Underreporting of malaria incidence in the Netherlands: results from a capture–recapture study

N. A. H. VAN HEST; F. SMIT; J. P. VERHAVE

doi:10.1017/S0950268802007306

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The aim of this study was to estimate the completeness of notification of malaria by physicians and laboratories in the Netherlands in 1996. We used a capture–recapture (CRC) analysis of three incomplete, partially overlapping registers of malaria cases: a laboratory survey, the Notification Office and the hospital admission registration. The response of the laboratories was 83.2%. In 1996 the laboratories microscopically identified 535 cases of malaria, 330 patients with malaria were admitted to hospital and physicians notified 311 malaria cases. 667 malaria cases were recorded in at least one register. CRC analysis estimated the total number of malaria cases at 774 (95% CI of 740–821). This implies a completeness of notification of 40.2% for physicians and 69.1% for the laboratories. It can be concluded that laboratory-based notification can considerably increase the number of officially reported malaria cases as compared to notification by physicians. However, possibly one-third of the cases may still go unreported.

Crossref Citations

This article has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.

del Rio Vilas, Victor J. Sayers, Robin Sivam, Kumar Pfeiffer, Dirk Guitian, Javier and Wilesmith, John W. 2005. A case study of capture–recapture methodology using scrapie surveillance data in Great Britain. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Vol. 67, Issue. 4, p. 303.

Schilthuis, Herbert J. Goossens, Ingrid Ligthelm, Robert J. De Vlas, Sake J. Varkevisser, Corlien and Richardus, Jan H. 2007. Factors determining use of pre‐travel preventive health services by West African immigrants in The Netherlands. Tropical Medicine & International Health, Vol. 12, Issue. 8, p. 990.

van HEST, N. A. H. SMIT, F. BAARS, H. W. M. De VRIES, G. De HAAS, P. E. W. WESTENEND, P. J. NAGELKERKE, N. J. D. and RICHARDUS, J. H. 2007. Completeness of notification of tuberculosis in The Netherlands: how reliable is record-linkage and capture–recapture analysis?. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 135, Issue. 6, p. 1021.

VAN HEST, N. A. H. STORY, A. GRANT, A. D. ANTOINE, D. CROFTS, J. P. and WATSON, J. M. 2008. Record-linkage and capture–recapture analysis to estimate the incidence and completeness of reporting of tuberculosis in England 1999–2002. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 136, Issue. 12, p. 1606.

van Hest, Rob 2008. Use of capture-recapture analysis in data sources. Revista de Saúde Pública, Vol. 42, Issue. 2, p. 377.

VAN HEST, N. A. H. GRANT, A. D. SMIT, F. STORY, A. and RICHARDUS, J. H. 2008. Estimating infectious diseases incidence: validity of capture–recapture analysis and truncated models for incomplete count data. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 136, Issue. 1, p. 14.

VAN HEST, N. A. H. HOEBE, C. J. P. A. DEN BOER, J. W. VERMUNT, J. K. IJZERMAN, E. P. F. BOERSMA, W. G. and RICHARDUS, J. H. 2008. Incidence and completeness of notification of Legionnaires' disease in The Netherlands: covariate capture–recapture analysis acknowledging regional differences. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 136, Issue. 4, p. 540.

CATHCART, S. J. LAWRENCE, J. GRANT, A. QUINN, D. WHITTY, C. J. M. JONES, J. CHIODINI, P. L. and FRASER, G. 2010. Estimating unreported malaria cases in England: a capture–recapture study. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol. 138, Issue. 7, p. 1052.

van Rijckevorsel, Gini GC Sonder, Gerard JB Geskus, Ronald B Wetsteyn, Jose CFM Ligthelm, Robert J Visser, Leo G Keuter, Monique van Genderen, Perry JJ and van den Hoek, Anneke 2010. Declining incidence of imported malaria in the Netherlands, 2000-2007. Malaria Journal, Vol. 9, Issue. 1,

van Hest, Rob Grant, Andrew and Abubakar, Ibrahim 2011. Quality assessment of capture–recapture studies in resource‐limited countries. Tropical Medicine & International Health, Vol. 16, Issue. 8, p. 1019.

Unger, Holger W. McCallum, Andrew D. Ukachukwu, Vincent McGoldrick, Claire Perrow, Kali Latin, Gareth Norrie, Gillian Morris, Sheila Smith, Catherine C. and Jones, Michael E. 2011. Imported malaria in Scotland – An overview of surveillance, reporting and trends. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, Vol. 9, Issue. 6, p. 289.

Chaparro, Pablo Soto, Edison Padilla, Julio and Vargas, Daniel 2012. Estimation of the underreporting of malaria measurement in ten municipalities of the Pacific coast of Nariño during 2009. Biomédica, Vol. 32, Issue. sup1, p. 29.

Vergne, Timothée Grosbois, Vladimir Durand, Benoît Goutard, Flavie Bellet, Camille Holl, Davun Roger, François and Dufour, Barbara 2012. A capture–recapture analysis in a challenging environment: Assessing the epidemiological situation of foot-and-mouth disease in Cambodia. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Vol. 105, Issue. 3, p. 235.

Bitar, D. Morizot, G. Van Cauteren, D. DannaouI, E. Lanternier, F. Lortholary, O. and Dromer, F. 2012. Estimating the burden of mucormycosis infections in France (2005–2007) through a capture-recapture method on laboratory and administrative data. Revue d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Vol. 60, Issue. 5, p. 383.

Srinivasa Rao, Arni S.R. 2012. Understanding theoretically the impact of reporting of disease cases in epidemiology. Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 302, Issue. , p. 89.

Fonseca, Ana Glória Dias, Sara S. Baptista, João Luis and Torgal, Jorge 2014. Imported Malaria in Portugal 2000–2009: A Role for Hospital Statistics for Better Estimates and Surveillance. Malaria Research and Treatment, Vol. 2014, Issue. , p. 1.

2014. Exposure. p. 605.

Vergne, Timothée Del Rio Vilas, Victor J. Cameron, Angus Dufour, Barbara and Grosbois, Vladimir 2015. Capture–recapture approaches and the surveillance of livestock diseases: A review. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Vol. 120, Issue. 3-4, p. 253.

Fonseca, Ana Glória Simões Dias, Sara Baptista, João Luís and Torgal, Jorge 2016. Surveillance of imported hospital requiring malaria in Portugal: can it be improved?: Table 1. The European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 26, Issue. 3, p. 403.

Bastaki, Hamad Marston, Louise Cassell, Jackie Rait, Greta and Ramagopalan, Sreeram V. 2018. Imported malaria in the UK, 2005 to 2016: Estimates from primary care electronic health records. PLOS ONE, Vol. 13, Issue. 12, p. e0210040.

Download full list

Article contents

Underreporting of malaria incidence in the Netherlands: results from a capture–recapture study

Abstract

Save article to Kindle

Save article to Dropbox

Save article to Google Drive

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

You have entered the maximum number of contributors

Conflicting interests