Weekly and Annual Data Reports from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS): Do They Meet the Need?

Key Objectives:
The key objectives of this round table are to better understand the current uses of weekly and annual data reports from the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS) published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), identify new needs and explore ways to improve utilization of NNDSS data. 

Brief Summary:
The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) is a nationwide collaboration that enables all levels of public health (local, state,  territorial, and federal) to share health information required to monitor, control, and prevent the occurrence and spread of infectious and some noninfectious diseases and conditions that are designated as “nationally notifiable” by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE).  The data for NNDSS are collected by the health departments from participating jurisdictions, working with healthcare providers, laboratories and other partners as designated by state regulations. The data are voluntarily shared with the CDC in a timely manner to monitor disease trends and other public health functions. One way the data are disseminated is through publication of provisional data in MMWR on a weekly basis in the form of several static tables and graphs. Data are also published as final data in an MMWR annual surveillance summary report. The reports, mentioned above, have been published for decades. However, it is not clear how these reports are currently being used, if they are adequate to meet today’s needs, and what additional improvements, in terms of content and presentation, can enhance their utility. The potential improvements may be for content (data tables and figures) or for presentation (static vs dynamic, format, style etc.). Current technology offers options for information dissemination that were not available historically and could further increase the availability and utilization of the NNDSS data. This round table session will engage the participants in a discussion to inform the next set of improvements for the MMWR reports, considerations about new data dissemination strategies, and identify any implications for the CSTE position statements that make conditions nationally notifiable. It is hoped that the dialogue will continue beyond the conference and will lead to improved reports with greater utilization.