How have North Carolinians benefited from NC DETECT?
With NC DETECT, public health officials at the local, regional and state levels are able to monitor a variety of important public health issues in a secure and timely fashion, including influenza, post-hurricane health issues, injury and violence, and vaccine-preventable disease surveillance. For example, NC DETECT users have monitored illness and injury effects after hurricanes Isabel and Ophelia, analyzed ED use at select hospitals by Katrina evacuees, and uncovered unreported cases of tuberculosis. Before NC DETECT, similar surveillance was either simply not performed, relied on manual, redundant data entry, or had a considerable time lag. A summary of specific NC DETECT outcomes is also available.
