In order to sustain the elimination of measles, timely reporting is important. The surveillance data in Korea from 2002-2009 was analyzed to determine the effect of sentinel laboratory surveillance, which was introduced in 2006, on the timeliness of measles reporting. The data were stratified by two surveillance periods, (A) before and (B) after 2006, and by cases confirmed clinically and cases confirmed by laboratory measures. During Period A, 113 suspected cases were reported, and 241 during Period B. There was no difference in the proportion of timely reporting among cases confirmed clinically between the two periods, whereas the proportion of cases confirmed by laboratory measures has increased. The mean notification interval in cases confirmed by laboratory measures was shortened from 39 to 16 days. In Korea, sentinel laboratory surveillance has enhanced earlier detection of suspected cases that had not been reported, improving the timeliness of measles surveillance. Adopting this new method may improve the timely collection of cases in other countries.
Keywords: measles; surveillance; timeliness.
© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.