Berger Nicolas, Muyldermans Gaetan, Dupont Yves, Quoilin Sophie
WIV-ISP (Scientific Institute of Public Health), Avenue de la Couronne, 310, 1050 Brussels, Belgium ; Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH UK.
WIV-ISP (Scientific Institute of Public Health), Avenue de la Couronne, 310, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Arch Public Health. 2016 Aug 8;74:29. doi: 10.1186/s13690-016-0145-9. eCollection 2016.
The Belgian Sentinel Network of Laboratories (SNL) was created in 1983 in order to monitor trends in infectious diseases. Given the evolution of the surveillance system, such as the waivers, fusions and adhesions of laboratories over time, it is important to evaluate whether the SNL is still fit for purpose. This study aims to evaluate aspects of the sensitivity and representativeness of the SNL by means of a test coverage analysis.
We estimated test coverage of the SNL using the ratio of reimbursed tests performed by participating laboratories to the total number of tests performed between 2007 and 2012, for 12 (groups of) pathogens. We further evaluated the geographical difference coverage of the SNL at regional and provincial levels.
We found that test coverage of the SNL was stable over time and close to, or greater than, 50 % for the 12 (groups of) pathogens studied. These results hold for the three regions of Belgium but not for all provinces. We showed that some provinces had a low test coverage for some pathogens and that test coverage was more variable over time at provincial level.
This sensitivity and representativeness study based on test coverage suggests that the SNL is capable to describe trend and to monitor changes in the 12 (groups of) pathogens studied both at national and regional levels. Therefore, the SNL is useful to contribute to estimate the burden of disease and to inform preventive measures. It should however be reinforced to allow to be used as an alert system at provincial level.
比利时实验室哨点网络（SNL）于1983年建立，用于监测传染病趋势。鉴于监测系统随时间的演变，如实验室的豁免、合并和联合，评估SNL是否仍符合其目的很重要。本研究旨在通过检测覆盖分析评估SNL的敏感性和代表性方面。
我们使用参与实验室进行的报销检测与2007年至2012年间针对12种（组）病原体进行的总检测数的比率来估计SNL的检测覆盖率。我们还进一步评估了SNL在区域和省级层面的地理差异覆盖率。
我们发现，SNL的检测覆盖率随时间保持稳定，对于所研究的12种（组）病原体，检测覆盖率接近或超过50%。这些结果适用于比利时的三个地区，但不适用于所有省份。我们表明，一些省份对某些病原体的检测覆盖率较低，并且省级层面的检测覆盖率随时间变化更大。
这项基于检测覆盖率的敏感性和代表性研究表明，SNL能够在国家和区域层面描述所研究的12种（组）病原体的趋势并监测其变化。因此，SNL有助于估计疾病负担并为预防措施提供信息。然而，应加强SNL以便在省级层面用作警报系统。
