NSSP Update – August 2021
A Technical Newsletter for the NSSP Community of Practice | August 2021
The National Syndromic Surveillance Program issues NSSP Update monthly to share the latest Community of Practice activities, technical and program updates, and ways in which syndromic surveillance is improving public health.
SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE IN ACTION
State of Washington Uses Syndromic Surveillance to Guide Behavioral Health Response
Concerned about the pandemic’s effect on mental health, the state of Washington uses syndromic surveillance to detect the warning signs of nonfatal suicide outcomes, raise awareness of the problem, and inform prevention efforts. Read more here.
Building Tomorrow’s Workforce: STEM at CDC
CDC is committed to building the next-generation public health workforce. To inspire learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), CDC has launched the STEM at CDC website.
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
The “Possibilities with Data Sharing”
Community discusses data sharing, Arizona’s collaboration with U.S. Department of Defense, Tick Bite Data Tracker, and heat-related illness. Read more here.
HOW NSSP WORKS ACROSS CDC
NSSP Assists Emergency Response Efforts
The public health impact from hurricanes and tropical storms can be devastating. CDC’s National Syndromic Surveillance Program provides actionable data in near real-time to help improve the public health response. Read more here.
Developing Syndrome Definitions
NSSP works with health departments and CDC programs to develop and improve syndrome definitions. Also see the NSSP Community of Practice Knowledge Repository.
TECHNICAL UPDATES
Onboarding, Updates, and Resources
NSSP onboards 50th state, adds privilege levels to Master Facility Table, removes some lab results from ESSENCE, and prepares for hurricanes and tropical storms. Also, more on how to use Rnssp package. Read more here.
Monthly National-level Free-text ESSENCE Queries
Analysts can exercise a high level of customization by using free-text queries. They can quickly code free-text queries and rapidly respond to outbreaks, disasters, and health events that unfold. These word clouds capture free-text queries from a national perspective.
| August 19 | NSSP Vendor Patches (Onboarding and Production); 12:00–8:00 AM ET |
| August 24 | NSSP Community of Practice Call (Monthly); 3:00–4:30 PM ET |
| August 24 | Data Sharing Workgroup Call (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| August 26 | NSSP–ESSENCE User Group (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| September 1 | Syndrome Definition Subcommittee Call (Monthly); 1:00–2:00 PM ET |
| September 3 | Syndromic Surveillance and Public Health Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Subcommittee Call (Monthly); 2:00–2:45 PM ET |
| September 8 | Race and Ethnicity Data Quality Improvement Workgroup (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| September 10 | Data Quality Subcommittee Call (Monthly); 12:00–1:00 PM ET |
| September 13 | NSSP Community of Practice Core Committee Call (Monthly); 1:00–2:30 PM ET |
| September 23 | NSSP–ESSENCE User Group (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
| September 28 | Data Sharing Workgroup Call (Monthly); 3:00–4:00 PM ET |
View more calendar details at the NSSP Community of Practice.
