EPIDEMIOLOGY OF ACUTE DIARRHEAL DISEASES REPORTED IN TAMIL NADU IN 2022 & 2023

Abstract


INTRODUCTION : Acute Diarrheal Disease is one of a major long-standing public health problem in developing countries; factors contributing to this persistent issue include inadequate access to clean drinking water, poor sanitation and a lack of awareness regarding hygiene practices. This study aims to assess the burden of diarrheal diseases in Tamil Nadu and analyze the month-wise trends of Acute Diarrheal Disease (ADD) and related outbreaks across various districts of Tamil Nadu from January 2022 to December 2023. METHODS : This study is carried out with secondary data analysis of Acute Diarrheal Disease cases reported in the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme under Integrated Health Information Portal (IHIP- IDSP) in Tamil Nadu. The study data includes the patients attending the health care facilities with diarrhea which is captured in Presumptive form (P- form) of IHIP -IDSP. The study duration is from January 2022 to December 2023. RESULTS : A total of 162,765 ADD cases were reported in P form of IHIP-IDSP during the two years 2022 & 2023. The highest number of ADD cases is reported in the age group between 31- 40 years of (19.3%) and it is predominant in females. A rising trend is observed from the month of April and peak is observed in the month of June. Of the total cases reported, four districts viz., Ramanathapuram, Tiruvanamalai, Pudukottai & Villupuram, each district constituted >5% of ADD cases. Three districts, Nilgiris, Kaniyakumari & Dindigul constituted less than 1% of ADD cases. CONCLUSION : In this article IHIP - IDSP data that are available in the web portal have provided a better platform for analyzing the seasonal dependency of the outbreaks. IHIP- IDSP acts as a ready reckoner for analyzing the pattern of the outbreaks for any communicable diseases in Tamil Nadu by enabling with necessary information which will be useful to the policy makers and administrators to circumvent the effect of morbidity and mortality due to outbreaks or any Health Events.