Report on the study of international surveillance and prevention of Communicable Disease : Case study of yellow fever surveillance at Division of International Disease Control Ports and Quarantine, Don Mueang Airport, between 2015 – 2019

Abstract

The objective of this descriptive study was to identify the current status of the international communicable disease surveillance situation in case of yellow fever. Secondary data were collected from the yellow fever surveillance documents using screening travelers forms which took them from infectious regions or regions affected by yellow fever during 2015-2019 by the Division of International Disease Control Ports and Quarantine, Don Mueang Airport. The primary data and secondary data were gathered from the screening for the travelers traveling from yellow fever infectious regions or regions affected by yellow fever during 2015-2019 via E-screening system and a questionnaire about the difficulties of the five staff at Don Mueang Airport Quarantine Office.

                Research results showed that during 2015-2019 about 116,086 travelers traveled from yellow fever infectious areas. Most of them traveled during January (12.14%) and the least in September (5%) before increasing again towards the end of the year. The number of travelers with accurate and complete yellow fever vaccination certificates was 96,086 (82.77%), while 20,000 travelers (17.23%) did not have a certificate or were incomplete. In 2019, Brazilian were the largest number (48.20%) who traveled to Thailand and entered through Don Mueang Airport, followed by Argentinians (21.87%), whereas the least were Ecuadorian (1.63%). Problems and obstacles for officials carrying out screening work are: 1) The screening database system that can utilize data for joint development is still inefficient. Including, there is still no data connection with the immigration checkpoint. 2) The standard operation procedures (SOP) of yellow fever screening for travelers which use in the international disease control service point at Don Mueang Airport is not up to date. 3) Communicable channel among relevant institutions in any level who involve the screening process and follow travel information to prevent communicable diseases between country are limited. 4) Human resources to perform work during a period when there is a trend of large numbers of travelers entering the country are not sufficient.

The research suggested that 1) Develop and modernize the efficiency, screening system and traveler database, and integrate the databases of relevant institutions. 2) The Standard Operating Procedure Manual should be updated. 3) Strengthen the coordination channels of relevant institutions, screen and track travel information to prevent international infectious diseases. 4) Increase human resources to work during the high number of travelers’ period.