August Newsletter - 2004

Institute Adjunct Professor Alan Zelicoff continues refinements for the syndromic surveillance program SYRIS

As reported last month, the Syndrome Reporting Information System (SYRIS), developed by ARES Corporation of Burlingame California, is being installed in several large hospital emergency departments and clinics in Central Massachusetts this summer. Physicians, nurses, and EMS professionals are entering syndromic data from computers connected to the Internet via cell phone and wired connections, and public health officials and epidemiologists will evaluate the data and provide rapid feedback to clinicians and other users.

The latest implementation of SYRIS will be for the Health Department in Lubbock, TX which has been testing the concept of syndrome surveillance for 3 years. They are convinced that it is the most effective public health approach to this issue. They have elected to implement SYRIS as the specific software platform for this need, based upon its cost effectiveness, its ease of use and its accessible interface.

Users of SYRIS will include veterinarians, physicians, school nurses, the two Lubbock-area emergency room hospitals, outpatient urgent care facilities, animal control, environmental health, and clinical laboratories. They will all be reporting into a single system.

The point of contact for SYRIS is: Alan P. Zelicoff, MD. Phone: 505-272-7102, e-mail: azelicoff@arescorporation.com. You can also read an on-line version of the SYRIS manual (with illustrations) at: http://www.zelicoff.com/SYRIS/SYRISMan2.htm

Have a question or comment? Email bioterr@slu.edu