Analysis of epidemic characteristics of outbreak of infectious diseases reported in schools of Shanghai， 2014‒2019

ObjectiveTo analyze the epidemiological characteristics of outbreak of infectious diseases reported in schools in Shanghai from 2014 to 2019， and to suggest related strategies for efficient response to public health emergencies.

MethodsDescriptive epidemiology method was used to analyze the outbreak of infectious diseases reported in schools in Shanghai from 2014 to 2019.

ResultsA total of 82 infectious disease emergencies were reported in schools in Shanghai during 2014 and 2019， involving 1 760 disease cases and 2 deaths. The incidence peaks in each year were from March to June and from September to December. The events mainly occurred in kindergartens and primary schools， with 35 and 25 incidences respectively. The main types of events were hand-foot-and-mouth disease and chickenpox， accounting for 48.78% and 46.34% of public health emergencies of infectious diseases in school， respectively. The time it took to report the events was positively correlated to the duration and the scale of the events. The sooner the epidemic was reported， the shorter it lasted．

ConclusionThe kindergartens and primary schools are the places with a high incidence of infectious diseases reported in schools. Measures such as regular surveillance， vaccination management， early reporting and effective handling should be executed at the early stage so as to prevent the spread of the epidemics.