Additional data requirements to account for mild Covid cases have been criticized; The ministry is back | the health

The volume says: “The version was released only in September, at the request of health departments. However, mandatory registration for the test suite, in response to requests from Conass and Conasems, was excluded on November 19, 2021.”

NS A problem arose because the system only allowed cases to be confirmed, even if positive, when all additional data had been entered.

This requirement ended, albeit indirectly, in favor of underreporting, which contradicts the adoption of public policies to combat the epidemic, since the data does not reflect the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

“In addition to the difficulty of printing in the public sector, as there are many numbers in the batch field, which generates many errors, we are prevented from confirming most cases, even if positive, from the private sector,” Al-Watani reported. Board of Trustees of Health (CUNAS) in a note to g 1. (See full note below)

The council also reported that it informed the ministry of the problem on October 8 and that “e-SUS Notifica is a system for epidemiological surveillance of cases and cannot include administrative data as a criterion for case confirmation.”

The ministry also reported that it was proposed to include the mandatory brand and batch number of rapid tests and to agree on them in a tripartite manner, that is, with the participation of representatives of the National Board of Health Trustees (Kunas) and the National Board of Trustees. Municipal Health (Kunasimes) in June this year. (See full note below)

Test helps predict new wave of Covid

According to experts, the request for additional data led to the deletion of new data, since it was only possible to check whether the tested person had a positive diagnosis of coronavirus by entering all the data.

“The few people tested for E-sus Notifica have not been reported. That is: there is no information on whether they are positive or negative due to this variant in the batch and manufacturer inclusion,” explains infection scientist Julio Croda.

Cruda was director of the Department of Immunization and Infectious Diseases at the Ministry of Health during the administration of former Minister Luis Henrique Mandetta.

“The tests are for us to measure the extent of the disease. We follow a decrease in the number of hospitalizations and deaths, but the indicator that prepares us for a possible new wave is the indicator of the number of cases, and we do that. I do not have this data “says the expert.

Even with the removal of the mandatory inclusion of additional data in the system, Croda points out The underreporting problem is likely to persist because the number of tests conducted in Brazil is still small.

“We are on a downward trend in everything and now an important moment begins with the arrival of a new variant, with end-of-year parties and what happened last year, with the arrival of the range, could be repeated, We are in the dark

a The new variant that Kroda cited is B.1.1529, also known as omicron. This was first reported to the World Health Organization on November 24, 2021 by South Africa.

Until November 4Brazil has already confirmed six cases of the omicron variant, but the true number may be higher.

“The danger for us is to only understand the magnitude of gravity when we are in a messWith overcrowded hospitals and deaths, as happened in Manaus last year. When you only notice hospitalization and death, you can’t properly plan for family expansion,” says Kroda.

On October 8, CONASS sent an official letter to the Ministry of Health warning of this problem and requesting that the “manufactured” and “batch” fields of rapid antigen tests are no longer mandatory to confirm cases of COVID-19. e-SUS Notifica is a system for epidemiological surveillance of cases and cannot include administrative data as a criterion for case confirmation.

It is also important to clarify that information about the manufacturer and batch is usually not included in the reports of examinations carried out in the private sector, nor is it included in the list of data established by the Ministry of Health for the transmission of laboratory information from the private sector to the RNDS.

However, in addition to the difficulty of writing in the public sector, since there are many numbers in the batch field, generating many errors, we are prevented from confirming most cases, even if positive, from the private sector.

It should also be noted that epidemiological surveillance is global and cannot be limited to cases diagnosed in SUS.

A note from the Ministry of Health

The Ministry of Health has informed that the mandatory inclusion of the brand and batch number of rapid antigen tests in E-SUS has been proposed and agreed on a tripartite basis in June of this year, with the participation of representatives of the National Board of Health Trusts (CONAS) and the National Council of Municipal Health Trusts (Kunasims). ). The version was released only in September, at the request of health departments, however, mandatory registration of the test batch, in response to requests from Conass and Conasems, was excluded on November 19, 2021.

It is important to emphasize that the monitoring of the Covid-19 epidemiological scenario is carried out using different indicators and not only the cases detected by the rapid antigen test. Observing the curves for mild cases (influenza-like syndrome) and severe cases (severe acute respiratory syndrome – SRAG) and deaths also show, at this moment, a decrease in the prevalence of the epidemic in Brazil.