Syndromic surveillance during religious mass gatherings, southern India 2015–2018

Background Mass gathering events carry a risk of public health emergencies such as outbreaks of infectious diseases, stampedes, and injuries and pose an increased risk for individuals with non-communicable diseases. India celebrates many festivals mass gatherings. However, operational research on syndromic surveillance during such events is limited. In this context, we documented the use of information technology tools for syndromic surveillance during selected mass gatherings in South India during 2015-2018. Method We collaborated with health systems for syndromic surveillance during selected religious mass gatherings. We finalized priority syndromes and their surveillance definitions through stakeholder meetings. We used open-source software for surveillance data collection and trained the health care professionals and volunteers for data capture and collation. We consolidated, analyzed, generated near-real-time daily reports and shared them with health authorities for action. Results The number of participants in these mass gatherings ranged from 100 thousand to 3 million, and recorded out-patients seeking care for syndromic illness ranged from 4,000 to 25,000 per event. We used more than five platforms and captured information on 17 syndromes. We captured a total of 61,523 patient details during syndromic surveillance. The most frequently reported syndromes were injuries, fever, and diarrhea of the reported illness. Conclusions These cost-effective open-source technologies are intuitive, adaptable, and inexpensive to maintain and operate in real-time. Therefore, enhanced syndromic surveillance could detect diseases early in mass gatherings.