Smallpox Surveillance in Bangladesh: II - Smallpox Facial Scar Survey Assessment of Surveillance Effectiveness

Abstract

Abstract Hughes K {Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, University of Singapore, Singapore), Foster S O, Tarantola D. Mehta H. Tulloch J L and Joarder A. K. Smallpox surveillance in Bangladesh: II - smallpox facial scar survey assessment and surveillance effectiveness. International Journal of Epidemiology 1980; 9: 335–340. A smallpox facial scar survery of 465 892 persons aged 0–19 years was carried out in Bangladesh in 1976. covering approximately 1% of the 0–19 year old population. Of the 4 306 persons found with facial scarring consistant with previous smallpox infection, none had a history of smallpox with onset after the last reported case on October 16, 1975. Histories taken from persons with facial scars allowed smallpox incidence to be estimated for each year form 1972 to 1975. These estimetes indicate that completeness of reporting increased steedily from 11.8% in 1972 to 83.0% in 1975, reflecting the increasing effectiveness of surveillance.