Monitoring Respiratory Syncytial Virus Regionally In Children Aged < 5 Years Old Using Emergency Department and Urgent Care Center Chief Complaint Data in Florida’s Syndromic Surveillance System, Week 1, 2010 - Week 32, 2014

ED chief complaint and discharge diagnosis data accessed through a syndromic surveillance system can be used for effective, timely monitoring of RSV hospitalizations in children < 5 years old and may be a more efficient and complete means of monitoring seasonality of RSV activity by region and statewide compared to hospital-based laboratory data reporting. Additionally, this surveillance technique can efficiently monitor RSV activity as well as estimate hospital admissions due to RSV and may be a useful approach for other states with syndromic surveillance systems.