Profile of communicable diseases reported under integrated disease surveillance programme from a teaching hospital

BACKGROUND: Integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) maintains laboratory-based disease surveillance system for epidemic prone diseases in our country. This study was undertaken to analyze the epidemiological profile and seasonal variations of various communicable diseases reported to IDSP over a 5-year period from 2014 to 2018 from our institute. METHODS: All laboratory confirmed communicable diseases reported under IDSP over a 5-year period were analyzed for their distribution with respect to epidemiological variables, geographical distribution, and seasonal variation. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data was entered in MS excel sheet and the results expressed as percentages. RESULTS: A total of 3,602 communicable diseases were reported under IDSP during the time period from January 2014 to December 2018. Dengue continues to be the most common reported disease over the years followed by Scrub typhus which had an outbreak in 2018. Furthermore, adult males in the productive age group of 21–30 years are commonly affected by almost all communicable diseases. Seasonal variation was noted in communicable diseases with highest number of cases in the rainy season of October to December in Puducherry as well as a peak in January and June. CONCLUSIONS: The pattern of communicable diseases that have been diagnosed and reported will prove to be useful in planning appropriate preventive and containment measures in the near future as well as in creating awareness in the community.