Outbreak reporting guide

intervention Outbreak structured format for the abstract with the following section headings:


Outbreak reporting guide
Correspondence: ccdr-rmtc@phac-aspc.gc.ca Outbreak reports describe an outbreak once it is complete. They summarize how the outbreak was detected, the investigations that were conducted, the interventions that were carried out to control it, provide descriptive epidemiology and outcomes. They are useful to identify emerging risks and to describe new investigations or intervention techniques. Outbreak reports are typically 2,000-2,500 words in length -excluding the abstract, tables and references.
The Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) has adapted the Outbreak Reports and Intervention studies Of Nosocomial infection (ORION) reporting guideline (1) for community-based outbreaks. Table 1 provides an outbreak report checklist and Figure 1 illustrates an example of an epidemic curve, or histogram in which the number of new cases of a disease is plotted against an interval of time to describe a specific outbreak.
As with all submissions, check CCDR's Information for authors (typically published in January every year with the first issue of each new volume) for general manuscript preparation and submission requirements. Compose a title that includes the term "outbreak", the disease, population or place and time.

Setting 3
Describe the setting (community, hospital, etc.) where the outbreak occurred.

Identification 4
Describe the events that led to the discovery of the index case of the outbreak.
Background 5 Provide the scientific context (e.g., describe the organism and whether it is emerging, epidemic, endemic etc.).

Rationale 6
Identify the clinical and public health rationale to report outbreak (e.g., need for heightened awareness, demonstration of a new investigation or intervention technique).
Objective 7 Articulate the objective of the outbreak report. (e.g., "The objective of this report is to describe the epidemiological, diagnostic and genetic investigation of the outbreak that occurred in --).

Method
Overview 8 Identify the start and finish dates of the outbreak and the date the investigations began. Describe how the end date was determined including the incubation period and date of the last reported case.
Case finding and data collection 9 Provide the case definitions (including confirmed, probable and under investigation if applicable).

10
Describe data collection activities (for person, time and place) including any questionnaire development (clinical history, risk factor assessment).

Investigations 11
Provide a systematic description of how the outbreak was investigated including -Laboratory investigations, and -Environmental sampling.

Epidemiologic and statistical analyses 12
Describe any analytical methods used assess the outbreak (e.g., risk factor analysis, survival analysis, estimation of background rates).

13
Reference any complex analytical methods used (e.g., social network analysis, estimation of R0).
14 Include any sub-group analyses, what was done to control for interactions and confounding factors and how missing data and reporting delays were addressed.

Interventions 15
Describe the clinical and public health measures that were put in place to control the outbreak including as applicable including -Exposure history, -Health risk assessment, -Clinical treatments, and -Public health measures (e.g., quarantine, contact tracing, surveillance, immunization clinics, risk communications etc.).  Frequency  table  20 Include a table with demographic characteristics (e.g., age and sex) and symptom frequency, if applicable.

Key results 21
Summarize key findings that relate to the report objective, highlighting the new or important aspects of the outbreak and their significance.

Comparison 22
Consider these findings in relation to the current literature.

Strengths and weaknesses 23
Identify strengths and weaknesses of the outbreak investigation and response.

Conclusion 24
Ensure conclusions address objective and follow from the results.

Surveillance summary reporting guide
Correspondence: ccdr-rmtc@phac-aspc.gc.ca Surveillance reports provide essential information about a disease or health-related condition according to person, time and place. They often provide the basis to identify burden of illness and may include related information, such as trends in risk factor frequency or prescribing practices. Surveillance reports inform strategies to address targeted health conditions and may identify the need for additional clinical care or public health action. They can be summaries of larger reports published in the grey literature and, increasingly, may link to a complete surveillance dataset. Surveillance reports are approximately 2,000-2,500 words in length -excluding the abstract, tables and references.
The Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) supports the use of reporting guidelines, including those collected by the Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research (EQUATOR) Network (1). However, the EQUATOR Network does not currently provide guideline for surveillance reports, so the CCDR has developed this one based on other checklists, a guideline for evaluating surveillance systems (2) and recent trends in Open Science. Table 1 provides CCDR's checklist for surveillance reports. Figure 1 illustrates an example of how surveillance data is typically summarized graphically with incidence on the y axis and time on the x axis.
As with all submissions, check CCDR's Information for authors (published in January every year with the first issue of each new volume) for general manuscript preparation and submission requirements.

Introduction
Context 3 Summarize the current situation regarding the health condition under surveillance and identify why it is important.
Objectives 4 State the objective of the surveillance report.

Setting 5
Describe the setting, locations and dates of the surveillance period. Data quality, missing data and reporting delays.

10
Describe how the data quality was assessed. Explain how missing data were addressed. If data is reported by date of diagnosis or symptom onset, include a statement about whether the data for the most recent periods may be revised.

Data analysis 11
Describe any analytical methods used providing sufficient detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to judge its appropriateness and to assess the reported results.

Results
Descriptive data 12 Provide a summary of the descriptive data, including demographics.

Data Quality 13
Report on data quality (e.g., completeness, missing data, under reporting,) Analytic data 14 Provide a summary of the analysis including (when indicated) estimates of trends. When applicable, point estimates should include appropriate indicators of measurement error such as 95% confidence intervals (e.g., average annual percentage change used to describe trends or odds ratios used to describe subgroup differences).

Figures 15
Create the minimum number of figures to highlight key results. Create a title that includes person, time and place.

Key results 16
Summarise key results with reference to study objectives Comparison 17 Consider these findings in relation to the current literature.

Strengths and weaknesses 18
Discuss strengths and weaknesses of the study (data quality, completeness, sources of potential bias).

Interpretation and generalizability 19
Provide a cautious overall interpretation of results considering objectives, limitations, multiplicity of analyses, results from similar studies and other relevant evidence.

Conclusion 20
Ensure conclusions address objective and follow from the results.  BC 1991BC -2012NL, NB, NT 1993-2012YT 1994YT -2012NS, QC 1996-2012MB 1999MB -2012NU 1999NU -2006. For rate calculation, population denominators were adjusted to include only those jurisdictions for which data were available in a given year. 2