Timeliness of Salmonella notifications in South Australia

Objective: To evaluate the timeliness of Salmonella serotype and phage type notifications in South Australia. Method: We surveyed all notifications of Salmonella to the South Australian Department of Human Services between July 1995 and June 1996. We entered d ata onto an Epi Info 6.02 database and calculated the time interval between various stages of typing notification. Results: The median time taken between collection of a faecal specimen and receipt of serotype notification was 10 days (range, 5-38), while phage typ e notification took a further seven days (range 0-40). The time interval be tween collection of a specimen and notification of a Salmonella final ident ity was 14 days (range 6-49)The internal mail system of the Department of H uman Services delayed notification a median of two days. Environmental Heal th Officers supplied reports for 224 (58%) of 384 cases, 71% of which occur red before the final Salmonella isolate was known. Conclusions: We found that the internal departmental mail system delayed th e notification of Salmonella. In South Australia, investigations should foc us on clusters of cases of known Salmonella identity, rather than all notif ied cases. Implications: To improve communicable disease investigations, health agenci es should evaluate the timeliness of surveillance systems and examine the f easibility of transferring laboratory data electronically.