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Year Round Influenza Surveillance is Important!
 A brief
history
• 1975 - Recording of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) began in Alberta.
Sentinels were part of the National Research System (NaReS) and reported
individually to the national network.
• 1979 - The provincial Viral Watch program was formed. Its purpose was to
perform syndromic surveillance
in Alberta; using doctor-reported signs and symptoms of influenza in the
community as an early warning system for influenza outbreaks
• 1983 - The program evolved to include the collection of specimens from
patients with ILI for virologic confirmation in the laboratory. This unique
feature of Viral Watch allowed the program to go beyond monitoring influenza
symptoms to actual verification of disease presence.
• 2003 - Following the death of Dr. Michael Tarrant, the driving force behind
Viral Watch, the program was renamed TARRANT (The Alberta Recording and
ReseArch NeTwork) in his honour.
• 2006 – TARRANT began a long-term collaboration with the British Columbia
Centre for Disease Control using sentinel surveillance data to evaluate vaccine
effectiveness.
• 2009 - The program is now known as Tarrant Viral Watch, paying homage not only
to the past contributions of Dr. Tarrant but also looking towards the future
evolution of the network. Although our primary focus is influenza, we now
monitor a variety of other respiratory viruses and will likely expand our
surveillance even further in upcoming seasons.
The goal of Tarrant Viral Watch is to detect ILI clinically as it occurs in the
community and to measure influenza virologically in the lab. Data is collected
by volunteer sentinel sites and is compiled by Tarrant Viral Watch prior to
being forwarded to Alberta Health and Wellness, the Public Health Agency of
Canada, and ultimately the World Health Organization.
Click here for details on participation.
Definitions
• Influenza-like illness (ILI)
Respiratory illness with Acute Onset, with fever, and cough, and with one or
more of- sore throat, arthralgia, myalgia or prostration- which may be due to
influenza virus. (Presentation may vary in pediatric and elderly populations.)
ICD-9 code 487
• Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI)
Any acute infection with significant involvement of the respiratory tract
below the larynx, as identified by history, physical signs and/or radiological
findings.
ICD-9 codes 466, 486
If a patient has ILI with lower tract involvement, code as LRTI. i.e. LRTI takes
precedence over ILI.
• Sentinel
A volunteer doctor or nurse that participates in a surveillance network.
Tarrant Viral Watch sentinels actively monitor ILI and LRTI in their patients to
provide early information about what respiratory viruses are circulating in an
area.
• Syndromic Surveillance
The systematic and ongoing collection, analysis and interpretation of data
related to a specific disease. Tarrant Viral Watch conducts active surveillance
for influenza-like illness.
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