The surveillance of communicable disease in Vermont: who reports?

The Vermont Department of Health reviewed 2,035 reports of selected notifiable diseases received from January 1, 1986, through December 31, 1987. Laboratories provided 1,160, or 71 percent, of the initial reports on 1,636 confirmed cases. This demonstrates that laboratories, when required by law and when part of active surveillance, can make a significant contribution to surveillance of infectious disease. A survey of primary care physicians indicated that 18 percent always reported notifiable diseases. The most frequently mentioned reason for lack of reporting was an assumption that the laboratory would report the cases.