Surveillance of communicable disease from a tertiary care teaching hospital of central Kerala, India

Background: Surveillance is the back bone of any disease control program. Communicable disease is a major cause of morbidity. Precise data on the pattern of communicable disease will enable us to identify the epidemic early so that timely response will be possible. Aims: (1) To find out the morbidity and mortality pattern of communicable diseases. (2) To study the disease trend and seasonality of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and acute diarrheal diseases (ADD). Materials and Methods: Retrospective record-based descriptive study was done to find out the morbidity and mortality pattern of communicable disease and trend of seasonality. Five years surveillance data from 2009 to 2013 were collected and analyzed. Results: Maximum morbidity (47.6%) was observed in air borne diseases. ARI accounted for 53%, and pulmonary tuberculosis 27% of morbidity among air borne diseases. Admissions from water borne diseases were mainly done for ADD (47%), followed by hepatitis (34%). 90% of the morbidity from vector borne disease was due to dengue fever. ADD showed a rise during the summer season, and ARI showed peak during the rainy season. The difference in incidence observed between seasons for ADD and ARI were statistically significant (P = 0.001). Leptospirosis and chickenpox were present throughout the years. Increase in mortality from all communicable diseases was observed from the year 2011 onwards. 48% of mortality was due to air borne diseases such as pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumonia, and chickenpox. Conclusion: Maximum morbidity and mortality were due to airborne diseases. Incidence of ADD was more during the summer while ARI was more during the rainy season.