

In Japan, surveillance of infectious disease has been enforced since 1981. Facsimile and Internet have become popularized recently, and in the present study we investigated the means of obtaining related information primary care physicians.

METHODS

Questionnaires were mailed to 117 hospitals and 1,162 clinics in Mie prefecture. Responses from 76 hospitals (65.0%) and 689 (59.3%) clinics were received.

RESULTS

Approximately 80 percent of primary care physicians obtain information about this survey by bulletin. They desire to obtain the latest information to aid diagnosis. More than 90 percent of them have facsimile, and 37.6 percent of them have access to Internet. The majority of them prefer to receive information by facsimile.

CONCLUSION

Therefore, facsimile is the most powerful media for such information transfer at present.