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For more details on the GBS Surveillance Project, please visit the CDC Vaccine Safety site.

Overview of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) Surveillance
The California Emerging Infections Program (CEIP) is working with California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and 9 other Emerging Infections Programs to perform active surveillance for Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) as a part of vaccination safety efforts for the H1N1 influenza vaccine. CEIP is focusing on GBS cases in our three-county catchment area: San Francisco, Contra Costa, and Alameda Counties. For every case identified, we will complete a CDC-generated case report form. For some cases we will also complete a patient telephone interview. These data will be entered into a CDC-generated database, and transmitted to CDC on a weekly basis.

Project Objectives
- Rapidly detect potential cases of vaccine-associated GBS, if possible, within one week of hospitalization

- Produce regular surveillance reports on cases of GBS with descriptive data on vaccination history and presence or absence of established risk factors for GBS

- Determine whether vaccination with the influenza A (H1N1) 2009 monovalent vaccine is associated with increased risk of developing Guillain-Barré Syndrome


Main Components of GBS Surveillance Project
- Active surveillance using three sources:

- Clinical network

- Hospital discharge data

· Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)

- Case reports and patient interviews


Case Definition
- Resident of the CEIP catchment area

- Hospital admission / initial physician evaluation between October 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010

- Suspected, probable and confirmed GBS cases will be investigated by CEIP staff

- Confirmed cases meet Brighton Criteria Level 3 plus either Brighton Clinical Criteria Level 1 or Level 2

- Probable cases meet Brighton Clinical Criteria Level 3


Cases admitted after May 31, 2010 and cases outside the CEIP catchment area
Suspected cases of GBS with admission after May 31, 2010, and cases in individuals who reside in California but outside the CEIP catchment area should be referred to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). More information can be found at http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/GBSsurveillance.aspx. Copies of GBS case report forms and patient interviews will be shared with the local health department in which the patient resides.


Enhanced testing for GBS disease triggers
The CDPH Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Laboratory is offering enhanced testing for possible infectious disease triggers for GBS. If you are interested in submitting specimens from a patient with GBS, please contact Cynthia Jean Yen at (510) 307-8606 or email at cynthia.jean@cdph.ca.gov.


Links
For more details on the GBS surveillance project, please visit the CDC Vaccine Safety site: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/Concerns/eip_faqs.html


Questions about the Project?
Please contact:

Celeste Prothro, RN, MPH
Research Nurse
California Emerging Infections Program
360 22nd Street, Suite 750
Oakland, CA 94612
gbs@ceip.us

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