Performance of the Severe Acute Respiratory Illness Sentinel Surveillance System in Yemen: Mixed Methods Evaluation Study.

BACKGROUND: The national severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) surveillance system in Yemen was established in 2010 to monitor SARI occurrence in humans and provide a foundation for detecting SARI outbreaks. OBJECTIVE: To ensure that the objectives of national surveillance are being met, this study aimed to examine the level of usefulness and the performance of the SARI surveillance system in Yemen. METHODS: The updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines were used for the purposes of our evaluation. Related documents and reports were reviewed. Data were collected from 4 central-level managers and stakeholders and from 10 focal points at 4 sentinel sites by using a semistructured questionnaire. For each attribute, percent scores were calculated and ranked as follows: very poor (≤20%), poor (20%-40%), average (40%-60%), good (60%-80%), and excellent (>80%). RESULTS: As rated by the evaluators, the SARI surveillance system achieved its objectives. The system's flexibility (percent score: 86%) and acceptability (percent score: 82%) were rated as "excellent," and simplicity (percent score: 74%) and stability (percent score: 75%) were rated as "good." The percent score for timeliness was 23% in 2018, which indicated poor timeliness. The overall data quality percent score of the SARI system was 98.5%. Despite its many strengths, the SARI system has some weaknesses. For example, it depends on irregular external financial support. CONCLUSIONS: The SARI surveillance system was useful in estimating morbidity and mortality, monitoring the trends of the disease, and promoting research for informing prevention and control measures. The overall performance of the SARI surveillance system was good. We recommend expanding the system by promoting private health facilities' (eg, private hospitals and private health centers) engagement in SARI surveillance, establishing an electronic database at central and peripheral sites, and providing the National Central Public Health Laboratory with the reagents needed for disease confirmation.

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Outbreak Investigation in Hajjah Governorate, Yemen, in 2018: Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in Yemen. About 4440 cases were reported in 2019. On July 23, 2018, a Hajjah governorate surveillance officer notified the Ministry of Public Health and Population about an increase in the number of CL cases in Bani-Oshb, Kuhlan district, Hajjah governorate. On July 24, 2018, Yemen Field Epidemiology Training Program sent a team to perform an investigation. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe a CL outbreak in Hajjah governorate and determine its risk factors. METHODS: A descriptive study and case-control study (1:1 ratio) were conducted. Cases included people who met the suspected or confirmed case definition of the World Health Organization and lived in Bani-Oshb subdistrict during the period from August 2017 to July 2018. Controls included people living for at least 1 year in Bani-Oshb without new or old skin lesions. Crude odds ratios (cORs) and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% CI were used to test the significance of associations. RESULTS: We identified 30 CL cases. Among the 30 patients, 7 (23%) were younger than 5 years, 17 (57%) were 5 to 14 years, 17 (57%) were females, and 23 (77%) had one lesion. The attack rate was 7 per 1000 population in the age group <15 years and 1 per 1000 population in the age group ≥15 years. On bivariate analysis, the following factors were significantly associated with CL: female gender (cOR 5.2, 95% CI 1.7-16.5), malnutrition (cOR 5.2, 95% CI 1.7-16.5), not using a bed net (cOR 14.5, 95% CI 1.7-122.4), poor house lighting (cOR 6.4, 95% CI 2.1-19.7), poor house hygiene (cOR 11.2, 95% CI 3.1-40.7), poor sanitation (cOR 14.5, 95% CI 1.7-122.4), living in houses without window nets (cOR 5.2, 95% CI 1.3-21.2), plantation around the house (cOR 6.5, 95% CI 2.1-20.5), animal barn inside or close to the house (cOR 9.3, 95% CI 1.9-46.7), raising animals (cOR 8.1, 95% CI 1.6-40.7), and having animal dung in or near the house (cOR 6.8, 95% CI 1.7-27.7). The following risk factors remained significant on multivariate stepwise analysis: female gender (aOR 22.7, 95% CI 1.6-320.5), malnutrition (aOR 17.2, 95% CI 1.3-225.8), poor house hygiene (aOR 45.6, 95% CI 2.5-846.4), plantation around the house (aOR 43.8, 95% CI 1.9-1009.9), and raising animals (aOR 287.1, 95% CI 5.4-15205.6). CONCLUSIONS: CL was endemic in Hajjah governorate, and an increase in cases was confirmed. Many individual, housing, and animal related factors were shown to contribute to CL endemicity. Implementation of control measures directed toward altering the factors favoring contact among vectors, reservoirs, and susceptible humans is strongly recommended to control future outbreaks.